Videogames Affirm Violence Among Kids?

Thanks to Mainichi.co.jp for their report on a new Japanese survey claiming young videogame-playing children are more violent. According to the Ochanomizu University study, "The more elementary school students play video games, the more likely they are to get irritated and want to hit others." However, the story also points out that "Another study on British children also released at the International Simulation and Gaming Association meeting gave different results, finding that those who preferred violent games more were not as aggressive in their actual lifestyles", leading to the inevitable conclusion that there's no definite answer - though that Japanese survey did suggest that "In video games it is common for players to be awarded 'points' for violent actions, and there may be aspects in which violence is taken affirmatively."

Comments

Re:Denial

[Ieshan]

No, he's saying you're an N of 1.

In most clinical drug trials, the drug doesn't affect everyone. You happen to be someone who hasn't had a physical reaction to doing something you've been doing for quite some time.

In fact, since the number of murders in Japan is relatively low, if we use murdering someone as the standard for influence, than videogames probably have little to no effect on this statistic, and you'd be right.

But we're not. The psychologists who measure violent tendancies after exposure to violent video-games use scales and measurements that probably have little to do with actual life experiences. Fill in the blank questionaires. Analyses of thousands of juveniles for a small statistical trend.

Claiming that your actions are in no way influenced by your choice entertainment is just as absurd as saying that videogames turn people into mindless killing zombies. The research clearly shows a pattern that videogames affect children much as other violent entertainment does - by desensitizing them to other violent episodes and by predisposing them to aggressive means of solving problems.

You're not a figment of your imagination, you're an N of 1. Don't assume that the world's scientific findings neccessarily apply to you. In most cases, findings are proven to be statistically significant, not scientific law.