Modern media makes it easy for authors to create fictitious environments for audiences to explore, whether that environment be written, audible or in the form of a game. The argument that media, particularly video games, is directly influencing an increase in violent behavior is always heavily debated and opinions vary depending on the perspective of the individual. What I aim to do is try and answer this question for myself; does media or any particular form of media directly influence human aggressiveness?
Recently, news corporations are buzzing with the prospect of martyring games as the largest reason people tend to commit horrific crimes against humanity. The most recent crime the media has attached video games as a reason behind the behavior is the sinister shootings at the Navy Yard.
Aaron Alexis is accused of murdering a plethora of military veterans in a violent shooting. In a recent interview with ABC news, his friend Michael Ritrovato is quoted describing Alexis’ obsessive fascination with military shooter games.
“It got so bad — was in his room all the time. … He’d [Alexis] be late for work,” Ritrovato said. “The reason was because he was staying up all night playing video games.”
The article makes the reader want to believe there is some sort of correlation between violent behavior and extended sessions of gaming but in order to understand how people become more aggressive. In an article written by Gerry Vassar in Lakeside Connect, Vassar explains that when people are angry they are using a combination of their cerebral cortex and limbic systems to experience the emotion.
The article further explains that the amygdala, a part of the brain’s limbic system, serves as our tool to act on things in our environments. The amygdala in situations of high intensity can “overcharge” and make the decision to send this information to our cerebral cortex or our limbic systems. During this state the amygdala will send it to the lower part of the brain causing us to have a reaction where the brain does not comprehend consequences.
Understanding how we get angry I was wondering how this breaks down in impulsive violent behavior and attempt to understand what triggers these responses. In an article published by Science Daily, Richard Davidson, a University of Wisconsin-Madison psychologist had just completed a study on why people commit acts of impulsive violence. The study was also conducted by a pool of individuals that either had a history of violence or had been previously diagnosed with a disability that was at the time known to increase the chances of committing violent behavior. Davidson explains that there is a complex system of checks and balances that operate in the brain and that these people had a breakdown of these balances making it in a sense easier to commit acts of violent behavior. Davidson writes, “While the amygdala showed normal or heightened activity. The inability of the two brain regions to effectively counteract the response of the amygdala may help explain how threatening situations can become explosive in some people.”
But how do these things impact how a person responds to video games? In another article published by Science Daily, Bruce Bartholow, associate professor of psychology in the MU College of Arts and Science, conducted another study that attempts to show a correlation between violent games and violent behavior. Bartholow’s study included 70 young adult participants would play either a non violent or violent game followed by a session of viewing violent to nonviolent photos and then compete against one another in a challenge that tested aggressiveness. Bartholow writes, “The researchers found that participants who played one of several popular violent games, such as “Call of Duty,” “Hitman,” “Killzone” and “Grand Theft Auto,” set louder noise blasts for their opponents during the competitive task — that is, they were more aggressive — than participants who played a nonviolent game. In addition, for participants that had not played many violent video games before completing the study, playing a violent game in the lab caused a reduced brain response to the photos of violence — an indicator of desensitization.”
This study shows that there is a correlation between short-term aggressive behavior after playing violent games but does this increase in violent behavior actually have an impact of people committing violent crimes? In a blog post by Dr. John Grohol founder & CEO of Psych Central, attempts to answer this question. Grohol explains in his article that he believes that there is little to no correlation between violent games and violent crimes committed by young people as shown in his graph. Grohol further explains in his article that researchers, while conduct legitimate studies in the lab, have little to no meaning in the real world and often these researchers overplay the importance of their discoveries even though the impact might be small in retrospect. The article also explains that video games do play some role, but to blame it as the sole purpose as to violent behavior in youths in ridiculous and the argument crucifying gaming is just “Stupidity masquerading as something important.”
After this very brief observation of trying to understand violent behavior and how video games stimulate the brain, I am left with the same opinion as before. I have played games all my life, violent to non-violent. I have sunk hours into violent games but have not seen any ill impact on my life. In my honest opinion I believe that people have the intelligence to understand the difference between reality and fiction and when it’s appropriate to behave in certain situations. In the case of Aaron Alexis, and countless others accused of violent crimes, these people are often diagnosed with a mental disability that infringes either their ability to distinguish between right and wrong and fact or fiction. Video games might have played a role leading up to the crime but to claim games as the sole purpose to these allegations is wrong and ill-informed.
I hope this article helps you understand or give you a brief understanding of how games impact us as a culture and either changes your opinion on the subject matter. In your opinion do games cause more violent behavior? Have you noticed an increase in anger after playing violent games such as Call of Duty? Let me know in the comments below! I always look forward to any critiques and different opinions.