Literature Review.
There have been multiple studies conducted to better understand the relationship between video games and violence. Because it may be possible that increased video game play could increase the likelihood of aggressive behavior, it is important to examine this connection. Children and teens are especially impressionable when it comes to media influence so they are mostly the targets of these experiments, also being the largest group who take part in video game play. As shown in the following studies, gaming can have a variety of effects on behavior and cognition.
Researchers have attempted to determine what, if anything, causes video games to promote violent behavior. Many have found that it may not be exposure to games, but other factors stemming from the person himself. Christopher J. Ferguson and Cheryl K. Olson exposed both children with clinically elevated signs of depression or attention deficit and children with no predisposition to such conditions to "violent" games. They found that although trait aggression was a definite predictor of bullying or other aggressive behavior, exposure to games had no such effect. Hyekung Choo and colleagues found that the relationship between a child and parent at home can be a predictor of negative gaming experience (i.e. addiction or anything else that hinders a person's well-being). This may insinuate that a person's social situation may have more to do with aggression than the act of gaming, which is consistent with much of the current literature available. Tobias Greitemeyer found in a study that aggressive behavior in a gamer may stem from the fact that he perceives his own actions to be normal compared to what is found in games -- a desensitization to violence that may be part of a bigger movement in all sorts of media. In another study, Greitemeyer and his colleague find that games can cause both positive and negative outcomes leading to an argument for both sides of the spectrum. Carsten Pohl and colleagues found that on top of the prosocial outcomes observed in the Greitemeyer's study, gaming can actually increase visual and cognitive processing.
Almost all of the existing literature examines the link between video games and violence, but there appears to be a gap when it comes to examining the stigma associated with gaming. In my research I hope to figure out the nature of this stigma, where it originates and how it thrives based on a population's opinion of "violent video games."
Researchers have attempted to determine what, if anything, causes video games to promote violent behavior. Many have found that it may not be exposure to games, but other factors stemming from the person himself. Christopher J. Ferguson and Cheryl K. Olson exposed both children with clinically elevated signs of depression or attention deficit and children with no predisposition to such conditions to "violent" games. They found that although trait aggression was a definite predictor of bullying or other aggressive behavior, exposure to games had no such effect. Hyekung Choo and colleagues found that the relationship between a child and parent at home can be a predictor of negative gaming experience (i.e. addiction or anything else that hinders a person's well-being). This may insinuate that a person's social situation may have more to do with aggression than the act of gaming, which is consistent with much of the current literature available. Tobias Greitemeyer found in a study that aggressive behavior in a gamer may stem from the fact that he perceives his own actions to be normal compared to what is found in games -- a desensitization to violence that may be part of a bigger movement in all sorts of media. In another study, Greitemeyer and his colleague find that games can cause both positive and negative outcomes leading to an argument for both sides of the spectrum. Carsten Pohl and colleagues found that on top of the prosocial outcomes observed in the Greitemeyer's study, gaming can actually increase visual and cognitive processing.
Almost all of the existing literature examines the link between video games and violence, but there appears to be a gap when it comes to examining the stigma associated with gaming. In my research I hope to figure out the nature of this stigma, where it originates and how it thrives based on a population's opinion of "violent video games."