Violent Video Games Don’t Lead To Real-Life Violence, Scientists Say

Science News– Following the release of two new video games in the UK, a study found that violent video games don’t lead to real-life violence.

In a new study published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, researchers at the City University London examined the effects of violent video games with two different types of violence, one was on aggression against other people and another was on the destruction of properties. The participants were boys aged between 8-18 years as this age group tends to play such violent games. Econometric methods were used in this research to identify the reasonable effects of violent video games on violence.

The study findings found no evidence that violent video game releases can increase violence against other people. But, the parents of the participants reported that their children were more likely to destroy things after playing such video games.

“Taken together, these results suggest that violent video games may agitate children, but this agitation does not translate into violence against other people — which is the type of violence which we care about most,” said Dr. Agne Suziedelyte, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics at City, University of London.

According to her, children usually play video games at home where opportunities to engage in violence are fewer. “The ‘incapacitation’ effect is especially important for violence-prone boys who may be especially attracted to violent video games,” she added.

However, policies that put restrictions on video game sales to children are unable to reduce violence, as per the research result.

To Know More You May Refer To:

Suziedelyte, A. (2021). Is it only a game? Video games and violence. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 188, 105-125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2021.05.014