Is There a Reasonable
Approach to Handling Violence in Videogames?
- by Ellen
Wolock, Ed.D.
-
- Copyright 2002 all rights reserved,
Children's Software Revue, July/August 2002, For
information about reprinting, please call
908-284-0404.
It's a bit unnerving to hear your seven-year old daughter
shout "Kill him! Kill him!", even if she's only hollering at
the PlayStation 2. That's what happened last week at the CSR
offices when Erin and her 10-year-old brother, Austin,
dropped by to test a new sword-fighting game called Pirates.
Erin's parents, browsing in the software library in the next
room, were upset by their daughter's bloodthirsty outbursts.
Yet another debate over videogame violence begins.
Historically, parents, educators and society at large
have long been interested in the effects of children's
exposure to violence, and many studies have been conducted
on the topic, especially regarding children's television
viewing habits. With computer use and videogame playing on
the rise over the last five to ten years, the focus of
research has switched from TV to more interactive media.
Study conclusions, as you might guess, are all over the map,
as this is not an easy phenomenon to investigate. Defining
variables and separating them out from other related factors
are no simple task. Yet, people are concerned, and asking
for answers. Should we let our kids play violent games? Will
they make our children become more aggressive or immune to
real violence?
Defining Violence
The fact that violence is defined in many ways doesn't
help us draw conclusions. What's considered violent to one
person may seem innocuous to another. Even the ESRB
(Entertainment Software Rating Board), the organization who
rates videogames according to their content, has been
questioned about their definitions of violence. According to
a report in the August, 2001 Journal of the American Medical
Association (Thompson
& Haninger), approximately 64% of E-rated games
contain what the study authors maintain is intentional
violence. Action/adventure games (e.g. Super Mario, Zelda,
Sonic Adventure) serve up much of the E-rated violent
content, with their largely "Saturday morning cartoon"-like
depictions of bopping, smashing, shooting, flying into and
rolling over objects and characters. On the other hand,
racing and sports games were characterized as containing
minimal violence, although one might argue that hockey
brawls and car crashing are violent in nature. Determining
how researchers have defined and measured violence is the
first step to interpreting study findings.
Recent Key Findings
To better understand what we know and don't know about
the effects of violent videogames on kids, we scoured the
recent studies and literature reviews. The measures used to
determine if a child is more aggressive after playing a
violent videogame include children's toy choices (choosing
aggressive versus neutral toys), teacher reports,
self-reports, projective tests of aggression, and reactions
when provoked. Study results vary tremendously, but do seem
to show some increase in aggressive behavior directly after
playing. (Not surprisingly, these same findings have been
shown when looking at the potential influence of cartoon
violence.) Here are quick summaries of the key findings of
studies conducted in the last 10 years.
Negative Effects
• College students at Iowa State University who
reported spending greater time with videogames (both violent
and non-violent) during junior high and high school engaged
in more self-reported aggressive behavior as adults.
(Anderson
& Dill, Journal of the American Psychological
Association, 2000)
• Second-grade boys displayed more aggressive
behavior right after playing a violent videogame than boys
who played a "nonaggressive" game. (Irwin
& Gross, Journal of Family Violence, 1995, Volume
10)
• Male college students who played a more violent
version of Mortal Kombat scored higher on hostility measures
and had higher blood pressure than those who played a less
violent version (Ballard
& Wiest, Society for Research in Child Development,
Spring, 1995)
• Children who played Mortal Kombat responded more
negatively to six provocative story questions than those who
played a non-violent videogame. (Kirsh, ERIC, 1998)
• The level of aggression of 153 middle and high
school students (as measured by teachers) was positively
correlated with the amount of students' self-reported
videogame play. (Fling, Smith, Rodriguez, Thornton, Atkins
& Nixon, Southwest Texas State University, 1992)
Neutral/Positive Effects
• University students show similar performance on
hostility and personality measures after playing with games
containing different levels of violence (Strathclyde
University, 1995)
• Recent survey figures (for the Interactive Digital
Software Association) suggest that videogames encourage
socialization with family and friends. More specifically,
out of 1500 individuals and families surveyed, 42% reported
that they enjoy playing games because they can be shared
with friends and family (2002). (Note: this study did not
separate out violent from non-violent videogames, but looked
at gameplay as a whole.)
• A literature review of 59 studies conducted by the
Washington State Dept of Health concludes that current
research evidence is not supportive of a major concern that
violent games lead to real life violence. (Bensley
and Van Eenwyk, Journal of Adolescent Health, Vol 29,
2001)
• Time spent playing with videogames was not
correlated with aggression for middle school kids (144
females, 134 males), although boys with a preference for
aggressive games were perceived as more aggressive by peers.
(Wiegman
& van Shie, Social Psychology, 1998)
• No differences in measures of aggressive thought
were found for 52 3rd and 4th graders who played Mortal
Kombat versus a basketball sim. (Kirsh,
Childhood- a Global Journal of Child Research, 5, Volume 2,
1998)
Interpreting the Research
So what does this all mean? As any good researcher can
tell you, before conclusions can be drawn, you must examine
studies' weaknesses and inconsistencies. We've already
discussed the differing definitions of violence. Here are
some other issues.
Research Inconsistencies
1. Many of the studies examine only short-term
consequences in the form of behavior immediately following
exposure to videogame violence, as opposed to examining any
long-term effects.
2. Each study uses different types of videogames (e.g.
sports, shooters, action/adventure) with different types and
"levels" of violence. Some studies don't report the type or
names of videogames used in the investigation. These factors
make comparisons and conclusions difficult to ascertain.
3. Much of the research is correlational only.
Relationships may be shown, but they may be coincidental or
caused by other individual, family and social factors.
4. Games have become more realistic in graphics and
sounds, in essence a different animal than those used in
much of the research. Many studies were conducted using
older platforms and games, making them less easily
generalized or comparable to more recent games.
Discussing the Findings
So, taking all the above into account, can we
definitively say that kids who play violent video games will
become more aggressive? No. The issue has simply not been
studied adequately, especially in a longitudinal way. There
is some evidence that children who play violent games are
more aggressive for a few moments immediately following the
gameplay. But even that finding is questionable, when you
look at the ways in which "aggressivity" is measured--
increase in heart rate and blood pressure, negative
responses on questionnaires, toy choice, etc. If children
failed to show empathy in real situations, or tried to hurt
another child following violent gameplay, THEN we'd have a
problem. Even more so if such aggressive acts and feelings
were exhibited over time.
It is important not to underestimate the degree to which
children are able to separate fantasy from reality, which is
a root issue in this debate. According to seven-year-old
Erin's parents, she has no problem separating her gaming
experience from her real life. In addition to loving
action-packed videogames, she continues to carefully close
her bedroom door each night when she goes to bed to make
sure that her cat doesn't scare her new baby gerbils. She is
also rule-governed in her approach to most activities, and
is concerned when family members hurt themselves. In no way,
shape or form, does Erin act out her videogame experiences
in other aspects of her life.
Drawing the Line
Although we have serious doubts about the long-term
impact of videogame playing on kids' aggression, we are NOT
saying that all videogames, regardless of content are okay
for children of all ages. As with other media, some kids may
be frightened by certain games. The Jak & Daxter game (a
favorite of our testers), for instance, has some very scary
biting fish scenarios that could result in a bad dream or
two. And remember the trampled father scene in the Lion King
film? (We're still getting over that one!) Like children's
movies, E-rated games aren't automatically for everyone. As
with most aspects of raising kids, it comes down to parent
supervision and involvement. We see common sense in choosing
videogames without excessive violence and without gender and
ethnic stereotypes. There are hundreds of excellent choices
available. Help guide your child to games that you are
comfortable with. If you abhor all suggestions of violence,
provide alternatives such as racing games or games of logic
like Tetris and Super Monkey Ball. Keep in mind that banning
all videogames may heighten the attraction, and remember to
play them yourself once in a while, to better understand the
experience. Talk about the issue with your kids and share
your values. Giving children an awareness of the debate and
helping them become savvy media consumers is important,
regardless of whether or not they play the games.
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Don't like digging through research papers? We do.
Take a minute and read this brief article. It brings up some
important points about the effects of violence in
videogames.
NOTE: on September 26, 2002, the Free Expression Policy
Project filed an appeal on a St. Louis County ruling
restricting children's access to violent videogames. The
appeal provides an excellent review of the literature, from
a pro-videogame/free speech point of view. Here
is the link to the complete brief.
"Human Nature" Plays a Role
Throughout time, humans have been fascinated by
violence. Grimm's fairy tales, centuries old, are some of
the most violent materials ever written for children. Kids
have forever latched on to hero/aggressors like Zorro,
Batman, Power Rangers and Pokemon. We can't escape it--
preschools with no-gun policies find that their students
make guns out of fingers. As a society, we are obsessed with
extremely aggressive sports like hockey and football. Many
of us regularly watch "edgy" television programs like ER and
Third Watch. It has been argued that children (boys in
particular) even go through stages of aggression during
development that reach their peak when in adolescence (James
Twitchell, Preposterous Violence). Violence is a part of
existence-- we can limit its gratuitous display, but we
can't eliminate it.
Might there be actually be positive effects?
If you bring the subject of videogame violence up with a
group of parents, you'll often hear the viewpoint that
playing violent games may actually help children channel or
reduce their aggression. Playing sports has long been seen
as a means of channeling energy and aggressive tendencies--
could it be possible that playing violent videogames can
have similar positive benefits? It's all conjecture at this
point-- we need more and better research.
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