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Kids Who Play Violent Video Games Don't Make More Aggressive Adults, Study Finds

There have been many studies about aggression and violent video games, but surprisingly little consensus. Although some studies have found a link between aggression and violent video games in experiments, they have not been able to show that the same behavior happens in the real world. And many different things can affect a person’s tendency towards aggression, so it is difficult to understand the role video games play, if any. But, a new study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking can finally give us a better understanding. Their ten-year study found no relationship between aggression and violent video games in the real world.

People's immediate reactions to violent video games informed theories.

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When someone plays a violent video game, it activates areas of the brain associated with aggression. And immediately after playing, generally, people are less sensitive to violent imagery. Some researchers, therefore, theorized that repeated exposure to games would desensitize a person to violence and make them more aggressive. However, how people react to playing violent video games greatly varies. And many long-term studies often do not account for such individual differences.

The new study takes a person-centered approach.

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The researchers considered how aggressive a person was at the beginning of the 10 years and how many violent video games they played to better understand the effect the games had on their behavior. The study followed 500 children about 13 years old for 10 years. The participants were selected at random and invited to participate. The researchers were careful to reflect the racial and socioeconomic demographics of the city where they did the research.

The amount the participants played violent video games varied over time.

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Generally, most participants played a lot of violent video games when they are young, but the amount they played decreased in their mid-adolescence. As they became adults, the amount of violent video games played increased. So, if you look at how many hours of violent video games 13- to 23-year-olds play you would see a U-shape.

Interestingly, those who initially played the most violent video games dramatically reduced the amount they played as they aged and never went back to playing as many violent games once they were adults. But those that initially played the least violent video games, played more as an adult than as a child.

In the end, video games could not explain the differences in aggression between the groups.

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The researchers found three groups in their study. Those who played a lot of violent video games as a child, those who played moderate amounts, and those who did not play many violent video games. The most aggressive group was the middle group.

If violent video games increased aggression, then those who played a lot of violent games should have been more aggressive. But the group that had the healthiest score across aggression, depression, anxiety, and prosocial behavior was the group who initially played the least amount of violent video games. However, that is also the group who increased the time they played violent video games over the ten years. If the games caused aggression, you would expect their aggression to have risen.

This study probably confirms your experience.

Most people who play video games will probably admit that they can get quite worked up while playing them. We wouldn’t have the term “rage quit” if the games didn’t increase our aggression while playing.

But that does not mean they are harming our long-term health and happiness. Nor did the study find aggressive people seek out violent video games. However, despite the strengths of this study, it is unlikely that the debate about violent video games is over. It is still a heated topic that needs time to cool.

h/t: Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking

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