Why isn't there any research on kleptomania and the Zelda games? I mean, it stands to reason that if a person is desensitized to violence by preforming virtual violent acts then disrespecting virtual property rights in Zelda or other RPGs (smashing pots, destroying people's hedges, stealing anything that isn't nailed down) should desensitize people from the shock of theft, breaking and entering, and destruction of property. It's the same logic.
I'd argue that stealing and looting is more prevalent in games than grotesque violence and murder. And stealing isn't as severe as murder - people are going to be more naturally repulsed by murder than they are by theft - so the effect that playing these looting games has on a developing person's conscious should be even greater.
Heck, I bet every high school aged burglar has played a video game in which he'd take items that didn't rightly belong to his character. They'd brake into a temple, off some guardians, and steal sacred artefacts - then they'd steal their neighbors' television. Correleation ALWAYS means a direct, non-reversible, causation.
Or maybe people just aren't all that influenced by what they play in fictional settings.
Your thoughts, internet people who are obviously predisposed to be murderers, rapists, and burglars?
I'd argue that stealing and looting is more prevalent in games than grotesque violence and murder. And stealing isn't as severe as murder - people are going to be more naturally repulsed by murder than they are by theft - so the effect that playing these looting games has on a developing person's conscious should be even greater.
Heck, I bet every high school aged burglar has played a video game in which he'd take items that didn't rightly belong to his character. They'd brake into a temple, off some guardians, and steal sacred artefacts - then they'd steal their neighbors' television. Correleation ALWAYS means a direct, non-reversible, causation.
Or maybe people just aren't all that influenced by what they play in fictional settings.
Your thoughts, internet people who are obviously predisposed to be murderers, rapists, and burglars?
