Poll: Do Video Games cause violent behavior?

[HappyNoodleBot]

Now, if everything that people want you to believe causes violent behaviour actually did cause violent behaviour, I would be out on a killing spree right now.

I know what you mean

Try some Googling to find out what people who post on the internet associate with violent behaviour

"video game causes violence" About 458 results

"drinking causes violence" About 3,760 results

"violence causes violence" About 4,870 results

"music causes violence" About 39,300 results

"war causes violence" About 107 results

"person causes violence" 4 results

"Idiot causes violence" 4 results

No results found for "lunatic causes violence"

I really think those last few should come up more often.

Give it a go folks. Use quotation marks for an exact phrase search on something intuition tells you would be a cause of violence and see what you get.

 

[II2]

No.

Also

Spoiler: Happy Noodle Bot's Post

Try some Googling to find out what people who post on the internet associate with violent behaviour

"video game causes violence" About 458 results

"drinking causes violence" About 3,760 results

"violence causes violence" About 4,870 results

"music causes violence" About 39,300 results

"war causes violence" About 107 results

"person causes violence" 4 results

"Idiot causes violence" 4 results

No results found for "lunatic causes violence"

I really think those last few should come up more often.

Give it a go folks. Use quotation marks for an exact phrase search on something intuition tells you would be a cause of violence and see what you get.

[sub] Quote this message to see links back to source articles [/sub]

 

[Slimshad]

Of course they cause violent behavior! Look at those little shites on the Xbox live with their teabagging and swearing with all their little might! That sounds pretty violent to me.

Actually, Video games really don't "cause" violent behavior, but they offer a medium or vent to express your pent up rage, which can be mistaken for the cause of violent behavior. Video games also are supposed to relieve stress (I'm looking at you, platformers), so the medium shouldn't be looked down upon because of some of its users expressing their own pent up rage through violent behavior.

 

[omega 616]

Playing manhunt has the same effect on me as the devils rejects did, none what so ever.

If you say violent games causes violence in it's audience, then you would have to say movies and maybe even books do the same.

 

[HappyNoodleBot]

As part of an English project I'm writing a counter arguement paper against the whole, "Video Games cause violent behavior" and some data and input would be most useful for the paper. Put out a comment, put up some videos or what ever

This article (quoting a Harvard Medical School researcher) refers to concerns over games as "simple-minded". Good burn.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0725760620080509

"The researchers also try to place video games in a larger context of popular culture. The anxiety many parents voice over video games largely mirrors the concerns raised when movies, comic books and television became popular."

On the other hand if want to take the opinion of some random yahoo on Yahoo answers then video games lead to drugs and robbery and generally being a loser.

"Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Video games cause stupidity in our society. People play car racing games then they get in real cars and drive like it's a video game. Then they crash and kill people.

Also, sitting on your butt and playing video games means you are not reading a book or doing your homework. People who don't read books and don't do homework are less likely to get into college. Thus, a lot of people don't know what to do when they grow up, and they fall into low circles and hang around with other losers who play video games. They end up as aimless, lost 20 year olds who are angry and frustrated.

Then they get into drugs, and when that becomes a problem, they get into fights with other druggies, or they steal money so they can buy drugs. The video games helped them become losers. If they had parents that made them turn off the TV maybe they would have gone to college, gotten a decent job and been able to support themselves as adults."

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091101203901AAEutLm

 

[BenzSmoke]

No, they may make someone temporarily more aggressive for a short amount of time. But, the aggression caused by games is significantly less than aggression caused by sports, drinking, or movies.

 

[Tenkage]

As part of an English project I'm writing a counter arguement paper against the whole, "Video Games cause violent behavior" and some data and input would be most useful for the paper. Put out a comment, put up some videos or what ever

This article (quoting a Harvard Medical School researcher) refers to concerns over games as "simple-minded". Good burn.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0725760620080509

"The researchers also try to place video games in a larger context of popular culture. The anxiety many parents voice over video games largely mirrors the concerns raised when movies, comic books and television became popular."

On the other hand if want to take the opinion of some random yahoo on Yahoo answers then video games lead to drugs and robbery and generally being a loser.

"Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Video games cause stupidity in our society. People play car racing games then they get in real cars and drive like it's a video game. Then they crash and kill people.

Also, sitting on your butt and playing video games means you are not reading a book or doing your homework. People who don't read books and don't do homework are less likely to get into college. Thus, a lot of people don't know what to do when they grow up, and they fall into low circles and hang around with other losers who play video games. They end up as aimless, lost 20 year olds who are angry and frustrated.

Then they get into drugs, and when that becomes a problem, they get into fights with other druggies, or they steal money so they can buy drugs. The video games helped them become losers. If they had parents that made them turn off the TV maybe they would have gone to college, gotten a decent job and been able to support themselves as adults."

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091101203901AAEutLm

Hey thanks, this will be very helpful in the report ^_^

 

[blxtnsq]

Nope.
I reckon games actually reduce violent behaviour. In some cases anyway. I know they do for me.
If I am really stressed or angry, I just put on a violent game and play until I've calmed down. It's like screaming into a pillow, you just take everything you have out on virtual people.
I could actually get pretty violent when provoked when I was little. Ever since I started playing shooters, I haven't had those problems.

 

[Geekosaurus]

This is kinda biased, posting this poll on a gaming forum. Games clearly don't make people violent. If they did, they'd be millions of axe murderers around. Ok, so maybe they make a very small percentage of people violent, but maybe we should be looking at what is wrong with them, rather than the games that, on the whole, don't have any violent repercussions on very many people.

 

[Yureina]

Absolutely not. Ultimately the root of the issue is the person themselves, and what factors in their life led them to committing violent acts. Gaming alone is never the sole cause.

 

[McFox]

It regards to parenting to some point. Sure, videos games do have its moments where they make you want to punch a hole through a wall, but that's only the sensation of frustrastion. On the lines of motivating people to commit murder and crime, it does also have its moment where it can confuse and desensitize people in their morality. What it comes down to, ultimately, is the ability to understand reality from virtual reality. Essentially, if a child, or individual, is unable to determine any sort of contrast, then it bears down to the incapibility of handling such things. Im sure there are worse ways to become influenced to do evil things rather than video games; video games shouldn't be a method of propaganda to viciously beat down someone. Video games were made for entertainment purposes, and essentially, nothing else.

Common sense should make someone realize that just maybe, just maybe, running over someone in a car is probably not a good idea after playing, for example: Grand Theft Auto. It seems that the media wants to blame video games for such acts, but it really just bares down to the lack of common sense and experience. Take, for example, the article that a mother had shaken her infant to death and had blamed FARMVILLE (Yes Farmville) for her motivation...
Need I say more? It's obvious that people like this lack common sense. Blaming farmville, or even a video game, is inexcusable. Ultimately, it is usually just the individual, not a video game. More than likely, a person can become viciously angry and beat their dog after playing monopoly.

 

[Admiral Stukov]

I think Penn & Teller covered this in a Bullshit episode.
And the answer, of course, is no.

 

[Offworlder_v1legacy]

I'll use an example I used when I answered on a thread like this one:

Killing hundreds of people in COD does not want to make me go out and knife people.

Just remember, when you use this argument when talking to non-gamers, always remember to add that what you are 'killing' are not 'people' but AI directed models of people. They may be realistic and all, but in the end, you're not really 'killing' anyone. The only difference between shooting ships in Space Invaders and shooting terrorists in Modern Warfare is the realism.

Just saying. My mom used to say I kill people all the time until I started to correct her every single time. I think she finally got it.

True, true, I'l have to keep thins in mind next time.

 

[chrisromantix]

Poll is flawed there is no yes or no, there is no maybe. Does it effect its audience? Yes it does. Does it make its audience violent? No it doesn't. Does it have some contributing factor to a list of other factors which might cause violence? Possibly.
So can it make a person violent? No
Can it make a violent person more violent? Possibly
Can it provide a cathartic avenue through which adults and adolescents alike to express the natural violent behaviour? Yes.
Can you generalise about the effect of any media on its audience? no.

Anybody who says video-games make you violent needs to get their head examined. Otherwise society would have dissolved into chaos by now.