Researcher Links Media and Violence

[NaramSuen]

If video games make people more violent, wouldn't the repeated record breaking historical sales of violent video games actually indicate that an increasing trend of violence occur year after year, instead of the steadily decreasing trend that's actually occurring?

You beat me to the punch. These "increases in the likelihood of aggressive behavior" certainly are not manifesting themselves in rising crime rates. But I guess we wouldn't want to let facts get in the way of a good marketing opportunity for an upcoming book.

 

[acosn]

Meh, none of this "A Makes You Violent" crap would matter if parents got off their asses and parented like they're supposed to.

At 7-10 years old:

Your kid should not be reading "Lolita"

Your kid should not be watching "The Silence of the Lambs"

and

YOUR KID SHOULD NOT BE PLAYING CALL OF DUTY

Eesh.

Isn't it odd that the last one is both the most scrutinised and the most permitted?

Apparently the current generation of parents were simply never kids themselves, or led the most boring lives ever, complete with obeying their parents every word and never staying out past curfew.

Despite what some data might say, it's pretty hard to argue in light of simple statistics that show quite clearly that by the US government's own figuring the "GTA" generation is the least violent they've seen in decades.

The question isn't whether or not exposure to violent media makes people violent- that's been proven to be a matter of just how receptive the individual is to it, and at a scientific level there's no real way to test for, "adult with bad childhood" compared to "adult with good childhood," but of course you can find children who are readily receptive because they'll eat up anything you feed them. Proverbally.

The question is what the hell parents are doing.

 

[HaraDaya]

80% of the people here should read the article again. He's not bashing video games, but media in general.
Because he didn't focus on video games alone, that makes me okay with his results. Plus he states everything in moderation, which really does apply to everything.

 

[Sushewakka]

This again. *rolls eyes*

Nothing to discuss here. Why not provide links that movies cause violence? What about books invoking aggression? No? Well that's because that's STUPID. Same for video games.

Actually. The article states "Media". Not "Videogames". So yes, he is indicating that movies and books invoke aggresion as well.

Please read what's actually in the article, rather than just spread prepackaged vitriol.

 

[Something Amyss]

Apparently the current generation of parents were simply never kids themselves, or led the most boring lives ever, complete with obeying their parents every word and never staying out past curfew.

Unfortunately, this generation suffers from the same as every other: "It was different when I was a kid."

Somehow, the shit you grew up with will always be better than the shit yours kids grow up with.

Despite what some data might say, it's pretty hard to argue in light of simple statistics that show quite clearly that by the US government's own figuring the "GTA" generation is the least violent they've seen in decades.

Especially in light of the fact that gaming is more mainstream, and hyperviolent games are breaking sales records. But even the government's reports are like "Just because crime's down doesn't mean we're safe."

Meanwhile, more and more violence is reported, and people act like it's freaking Armageddon out there.

The question isn't whether or not exposure to violent media makes people violent- that's been proven to be a matter of just how receptive the individual is to it, and at a scientific level there's no real way to test for, "adult with bad childhood" compared to "adult with good childhood," but of course you can find children who are readily receptive because they'll eat up anything you feed them. Proverbally.

Indeed. Unfortunately, people see studies that assume correlation equals causation and froth at the mouth. Hence, the question, the issue is still raised ad nauseum.

The question is what the hell parents are doing.

The question is also "why are so many kids online when the parents all seem to hate it?" It's not even a small number. Kids are everywhere. It's somehow abhorrent, and yet...

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

"... an increase in the overall view that the world is more scary and hostile than it really is."

The world is a very scary and hostile place, though. I've heard loads of people complain about the cynicism of younger generations today, but really, cynicism is really useful.

 

[hooksashands]

Props to this guy for actually compiling the stats and data. Also, double props for letting everyone draw their own conclusions. I know this kind of research is over-saturated with personal opinions, so it's nice to finally have one more objective study.

 

[munx13]

Go to a prison or a juvie and ask around how many people there ever played GTA or w/e and did what they did because they learned from those games.

Spoiler

You'd see how dumb these "researchers" are

 

[Conn1496]

I don't think there's a massive correlation between violence and the media. Not enough to make any normal kid turn into a psycho, anyway. There's often another factor that, for some reason, makes the kid believe violence is the answer. I think the main thing is that the media doesn't make children violent, but just the ones who haven't been brought up to accomodate to today's standards. Now, I'm not saying that all violent children have bad parents, but I definately am saying that they were evidently not taught or disciplined otherwise. I mean, I've always played violent games, but my parents only ever told me to hit someone if it's in self defence. I really like most violent video games, but I never took them seriously, and I think that's another factor in affecting modern children. All in all, I don't think it's the media, I think it's the lack of kids these days who don't understand that winning isn't everything, and everything doesn't have to be a competition. As others before me have brought up, sports have also lead to violent behaviour in children, and I think it's the same concept, they just take it so seriously to the point that it makes them violent.

 

[luckshot]

and what did the scans of the control look like?

you know the ones of kids and teenagers that did not get exposed to violent media, what no visit to Amish country?

oh never happened? ok

at least this guy mentioned that there are other factors in life, but he also states a set of "definite links"

 

[Nikolaz72]

Calm down guys. He's not talking about just video games, but all media in general. Books, movies, and TV are all a part of it. And I have to say that I agree with him somewhat. As a society, violence has much less of an impact because we see it in all forms of media throughout our lives.

As opposed to the olden days where violence had much less of an impact because of all the violence we observed in real-life. Against kids, women. Heck even the countless of wars.

 

[AT God]

To get these studies, don't they have to allow kids to view violent media, media that isn't supposed to be seen by kids?

I'm still confused by this, don't let your kids play violent video games. You shouldn't let your kids play violent video games until they are old enough to handle the mature content. I played Grand Theft Auto III in 3rd grade and wasn't mature enough to deal with the content, my parents, who weren't happy I had played it and allowed my older brother to rent it from blockbuster, returned it and I didn't play another M game for several years. I am majoring in psychology so I can look into this whole violent media situation but I wouldn't study the effect of things have on people who aren't supposed to have them. People don't study the effects of heroin on children because that would require giving children heroin. Don't let kids play/watch media they cannot deal with

 

[zidine100]

Dr Warburton noted that by understanding media better, we could help children use media in a way that enhances their development rather detracts from it. In the end, consuming media is like consuming food, he said. Just as food impacts our body, media impacts the way our brain wires up and the way we think and feel. For this reason similar principles apply. Have regard to how much media you consume, have regard to the content of media, and make sure it is the right media for a child?s stage of development, he said.

so really all this study says from what i understand from these articles, have common sense, don't give your children murder porn such as saw (it would be a bit harsh saying the first one was murder porn admittedly, but that's just my personal opinion).

umm sounds logical to me to be honest.

 

[Callate]

It would be a lot easier to take this kind of research seriously if it would stop coming out of places with names like "Children and Families Research Center" that rather obviously seem to have an axe to grind.

Until then, it's pretty much, "point to the statistics that youth violence is flat or down as video game violence continues to rise, roll eyes, lather, rinse, repeat."

 

[Zaik]

Here we go again.

More years and probably millions of dollars wasted to tell us that rock music will turn our children into pot smoking satan worshipers.

It'd be nice if they at least tried hard enough that I had to actually read into what went on in the study to tell it's bogus.

"Desensitization to violence" is a nice scary buzzword for psychiatrists and news anchors to throw around, but it means almost nothing. An individual who is "desensitized" to violent images expresses less shock/discomfort from viewing violent images than one who is not. That's it. That's the big link everyone is wasting years of their lives to make.

Glad i'm not the asshole that has to foot the bill on this one, at least. Sucks for you, Australians.

 

[Farther than stars]

So... did you read it?

What do you think?

You know what I think, that's what I wrote in my first post!

 

[ElPatron]

"an increase in the overall view that the world is more scary and hostile than it really is"

The researcher obviously forgot he is living in AUSTRALIA and my very scarce knowledge about the country makes it seem like a bad "standard" for hostility unless you're an aborigine or something.

Drop the guy on Detroit for a night and he'll acknowledge that the world IS hostile.

And exposure to violence desensitizes people? HOLY NEWS, BATMAN! WE HAVEN'T FIGURED THIS OUT DECADES AGO!

While you debate this, your army knows and exploits this fact, increasingly recruiting ex gamers to operate the UAV's and serve as a waste material at the front lines.

Ex-gamer? That's like saying ex-driver because you decided to take the bus.

Military life and gaming is not mutually exclusive. In fact, what the hell do a lot of people stationed abroad do? Play games.

In no other area of my daily life do I hear the term "I want to strangle him" - not even as a joke.

You live in a strange place. I can believe people somehow resist the road-rage and refrain from doing and saying stupid things that make others shout violent threats.

But nobody banters? That's where I find it hard to believe.

"They include increases in the likelihood of aggressive behavior, increases in desensitization to violence and an increase in the overall view that the world is more scary and hostile than it really is."

And yet Republicans don't play video games. So what's their excuse?

"All I know about Republicans I have learned in youtube clips of Fox News, but that doesn't make me a bigot"

 

[ElPatron]

"Desensitization to violence" is a nice scary buzzword for psychiatrists and news anchors to throw around, but it means almost nothing. An individual who is "desensitized" to violent images expresses less shock/discomfort from viewing violent images than one who is not. That's it. That's the big link everyone is wasting years of their lives to make.

Pretty much this. Anyone living in the city is pretty much desensitized to human suffering anyway and we would be anyway if we lived in the wild like we did hundreds of thousands of years ago.

Being less affected by violence doesn't mean "blood-lust".

To get these studies, don't they have to allow kids to view violent media, media that isn't supposed to be seen by kids?

+1

We should call the police on them for infinite lulz.

As a psychology student

I just think that people don't see psychology as a real science, and the world is filled with psychologists and psychology students. It's hard to take you people seriously, it's like chiropractors vs real doctors.

 

[Farther than stars]

In no other area of my daily life do I hear the term "I want to strangle him" - not even as a joke.

You live in a strange place. I can believe people somehow resist the road-rage and refrain from doing and saying stupid things that make others shout violent threats.

But nobody banters? That's where I find it hard to believe.

OK, so to be fair, the country I live in at the moment doesn't use that particular expression a lot and I have to admit that I have heard it used jokingly in the UK somewhat. So it was a poor example, but I maintain my opinion: gamers use a more violent rhetoric when expressing their disdain for something. I'll use another example. The guy who burned that Mass Effect book, don't you think that was a little extreme?

P.S. Concerning the line "an increase in the overall view that the world is more scary and hostile than it really is", I agree that "the world" is poor choice of words, but I think this is an issue of style over substance. Of course there are bad places in the world, but kids in the ghetto were likely going to grow up violent anyway out of a sense of self-preservation, but most gamers live reasonably sheltered lives. What's more, this research examines whether or not games make you more violent rather than how violent they might make you.