The Impact of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior in Youth

The discussion around violent video games often centers on their potential influence on human aggression and behavior. This essay explores the extent to which these games contribute to increased aggressiveness, drawing upon various research findings and theoretical perspectives. Studies suggest a correlation between gaming violence and aggressive thoughts, feelings, or actions in both laboratory settings and real-world scenarios. The evidence points towards video games as a factor that can shape social behaviors over time through mechanisms such as imitation and desensitization. Furthermore, while some argue for a self-selection bias—where inherently aggressive individuals are drawn to violent games—it is also posited that these games could play a role in 'socializing' players into mimicking on-screen violence. Despite differing views among psychologists, the cumulative research underscores a notable association between prolonged exposure to digital violence and an uptick in real-life confrontational behaviors.

Running head: EFFECTS OF VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES ON PEOPLE 1
Effects of Violent Video Games on People
Name
Institution

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What Are The Effects Of Violent Video Games On People?
Addiction to violent video games affects individuals in a bad way, it effects their feelings
and changes some of their behaviors. It might also lead them to create criminal aggressive acts
which leads them to violence in real life (Boot, Kramer, Simons, Fabiani & Gratton, 2008). The
violent video game play is connected to augmented aggression in gamers yet inadequate proof
exist is available regarding whether the association extends to the criminal violence/delinquency
in accordance with the novel American Psychological Association task force report. According
to CNN report, the 18-year-old gunman that killed 9 individuals in Munich in Germany was a
fanatic of 1st person-shooter games.
This revelation of such a tale of rampage triggered several people to fear that such games
could adversely affect their individual children. The APA and American Academy of Pediatrics
(AAP have taken a strong position in contradiction of the kids alongside teenagers gamers. APA
has reported that over ninety percent of the children in the US play video games. Among kids
between twelve and seventeen years, players surges to ninety-seven percentage point.
Importantly, eighty-five percentage and above of the games in market entails certain
aspects of violence. Such designations as “Manhunt”, “Gears of War”, “Thrill Kill and “Mortal
Kombat” have said it all. Nevertheless, even apparently start “Pokemon Go” needs gamers to go
to combat. APA indicated in its 2015 August policy-statement study illustrated a connection
“between these games’ utilization and surges in aggressive conduct and reduces in prosocial
conduct, empathy as well as ethical engagement (Sherry, 2006).
It has also been warned on media violence by AAP that violent-media gives bad model
for children. These games, must never utilize human/living targets or even incentivize for killing.
This makes kids to link pleasure alongside success with corresponding abilities to trigger both

EFFECTS OF VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES ON PEOPLE 3
pain as well as misery to other people. It was summarized by the AAP from over four-hundred
studies unraveled substantial connection between exposure to violent-media alongside aggressive
conduct thoughts as well as irritated feelings (Bingham, 2016).
It is also true that young men that opened fire at the movie theatre at Columbine High
School in Aurora, Colo, alongside in other massacres has one similarity: They were both video
game players who appeared to act out certain dark digital-fantasy. It appeared as if everyone
exposed to onscreen violence gave them notion to be at rampage-or at minimum powered their
respective impulses (Hauge & Gentile, 2003). The video gamers have been increasingly genuine
and bloodstained than ever before.
It is this realization that the video games can trigger real violence that a spurt of novel
investigation has started to elucidate whatever should and should not be said regarding the
impacts of violent-gaming. It is a reality that gaming can as well as stimulate aggressive
impulses alongside somewhat aggressive conduct (Etchells, 2013). The teenagers that develop a
habit of gaming have increasingly become aggressive as they increasingly clash with their peers
(Toppo, n.d.). These habits have subsequently increased the probability that a gamer shall
involve in a violent-crime in the long term including murder and assault including the Newton-
kind massacre.
Studies have shown that kids who are engaged in “Mortal Kombat” have been more
aggressive. The studies have affirmed that a dosage of this gaming trigger gamers to act
increasingly obscenely than required, at minimum for a novel minutes after gaming. The
collective exposure culminates to practical unfriendliness over the longer run. Research in
schools unraveled that digital combatants engage in rising number of predicaments with their
colleagues-fights in playground, for instance. Extended duration of this gaming amongst the high

EFFECTS OF VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES ON PEOPLE 4
school learners have led to higher number of violent incidents in real life over time. Together
with violent media factors, video gamers will surely culminate in massacres in the real world
(Anderson & Dill, 2000).
In schools, the researchers have affirmed that aggressive kids are the utmost probably to
be attracted to these games and are self-selected to be in increasingly playground conflicts. Thus
the thesis for this study has been affirmed as many psychologist studies have argued that violent
video games “socialize” kids over a period, triggering them to copy such conduct of the
thespians in the games even in real life situations (Albanese, 2015).

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References
Albanese, G. (2015, August 14). Violent video games create aggression, but do they cause kids
to commit crimes? Retrieved March 22, 2017, from http://www.healthline.com/health-
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Anderson, C. A., & Dill, K. E. (2000). Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings and
behavior in the laboratory and in life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
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Bingham, J. (2016, March 12). Study finds no evidence violent video games make children
aggressive. Retrieved September 17, 2017, from
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Etchells, P. (2013, September 19). What is the link between violent video games and aggression?
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Hauge, M. R., & Gentile, D. A. (2003, April). Video game addiction among adolescents:
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Sherry, J. (2006, January 10). The effects of violent video games on aggression. Retrieved March
22, 2017, from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/j.1468-
2958.2001.tb****7.x/abstract
Toppo, G. (n.d.). Do Video Games Inspire Violent Behavior? Retrieved October 01, 2017, from
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encountering sources:

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Boot, W. R., Kramer, A. F., Simons, D. J., Fabiani, M., & Gratton, G. (2008). The effects of
video game playing on attention, memory, and executive control.