Over the past few years, the debate over the effects of violence in video games has erupted. A lot of politicians have made this a national talking point blaming it for the increase of school shootings. The two sides of the debate have not agreed, and psychologists have been researching to ascertain the claims. Every week the average American teenager spends 13 hours on a video game console. 66% percent of Americans aged below 40 years own a gaming console. The objective of the research paper was to find out if there is a link between violent video games and teenage aggression (Shao & Wang, 2019).
Methodology
The study was conducted using the General Aggression Model (A, 2004) and 648 Chinese teenagers aged between 12 and 19 participated in the study. There were 339 boys and 308 girls in the study. Four hundred nineteen students came from urban areas, while 229 were from rural areas. The research required all the participants to list five video games and record their using frequency. They recorded the violence degree on a seven-point scale with one being participants who rarely played violent video games and seven being those who played a lot of violent games.
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The participants were also given an aggression questionnaire which recorded dimensions of violence from physical, verbal, anger, and hostility. A five-point scale measured them with one being very different from normal behavior and five being coinciding with normal behavior. The researchers also used 90 true or false queries which investigated the family environment scale. Researchers used Normative Beliefs about Aggression Scale, which had 12 items about retaliation and eight questions about aggression belief. Participants were asked to assess their behavior accuracy, using these items. Six classes were randomly selected and group testing performed, and all participants were required to complete all the questionnaires. IBM SPSS statistics were used in analyzing the correlations and variables and harmonizing the effect of the typical beliefs about aggression.
Results
The research found that there is a significant correlation between violent video games and teenage aggression. The results were identical with similar studies carried out in other countries. It proved that the General Aggression Model could explain the effect of violent games on adolescence aggression. Violent games make adolescents acquire aggressiveness as well as reinforce it by changing their beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes. Video games also desensitize teenagers from aggression and violence. This promotes an aggressive personality which increases the chances of aggressive behavior.
Limitations
The study was conducted only in Chinese schools, and the sample was not large enough to be fully representative. The research did not have juvenile offenders as representatives, and this would have made it more accurate. The study only focused on violent video games and no other types of violent media which also affect teenage aggression.
Conclusion
The research study findings are consistent with results from other countries. I agree that violence in video games can increase aggression and desensitize teenagers. However, it would be a stretch to claim that video games are the leading cause of mass shootings. The study was well done and controlled. The work is important because our society needs to do all it can do to find out the leading cause of teenage violence and aggression. It also gives parents a new perspective when dealing with their children aggression in their teens. In my experience, I can relate that violent media, especially video games, contributed to my teenage aggression, and this belief has not changed since the study came out.
References
A, A. C. (2004). An update on the effects of playing violent video games. J Adolesc .
Shao, R., & Wang, Y. (2019). The Relation of Violent Video Games to Adolescent Aggression: An Examination of Moderated Mediation Effect. Frontiers in Psychology.
