Violence In Gaming

By: Vamsi Garghi What Is Violence In Video Games

● Definition of violence from Merriam-Webster Dictionary: The use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. ● Violence in video games have been a factor since the 1990’s and it has continued to rise in popularity. ● To understand this we need to talk a closer look at the history of violent video games… History of Violent Games

● In the 90’s there were a lot of games that had violence and gore in them. ○ 3D, Golden eye, , 3D. ● As new consoles were released like the PlayStation 2 and Original , more and more games were released that followed the same themes. ○ Star Wars BattleFront, Call of Duty Modern Warfare ● This era of gaming was the beginning of franchises that would focused on the violent aspect of the games. History of Violent Games Cont..

● After the PS2 and original Xbox, the main console that was used was the PS3 and . ● This paved the way for game franchises to release games every year ○ For example: Call of Duty, Final Fantasy, Grand Theft Auto ● These Franchise games were released every year, but always followed the same themes because that's who they were targeting the content for. A Case Study:

● A study that was published in March 2018 looking at the effects of violent video ● The scores for this study was based on questionnaires. ● 3 groups ● This results of this experiment showed little to no changes in the baselines scores of the subjects before and after the experiment. Another Case Study

● A meta analysis research concluded that violence in video games does cause a increase in aggressive behavior ● This behavior was more present in western cultures than eastern cultures providing a link to ethnicity and geography as stressors for being influenced by violent games. Effects on the mind

● Violence in video games mainly seem to affect the emotional and behavioral aspect of the brain ● A study published in 2017, that collected results from 116 scientific studies showed that gaming actually improves your sustained attention, and selective attention. ● ●A study done in 2019, researched the effects of desensitization in college students. Gaming Addiction

● Gaming Addiction is a clinically proven disease that is most common in adolescence teen. ● It is most commonly related to the same as gambling addiction. ● The increase of dopamine in your mind after you get a reward is what causes this problem. ● In violent games this reward would usually come from doing bad things like killing, or stealing. How its portrayed in the Media?

● Violence in media has always been used as a scapegoat for mass shootings. ● One of the biggest shooting that has happened in the last three decades is the Columbine School shooting ○ Doom was portrayed as one of the reasons for their actions ○ USPP has a personality profile of Dylan and Eric supports this. ● Since the Columbine shooting, other event such as Parkland shooting have had the same themes.

Ethical theories

● Subjective Relativism ○ Each person can choose what is right and wrong. ● Cultural Relativism ○ We as a society has stated that violence in video games is ok as long as its restricted to certain age groups. ● Ethical Egoism ○ Each person should focus exclusively on his or her self interest Conclusion

● Violence in video games is glorified in today's world because of gaming franchises that have established themselves through the years. ● There is evidence that violence in video games cause aggressive behavior, and other changes. ● There is also evidence that violence in video games have little to no effect in a person brain. ● Violent video games are often the scapegoat for the media to blame mass shootings when there is little connection to them. Thank you! Resources

● Kühn, S., Kugler, D., Schmalen, K. et al. Does playing violent video games cause aggression? A longitudinal intervention study. Mol Psychiatry 24, 1220–1234 (2019). ● Kühn, Simone, et al. “Does Playing Violent Video Games Cause Aggression? A Longitudinal Intervention Study.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 13 Mar. 2018, www.nature.com/articles/s41380-018-0031-7. ● Anderson, Craig A. “Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, Oct. 2003, www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2003/10/anderson. ● Lovell, NIcholas. “If Video Games Cause Violence, There Should Be a Correlation between Game Sales and Violent Crime, Right?” Gamesbrief, 6 Aug. 2010, www.gamesbrief.com/2010/08/if-video-games-cause-violence-there-should-be-a-correlation-between-game-sales -and-violent-crime-right/. ● Dodgson, Lindsay. “There's Even More Evidence That Video Games Could Be Making Children Violent.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 2 Oct. 2018, www.businessinsider.com/video-games-make-children-violent-according-to-study-2018-10. ● https://www.pnas.org/content/115/40/9882#ref-6 ● Prescott, Anna T., et al. “Metaanalysis of the Relationship between Violent Play and Physical Aggression over Time.” PNAS, National Academy of Sciences, 2 Oct. 2018, www.pnas.org/content/115/40/9882#ref-6. ● Palaus, Marc, et al. “Neural Basis of Video Gaming: A Systematic Review.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 26 Apr. 2017, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00248/full.