Violent Video Games Lead to Increased Aggression — APA Report

“As a researcher in this field, I thought you might be curious to know that there are actually a lot of problems with this report, how the task force was comprised, and the basis for its conclusions on research”.

Original Story: A “study of studies” from 2005 – 2013 from the American Psychological Association (APA) concludes that playing violent video games causes aggression in players. Additionally, the APA has made it clear that there isn’t enough evidence to link video games to acts of criminal violence.

Mark Appelbaum, PhD, the task force chair, is quoted as saying that, “Scientists have investigated the use of violent video games for more than two decades but to date, there is very limited research addressing whether violent video games cause people to commit acts of criminal violence“.

And last but not least, other risk factors for aggression and violent behavior haven’t been studied in connection with playing violent video-games.

Violent video game use is one such risk factor. “But no more so than violent films and the ratings system is the same in games”. Three: They are socially isolated.

“I point that out because there is solid evidence that age is a correlate for attitudes about video games, even amongst scholars”.

“All four factors taken together produce a flawless storm”, he added.

The APA’s statement also comes with significant caveats: the organization is upfront about the fact that the task force didn’t examine much research about how violent video game play influences subjects over long periods of time, nor did it feel confident about its data on how violent video games affect children under 10. It recommends that the nature and level of the violence should be clearly mentioned.

This resolution was adopted by APA representatives at their August 7 meeting in Toronto. The new resolution replaces a 2005 resolution on the same topic.

Dan Hewitt, vice president of media relations and entertainment at ESA, told Healthline, “We could not state it better”. “What researchers need to do now is conduct studies that look at the effects of video game play in people at risk for aggression or violence due to a combination of risk factors”.

The official findings of the task force, which can be read in full here, also show that violent games tend to lead to aggressive cognitions and affect and a decrease in pro-social behavior, empathy and sensitivity to aggression. “As with most areas of science, the picture presented by this research is more complex than is usually included in news coverage and other information prepared for the general public”.

“While there is some variation among the individual studies, a strong and consistent general pattern has emerged from many years of research that provides confidence in our general conclusions”, Appelbaum said.

When boiled down, Strasburger said that it’s easy to pin aggressive behavior on violent video games but not necessarily crime. All this together, says Ferguson, contradicts the assertion that video games drive youth to violence.