Authors: Derrick Janushewski and Myna Truong
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Since the introduction of video and computer games, concerns have been raised regarding their possible ill effects. Theoretically, video games may serve to promote aggressive tendencies or to release aggressive tendencies, as predicted by the social learning theory and catharsis theory, respectively (Griffiths, 1999; Keepers, 1990). In this research paper, we will be examining the possible influence of video and computer games posing the following questions: If there is a high degree of violent content in many video and computer games, does this mean that the frequent user will exhibit a greater degree of aggression and violent towards others in their daily lives? If not, why not? Does the answer depend on the personal and social characteristics of the user, such as their age, gender, and level education? What measures, if any, would we recommend in regulating the degree of violence in video game content? The first question deals with influence with regards to the amount of video and computer games a player plays. The second question identifies the limiting conditions of the influence. The final question raises suggestions for regulation of violent game contents.
Video games were first introduced in the 1970's. By the end of the decade, they had become a preferred childhood leisure activity, and adults responded with concern about the possible ill effects of the games on children. Early research on these effects was inconclusive (Cesarone, 1999). In the mid 1980's, computer games were released and the home video game market "crashed and burned". However, the introduction of new systems such as Nintento in 1986, video game popularity resurged (Provenzo, 1991). With the increasing competition between different video game systems and computer games, and with the advancement of technology, the content of games changed greatly. Graphics were rapidly improving and consequently, content became more detailed and visually violent (Tulupman, 1993).
Ever since their conception, video games have contained violence, violence being to cause pain or death onto other beings. From the earliest games to most advanced modern 1st person shooter violence plays an important role in games. Determining that violence is present in video games is easy and the answer is yes. The early games like Wonder Boy and Space Invaders contain violence, the later involves the player shooting and killing and many aliens as possible in wave after wave of attack. Wonder Boy contains violence in the form of the hero killing monsters that vanish upon death, the hero himself is subject to violence enemies shoot arrows, throw rocks and swing swords at him. Upon death, the hero himself falls off the screen and the enemies disappear in a small explosion or puff of smoke. This is a common depiction of early video games (Crawford 1984; Provenzo 1991) is it violent, yes, is it a high degree of violence, that is a little harder to answer. The answer to this question is based very much on personal preference. Some people would argue that any violence at all is more then is acceptable, while others may argue that due to the lack of gore and the obvious 'cartoon' like appearance of the charters the violence is not a high degree at all. But what where to happen if gore was added and the cartoon appearance were to become much more realistic, with the passing of time new hardware and programming techniques this is just what has happened.
In the modern popular game Goldeneye 007 bad guys no longer disappear in a cloud of smoke when killed, instead they perform an elaborate maneuver when killed. Since Goldeneye 007 is a shooting game, maneuvers performed by dying enemy solders varies depending on where they get shot. Those shot in the foot hop around holding there feet while those shot in the neck fall to their knees and then face while clutching at their throats thus adding to the realism of the game. Lacking in this game is gore but this is more then covered in other popular games such as Unreal Tournament and Half-Life. In these games when characters get shot there is a large spray of blood that covers the walls and floor near the character, also on the occasions in which explosives are used characters burst into small but recognizable body parts. Now ask the same question about their being a high degree of violence in video games and almost every one would agree that yes there is. Even thought the level of realism and gore have increased it is harder to say that video games have become more violent over time, since the basic goal behind most games from any time is the kill everything and anything which get in your way. Therefor one would have to conclude that video games have always contained a high degree of violence, but just now are the realism and gore levels catching up to the level of violence in games. With the exception of most sports games and educational games, video games have a high degree of violence but not all include the high levels of realism and gore that are possible. The violent video games are also the more popular games on the market (Schutte et al. 1988; Funk and Buchman 1996; Quittner 1999)
The reasons for the inclusion of violent content in many video or varied, but there seem to be two main ones. First is that games centered are easily to designed, for the designer all that has do be created is the situation in which to put the hero, since it is all ready known that it is kill or be killed, this is easily done. Another reason for the violence is market demand, as long as violent video games are being bought producers are going to keep on making them. As girls, who tend to stay away from violent games, enter the video game market there will be a corresponding trend in the increase of non-violent games as game designers try to capture this new market. As long as boys stay the dominate audience for video games violence will be continue to be present.
Having a high degree of violence does not necessary mean anything, the nightly news is filled with violence and very few people are concerned about its affects. What is important to look at the is the relation between video games players and there social interaction to see if the violence in video games affect players in any way.
The U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop once claimed that arcade and home video games are among the top three causes of family violence (Anderson, 1986; Cooper, 1986). Although there have been studies that have found video game violence to have little negative effects on their players (Griffiths, 1999), there are also many studies that have found a positive correlation between negative behavior, such as aggression, and video and computer game violence (Anderson, 1986; Malouff et al, 1988). Numerous laboratory studies dating back to the original Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1961) study of modeling of aggression in children, have shown that exposure to aggressive models can lead to an increase in subsequent aggression. There is no real consensus on the affects of violence in video games on players (Griffiths, 1999) it is still important to look for possible relations. Thus, in order to assess the effects of game violence on its users, the limiting conditions under which there are effects must be taken into account. The personal and social characteristics of the user serve as these limiting factors which include age, gender, and class/level of education.
The gender bias associated with video and computer games have existed since the initial phase of video game activity in the early 1980s, with young males being the targeted market (Ward Gailey, 1993). This raises the question of whether video and computer games have different impacts on males than on females.
A number of observation studies have examined the differences in children's behavior after playing an aggressive video game by looking at the child's free play (Griffiths, 1999). In one study, Cooper and Mackie (1986) examined forty-four boys and forty girls from fourth and fifth grade. These children were randomly paired and assigned to either the aggressive video game condition, the little aggression video game condition, or the control condition which comprised of a non-video maze solving game. The children were either told to participate in the game or were spectators of the task. All these conditions lasted for eight minutes. The impact of video game aggression was assessed during free play.
The result of the study found that there were measurable consequences of playing or observing video games on girls' behavior. Playing more aggressive game increased girls' activity as well as the likelihood that they would play with aggressive toys. Conversely, playing the less aggressive game mildly decreased activity and mildly increased girls' passive play. Theses effects occurred as a consequence of both playing and watching peers play with aggressive and non-aggressive games. On the other hand, boys were not affected by the playing of any of the video games. Their tendency to choose the aggressive toy was higher than that of the girls to begin with and did not change due to playing or observing the highly aggressive video game.
Cooper and Mackie hypothesized the differences found to result from inexperience leading to greater arousal. Girls, who are exposed less to violence in general and who are less experienced with violent video games, react to exposure to the aggressive game with greater arousal than boys. This arousal thus makes aggressive behavior more likely, and so more activity and more aggressive play in female subjects were found than in the male subjects.
Though further research is needed to look into the causes of differential effects of video and computer games on gender, data from the Cooper and Mackie study reveal that boys and girls are affected differently by video games. Thus gender should be taken into consideration when interpreting results from other studies since females seem to show a greater influence from video game violence than do males.
Even though a large portion of the literature finds no relation between video game violence and player behavior (Griffiths, 1999). It is of interest to see whether or not the relation between video game violence and player behavior is affected by age. When looking at this it is important to note that only one study reviewed by Griffiths (1999) dealt with players from more then one age category and it found no relation between aggressive behavior and violent video games. The studies are broken into two major categories children who are in grade school and high school and studies conducted on undergraduates at collages and universities. In most cases however the studies where not done with both age categories at the same time. Also no studies were found that looked at players who are working and no longer in an academic environment.
If age were to be a factor on would expect to find that older players show more are less of an effect from video games then younger ones, this was not the case. Studies found relations between older and younger players and violent video games alike (Griffiths, 1999). The difference in age did however affect how the players showed their effect. Studies on children showed that there might be a relation between violent video games and aggression. This aggression was often manifested in increases in violent or aggressive play (Schutte et al. 1988; Cooper and Mackie 1886; Provenzo 1991). While studies on older players showed that increased aggression was present but it was not manifested thought behavior, but rather by other means (Griffiths 1999; Funk and Buchman 1996), such as increased hostility on a test (Anderson and Ford, 1986) or heart rate (Griffiths 1999).
In conclusion while whether of not violent video games affect players it is not known for certain. Studies have shown that young and old players may be affected equally. The difference that age brings is that older players do not express their effect though physically violent behavior. Older player's knowledge and compliance of social standards may cause this, since society does not openly accept such behavior.
Other external factors that may affect the influence of video games on players are economic status and education levels. Unfortunately neither of these are dealt with sufficiently in the literature. Since all of the studies are performed on students it is not possible determine weather or not level of education is a limiting factor. The area in which education does show up is age; older students have higher levels of education. Consequently education showed no difference in affection only manifestation (Anderson and Ford, 1986; Griffiths 1999; Cooper and Mackie 1886)
Economic status is also not looked at in the literature. The majority of the studies are looking at whether or not there is any affect of video games on players. Until this is proven conclusively looking at economic status and its relation to the effect is obviously not a priority to researchers. The one study found that did look at economic status found that working class families tended to rent and purchase more of the graphically violent games then middle class families (Gailey 1993). From this one can conclude that if there is an affect of video games on players that players in working class families would be more effected then middle class players, due to the nature of the games that they play.
Currently there are two rating systems for video and computer games. Both are similar to each other. Most North American video games manufacturers have adopted the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) system. The Canadian Interactive Digital Software Association (CIDSA) administers the ESRB ratings in Canada. The personal computer industry has adopted the Recreational Software Advisory Council (RSAC) system. These rating systems classify games according to the amount of violence, crude language, nudity and drug use in their contents. Game companies are encouraged to submit their products be rated but there is no government policy at this point. (Media Awareness Network, 1999)
Video game producers Nintento and Sega have their own rating systems. Nintento and licensee games are subject to the company's content guidelines. These guidelines prevent any sexually suggestive content; excessive illustrations of death or violence; excessive force in a sports game beyond what is inherent in the actual game; any racial or ethnic stereotypes, including racial or religious symbols, profanity and obscenity; illegal drugs, smoking materials and alcohol; and inclusion of subliminal political messages. (Tulupman, 1993)
Sega, on the other hand, has a rating system that resembles classification used to rate movies. These ratings are made by the Video Game Rating Council, an independent committee of child experts (Tulupman, 1993).
There are four main policy recommendations that one could make. The first recommendation would be to have no regulations on video and computer games, and let market forces decide on the content and amount of violence in the games produced. A second recommendation would be to leave current industry self-regulations in place, with no change. Another recommendation could include government-enforced ratings on games; similar to the rating system found on movies. In addition strict control over the sale and rental of violent games should be implemented, similar to the sales of cigarettes. Dealers and renters will be required to perform ID checks to ensure that the purchaser/renter is of legal age. Finally the government could place restrictions on game makers controlling the amount and type of violence they are able to put in the games they produce.
All of these policy options have benefits and shortcomings, which leave no real clear path to which should be implemented. Since the evidence that there is a significant effect of video game violence on players one may be inclined to argue that to do nothing would be the policy to recommend. The main problem with this is that it does not provide contentious purchases with any information about the contents and nature of the game. This may result in parents who want to avoid extremely graphic violent games, making purchasing errors. This points to leaving things as they are or enforcing government regulation. Government regulation may not be affective since video games cost a considerable amount of money to buy, so anyone young enough to be effected by such constraints is likely to have a parent purchase the game anyway. This may also lead to an increase in the trade of illegal hacked games, since children can not get the games from the store they will go elsewhere. For political reasons government enforced restrictions are not likely to take place. The game industry is approximately a $7 billion industry. Violent games make up a large proportion of the industry revenues and it is not likely that it will give this without a strong fight (Jackson, 1999). Constitutionally government enforced regulation is also problematic since it would most defiantly become a freedom of speech issue.
This leaves the policy recommendation of leaving things as they are, but there are problems with this policy as well. Leaving things as they are is like saying that everything is all right, but many parents and even children do not believe that this is the case (Sneed and Runco 1992). Video games creators are substituting game play quality with gore and realism. While the current ratting systems are adequately doing what they are intended to do, rate game content, parents and gamers both should use market forces to avoid games with which objectionable content. Since the game industry provides what is asked for by the market, refusing to purchase games that are objectionable is the most direct way to influence the games that are being created.
In conclusion the recommended policy is a combination of leaving the current rating system in place and educating people about the control they have over the market.
As Griffiths (1999) found in his research, although there are many studies examining the effects of video game and aggression, these studies seem to focus mainly on the possible short-term aggressive effects. However, we did find one study that looked at the long term affects of video game play on people, but it was not related to violence. Instead, it looked at the relation between video game playing when young and gambling when old (Griffiths, 1991). This shows a possible relationship between activities when young and their consequences on adult behavior. Further studies on the long-term effects of video game violence and its users are need.
The observational studies looking at children's free play tended to show that children do become more aggressive after either playing or observing a violent video game. At a theoretical level, these evidences suggest empirical data supporting the social learning theory. As others have cautioned, the validity and reliability of the procedures used to measure aggressions should be questioned (Griffiths, 1999; Cooper & Mackie, 1986).
The limiting conditions under which video games may have an affect that were considered were gender, age, and class/level of education. With regards to gender, although few studies looking at the differential effects were found, the study mentioned above suggests that females are more affected by video game violence than males. One hypothesis for this difference was suggested by Cooper and Mackie, that inexperience with video games led to greater arousal. Another possibility may be that since males have been found be have more experience with video games, they may have become more desensitized to the violence than females. Once again, more research is necessary to draw conclusions on the differential effects of video game violence on gender.
When age was look at it was discovered that age played no significant part in determining if a player was affected by the content of video games or not. The difference of age showed up in the manifestation of its affect. Herz (1997) introduces an interesting explanation of this increase in aggressive behavior of children. A large number of the studies involved adolescent children; these children are at an age when they are naturally violent, aggressive and moody. So when put in a situation with increased agitation like many of the studies involved, increases in aggressive behavior may be natural regardless of stimulation. While this particular situation is not true of older students the method of study does need to be questioned.
The effects of education levels and economic class have not yet been looked at, possibly due to a lack in conclusive evidence showing a overall relation.
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