Research Shows No Link Between Video Game Violence And Real-World Violence 

Research Shows No Link Between Video Game Violence And Real-World Violence

New study from Stetson University researcher suggests violent video games do no lead to increases in violent crimes.

In September, researchers at Villanova University and Rutgers University published the results of an in-depth study that suggested violent video games do not lead to increases in real-world violent behavior. Now, a pair of follow-up studies from Stetson University researcher Christopher Ferguson have reached the same general conclusion, finding that there is no evidence for a link between video game or movie violence and real-world violent behavior.

In fact, as reported by Medical Daily, Ferguson\'s studies found that the rise in popularity of violent video games was actually related to a decrease in youth violence.

For his first study, Ferguson measured homicide rates from 1920 to 2005 against the frequency and graphic nature of violence in popular movies. A "slight" link between violent movies and murder rates was found during the mid-20th century, but the connection lessened in the 1990s, a period when movie violence was linked with fewer homicides overall.

The second study focused on video game violence. Ferguson looked at Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) data for games released between 1996 and 2011 as well as federal youth crime data for the same period. What he found was that violent video game consumption was "strongly" correlated with declines in the instances of youth violence.

This downward correlation is likely related to "chance," and should not be taken as an indication that playing violent video games can lead to a safer world, Ferguson said.

"Society has a limited amount of resources and attention to devote to the problem of reducing crime," Ferguson said in a statement. "There is a risk that identifying the wrong problem, such as media violence, may distract society from more pressing concerns such as poverty, education, and vocational disparities and mental health. This research may help society focus on issues that really matter and avoid devoting unnecessary resources to the pursuit of moral agendas with little practical value."

Violent video games such as Grand Theft Auto (pictured throughout this post) are often brought up by researchers in their studies about the topic of violence in video games. For instance, earlier this year, Ohio St. professor Brad Bushman made the point that there is definitely a link between playing violent games and increases in aggressive behavior. At the time, he also cited a study in which researchers found games like Grand Theft Auto actually encourage players to give no thought to self-control.

For further reading on the subject of violence in games and its effect on society, you can read GameSpot\'s interview with Villanova professor Patrick Markey.

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In another study violent video games have been linked to Ebola outbreaks in teen youths (the scariest thing on earth to old white people, teens with Ebola). 

More tax payer money is requested to fund violent video game studies and the link between asteroids, prostate cancer, black presidents and Isil or whatever is the scariest thing on the news lately- Beiber selfies maybe?  More importantly, with millions of dollars more, we will eventually find a correlation for whatever you need us to at any given time. 

 "What he found was that violent video game consumption was "strongly" correlated with declines in the instances of youth violence. This downward correlation is likely related to "chance," and should not be taken as an indication that playing violent video games can lead to a safer world, Ferguson said."

One could say that the fact the youths are at home playing any videogames and not out on the streets is what leads to a "safer world"? ^^

Lies because whats her face says otherwise, but in all honesty any one but the ultra crazies believed there was a link between media and real life violence

Any link between an individual about just being crazy? I played a lot of Mortal Kombat and never once it lead me to believe I was Sub-Zero!!! Damnit....if you think you can emulate what you do in GTA or any other violent game...in real life, you got problems...It\'s just a fkn videogame!!! Oh crap....It\'s true!!! I just cursed....my goodness....I have problems!!! Damn videogames make me so violent aaaagh!!!!

Another year, another study, welcome to what most gamers already know.

i still don\'t believe this. i am willing to bet that some games do cause violent tendencies in the people that do play them.

If theres no link between videogames and violence, then how come people are still saying they cause misogyny? 

It\'s incredible how people tend to have a negative attitude toward video game violence yet they seem to completely ignore the presence of violence in all the media, from movies,TV and even news.There are even mainstream movies that are far more violent than any video game(Rambo 4 for example) yet the violence displayed in them is consider normal and no one seems to question the influence it may have on some people.

I personally believe that if a person is completely normal and sane no amount of video game or movie violence will push it toward some violent act, people committing violent crimes are mentally unstable individuals that have always existed and always will. People have been committing disgusting acts of violence long before video games were invented and somehow people seem to forget that. Video games are nothing but a convenient scape goat used because a lot of people have a negative attitude towards them based on ignorance and lack of knowledge.

Yet another study that confirms videogames aren\'t the source of violence. If someone is going to commit an act of extreme violence, it\'s not the material you should worry about, but the source. 

Mental health and society\'s inability to be aware of it are what cause these things to happen. No sane person is going to say after playing payday 2, "Well just robbed this bank and got away with it, now i\'m going to go do it at my local bank". 

I totally agree with this and same thing should be said about guns. Instead of focusing on gun control, attention should be put on more pressing concerns such as poverty, education, and vocational disparities and mental health.

So my friend Ginger was telling me today about an episode of "Law and order" I\'ve never seen the show.. But anyway, She explained how the episode was about this rapist who uses a turkey baster with rubbing alcohol to erase any DNA evidence of his sexual attacks on a woman if you catch my drift. BTW This is explained in the show in much more graphic detail than I am typing it.

I was shocked as to how this is "Prime time TV" and it\'s TOTALLY OK, but video games seem to always be under a microscope!? O__o 

honestly i have seen ALOT more people being violent because of rap music.. these kids see these rappers and think its cool and try to be them and do drugs and think the hood is cool... the only violence i have seen from video games is little kids with imaginations.. 

UP TIGHT people don\'t care! They will still say violent videogames is the core of ALL EVIL!!

Should young children play mature games? No

Should the mentally unstable play violent games or have access to weapons? No

Should parents step in and actually communitate with their children and teach them that video games are not real? Yes

Should parents teach their children from birth the difference between right & wrong? Yes

There that\'s an easy course for any parent confused about the dangers of violent games.

It has already been proven many times that video games cause insanity in people who have never played them.

Great! But that\'s still not gonna stop the media, talk show hosts, parents, politicians, and just generally concerned citizens from going absolutely BALLISTIC (bad choice of word?) and calling for game companies\' metaphorical heads when "Hatred" comes out next year.

The media over here in the UK tried to make a story out of a student who killed a teacher playing too much Dark Souls....

So this kid with a troubled home life who clearly had a grudge against one of his teachers and mental instablity went loco and decided to kill her....And it was Dark Souls fault?

If it were Dark Souls\' fault he\'d have spent minutes rolling around her and trying to strafe before going in for a backstab.

The title of this article should have been: "Again, Research Shows No Link Between Video Game Violence And Real-World Violence" or "Research Shows No Link Between Video Game Violence And Real-World Violence, Again".

It seems like more research money goes into this than cancer.

Now doesn\'t this also prove there is no link between video games and sexism?!

Isn\'t this article kind of pointless? Not that I disagree with it... but a few months from now another university will conduct the same type of research and find that there IS supposedly a link between violence and games... and once again we\'ll be back to square one in this pointless, ongoing argument.

i believe it. i was a violent sociopath before i really got into games.

No way interactive media can\'t make a person do something it u the persons choice to act. No video game will make you violent.

Video games don\'t cause mysogyny either the reason video games are so heavily skeward towards the male demographic is because a high percentage of game developers are male ergo they create games that would appeal to them. Most young girls don\'t have asperations to be game designers when they grow up so the male female ratio when it comes to game developers is often skeward toward males.

@jetro290 Yeah but there should be a least a series of checks and balances in order to obtain a gun.

@XxXDarkness0XxX Violence and music? The 1980s called, they want their issue back.

@CnConrad I totally agree with you. But at the same time how many people in their mid twenties and beyond who grew up in the 90s played violent video games without parent intervention. I would say a large majority. Now this was mainly due to the fact that video games were a foreign media to the parents of that generation. If you have a healthy open relationship with your kids, they will be fine. They won\'t be scarred if the play an M game or watch a few R rated movies. Not to say that is right, just that children are pretty resilient and are far more intelligent than we give them credit for.

@STEAMCAMEL Insanity dosen\'t always equate to violence though

@balrogbane We don\'t need money going to cancer research we all ready have a cure, it\'s called cannabis!

@plastiqueworld The reason is because the studies are apples and oranges. The ones that do show a link are usually measuring over the very short term -- right after the game ends or at most a day or two. They also tend to measure "aggression" in an abstract way, increased heart rate, or answers on multiple choice quizzes that seem to indicate less empathy (but could also indicate less attention being given because the attention is directed elsewhere). The ones that don\'t, like this one, have the simple reasoning that if violent video games caused youth violence, then, well wouldn\'t we SEE the youth violence in the real world? We do measure murder rates and such. And we don\'t see an increase; rather, as the article says, the reverse of an increase. The youth violent crime rate took a nosedive almost the very year that Doom was unleashed on an unsuspecting public. Studies also tend to be very naive and broad-brush, especially the ones that assume negative effects. If you go into the details, some fascinating facts emerge. For instance, one study showed that games like Left 4 Dead don\'t increase any indicators that have been (controversially) linked with violence in youths, because all the human players are on the same side and if you don\'t care about anyone else, you\'re pretty quickly dead meat. It\'s only games where human players are pitted against other human players that get people worked up.

@atopp399 Nobody with a brain watches Fox news anyway so biased. It\'s a propaganda machine for the 1% and sheep fall for it hand over foot.

Yea dont bash fox alone on this. The dems have been as anti game as the republicans.

Both parties need to stop legislating morality.

@atopp399 More news stations than FOX claim that video games lead to real-life violence.

Theres a big difference between gun violence and video game violence... one happens in real life...

Nice try though - P.S. the election was yesterday. Let\'s stay focused on games here...

@b1ank @STEAMCAMEL Yup, just like violence doesnt equate to insanity. 

@VegasDawg I personally don\'t watch fox news, but that being said, there are liberal stations that are just as biased as they are.

@balrogbane @kujel The is a mountain of research showing cannabis cures cancer because of all those wonderful cannabinoids. Wasting research money on cancer is pointless when that money could  spend it on curing HIV instead.

@Wild360 @VegasDawg @atopp399 Propaganda mills with agendas.  Republican deregulation has allowed just a few people to own all news networks and radio stations  . They preach whatever that corporation wants, mostly fear and to keep you isolated from the world, so you just keep consuming. Ebola anyone? Reason why so many Americans are ignorant our news does not report the news anymore it\'s infotainment to keep the sheep happy. Our news is no longer free or objective. You must be smart and vigilant to get the real news, thank god for the internet. Deregulation is not always a good thing, it\'s also what caused the 2008 crash that brought the worlds economy to its knees. How soon the sheep forget, we still have not recovered from the Bush economy and they vote them back in again, prepare for more war, Republicans answer to everything.

@kujel @balrogbane You do know cancer is an umbrella term for healthy cells gone a muck ie uncontrolled replication. There many causes for cancer, many of which depend on secondary and tertiary factors such as environment, age, genes, gender etc. To name cannabinoids as are a cure all for a complex disease is a bit of an understatement.

@bubba_1988 @kujel @balrogbane If you\'ve read the research on cannabinoids and the endo-cannabinoid system you\'d understand why I say they cure cancer. And now I\'m not saying smoking pot cures cancer.

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