[POLL] Do video games incite violent behavior?

[dantedemon]

2 of my classmates and me got assigned to a project called "Do video games incite violent behavior?". I am supposed to make a few polls so, here's one for you :)

 

Do YOU think that video games incite violent behavior? Any reasons why you think so? Any why you don't? Vote in the poll and leave comments below. :)

 

Thanks for your time!

 

PS. I feel a need to apologize for any grammar and spelling mistakes, English is not my native language.

[novmbar]

this is hardly an unbiased focus group though :/

[EnaiSiaion]

People do not behave the same way in a game as in real life, regardless of whether their victim is an AI (or the game is about being a psycho - Saints Row, GTA, Prototype) or another player.

 

You can see this in any competitive game: think about League of Legends where half of the chat is usually taken up by screams of "idiot", "retard", "get cancer", "fk ur mom" and people eagerly report each other for an account ban just because they lost a game and want to punish someone else on their team out of spite.

 

There is a psychological theory about this but it is most commonly known as Gabriel's "Greater Internet Fckwad Theory" from the comic. Basically if you can't see or hear the other guy, social conventions do not apply and people fall back on primitive forms of interaction. But does this make people more violent in situations where your social conventions do apply?

 

Just because you tell someone on your team to "get hit by a bus moron", do you actually want him to die in a traffic accident irl? Or for that matter, when some jerk at the office lies and takes your promotion, you may be outwardly polite and professional but wouldn't you think "get hit by a bus moron"? Ten thousand years of civilisation taught us not to say it out loud, but you probably want to.

 

Same goes for single player games. In real life you may imagine running over a traffic jam with a monster truck and make pistol gestures to the tech support guy who refuses to listen and hangs up on you. Games just let you get a monster truck and run over a traffic jam, or buy a pistol and shoot that fcker. This is fine because your social inhibitions (which are hopefully strong enough to prevent you from going on a rl rampage) only apply to real life and not to video games.

 

Therefore I doubt game violence causes real life violence. However people who have no social inhibitions and are already a powder keg to begin with may be attracted to both game violence and real life violence...

[dantedemon]

People do not behave the same way in a game as in real life, regardless of whether their victim is an AI (or the game is about being a psycho - Saints Row, GTA, Prototype) or another player.

 

You can see this in any competitive game: think about League of Legends where half of the chat is usually taken up by screams of "idiot", "retard", "get cancer", "fk ur mom" and people eagerly report each other for an account ban just because they lost a game and want to punish someone else on their team out of spite.

 

There is a psychological theory about this but it is most commonly known as Gabriel's "Greater Internet Fckwad Theory" from the comic. Basically if you can't see or hear the other guy, social conventions do not apply and people fall back on primitive forms of interaction. But does this make people more violent in situations where your social conventions do apply?

 

Just because you tell someone on your team to "get hit by a bus moron", do you actually want him to die in a traffic accident irl? Or for that matter, when some jerk at the office lies and takes your promotion, you may be outwardly polite and professional but wouldn't you think "get hit by a bus moron"? Ten thousand years of civilisation taught us not to say it out loud, but you probably want to.

 

Same goes for single player games. In real life you may imagine running over a traffic jam with a monster truck and make pistol gestures to the tech support guy who refuses to listen and hangs up on you. Games just let you get a monster truck and run over a traffic jam, or buy a pistol and shoot that fcker. This is fine because your social inhibitions (which are hopefully strong enough to prevent you from going on a rl rampage) only apply to real life and not to video games.

 

Therefore I doubt game violence causes real life violence. However people who have no social inhibitions and are already a powder keg to begin with may be attracted to both game violence and real life violence...

 

That's definitely great feedback, it will help a lot with my project :) Would you mind if I quoted some of the things you said during my presentation?

 

 

 

[TheCalliton]

the only "violent behavior" i have gotten from video games is my playing airsoft, which isnt all that violent. Edited June 14, 2012 by TheCalliton

[K00L]

I think it depends on the people. Usually it seems like if there is already an underlying problem it creates violent behavior. But most people know there is a difference between the real world and the game world. Its when they can't tell the difference that it becomes a problem.

[antonkr]

This is a very biased place to get an answer from.

[Yoshh]

Video Games might serve as a vehicle for people that are prone to have violent behaviour, but that's it. It might be video games or anything else, so playing them isn't the issue if you have a sane mind.

[brokenergy]

This isn't a place to conduct such a study as we are all bias participants. You need a grant, a selective group of subjects (control vs treated) and PhD students who are willing to do this type of research. You also need someone who has experience in the field to check if the research is performed correctly and a good, peer-review journal to verify that the data and research isn't bias. So far, there is no link between violent games and increase in aggression.

[bben46]

Only if the violent behavior consists of pounding on your keyboard a bit harder than usual, angry yelling at an inanimate object, and threatening to smash my monitor when things in the game go wrong. :wallbash:

 

If you actually do smash the monitor - then you probably need anger management counseling - and to quit playing video games for a while. :whistling: