Researchers: Violent Games Do Not Affect Prosocial Behavior

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Eventually the world is going to have to come to grips with the reality that violent video games do not cause violence / anti-social behavior. In the mean time, we need more studies like this. :cool:

We failed to find evidence that playing video games affects prosocial behavior. Research on the effects of video game play is of significant public interest. It is therefore important that speculation be rigorously tested and findings replicated. Here we fail to substantiate conjecture that playing contemporary violent video games will lead to diminished prosocial behavior.
 
Everybody would prefer there was a solitary cause to violence that could be fixed instantly and there is, it's called "being alive" the only cure is fatal. Shit, even some plants are violent.
 
Everybody would prefer there was a solitary cause to violence that could be fixed instantly and there is, it's called "being alive" the only cure is fatal. Shit, even some plants are violent.

Funniest part about all of these studies, whether they claim videogames don't cause problems, or that they do, is all anyone needs to do is travel to a part of the globe where they don't have videogames, and you'll see violence. Heck, even in the "civilized" areas, there has been violence going on for decades/centuries/millenia before videogames, yet no one bothers to even just look at history.
 
Funniest part about all of these studies, whether they claim videogames don't cause problems, or that they do, is all anyone needs to do is travel to a part of the globe where they don't have videogames, and you'll see violence. Heck, even in the "civilized" areas, there has been violence going on for decades/centuries/millenia before videogames, yet no one bothers to even just look at history.

All they need to do is read a few history books. Every historical era is marked by periods of war. You'll never see one divided up by periods of peace. The news is the same. Newspapers never print about how nice things are going. It's always someone was shot, someone was stabbed, robbed, raped, beat, mugged, or what have you. If a cause of human violence is to be found they only need to realize that humanity IS the cause. The only way to solve it is to change human nature. Good luck with that.
 
Crap. I just played Lemmings and pushed my friend over the cliff. :(
 
I've seen a cartoon mouse put a stick of dynamite into a cartoon cat's ass hundreds of times. I came out okay and I love dogs and even lazy good for-nothing cats.
 
If you take all weather related deaths in the world and combine them they wouldnt add up to the heat related deaths that happen. Clearly we need a movement from Mothers Against It Being Too Hot Outside to start sending angry letters to the sun.
 
I wouldn't make a blanket statement that violent games have no affect, but I do believe it has no affect on the majority of people (myself included). I do believe that there is a very small amount of people who are highly susceptible to influences from games, music, movies, etc. But like other things (think guns), the majority of people use them the right way, it's just the few bad ones that ruin it for everyone. A couple people over the years that may of been influenced by video games ruin it for the rest of us who it doesn't affect.

Point is, rather than wasting time on this type of research, lets spend that money on research to help identify at an early age, those who need help.
 
Everybody would prefer there was a solitary cause to violence that could be fixed instantly and there is, it's called "being alive" the only cure is fatal. Shit, even some plants are violent.
I would not accuse carnivorous plants as being "violent". Their eating habits are merely a function of their survival (carnivorous behavior does not denote violent behavior). If it were to be proven that they kill for sport or as acts of aggression, only then might I be inclined to label them as "violent".
 
I would not accuse carnivorous plants as being "violent". Their eating habits are merely a function of their survival (carnivorous behavior does not denote violent behavior). If it were to be proven that they kill for sport or as acts of aggression, only then might I be inclined to label them as "violent".

Lol. "And 10 points goes to Sandy the Venus fly trap. Sandy did the unthinkable by swallowing a kitten in less than 15 minutes. That's gotta be a record. And there's her family over there in the audience! With a strong support like that, how could she fail?" "Yes, that's heart warming indeed, Jim!"
 
One study says they don't. Whereas 30,000 other studies say they do. :S

I think it needs to be accepted that by themselves games don't necessarily cause violent behavior. But with those who suffer from various kinds of medical conditions it does have a hand in causing the behavior, or amplifying it.
 
War games are at least 5000 years old, dating back to checkers at 3000 BC.

This is probably why we have had so many wars since then.
 
It's in our jeans.

Or in the glovebox.

Or under the front seat.

Or a shoulder holster if you have jacket.
 
It's in our jeans.

Or in the glovebox.

Or under the front seat.

Or a shoulder holster if you have jacket.

ZOMG, just wear something else. Jeans never fit right anyhow. Try shorts, a nice jumper, or a decent brand skirt. Wearing jeans is like a sign of low income and a lame job anyway. Yard work people wear them and other people who do the whole manual labor for not much money do too.
 
Which is why I rock Zubaz 100% of the time. I don't want people thinking I'm low income.
 
ZOMG, just wear something else. Jeans never fit right anyhow. Try shorts, a nice jumper, or a decent brand skirt. Wearing jeans is like a sign of low income and a lame job anyway. Yard work people wear them and other people who do the whole manual labor for not much money do too.

Bah. I'm a fashion Trendsetter.

Bluejeans, faded with holes? Shit, wearing them since I was a kid, hand-me-downs even.

Tattoos? Shit wrote all my test crib notes with black pen.

Beard stubble? Ever since I was 16. Lazy is the word that comes to mind

Camo? Army/Navy store had the cheapest new clothes. If nothing at Salvation Army fit, it was the surplus store.
 
These accusations are unfounded! I have dress Zubaz for special occasions, like weddings or funerals.

Like this? :D

jh.png
 
I've been playing violent games since I was three and I'm perfectly kill them all fine.
 
Heck!
If violent video games and television were responsible,my friends and I would be from a town full of killers....given the amount of Tom & Jerry and Roadrunner we watched growing up.
A very small percentage of kids cannot distinguish between fiction and reality. The bulk of kids can...then they are the truly evil ones. This is usually the pool for your serial offenders. It's that simple.
 
I think studies also fail to factor in an important facet of psychology, and that's self-restraint. Motive and opportunity are two major factors in criminal investigations. The world is short in neither motives or opportunities for people to do violence to each other. In many cases, a purely logical mind would eliminate a negative influence in their life, some form of stress or hardship. That's how many psychopaths operate. Killing to them is no different than eating popcorn or buying groceries. They are the exception to the rule though. There are plenty of reasons why people kill, and they're well known, but I wonder how many studies there are about why people on the whole choose not to kill, and what factors in a person's life reinforces self-restraint. Perhaps they should focus on that instead?
 
I think studies also fail to factor in an important facet of psychology, and that's self-restraint. Motive and opportunity are two major factors in criminal investigations. The world is short in neither motives or opportunities for people to do violence to each other. In many cases, a purely logical mind would eliminate a negative influence in their life, some form of stress or hardship. That's how many psychopaths operate. Killing to them is no different than eating popcorn or buying groceries. They are the exception to the rule though. There are plenty of reasons why people kill, and they're well known, but I wonder how many studies there are about why people on the whole choose not to kill, and what factors in a person's life reinforces self-restraint. Perhaps they should focus on that instead?
self-control is the most researched theories about crime and deviance

if you'd like to read more about it, read A General Theory of Crime by Michael R. Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi
 
self-control is the most researched theories about crime and deviance

if you'd like to read more about it, read A General Theory of Crime by Michael R. Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi

Aww, you're bringing REAL research into this? I was referring to the "blame video games" study people - you know, the kind that don't read books like that. :p
 
So this doesn't explain why i walk around yelling "toastie!" all day and burning people to a crisp.

hmmm
 
The only thing to be careful about with these experiments is they are testing adults and only adults from certain socioeconomic backgrounds ... although I don't think games cause violence there have been studies with younger children where they were much more hyper and more prone to aggressive behaviors after playing video games for extended times

I think the prohibitions on violent games for children under a certain age is appropriate and limits on the amount of time children play games is also important ... good parents likely follow those two items already but it would be more interesting to see studies of children playing violent games for extended periods of time ... it might also be interesting to see what effects games have on people who already have problems (psychosis, depression, etc) to see if games have more effects on those folks ;)
 
The only thing to be careful about with these experiments is they are testing adults and only adults from certain socioeconomic backgrounds ... although I don't think games cause violence there have been studies with younger children where they were much more hyper and more prone to aggressive behaviors after playing video games for extended times

I think the prohibitions on violent games for children under a certain age is appropriate and limits on the amount of time children play games is also important ... good parents likely follow those two items already but it would be more interesting to see studies of children playing violent games for extended periods of time ... it might also be interesting to see what effects games have on people who already have problems (psychosis, depression, etc) to see if games have more effects on those folks ;)

Games having a negative impact on behaviour on younger children is pretty much true. I saw this when I was dating a crazy-dedicated gamer once. After marathon gaming sessions there was always this violent and aggressive thing, an inability to sit still, and really insulting language directed at everyone, even my poor kitty. This is why you have to find out as early as possible if there's a console or gaming PC which sometimes means you have to look interested on the first date about gaming and listen to some long rambling discussion about whatever dumb thing they're currently playing so you can figure out in advance if that's what you're going to have to deal with. Better safe asking than sorry, I think.

Now it's a lot more true that people don't let their hobbies mess up how they feel about everything else as they get older. Under 25 though...yeah -- take gamers off your to-date list no matter how handsome/cute/fun they seem. It's just too bad that most people who aren't like that are older or already married or divorced like three times and have a huge number of kids that they have visitation rights to on weekends. So stupid!
 
Games having a negative impact on behaviour on younger children is pretty much true. I saw this when I was dating a crazy-dedicated gamer once. After marathon gaming sessions there was always this violent and aggressive thing, an inability to sit still, and really insulting language directed at everyone, even my poor kitty. This is why you have to find out as early as possible if there's a console or gaming PC which sometimes means you have to look interested on the first date about gaming and listen to some long rambling discussion about whatever dumb thing they're currently playing so you can figure out in advance if that's what you're going to have to deal with. Better safe asking than sorry, I think.

Now it's a lot more true that people don't let their hobbies mess up how they feel about everything else as they get older. Under 25 though...yeah -- take gamers off your to-date list no matter how handsome/cute/fun they seem. It's just too bad that most people who aren't like that are older or already married or divorced like three times and have a huge number of kids that they have visitation rights to on weekends. So stupid!

Not every gamer is this way. Every one is different and that is the ultimate factor in what video games do to people. I have been playing violent video games since I was 8, I bought HL1 from an Office Depot when it released when I was 8 and yet I don't feel like I should whack everything with a crow bar. Compared to many people around where I live I am actually very mellow and non aggressive. There are many more factors than games alone because if it boiled down to games, then I would be a complete asshole all the time and wouldn't have my soon to be wife with me happy as can be.
 
who the heck is funding these researches?

Probably taxpayers, in the form of government grant money. How else will researchers discover such world-changing facts such as whether or not caffeine intake causes an increase in the size of mouse testicles?
 
Wow so makes one wonder why did people kill people before video games ? No way that could of happened; only nowdays because of video games people might kill someone :) this is just ridiculous.
 
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