Do Games Prompt Aggression?
Many studies have been conducted to see if violent video games correlate with consumers being more violent. Some studies have come up with evidence that supports the claim that there is a link between violent video games and aggressive behavior, while other studies say that there is insufficient evidence to support the link. On the National Center for Health Research website, there is an article about a six-month study conducted by Jeron Lemmens and his colleagues, which was published in the Journal of Youth Adolescence in 2010, that said that there was a correlation. However, an article by the American Psychological Association and an article found on ScienceDaily, say that there is insufficient evidence.
Due to abundance of research and evidence on whether violent video games cause gamers to be more aggressive has led many people to draw their own conclusions on the matter and has created a stigma around it. However, there are also games where violence is not the underlying theme, but the game has caused player to lash out and get aggressive.
One of those games is the popular augmented reality game, Pokémon Go, which was released on July 6, 2016. The game is rather simple, you create an avatar and you scour the globe searching for Pokémon to catch and battle with. A new feature, called raid battles was introduced in June of 2017. This allowed player to work together to battle a strong boss Pokémon in order for a chance to capture it. Another factor that contributed to these raid battles was gym control. A team of the same color in the game (red, yellow, blue) could take control of a structure in the game which led to bonuses for that team at the end of the raid battle. And this has caused some controversy.
KATU 2 reported an incident in Vancouver, Washington, where three men were assaulted by another man, Stephen Jolly, wielding a tire iron. It appears that Jolly was angry about losing gym control to the three men and decided to act upon his aggression. Jolly is now facing charges of assault and malicious mischief.
Another violent incident that involved a non-violent game was on July 29, 2017, when a person was stabbed over a game of Magic: The Gathering. The report said that a 31-year-old, Creech hit his gaming buddy over the head with a mallet and then proceeded to stab his friend seven times. Creech was charges with first-degree and second-degree assault.
In both incidents that I mentioned, something about the game triggered an aggressive response, while in the research being conducted showed the growth in aggression levels over time. I feel that some of the research result are narrow because they only look at violent video games as a catalyst for aggression. Furthermore, I also think stereotypes portrayed in the media play a big role in determining who people let their guard down around. The media portrays people who play Pokémon or Magic as nerds, and nerds are supposed to be timid, shy, and weird. And with these characteristics of the nerd stereotype on our minds, many people don’t see the underlying aggression that another might have.
