Virtual Violence, Real Effects

When Nintendo and Atari introduced the 1990's to a new two-dimensional world of Marios, Sonics, and Zeldas, one could hardly envision the development of modern virtual reality entertainment. While today's top titles like Call of Duty, Halo, or Grand Theft Auto are masterpieces of realism, gamers are exposed to an increasingly intrusive degree of gore and violence. Aggressive influences grieve the brain steeped in violent video games, and research warns of impacts from a personal to societal level.

What attracts people to this?

What sets violence in video games apart from other media is the degree of user interaction. Unlike passively watching a movie, playing a video game requires you to "interact with the game psychologically and emotionally as well. You’re not just watching the characters on screen; you’re becoming those characters."⁶ What's more, this concentration on virtual aggression is rewarded by progressing through the game. The brain becomes numbed³ to violent imagery and extreme responses in a fantasy realm well on its way to virtual reality.

Have you considered why game developers strive for higher tiers of realism? Can it be that gamers are best entertained exactly when their brains are best fooled into responding sincerely to a virtual environment? Or is it that their successes in the game come closer to realization as concrete achievements? In either case, violent video games foster cognitions that interpret false brutality as a channel to ease psychological strain⁴.

The observation that individuals already struggling with depression, frustration, and aggression will likely prefer violent gaming does not dismiss a symbiotic relationship between game violence and these negative traits. In fact, such video games work to deepen the darkness of a troubled mind. The virtual realm can serve as a playground, or rather, a boot camp for frightening mental pathways with the potential of translating into the gamer's physical world. Anderson and Dill report that violent video games "provide a forum for learning and practicing aggressive solutions to conflict situations."

Call of Duty: Black Ops II grossed $1billion within 15 days of release.
Photo: http://thecybersafetylady.com.au/

Young people with a mind desensitized to violence and trained to respond aggressively in stressful circumstances are a great risk to their communities. Even subconscious thinking patterns can propagate from the virtual world to harm real people. The horrors of recent shootings across America have reconciled many to the idea that video game violence can contribute to such cold-hearted atrocities. Practice makes perfect, and Adam Lanza had already completed 83,000 kills in online gaming before taking the first life at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

But often the link of violent media to increased crime and delinquency is made the critical factor in this discussion. On account of studies⁵ which failed to identify such a link, gamers hastily conclude that screen violence will not affect less conspicuous psychological expressions. Though neither a necessary nor sufficient cause for alleged societal woes, violent video game exposure is a "causal risk factor for increased aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, and aggressive affect and for decreased empathy and prosocial behavior."¹

In summary, a growing research base suggests that violent video game exposure has "lasting deleterious effects on brain function and behavior"³ which encourage aggression on an individual and ultimately societal level. Am I arguing that one shouldn't play violent video games at all? On a personal level, one must be convinced that this activity has no power to induce even subconscious violent traits and harmful responses. On the contrary, for those seeking a medium in which to express and cultivate such antisocial pathways, violent video games will presumably continue to serve as an excellent platform.

In the above discussion (which is taken from an essay I wrote) I argued purely from a secular stance. There are clear scriptural reasons why a Christian should not partake in violent video gaming which I've not covered in this article. Just one scripture which speaks strongly on the subject is Psalm 11:5: 

"The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence."

Works Cited:

1.      Anderson, Craig A., et al. "Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in eastern and western countries: a meta-analytic review." Psychological bulletin 136.2 (2010): 151.

2.      Anderson, Craig A., and Karen E. Dill. "Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life." Journal of personality and social psychology 78.4 (2000): 772.

3.      Bartholow, Bruce D., Brad J. Bushman, and Marc A. Sestir. "Chronic violent video game exposure and desensitization to violence: Behavioral and event-related brain potential data." Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 42.4 (2006): 532-539.

4.      Bushman, Brad J., and Jodi L. Whitaker. "Like a Magnet Catharsis Beliefs Attract Angry People to Violent Video Games." Psychological science 21.6 (2010): 790-792.

5.      Ferguson, Christopher J. "Video games and youth violence: A prospective analysis in adolescents." Journal of youth and adolescence 40.4 (2011): 377-391.

6.      Huntemann, Nina, dir. Game Over: Gender, Race & Violence in Video Games. Media Education Foundation, 2002. Film.