• Question: Do video games actually lead do aggressive behaviour?

    Asked by THFC1882 to David, Eva, Kate, Nicholas, Rachel on 11 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Rachel McMullan

      Rachel McMullan answered on 11 Nov 2015:

      Hmmmm interesting question. I really don’t think we have enough proper scientific evidence to say. It’s very tempting to make that connection but testing it scientifically is much harder. We could do an experiment with lots of people playing video games all night and then look to see how aggressive they are. But they could be aggressive because of the video game or aggressive because they’re really tired!!!!

    • Photo: Nicholas Pearce

      Nicholas Pearce answered on 12 Nov 2015:

      Hey,

      There are a few researchers are investigating this, and the results seem to be no. There’s even some evidence to say that playing games has plenty of positive effects – but don’t spend too long playing them! The same researchers claim that more than 3 hours per day *can* increase aggression and lower attention in school.
      One hour per day seems to be about right 🙂

    • Photo: David Nunan

      David Nunan answered on 12 Nov 2015:

      Hey THFC1882,

      Well when I used to play street fighter with my best friend we always ended up fighting for real!! But that evidence (anecdotal) is one of the most biased types so I wouldn’t rely on it.

      I’ve looked at the evidence for this and there are some studies that show if you play violent video games your stress levels go up and you do demonstrate more aggressive behaviours when compared to people playing non-violent games. However, the studies were small and didn’t measure behaviour very well so we cannot be sure if the effect is a real one. It does generate a hypothesis that can now be tested in a better study though.

      In fact we could do a trial where we randomly assign people to play videogames (say for 5 hours) and then another group to read a book or do some other activity and then measure each groups aggressive behaviours and feelings using proper instruments and techniques. Other scientists could repeat the experiment in other people and places to show that the effect is replicable and then we would have a much better idea if there is a real causal affect of video games on aggressive behaviour.

      Ps. If you want any information on what it’s like being a sports scientist and how to become one feel free to ask 😉

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