Societal Violence and Video Games: Public Statements

of a Link are Problematic

Journalists and policy makers do their con- finding evidence for effects, and others not finding
stituencies a disservice in cases where they link such evidence. Further, the validity of these measures
acts of real-world violence with the perpetrators of aggression remains debated (Ritter & Eslea, 2005;
exposure to violent video games or other violent Tedeschi & Quigley, 1996). Whether such studies
media. Theres little scientific evidence to support provide conclusive evidence for a relationship be-
the connection, and it may distract us from ad- tween violent video games and these minor forms of
dressing those issues that we know contribute to aggression remains a matter of reasonable debate
real-world violence. (Anderson et al., 2010; Ferguson, 2015a; Hilgard et al,
in press; Kanamori & Doi, 2016; Sherry, 2007). We
Criminologists who study mass homicides,
in their analyses of such crimes, have either ex- note that even among members of American Psycho-
logical Association Division 46 Society for Media
cluded the issue of video games (Lankford, 2013),
Psychology and Technology, opinions regarding the
or explicitly referred to links between violent
games and mass homicides as a myth (Fox & impact of media violence on aggression differ consid-
erably. It would be entirely reasonable for a scholar to
DeLateur, 2014). Yet, very commonly, after
argue that some links between violent media and ag-
young males commit high-profile acts of violence,
gression may exist, just as it is also reasonable for a
politicians and news media may speculatively
scholar to argue that links between violent media and
link such crimes to violent video games or other
aggression do not exist. This document therefore fo-
violent media. Such claims are not based on re-
cuses upon the less publicized, more scientifically
search evidence and these claims may distract so-
sound view that little evidence exists that playing vio-
ciety from more substantive causes of violence,
lent videogames produces violent criminal behavior.
such as poverty, lack of treatment options for
Scant evidence has emerged that makes any causal or
mental health as well as crime victimization
correlational connection between playing violent vid-
among the mentally ill, and educational and em-
eo games and actually committing violent activities.
ployment disparities. With this statement, Divi-
sion 46 (the American Psychological Associa-
tions division for Media Psychology and Tech-
nology) advises policy makers, community offi-
cials, and news media to not attribute or insinuate The views here are those of Division 46 (Society for
blame for acts of violence on video games or oth- Media Psychology and Technology) of the American
er fictional media. Psychological Association and do not represent an offi-
cial position of APA. APAs official position on this
Mass Shootings and Video Games
issue is the Resolution on Violent Video Games that
A wide body of research has examined the was adopted as policy by the Council of Representa-
impact of violent video games on relatively minor tives in August of 2015 and can be accessed at the fol-
acts of aggression, such as the administration of lowing URL: http://www.apa.org/about/policy/violent-
unwanted hot sauce to make food too spicy, mak- video-games.aspx. This policy was based on a tech-
ing someone put their hand in freezing ice water nical report written by the APA Task Force on Violent
or bursts of white noise in laboratory experiments. Media that can be accessed at the following URL:
These studies have varied in outcome, with some http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2015/08/
violent-video-games.aspx.
 By contrast, research evidence available to date However, when a perpetrator is an older male or,
indicates that violent video games have minimal im- more rarely, a female, the issue of media violence
pact on violent activity in society. Correlational and is typically ignored. By attending to only those
longitudinal studies of youth suggest that violent vid- cases that fit the assumption that violent media ex-
eo game exposure does not meaningfully predict posure is universal among criminal perpetrators
youth physical aggression or violent crime (DeCamp, and ignoring those cases that conflict with this nar-
2015; Przybylski & Mishkin, 2016; Surette & Maze, rative, the perception of a correlation can take hold
2015; Ybarra et al., 2008). Some research has sug- where no such correlation exists. This selective
gested that youth with more aggressive personalities reporting may create the impression that there is
may seek out violent games; however, violent games suitable evidence to link violence and media con-
do not increase assaultive behavior among such youth sumption, despite the existence of any clear evi-
(Breuer et al., 2015). Further, little clear evidence has dence. Laypeople whose only source of infor-
emerged that youth identified as at risk due to ele- mation on this topic is the media are particularly
vated mental health symptoms are influenced to be- susceptible to believing this narrative. Selective
come more aggressive due to exposure to violent vid- attention may also fail to observe that the correla-
eo games (Ferguson & Olson, 2014; Engelhardt et al., tion between youth violence and violent video
2015.) Further, evidence from societal data examining game use in society is an inverse one, with youth
video game violence use has yet to document that violence declining by over 80% during the decades
such use is predictive of violent crime (Ferguson, in which violent game use soared (Ferguson,
2015b; Cunningham et al., 2016; Markey, Markey & 2015b.) Of course, violent behavior is complex,
French, 2015). Similar absence of predictive relation- and not only one pathway toward violent behavior
ships has been observed for violent movies (Dahl & exists. However, we note that news medias atten-
DellaVigna, 2009; Markey, French & Markey, 2015.) tion to data from individual acts of violent crime is
Further, analyses of mass homicide perpetra- often selective, ignoring larger complexities.
tors themselves have not identified substantial links These days, just about every childboth
with violent video games. A 2002 analysis by the US boys and girlsplays video games (Olson, 2010).
Secret Service (United States Secret Service and Unit- Discovering that a young crime perpetrator also
ed States Department of Education, 2002) suggested happened to play violent video games is no more
that school shooters tended to consume relatively low illustrative than discovering that they happened to
amounts of violent media compared to normative lev- wear sneakers, or used to watch Sesame Street.
els for same-age peers. This finding does not mean This is a classic error: trying to predict something
that if violence-prone youth watched more violent vid- rare, such as a violent crime, by looking at some-
eos, then they would be less likely to be violent. This thing common, such as playing violent video
finding simply means that no link has been found be- games or, for that matter, drinking milk. Further,
tween school shooters and their videogame habits. confirmation bias (Yeo et al., 2015) has often re-
Why Do Perceptions of Links Persist? sulted in the preservation of this false belief.
There have been several shooters who were initial-
Efforts to link violent crimes to violent video ly linked to playing violent games, yet upon inves-
games and other media may persist due to a well- tigative review were found to be minimal consum-
known phenomenon called confirmation bias or the ers (Virginia Tech Review Panel, 2007; States
tendency to pay attention only to information that con- Attorney for the Judicial District of Danbury,
firms prior beliefs and ignore that which does not. As
2013). These include the perpetrator of the 2007
such, when a perpetrator is a young male, news media
and policy makers often pay extraordinary attention to mass shooting on the Virginia Tech campus, who .
their media habits.
was found to have no notable exposure to violent 4) Should discussions of media effects
games, despite initial claims to the contrary, and the extend to aggression rather than violence
perpetrator of the 2012 mass shooting on the Sandy news media, and reporters should solicit views
Hook elementary campus, who, although he was re- from scholars on both sides of the media effects
ported to have several outdated action-oriented games debate to give the public a well-rounded view of
in his home, was reported by witnesses to mainly play the issue. Public figures are well advised to recall
non-violent games such as Dance, Dance Revolution. that while violence refers to a narrow class of be-
haviors intended to cause serious physical harm,
Recommendations:
aggression is a much broader category of behav-
Given that the weight of research evidence is iors, including many very mild behaviors and
unable to support links between violent video games some (such as sports aggression, competition, or
or other violent media and societal violence, the News debating) that are socially sanctioned. Hearing
Media, Public Education, and Public Policy Commit- both sides of the debate permits viewers to make
tee of the American Psychological Association Divi- up their own minds. News media should also be
sion 46 The Society for Media Psychology & Tech- careful to differentiate the type of abstract
nology make the following recommendations, which aggression typically studied in laboratory (e.g.,
may help to inform adequately the public. the administration of hot sauce, ice water, bursts of
1) Public officials and news media should white noise, responses on a questionnaire) experi-
avoid stating explicitly or implicitly that criminal of- ments from the physical aggression and violence
fenses were caused by violent media. This would ex- typically of interest to the general public.
tend to implicit language such as it was as if they 5) Public officials, news media, and
were playing a video game or the offender was ob- scholarly organizations (such as APA) would do
sessed with violent video games. well to focus on scientifically valid substantive
2) Public officials and news media should causes of violence ranging from poverty to mental
refrain from erroneous statements implying all perpe- health issues to educational and social disparities.
trators of a particular class (such as school shooters) Focusing on video games or other media can dis-
have been influenced by violent video games or other tract from real causes of violence and do harm.
media. Similarly, comparisons of media effects re- 6) News media would benefit from
search with medical effects research (e.g. suggesting remembering that discovering a young male perpe-
that the public health threats presented by media are trator of a crime also happened to play violent vid-
similar in magnitude as those presented by cigarettes eo games or watch violent movies is not remarka-
or other well-known health risks) is unwarranted. ble given the commonness of such media use
3) Scholarly organizations, such as the among young males. Such disclosures should not
American Psychological Association, when asked be treated as significant, or as causes.
about video games or media and criminal events,
should state explicitly that research in this area is on-
going; rather than having demonstrated clear effects.
At present, it could be reasonable to argue both for or News Media, Public Education and Public Poli-
against relationships between violent media and ag- cy Committee:
gression. However, for violent crime, a research base
linking crime to violent media is lacking and discon- Dana Klisinan, Jerri Lynn Hogg, June Wilson,
Patrick Markey, Malte Elson, Jimmy Ivory,
firmatory evidence too abundant to assert the presence Deborah Linebarger, Mary Gregerson,
of links. Shahbaz Siddiqui, Chris Ferguson
 References

Anderson, C. A., Shibuya, A., Ihori, N., Swing, E. L., Bushman, B. J., Sakamoto, A., & ... Saleem, M. (2010).
Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in Eastern and Western
countries: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 136(2), 151-173. doi:10.1037/a0018251
Breuer, J., Vogelgesang, J., Quandt, T., & Festl, R. (2015). Violent video games and physical aggression: Evi-
dence for a selection effect among adolescents. Psychology Of Popular Media Culture, 4(4), 305-328.
doi:10.1037/ppm0000035
Cunningham, S., Engelstatter, B., & Ward, M. (2016). Violent video games and violent crime. Southern Eco-
nomic Journal.
Dahl, G., & DellaVigna, S. (2009). Does movie violence increase violent crime? The Quarterly Journal of
Economics, May, 677-733.
DeCamp, W. (2015). Impersonal agencies of communication: Comparing the effects of video games and other
risk factors on violence. Psychology Of Popular Media Culture, 4(4), 296-304. doi:10.1037/
ppm0000037
Engelhardt, C. R., Mazurek, M. O., Hilgard, J., Rouder, J. N., & Bartholow, B. D. (2015). Effects of violent-
video-game exposure on aggressive behavior, aggressive-thought accessibility, and aggressive affect
among adults with and without autism spectrum disorder. Psychological Science, 26(8), 1187-1200.
doi:10.1177/0956797615583038
Ferguson, C. J. (2015a). Do angry birds make for angry children? A meta-analysis of video game Influences
on childrens and adolescents aggression, mental health, prosocial behavior and academic perfor-
mance. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10, 646-666.
Ferguson, C.J. (2015b). Does movie or videogame violence predict societal violence? It depends on what
you look at and when. Journal of Communication, 65, 193-212.
Ferguson, C. J., & Olson, C. K. (2014). Video game violence use among vulnerable populations: The im-
pact of violent games on delinquency and bullying among children with clinically elevated depression
or attention deficit symptoms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(1), 127-136.
Fox, J., & DeLateur, M. (2014). Mass shootings in America: Moving beyond Newtown. Homicide Studies,
18(1), 125-145. doi:10.1177/1088767913510297
Hilgard J, Engelhardt, C, & Rouder J. (2016). Overestimated Effects of Violent Games on Aggressive Out-
comes in Anderson et al. (2010). Psychological Bulletin.
Kanamori, F., & Doi, S. (2016). Angry birds, angry children and angry meta-analysts. Perspectives on Psy-
chological Science, 11(3), 408-414.
Lankford, A. (2013). A comparative analysis of suicide terrorists and rampage, workplace, and school shooters
in the United States from 1990 to 2010. Homicide Studies: An Interdisciplinary & International Jour-
nal, 17(3), 255-274. doi:10.1177/1088767912462033
Markey, P. M., French, J. E., & Markey, C. N. (2015). Violent movies and severe acts of violence: Sensation-
alism versus science. Human Communication Research, 41(2), 155-173. doi:10.1111/hcre.12046
Markey, P. M., Markey, C. N., & French, J. E. (2015). Violent video games and real-world violence: Rhetoric
versus data. Psychology Of Popular Media Culture, 4(4), 277-295. doi:10.1037/ppm0000030
Olson, C. K. (2010). Childrens motivations for video game play in the context of normal development. Re-
view of General Psychology, 14(2), 180-187.
Przybylski, A. K., & Mishkin, A. F. (2016). How the quantity and quality of electronic gaming relates to ado-
lescents academic engagement and psychosocial adjustment. Psychology Of Popular Media Culture, 5
(2), 145-156. doi:10.1037/ppm0000070
Ritter, D., & Eslea, M. (2005). Hot sauce, toy guns and graffiti: A critical account of current laboratory ag-
gression paradigms. Aggressive Behavior, 31, 407-419.
Sherry J. (2007). Violent video games and aggression: Why cant we find links? In R. Preiss, B. Gayle, N.
Burrell, M. Allen, & J. Bryant, (Eds.) Mass Media Effects Research: Advances Through Meta-analysis
(pp 231-248). Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum.
States Attorney for the Judicial District of Dansbury. (2013). Report of the States Attorney for the Judicial
District of Danbury on the Shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School and 36 Yogananda Street,
Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012. Danbury, CT: Office of the states attorney judicial dis-
trict of Danbury.
Surette, R., & Maze, A. (2015). Video Game Play and Copycat Crime: An Exploratory Analysis of an Inmate
Population. Psychology Of Popular Media Culture, doi:10.1037/ppm0000050
United States Secret Service and United States Department of Education. (2002). The final report and find-
ings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the prevention of school attacks in the United States.
Retrieved 7/2/12 from http://www.secretservice.gov/ntac/ssi_final_report.pdf.
Tedeschi, J. T., & Quigley, B. M. (1996). Limitations of laboratory paradigms for studying aggression. Ag-
gression and Violent Behavior, 1(2), 163177. doi: 10.1016/1359-1789(95)00014-3
Virginia Tech Review Panel. (2007). Report of the Virginia Tech Review Panel. Retrieved 11/11/07 from:
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/TempContent/techPanelReport.cfm.
Ybarra, M., Diener-West, M., Markow, D., Leaf, P., Hamburger, M., & Boxer, P. (2008). Linkages between
internet and other media violence with seriously violent behavior by youth. Pediatrics, 122(5), 929-937.
Yeo, S. K., Xenos, M. A., Brossard, D., & Scheufele, D. A. (2015). Selecting our own science: How communi-
cation contexts and individual traits shape information seeking. Annals Of The American Academy Of
Political And Social Science, 658(1), 172-191. doi:10.1177/0002716214557782