Video games have been the focus of many studies over the past decade. More often than not, these studies tend to be about the correlation between video games and youth violence. While some will cite old studies saying that video games can lead to aggressive behavior, a new study is now claiming what many have said for years: there is no correlation.
While some may say that video games have led to increased violence in young people, many studies have found this to not be the case. In fact, some studies have even indicated that playing video games might be beneficial for things like stress relief.
A new study from Massey University is hoping to finally put this debate to rest after it did a thorough review of 28 previous studies on the subject. According to the report, the correlation found between video games and aggressiveness is not even high enough to be considered a small effect. With this information in mind, the study concluded, "current research is unable to support the hypothesis that violent video games have a meaningful long-term predictive impact on youth aggression."
This evaluation seems to support many newer studies that have come out recently. In 2019, a study of the correlation between video games and aggression in teenagers performed by Oxford found similar results, stating that there is no link between the two and previous claims that there was could have been a result of researcher bias.
The conversation about violence in video games is nothing new; it's one of the reasons why the ESRB exists. Following congressional hearings back in 1993, the ESRB was founded in response to concerns over sexual content and gratuitous violence in video games like Night Trap and Mortal Kombat. This board not only allowed parents to inform themselves about the games they were buying for their children, but also gave the game industry the ability to regulate itself without the government stepping in as well.
Hopefully, with this new study coming out, video games will stop being used as a scapegoat, this debate will finally be laid to rest, and young gamers can play their games without others wondering about if it will negatively affect their behavior.
Source: Royal Society Open Science