New Study Finds Violent Games Do Not Desensitize Players

[Flauros]

It depends on empathy, i think. Most of the time, especially these days, i do not place myself in the characters body. It is simply an avatar that jumps and shoots for points. I do not say "ouch" when he gets shot, i get pissed that i have to start over.

The few times i felt physical sympathy with a game is something like Silent Hill or Amnesia, where i feel a little fear that i might get caught. Simply because of the directing and quality of the game. Mostly because of how its "written"


But just like movies, as soon as im over exposed...i tap out. I feel nothing, get bored and stop. Its self modulating, i think.

The same thing with books, i would think.


And with books, if someone reads war stories or horror stories too much, i actually think it might be WORSE for them, trauma wise. If they actually BELIEVE they are prepared...they are in for a shock when something is actually hurting them and it HURTS, or they feel TRUE fear when something is ACTUALLY chasing them.


That is my assesment, lol


EDIT: oh yeah, except there might be ONE personality type that might be desistized a little bit. If a person becomes obsessed over violence and starts thinking about it in an aggressive way and starts acting them out....well, that person was ALREADY a sociopath, and hes just looking for stimulation wherever he can find it.

 

[CarbonEagle]

I think I'm becoming desensitized to studies telling me the obvious.

It's like a couple years ago my parents were worried that when I was starting to drive I would be trying to preform Burnout style takedowns on the highway. Thanks for the concern mom, dad, but there is a difference between a video game and reality.

You've got a very good point. People who play driving games who drive violently in them (like me who runs EVERY taxi off the road cause I hate how they are always in the way, stupid yellow bastards) wouldn't even consider doing it in real life... mind you the taxis where I live aren't yellow This same logic should also follow through on other violence.

Ironically 2 of the 4 people in my household who don't play video games are the only ones who are EVER violent or threaten to be violent. They are also the two who embrace todays values of selfishness.

 

[Tssha]

I'm sick of these studies. First one comes out that says "video games make people violent", then another says "no they don't", then another shoots back and says "video games linked to violent behavior", then another says "there is no link, shut up". I just don't care anymore. It's like every other week, some guy decides that he wants to run the "end all" study to determine what the truth is because he's apparently more credible than the hundreds of other people who came before him combied.

Can we all just agree that the majority of video game users don't go around beating people up and leave it at that?

Yeah pretty much.

by this point everything that is posted with "Study" and "Violent Videogames" and "makes/makes not violent" has already lost any credibillity to me.

And that to me is the saddest thing of all. The real studies are drowned in the backwash of hack science and the media outlets just lap it up.

Folks, this is what they do. The reason it's a back and forth is because they WANT to create confusion. They WANT to create fatigue. They want both sides to appear equivalent, whether equally valid or equally invalid, so they have parity. They want to make this issue so confusing that people give up on it and just let someone else handle it...and then the anti-game lobby starts lobbying the politicians, and the politicians take their cue from the media, seeing it's contentious and, thinking that's what the citizens are thinking, they consider it a big issue that needs action, action his constituents can get behind. And so, legislation.

As long as the confusion is perpetuated, the real science gets lost in the static. This fatigue is exactly what anti-game lobbyists want. They want us to give up and leave it to them. We have to speak out against this. We have to call them on bad studies and demand they explain their methodologies and study methods, demanding they explain how they managed to avoid bias. We have to demand they act like real scientists.

We also have to demand the media get science savvy because folks, if the media keep taking it seriously, we're gonna get all the Mrs. Lovejoys out there screaming "Think of the children!!!". Politicians listen to those people. We have to make sure we are heard as well. The future of Gaming as a meaningful medium for expression depends on it.

If we're ghettoized like cartoons and comic books, we're not gonna break out of that box for a long time. Heck, those two still haven't managed to break out completely, despite South Park and Watchmen being notable examples of the maturity of both mediums and their suitability for an adult audience.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Yeah, this was...not surprising.

I play extremely gory games all the time without batting an eye (Dead Space 2, Splatterhouse, etc) but the last time I was at a hospital, I saw blood being taken...and passed out. (So very ashamed of that. Ah well).

Yes, I'm totally cool with tearing a space zombies arm off, then stabbing it in the face with said arm, then cause it to explode into ludicrous gibs while cackling like a madman...but the moment I see ACTUAL blood, I go down hard.

 

[katsumoto03]

Common sense, really. I've been killing pixelated abominations in all sorts of ways for many years, and I'm still quite sensitive to violence, e.g. when I see a character commit suicide by applying a needle to his eyeball.

GAH! MENTAL IMAGE! MENTAL IMAGE!!!!

OT: And now we're starting to prove what common sense has been telling intelligent people for decades. Way to go science!

 

[brazuca]

Next study will be pr0n makes you objectify women, or not? Any player, any age knows that the game is not real. (unless u r 12/13 years old obsessed with COD who dreams of Spec Ops playing VG's)

 

[Kopikatsu]

Next study will be pr0n makes you objectify women, or not? Any player, any age knows that the game is not real. (unless u r 12/13 years old obsessed with COD who dreams of Spec Ops playing VG's)

Actually, they have done that study and they found that porn (Especially violent or degrading) does have a negative impact.

At least video games are safe!

 

[Frankster]

Oh cmon people! When an study so much as hints at a link between violence in videogames and desensitization to violence, you all call bullcrap and (often quite rightly) point out the flaws in the studies, then when a study comes along supporting your point of view you all go along with it no questions asked?

Small sample size, dubious methodology (if we are talking about gamers I seriously doubt still images are what's gonna test any difference in agressiveness when these people are used to a faster past and more visceral medium) are all valid criticicisms of this study, as interesting as it must be. The research has validity, but only as part of a larger research context and needs further experiments on the topic, to prematurely draw any conclusions here would be dangerous and irresponsible.

And most importantly, where are the results? That the escapist article flatly states "there is no link" shows how little they know about scientific research methods.
The chances of there being 0 correlation between 2 things is practically unheard off in the social sciences, you'd have to go to the realm of quantum physics for that, so to say there is "no" correlation is very dubious.
At the very least they found a correlation,, but was a weak one and a more accurate title for this article is "research has found in this experiment that the correlation between videogames and desensitization to violence is weak, supporting the theory that there is very little link between the 2".

Also worth remembering is the flip side, if we were to have a study that proved a strong link between violence in videogamens and desensitization to violence: just because there is a correlation doesn't mean there's a causation, as always.

 

[captaincabbage]

I have to say, this is kind of obvious, since most people who play games have functioning brains. It's good to have another study to wave in the anti-game lobbyist's face.

 

[Jack Macaque]

Women played more Mario Kart? Maybe that's why they can't drive.

No really that was funny but I have to put in a 'jkjk lolz' or I'm gonna get nailed to a cross and dragged by a Mario Kart through the Mushroom Kingdom.

jkjklolz i luvz gurlz!

 

[Zakarath]

While I support this study's hypothesis, I will also say that 122 students from a single college somewhere is a pretty poor sample group.

 

[hannan4mitch]

Hopefully in before the snarky "We told you so!" comments.
The key word being hopefully.

 

[The Man With the Soap]

I'm sick of these studies. First one comes out that says "video games make people violent", then another says "no they don't", then another shoots back and says "video games linked to violent behavior", then another says "there is no link, shut up". I just don't care anymore. It's like every other week, some guy decides that he wants to run the "end all" study to determine what the truth is because he's apparently more credible than the hundreds of other people who came before him combied.

Can we all just agree that the majority of video game users don't go around beating people up and leave it at that?

I've noticed this, too. Some studies say yes, other say no. But each time one comes out, we act like it's the first time research has been done on the subject. I think if the game makers/players and those who have something against video games would just start an open dialog between each other, they could actually make some headway to solving their differences. It's more an issue of miscommunications and misconceptions than anything else--along with the media's exploitation of all this, using stories and studies like this to keep video games nice and juicy as a topic.

Isn't it great to know that our most brilliant minds are hard at work on these critical issues and not those frivilous ones like...I don't know...curing cancer? Stopping world hunger? Space exploration?

On topic, Video Games didn't desensitize me to violence. Being around other people did. It's strange. I am not bothered by physical pain. Hell, I once sat there and burned my hand with a cigar for seven minutes simply because I was bored and wanted to see how long it would take to stop feeling anything. Even the most graphic images of mangled children which I know to be real fail to invoke any sort of emotional response from me.

So yeah, I am proof that violent media does not make people violent, but that violent people are attracted to violence. Video games didn't teach me to despise my fellow man. My fellow man did. Don't worry though, I'm going into the Marine Corps. after high school, so you don't have to worry about me shooting up some college campus. (Dry humor. I know.)

 

[Sonicron]

Common sense, really. I've been killing pixelated abominations in all sorts of ways for many years, and I'm still quite sensitive to violence, e.g. when I see a character commit suicide by applying a needle to his eyeball.

GAH! MENTAL IMAGE! MENTAL IMAGE!!!!

Hey, don't blame me, blame Visceral Games.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

Video games have desensitized me.....to other video games.

 

[0986875533423]

So we're okay for this week until the research gets overturned in another study very soon, like it always is. Frankly, though I love science and want to have its babies, I think we as gamers need to stop relying on it to tell us everything's going to be all right.

 

[Prof. Monkeypox]

Well, I've seen plenty of violent material at this point, but I still cringe when, say, somebody peels the skin off their own finger in Black Swan.

I've always thought those studies on desensitization to be weird because they don't explore generalization enough. Are the subjects desensitized to violence in general? Or just the violent clip you've made them watch over and over? After all, anything can become mundane in time.

However, it's worth noting that, even as gamers, were should be equally skeptical of all research. I see a lot of people championing this article as "the truth" or the "breaking from scapegoating," but it's just as likely to be bogus as any study that came before it.

I'm glad this study exists, but we can't believe everything we read. Especially if it's just because we like to hear it.

 

[The SettingSun]

I feel a small sense of satisfaction every time I make Ezio use his hidden blade yet when i cut my hand open i almost went into shock. So I'm definetely not desensitized

 

[Lord_Kristof]

One comment: 'NO SHIT?' Good somebody finally got to doing that.

Yeah, my years of playing violent FPS games and Mortal Kombat don't help at all, as I still cringe when I see an animal run-down on the road, and they didn't help me overcome my disgust over eating meats off the bone...

It seems this is one of those issues which are blatantly obvious, but people who say otherwise just don't bother to ask... maybe because they know they'd be proven wrong?

 

[9Darksoul6]

What's the point of posting such articles, if you bash studies that say otherwise?

In this site, studies that relate violent videogame to violence are treated like they're conducted by idiots;
and every single study that contradicts this idea will be glorified.

I get it, you're all gamers, and you'll keep denying that violent videogames cause violence, whether it's true or not, in order to not morally judge yourselves (for some reason, I'm also a gamer, and yet, I don't have this childish behavior).

If that's the case, however, I'll ask again: what's the point? It's not like someone needs any information on the subject to create his/her own 'autistic bubble', is it?