Types of Aggression present through gaming individuals

In video games, aggression can come in many forms. Yet, most people do not truly know what it’s like for aggression to carry between real life and gaming. I find it easy to distinguish between fictional and the real life we live in. Rises in aggression and the lack of distinction between the two worlds that some people exhibit have been a major worry for people all around the world, especially politicians and doctors. The “harmful” video games that have come out in years past are believed to be the root cause of many aggressive actions and mindsets, but they are not the sole reason for these actions. 

Whenever a tragedy linked to video games happens, the term “offline aggression” often comes to mind. This phrase, in my opinion, carries different connotations depending on who hears it. For the average person who isn’t versed in the ways of psychology, ultra-violent games seem like the most aggravating method for “offline aggression.” However, in a study by Elias Aboujadou and Vladan Starcevic, published in Mental Health in the Digital Age: Grave Dangers, Great Promise they state, “the findings of this study suggest that there is little or no difference between the effects of lower level and higher level aggressive media content.” Immediately it sets a precedent for these researchers as they have established the lack of differentiation in how people are affected by thresholds of violence. This can then feed into the “offline aggression” and how different levels of aggression can be difficult to separate based on severity. 

An act of aggression committed in the real world qualifies as “offline aggression.” These acts of aggression can vary in their severity as distinguished in Aboujadou’s study. The catastrophic and monumental acts of “offline aggression” are what people majorly focus on through media exposure. While the minor upticks in aggressive behavior do matter, it is the major ones that get media focus. The lack of focus on minor acts of aggression committed by gamers is not that bad, as not every type of aggression can be categorized as negative. A categorical organization of these events, actions, and consequences could be quite helpful in helping the general populace understand what truly happens during the aggressive tendencies that people exhibit. 

In the article, Blazing Angels or Resident Evil? Can Violent Video Games Be a Force for Good? By Christopher J. Ferguson, aggression is defined even further: “Aggression can thus be distinguished from aggressive play in which two or more consenting individuals are wrestling, playing war, and so forth, but mutually enjoy the activity.” Defining aggression in this way narrows down how we can classify “offline aggression” even further as now we can show how actions and their consequences have different effects. Consent is an important component of any action and whether or not all parties consent) is an important distinction. Calling simple roughhousing “offline aggression” is not accurate you have to take the bull by the horns in this situation and focus on the maliciousness of the act. This rough-and-tumble mindset that people have toward the aggressive actions taken by others is at times concerning, as many “offline” and “online” aggressions have very harmful consequences to the people around them.

“Online Aggression” is the direct opposite of “Offline Aggression,” while offline aggression focuses on the actions taken in the physical world, and “Online aggression” is the actions taken in the virtual world. The “online aggressions” taken are far more prevalent and easier to find as many games are labeled by the ESRB as being violent in some shape or form, even games like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater are labeled as being violent even though it is a franchise of sport games and the most violent actions being taken are the results of missteps and falls. These types of violent actions do not truly contribute to the two different forms of aggression as one is not taking some sort of nonconsensual action against another and falls more under the self-harm category. Even then that is not truly accurate, since being injured during a sport is something considered more of an accident in general.

In “online aggression” consent is a much trickier matter in online games it can be argued that in Player versus Player combat, all people do have some sort of consent by participating in the games and modes that have these options. Some multiplayer games, however, have functions of play where one can launch surprise attacks on unsuspecting victims making consent a gray area.

More often than not, single player games are story driven adventures that take the player along some sort of recreation of the hero’s journey. Sandbox games are a hybrid of both single player and multiplayer modes, as they can be played either alone or with friends. These genres are a little trickier to classify in terms of “online aggression” as the term has been previously defined as non consensual acts of violence. Certain types of multiplayer modes have automatic informed consent due to the nature of play. On the other hand, this is not always true as in games like Minecraft where players are given free reign to do whatever they want in either single or multiplayer. One could play the game alone as a farmer and occasionally butcher farm animals for food and fend off the occasional monster attacks or they could destroy the homes of the local NPC (Non-Playable Character) populace. Or even play with a friend and plan to conquer the challenges of the world together, but there is still the chance of a Cain and Abel level of aggression happening.

Video games are a major concern for people all around the world, from politicians to parents, but this should not be the case whatsoever. While aggression is sometimes given from the games that people play, the increases in “offline aggression” are often minuscule. Both forms of aggression; “online” and “offline” have similar definitions, an aggressive action taken towards something in a nonconsensual manner. The slippery slope of the multifaceted nature of “online aggression” does muddle the affair just a little bit, but the definition is still easily definable. 

People with poor mental health often gravitate to things that they find to relieve stress, with these coping mechanisms often being unhealthy crutches. Researchers Yemaya Halbrook, Aisling O’Donnell, and Rachel Msetfi discuss the positive findings that video games have in their study When and How Video Games Can Be Good: A Review of the Positive Effects of Video Games on Well-Being, and they make the connection that different factors of play have various effects on mental well being. This means that those who play for fun and entertainment have a greater possibility of having a healthier mindset versus those who play for obsession or accolades. As stated in the study, “‘In addition, the motivations behind gameplay are an important factor in the effects of gaming on well-being, such as playing for enjoyment purposes rather than playing for achievement or obsession.’” There is a fine line between playing for sport and obsession. “For sport” implies that one only indulges periodically, while obsession implies that one continuously and obsessively barrels through the hobby. Moderation is the key feature of having a healthy relationship with anything not just video games. 

The study The Impact of Video Games on the Players Behaviors: A Survey by researchers Muhannad Quwaider, Abdullah Alabed, and Rehab Duwairi delves into the cause and effect nature that video games have on players in terms of aggression and other mental disabilities. The answer “that comes through playing a specific video game varies from player to player depending on how the content of the video game is displayed and interpreted to the player’s mind.” Content in video games varies wildly, and some people are affected by levels of aggression in games at intervals, especially those with fragile mindsets. It is not much of a stretch to assume that people who play aggressive games might cause some violence, but it is not the violent games that cause aggression. It is the aggressive nature of the person. Personality plays a huge factor in how people are affected by outside stimuli (video games). Meaning that those with compromised mental states are affected more by the games that they engage in. Quwaider and his fellow researchers state: “The personality of the player or any other person has a strong influence on how they think and behave under a certain condition.” Effectively, the statement shows that those with aggressive tendencies are affected by the video games that they play, and it can further the fact that those who are mentally unstable will do horrific acts.

Another study I would like to highlight is titled Gaming Your Mental Health: A Narrative Review on Mitigating Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Using Commercial Video Games by Magdelena Kowai, Eoin Conroy, and four other contributors. In Gaming Your Mental Health, the therapeutic properties of certain games are researched and expanded upon. Kowai and the others discuss how particular genres can be great for helping ease depression, specifically multiplayer role playing games (RPGs). The researchers of Gaming Your Mental Health state, “An array of research alludes to the possible benefits of RPGs for individuals with depression,” as these multiplayer games are great ways to meet and interact with others in a sporty fashion. Whether it be through a sort of online e-commerce or even competition, there are clear benefits. Healthy people have healthy interactions, whereas depressed individuals are violent not due to their mental state but due to other preexisting types of disorders or illnesses. 

Another study I would like to bring to light is called Understanding the Lives of Problem Gamers: The Meaning, Purpose, and Influences of Video Gaming by Jing Shi, Rebecca Renwick, Nigel Turner, and Bonnie Kirsh. The negative repercussions of using video games as a coping mechanism, highlighted in the study, are what I would like to talk about in particular. Utilizing video games as one’s only coping mechanism is not a healthy process, especially when one already has present issues. Shi and the other researchers state, “Participants acknowledged that using games as a coping method only offered temporary relief from their negative emotions and did not address the problems they were facing.” If a mentally unsound mind uses video games as the sole coping mechanism, then there will only be an exacerbation of issues, potentially leading to aggressive and violent actions. Shi and Co. then go on to explain how problems with gaming can cause a variety of psychological issues. In the text Understanding the Loves of Problem Gamers, Problem gaming was defined as “persistent and recurrent involvement in video gaming that results in psychological distress and functional impairment.” Unhealthy play can cause an exponential increase in distress and further leads to my finding that people with a high propensity towards mental issues are influenced negatively by play and the external stimuli that they receive. 

Ultimately, video games are a great way to spend time and interact with a wide variety of people around the world. The facilitation of these interactions has been through decades of online social culture and interaction, and the vast culture of each game world can be very different. No matter the background, people can and will have fun just by playing. However, this is not always a good thing, as those with mental issues can be negatively affected by the violence in the media that they consume. In all four studies, the reader can see a clear correlation between mental health and the consumerism of different video games. However, a correlation does not necessarily mean causation. Games are something that usually gets negative press in the news due to the interactive aspect that they possess. Aggressive and violent tendencies are something functioning members of society do not pick up from video games. Those very few people with abnormal mental facilities are the ones who ever so rarely commit horrendous atrocities. Video games may exacerbate a person’s preexisting abnormal mental state, but even then, it is rare that video games are the sole reason for aggression. 

A huge wave of studies about how people are affected by video game aggression have been conducted over the past two decades. Researchers often still debate over what kind of video games have caused a rise in aggressive tendencies, and violent incidents, and whether or not aggressive patterns have been recently shown in the subjects or whether there’s an underlying cause to “online” and “offline” aggression. Researchers’ consensus has shown that video games only amplify negative emotions in players with already present mental and behavioral issues. Unlike what many researchers claim, video games are not the root cause of the perceived increase in aggressive actions, rather than already present mental disorders as well as factors of life that are the true culprits to the player base. When studying the effects of video games on aggression, specific criteria must be met for the study to be a fair assessment of how people are affected. 

In the published study, Consequences of Play: A Systematic Review of the Effects of Online Gaming by Victoria Anne Sublette and Barbara Mullan, it is stated “However, more common physical and psychosocial effects attributed to online video gaming are social isolation, increased aggression, and negative academic and occupational consequences,” the aforementioned quote is simply multiple simple generalizations made by the researchers in their attempts to prove games as being harmful towards their player base. In the same study, it is later on stated by Sublette and Mullan that, “A study by Eastin and Griffiths found that hostile expectation ratings were highest in virtual reality (VR) games, although actual aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior were not affected by the type of game played; while an earlier study found no significant correlations between playing violent video games and levels of aggression,” the blatant contradiction in the study mentioned above statement and summarization of earlier studies in combination with their shows that there have been no correlations towards violent games and aggressive behavior, going directly against the common belief that video games are the progenitor of many forms of offline aggression. 

Many more Researchers agree as M. Delisi, M. Vaughn, and J Shock said in their research paper, Violent Video Games, Delinquency, and Youth Violence: New Evidence, they claim that, “The present study was designed to respond to these needs using a multifactorial risk factor approach focused on more serious violent delinquent behaviors among a correctional sample of serious male and female institutionalized delinquents,” with this new found study that focuses on only the institutionalized it neglects the major population who don’t necessarily have a known issue already present. In the researchers’ attempt to prove the hypothesis correct that video games cause offline aggression and violent tendencies in their player base, they use those known to have aggressive tendencies. This pigeonhole makes it seem as if the study was set up to fail as studying the effects of media on aggressive behavior in those who have been placed in prison is a counterproductive assessment, it is safe to assume that those who are incarcerated also have a higher likely hood of being more aggressive than the average person.

The study Does Playing Violent Video Games Induce Aggression? Empirical Evidence of a Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study, by Weber, Rittenfield, and Mathiak a scientific study was done on a group of gamers and their brain’s reactions towards the stimuli received from the games they are playing. A quote contained in the study is, “which allowed for distinguishing between actions involving virtual violence and actions in which virtual violence was absent.” This quote indicates that the study itself used a specific game for studying both aggressive and non aggressive behaviors using one game to see the differences in brain activity between the “phases of play.” To see the full range that the brain can reach different types of games should be played to tell how the brain interprets the stimuli and potentially processes aggressive tendencies or lack thereof from different genres such as puzzle games like Tetris or open-world games like Grand Theft Auto. How these games affect people is very different as the absolute lack of violence in certain games can help provide a baseline control group for comparison to the violent games.

Grand Theft Auto is a major part of violent games that create violent people. In the research study, Violent Video Games and Real-World Violence: Rhetoric versus Data, written by Charlotte and Patrick Markey, and others the violent actions often associated with games like Call of Duty and multiple entries in the Grand Theft Auto series are brought up in their study in aggressive and violent actions being caused by games is brought up. Men like the Buckner brothers, Devin Moore, and more have connections to these games because their crimes occurred when these games were released. These crimes all surrounded homicides, rapes, and robberies. This study goes into how the releases of these games have affected the minds of the men who committed multiple violent acts. This, however, has been proven to be messy, and according to C. Ferguson in his article Blazing Angels or Resident Evil? Can Violent Video Games be a Force for Good? he states “Put simply, this issue notes that both public and scientific concern, refers to violent video game effects as “somewhat alarming” is not matched by violent crime data, which for both adults and youth has plummeted at the same time as video games have increased in popularity.” The large decline in violent crime data does not account for the almost exponential decrease in violent crimes among young men as these games increase in popularity. The disparity between these studies and research depends entirely on who and how the study is processed. It also depends on who the studies follow as that can skew the results to a degree but generally, most studies now find that while some rises in aggression can be detected it is entirely negligible.

References

DeLisi M, Vaughn MG, Gentile DA, Anderson CA, Shook JJ. Violent Video Games, Delinquency, and Youth Violence: New Evidence. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice. 2013;11(2):132-142. doi:10.1177/1541204012460874   

Ferguson, C. J. (2010). Blazing Angels or Resident Evil? Can Violent Video Games be a Force for Good? Review of General Psychology, 14(2), 68-81. https://doi-org.ezproxy.rowan.edu/10.1037/a0018941 

Halbrook, Y. J., O’Donnell, A. T., & Msetfi, R. M. (2019). When and How Video Games Can Be Good: A Review of the Positive Effects of Video Games on Well-Being. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(6), 1096-1104. https://doi-org.ezproxy.rowan.edu/10.1177/1745691619863807

Jing Shi, Rebecca Renwick, Nigel E. Turner, Bonnie Kirsh, Understanding the lives of problem gamers: The meaning, purpose, and influences of video gaming, Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 97, 2019, Pages 291-303, ISSN 0747-5632, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.03.023. 

Kowal M, Conroy E, Ramsbottom N, Smithies T, Toth A, Campbell M. Gaming Your Mental Health: A Narrative Review on Mitigating Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Using Commercial Video Games, https://games.jmir.org/2021/2/e26575. 

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:https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000030   

Mental Health in the Digital Age: Grave Dangers, Great Promise, edited by Elias Aboujaoude, et al., Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rowan/detail.action?docID=1969456.

Muhannad Quwaider, Abdullah Alabed, Rehab Duwairi, The Impact of Video Games on the Players Behaviors: A Survey, Procedia Computer Science, Volume 151, 2019, Pages 575-582, ISSN 1877-0509, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2019.04.077. 

Rene Weber, Ute Ritterfeld & Klaus Mathiak (2006) Does Playing Violent Video Games Induce Aggression? Empirical Evidence of a Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study, Media Psychology, 8:1, 39-60, DOI: 10.1207/S1532785XMEP0801_4    

Sublette, V.A., Mullan, B. Consequences of Play: A Systematic Review of the Effects of Online Gaming. Int J Ment Health Addiction 10, 3–23 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-010-9304-3