Violent video games fuel aggressive behaviour as children grow up, a new report has warned.
Children who repeatedly play brutal video games are learning thought patterns that will stick with them and influence their behaviour as they grow older, the study has claimed.
The effect was found to be the same regardless of age, gender or culture.
Douglas Gentile, an associate professor of psychology at Iowa State University and lead author of the study, said that the brain process is really no different than learning maths or to play the piano.
‘If you practice over and over, you have that knowledge in your head. The fact that you haven’t played the piano in years doesn’t mean you can’t still sit down and play something,’ Professor Gentile said.
‘It’s the same with violent games – you practice being vigilant for enemies, practice thinking that it’s acceptable to respond aggressively to provocation, and practice becoming desensitised to the consequences of violence.’
Researchers found that over time children start to think more aggressively. And when provoked at home, school or in other situations, children will react much like they do when playing a violent video game.
Repeated practice of aggressive ways of thinking appears to drive the long-term effect of violent games on aggression.
‘They also reward players for being alert to hostile intentions and for using aggressive behaviour to solve conflicts.
‘Practicing such aggressive thinking in these games improves the ability of the players to think aggressively. In turn, this habitual aggressive thinking increases their aggressiveness in real life.’
Boys reported being more physically aggressive and spending more time playing violent games than girls. However, even when researchers controlled for gender, the violent video game effects on behaviour were the same for girls and boys.
