Violent Video Games Not to Blame for Hostility in Kids

USA Today reports that violent content in video games does not cause kids to behave violently toward others. While highly competitive games can cause people with certain personality traits to increase in hostility, the study showed that we need to look more at the person and less at their gaming habits for the source of such behavior.


Kids who are moody, unfriendly, or impulsive probably are the ones you want to keep from playing too many video games, according to the study.

Read more after the jump.

"'If you're worried about a video game turning your son or daughter into a killer, don't worry about that," says psychologist Patrick Markey of Villanova (Pa.) University. "But is your kid moody, impulsive, or are they unfriendly? It's probably not the best idea to have that child play violent video games."

Markey's research, presented at a meeting of the American Psychological Association, is among several studies in recent months that aim to unravel the confusion that envelops video games.

"Video games are not simply good or bad for everybody," he says. "But for some individuals who have certain dispositions, if they play video games they're much more likely to be negatively affected."

Markey found slight increases in hostility for those with certain personality traits: extremely high on neuroticism and extremely low on agreeableness and conscientiousness.

The study he co-wrote in the journal Review of General Psychology was based on responses from 118 participants collected in 2009; half played violent video games and half played non-violent games.

A new study online in the journal Psychology of Violence also supports the notion that violence isn't the issue.

"It appears that competition in games is what may influence aggression, not the violent content," says lead author Paul Adachi, whose study was conducted at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario.

'We found — irrespective of violent content — the two highly competitive games produced more aggressive behavior than the two less competitive games.'" (Via USA Today)