In Germany this is called the killer game debate. I recently read that argument. There was a shooting in my country and someone in a media outlet said inter alia also the more and more realistic video games are responsible for that. Which is utterly nonsense.
When I was younger there was another shooting in my country. The culprit liked to watch anime (Dragonball Z) and played video games. Here is a history lesson for you "kids" (irony). This was the time when they started to heavily censor many animes in German TV. Gladly this belongs to the past nowadays.
Here is an article on the topic.
www.pbs.org
"Particularly in the early 2000s, dubious evidence regarding violent video games was uncritically promoted. But over the years, confidence among scholars that violent video games influence aggression or violence has crumbled."
"Two years later, I found evidence that scholarly journals' editorial biases had distorted the scientific record on violent video games. Experimental studies that found effects were more likely to be published than studies that had found none. This was consistent with others' findings. As the Supreme Court noted, any impacts due to video games are nearly impossible to distinguish from the effects of other media, like cartoons and movies."
"Any claims that there is consistent evidence that violent video games encourage aggression are simply false."
Personally I thought about it today because I played a shooter and asked myself whether it is appropriate to play such a game while in other parts of the world real wars are happening, However I came to the conclusion it is morally okay because there is a huge differrence between playing a video game and fighting in a real war. Video games never incited me to be violent. Rather the opposite it is a valve for aggressions and tensions. It is eustress for me and a good way to distract me.
I think one of the first adult games that I played was GTA. I was a teenager to that time. I can remember the torture scene and I did pretty stupid shit in that game. But it only was game and did not have any negative impact on me. In contrast the gore I watched at that age rather increased my feeling of depression and self-hatred. This was a negative way how I coped with the domestic violence and abuse. The video games were harmless in comparison.
One thing that tormented when I wrote these words. I told some guys at this age what I did that time. And one of them shamed me pretty hard. He also laughed at me when I latter had a mental breakdown. It makes me pretty sick when I think about it. These people were so presumptuous. So many people blamed it on me when I collapsed. However they had no idea about the abuse and violence that happened as a child and teenager.
Though Lil Peep is probably right when he said well I had to learn "most people suck".
So the answer of the title question is. No they don't incite violence according to empirical evidence.
When I was younger there was another shooting in my country. The culprit liked to watch anime (Dragonball Z) and played video games. Here is a history lesson for you "kids" (irony). This was the time when they started to heavily censor many animes in German TV. Gladly this belongs to the past nowadays.
Here is an article on the topic.
Analysis: Why it’s time to stop blaming video games for real-world violence
"There is no evidence to support these claims that violent media and real-world violence are connected."
www.pbs.org
"Particularly in the early 2000s, dubious evidence regarding violent video games was uncritically promoted. But over the years, confidence among scholars that violent video games influence aggression or violence has crumbled."
"Two years later, I found evidence that scholarly journals' editorial biases had distorted the scientific record on violent video games. Experimental studies that found effects were more likely to be published than studies that had found none. This was consistent with others' findings. As the Supreme Court noted, any impacts due to video games are nearly impossible to distinguish from the effects of other media, like cartoons and movies."
"Any claims that there is consistent evidence that violent video games encourage aggression are simply false."
Personally I thought about it today because I played a shooter and asked myself whether it is appropriate to play such a game while in other parts of the world real wars are happening, However I came to the conclusion it is morally okay because there is a huge differrence between playing a video game and fighting in a real war. Video games never incited me to be violent. Rather the opposite it is a valve for aggressions and tensions. It is eustress for me and a good way to distract me.
I think one of the first adult games that I played was GTA. I was a teenager to that time. I can remember the torture scene and I did pretty stupid shit in that game. But it only was game and did not have any negative impact on me. In contrast the gore I watched at that age rather increased my feeling of depression and self-hatred. This was a negative way how I coped with the domestic violence and abuse. The video games were harmless in comparison.
One thing that tormented when I wrote these words. I told some guys at this age what I did that time. And one of them shamed me pretty hard. He also laughed at me when I latter had a mental breakdown. It makes me pretty sick when I think about it. These people were so presumptuous. So many people blamed it on me when I collapsed. However they had no idea about the abuse and violence that happened as a child and teenager.
Though Lil Peep is probably right when he said well I had to learn "most people suck".
So the answer of the title question is. No they don't incite violence according to empirical evidence.
