Will playing violent games make a person violent? Opinions needed

[dgirl1986]

What is more likely to influence our ability to be violent are real life influences, in my opinion. I have noticed that bully parents have bully kids. Feral parents have feral kids. We can be influienced by the people that we hang out with. If you have a screwed up childhood, you sometimes come out screwed up.

 

[Penumbra]

Are there any studies on it? I haven't really looked.

The violent crime rate in the U.S. has dropped dramatically in the last 25 years though, despite broad surveys that show that most people believe it's increasing. And the U.S. is a big market for violent games and movies.

 

[Theweirdtophat]

It has different effects on different people but I believe it can affect people but it greatly effects people who were already mentally disturbed to begin with, which are usually the ones who commit crimes. Of course people will say "lolz, gamez don't make peoplez violent!" because they don't want to see their precious games disappear. If it doesn't make people violent, it doesn't desentize people after witnessing so many violent scenes. When they see violence in real life, they aren't as effected by it because they've seen so many graphic scenes. So it does change people to some degree, some more than others. It all depends.

I know some will say violent crime has dissipated which I disagree as there's still plenty of violent gun related crimes in Chicago and Detroit, but one has to be careful where they research. I've seen studies saying that mercury can help your brain function better, when mercury is known for causing brain damage. So we have to be careful what we look up.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

When they see violence in real life, they aren't as effected by it because they've seen so many graphic scenes.

I can't tell you how many people I have ripped into pieces, shot, tortured, vaporized, immolated, electrocuted, electrocuted until immolated, impaled, acid dissolved, decapitated, hacked up, slashed up, and destroyed with nuclear weapons. Those are all fake. Why should it bother as I make the bodies pile up in a game like Morrowind or Oblivion, and reduce the town's population to nothing more than regenerating guards? In video games, if I have the ability, my playing style is especially aggressive and violent.
But it saddens me to see a dead cat or dog lying next to the road. I actually hate seeing images of real violence, especially if people and animals are being tortured and killed. I may think it was cool in Mortal Kombat Legacy when Scorpion ripped off Sub Zero's head and the spine was still attached, but images of real people suffering from real violence is unnerving and unsettling to me. But I can watch the most violent of anime (and some of them are extremely violent, graphic, and gory) and not think anything of it.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

It has different effects on different people but I believe it can affect people but it greatly effects people who were already mentally disturbed to begin with, which are usually the ones who commit crimes. Of course people will say "lolz, gamez don't make peoplez violent!" because they don't want to see their precious games disappear. If it doesn't make people violent, it doesn't desentize people after witnessing so many violent scenes. When they see violence in real life, they aren't as effected by it because they've seen so many graphic scenes. So it does change people to some degree, some more than others. It all depends.

I know some will say violent crime has dissipated which I disagree as there's still plenty of violent gun related crimes in Chicago and Detroit, but one has to be careful where they research. I've seen studies saying that mercury can help your brain function better, when mercury is known for causing brain damage. So we have to be careful what we look up.

Video game violence and real-life violence are worlds away from each other. Even movie violence is worlds away from real-life violence (except for movies that purposely try to be as realistic as possible, but those tend to be underground exploitation flicks, like August Underground).. I've seen real videos and pictures of people being murdered, tortured, committing suicide, executions, accidents, etc. so I would know more than most, short of being a cop, EMT or working for the medical examiner. I've been watching stuff like that since my teens and to this day, some of it still bothers me. I still can't handle anything dealing with animal abuse and torture. That makes me want to kill the person doing it.

 

[robocop (actually)]

APA Review Confirms Link Between Playing Violent Video Games and Aggression

I would add that they take away sensitivity and natural emotional experiences.

However, a few people need it as an outlet because they can't cope with modern society.