Each time we see mass homicides by young (but not older) men, it is common for some to wonder if violent video games contribute to these horrible crimes. As researchers in this area, we are often confronted by these questions. We also face considerable misinformation and outright urban legends related to mass shootings.
Unfortunately, we are concerned that a recent op-ed by Jack Thompson on this issue may have misinformed readers of the Washington Examiner.
Numerous surveys of scholars who examine the potential effects of violent media have found a broadening consensus that violent video games do not contribute to mass shootings. The American Psychological Association’s Media Psychology and Technology Division released a policy statement in 2017 asking politicians and news media to stop linking violent video games to mass shootings. This is because the evidence is clear: Violent video games do not contribute to these events and claims to the contrary are just another moral panic.
This is not an opinion, it is based on multiple data sources. From psychological studies we know that violent video game use among kids does not predict later bullying, conduct disorder, or criminal violence. Research by both the U.S. Secret Service and our research labs have found that school shooters show much less interest in violent video games than other adolescents. As we document in our book Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games is Wrong, violent video game popularity is actually related to reductions in real world violence. Countries that consume more video games are among the safest countries in the world. In the U.S., an explosion in sales of video games during the past thirty years has been related to an 80 percent decrease in youth violence. Even the release of very violent video games like “Grand Theft Auto” and “Call of Duty” are associated with immediate declines in societal violence, suggesting a causal effect.
Thompson’s editorial contained multiple errors or repetitions of long-debunked claims. For instance, the belief that the military uses violent video games to desensitize soldiers to kill is an urban legend that has long been discredited. The military, in fact, does not want soldiers killing indiscriminately.
Thompson claims that the Sandy Hook shooter was an avid violent game player. But the official investigation report discovered that, in fact, he was most fascinated with the non-violent video game “Dance, Dance Revolution.”
Thompson claims that playing violent video games causes brain changes, but recent fMRI studies have found no such effect. The studies Thompson refers to were funded by an advocacy group and, as such, have a potential conflict of interest. Lastly, Mr. Thompson referred to a professional association “American Pediatric Psychiatric Association” that, to our knowledge, does not exist. This error has since been corrected as Mr. Thompson meant to refer to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) statement, although it’s fair to note that the AAP statement has been severely criticized for grossly misrepresenting the research on media violence.
The recent American Psychological Association policy statement specifically disavowed a link between video games and violence, contrary to Thompson’s assertion, and the American Medical Association hasn’t commented publicly on the topic in over a decade. In contrast, recent reviews by the governments of Australia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have all concluded that links with even mild aggression are tenuous.
Thompson also mentions a lawsuit he was involved in regarding video games and the Paducah, Ky., shooting in 1997. However, that lawsuit was dismissed, with the presiding judge noting that it is “simply too far a leap from shooting characters on a video screen to shooting people in a classroom.” To our knowledge, no court case linking violent games to aggression or violence has ever been successful. In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged that research evidence could not link violent games to aggression or violence and noted that video games enjoy constitutional protections.
The last decade has seen a plethora of studies and data that reach the same conclusion: There is no link between violent video games and societal violence. Continuing to indulge this moral panic accomplishes little but to distract society from real causes of violence.
Christopher J. Ferguson, Ph.D., is a professor at Stetson University, and Patrick M. Markey, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology at Villanova University. The two are co-authors of “Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games is Wrong.”
