Comment on RFK Jr. Blames violent video games for Mass Shootings.
Hikki88@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 hours agoAnd what do you think makes people violent? Their upbringing, their environment, their circumstances, and so on. Obviously, if video games are a significant part of their lives, they can contribute to violent tendencies especially if someone cannot distinguish fiction from reality. That’s exactly my point.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 15 hours ago
Idk, I’m not a psychologist, but I have looked at studies on video games and there hasn’t been a causal link between violent video games and IRL violence. You’d think that with so much focus on age ratings and whatnot that we would’ve found something, yet that’s not the case. My understanding is the largest contributing factors are childhood abuse, social groups (esp. anonymous online groups), and bullying. I suppose some of that could happen in video games (i.e. in-game chat), but then it’s not the game itself causing violence, but the interaction w/ other players.
So no, I haven’t seen any evidence that violent video games contribute to anything. The best argument is that people who have violent tendencies tend to play violent video games, but the reverse has little to no evidence.
Hikki88@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 hours ago
Reasonable, I think that’s a fair argument. I’m just adding that some abused individuals who use video games as a way to cope with stress might be pushed over the edge when they encounter violence in those games. It may be a small percentage, but it can certainly contribute. But yeah, I have to admit that since it’s not such a tangible thing to grasp, it might be difficult to truly know unless the individual clearly says so.