The Hitman Study: The Correlation of Violent Video Games and Aggression

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In 2005, the American Psychological Association suggested that the correlation between violent video games and aggression is stronger than the correlation with television. Some notable scholars have question this correlation, and wondered if it was infact true. This debate came up again after the Virginia Tech Shootings, when Philip McGraw, commonly known as Dr. Phil, and Jack Thompson blamed it on the violent video games. In 2007, the Virginia Tech Review Panel discovered that Seung-Hui Cho, the shooter, did not play video games at all.
There are three theories that explain the link between violent video game exposure and aggression. They are the social learning theory, catharsis hypothesis and mood-management theory. The social learning theory suggests that aggression is a learned behavior through a procedure called behavioral modeling. In regards to violent video games, it suggests that an individual, that is exposed to violent video games, will develop a “cognitive script related to aggression”. The catharsis hypothesis suggests that aggression is a biological and evolutionary ...

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