A longitudinal study of a large number of Czech adolescents found that individuals scoring higher on physical aggression tended to play video games that are a bit more violent. This was particularly the case among younger participants. However, the study did not find any evidence that changes in how much one plays violent video games had an impact on future physical aggression. The research was published in Computers in Human Behavior.
Video games have become one of the most popular forms of entertainment worldwide. Over the past few decades, they have evolved from simple, pixelated programs into immersive, lifelike experiences, spanning a wide variety of genres. Today, nearly 3 billion people around the globe are active video game players.
From the early days of video gaming, violent video games—those that focus on physical aggression, combat, or other forms of violence as a primary element of gameplay—have attracted significant attention from researchers. Early studies often reported a link between playing violent video games and increased physical aggression in children. This link has raised concerns, particularly given that many of the most popular video games contain violent content. Yet, it remains unclear whether violent video games make players more aggressive or whether individuals who are already more aggressive are simply more drawn to these types of games.
Study author David Lacko and his colleagues sought to investigate this issue further. They conducted a longitudinal study using a special method known as a cross-lagged panel study to examine the relationship between preferences for violent video games and aggressive behavior over time.
In a cross-lagged panel study, researchers assess the same variables at different time points to determine whether one variable is likely the cause of another. The idea is that causes can influence future outcomes but cannot influence past ones. Therefore, if a variable is a cause of another, it will be more strongly associated with future values of that variable than with its past values. Conversely, the consequence will be more strongly associated with past values of its cause than with its future values. The researchers used this design to explore whether physical aggression leads to a preference for violent video games or if it is violent video games that increase aggression in adolescents.
The study involved 3,010 Czech adolescents who reported playing at least one video game during the study period. These participants took part in the first wave of data collection, but only 1,052 continued to participate through the fourth wave. The data were collected over an 18-month period between June 2020 and December 2022.
To measure aggression, the researchers used the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire—Short Form, a widely recognized tool for assessing various forms of aggression, including physical and verbal aggression. Empathy was assessed using the Adolescent Measure of Empathy and Sympathy, which evaluates both cognitive empathy (the ability to understand others’ emotions) and affective empathy (the ability to share others’ emotional experiences). To measure exposure to violence in video games, the researchers asked participants to name the three games they played most frequently. The level of violence in these games was then determined using ratings from Common Sense Media, which were used to create a violence score for each participant.
The results showed that the most frequently played games among participants included Minecraft, Roblox, Fortnite, games from the Grand Theft Auto franchise, and Brawl Stars.
The study’s findings revealed important distinctions between two types of effects: within-person effects and between-person effects. The between-person findings indicated that individuals who played more violent video games tended to score slightly higher on cognitive empathy and verbal aggression. There was also a somewhat stronger—but still relatively weak—tendency for participants who played more violent video games to score higher on physical aggression. Boys were generally found to play more violent video games than girls.
On the other hand, the within-person findings—those looking at how changes in an individual’s gaming habits relate to changes in their behavior over time—were particularly revealing. The researchers did not find that an increase or decrease in the level of violence in the games played by participants over the study period had any significant effect on changes in aggression or empathy. This suggests that violent video games are not a direct cause of increased aggression.
However, there were some nuanced findings. For instance, participants who showed an increase in empathy during the third wave of data collection tended to play fewer violent video games by the fourth wave. This association was not observed in other waves. Similarly, participants who exhibited an increase in physical aggression in the third wave tended to play more violent video games in the fourth wave. Conversely, those who reported higher levels of physical aggression in the first wave tended to play less violent games by the second wave.
While there are some associations between aggression, empathy, and the choice to play violent games, the study suggests that these games do not have a straightforward impact on changing behavior over time. Instead, the relationship appears to be influenced by a combination of individual differences and situational factors.
“These findings challenge the portrayal of VVG [violent video games] as a significant contributor to heightened aggression and decreased empathy in adolescents,” the study authors concluded.
The study sheds light on the nature of the link between video game violence and aggression. However, it should be noted that the study’s authors evaluated game violence based on the overall ratings the games received from a rating agency. This approach might be problematic because the content of a video game is not fixed but is actively shaped by the player and their actions. Consequently, the level of violence in many games can greatly depend on the player and their individual playstyle. While some players may engage in gameplay that includes a lot of violence, others may play the same game with minimal or even no violent content. This is particularly true in open-world sandbox games like Minecraft. Therefore, the validity of violence ratings may be questionable. Additionally, the study had a very high dropout rate, particularly among older participants, which may have influenced the results.
The study, “Does Violence in Video Games Impact Aggression and Empathy? A Longitudinal Study of Czech Adolescents to Differentiate Within- and Between-Person Effects,” was authored by David Lacko, Hana Machackova, and David Smahel.
