For just over a decade, ever since it was discovered that the Columbine kids played Doom (much like every other kid in America in their demographic), it has been fashionable for sensationalist journalists and faux-psychologists to blame violence on video games.

A new study has emerged showing that it’s not so much the violent video game, but the personality of the player that really matters.

Author of the study, Patrick Markey, says this: “If you’re worried about a video game turning your son or daughter into a killer, don’t worry about that.

“But is your kid moody, impulsive, or are they unfriendly? It’s probably not the best idea to have that child play violent video games.”

The study, published in the Review of General Psychology, took responses from 118 people, with half the participants playing violent games, and the other half playing non-violent games.

Basically, the study shows that people with aggressive personalities are more likely to respond aggressively to the stimulation of a video game. My difficulty (and admittedly I have reason for bias) a study such as this is its failure to cross-check these aggressive responses across other mediums. Proponents of the violent game theories will be quick to use studies such as these to identify these games as a trigger for psychological disturbances in children. While a child exhibiting anti-social behavior may respond negatively to a violent video game, that same child may also respond that way to violent television, books, music or getting the wrong brand of peanut butter on his sandwiches.

There needs to be a caution exercised when identifying the root of a problem – in this case, the problem is most likely not a violent game, but the player of said game. The lack of a negative effect these games have on normally-functioning children is evidence of that.

Source: USAToday