Negative Effects of Fighting Video Games Altered Perceptions of Aggression and Fighting

 
Most parents are concerned with the amount of time their children spend playing video games, especially violent ones. It is fair to notice that their fears are not unfounded: indeed, there are many factors that prove the negative influence of fighting computer games on kids’ brains and psyches. One of the main causes for concern is the proven ability of violent video games to alter the ways children and adults process social information and perceive aggression (Denson et al., 2020). Generally, one of the findings that result from experiments suggests that such games “impaired anger recognition, increased players’ self-perceived fighting ability, and reduced perceptions of the target men’s toughness” (Denson et al., 2020, p. 1). Consequently, people who often play video games that incorporate elements of violence tend to perceive other persons differently, overestimate their own physical strength and have raised levels of aggression. What is more, as noticed by Mathur and VanderWeele (2019), increased consumption of fighting video games may lead to an altered perception of fighting itself. Generally, it also depends on gender and personal characteristics, but fights and aggressive behavior become more attractive to players.

Increased Symptoms of Depression
Further, there are many other negative ways in which violent computer games may impact people. For example, it is believed that there is a strong correlation between such video games and decreased mental health. While there is still a gap in literature addressing this topic and not all negative effects on children’s mental conditions are studied, it is already possible to state that “there is an association between daily exposure to violent video games and number of depressive symptoms among preadolescent youth” (Tortolero et al., 2014, p. 609). This issue has been of researchers’, parents’, and governments’ concern for many years, and this correlation is suggested particularly because there is a strong connection between children’s mental diseases and exposure to violence in real life. Consequently, it may also be that fighting video games have the same effect on kids and adolescents as aggression has in real life. Overall, Tortolero et al. (2014) state that “compared with playing low-violence video games for <2 hours per day, playing high-violence video games for ?2 hours per day was significantly associated with a higher number of depressive symptoms” (p. 614). This association is consistent across all racial groups and both males and females.