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Kaitlyn Lanna

Professor McGriff

ENC 1102

9 April 2021

Research Paper:

Video Games Effects on Society

Escapism (noun)- the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities,

especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy. For some, video games provide

this “escapism” needed as relief from their stressful everyday lives. The topic of escapism

itself is one containing many different viewpoints. Majority of these points are positive,

however, there are those who see escapism as a negative task. As someone who partakes in

video games often, I see escapism as a positive interaction in moderation. Educating others

on how video games do not affect society in a negative way is one of the many things we can

do to dispel these false pretenses. Observing how someone escapes the tedious tasks of the

monotonous everyday and relax, somehow creating this negative reaction of violence in the

real world, does not add up. Light should be shed onto the positives of video games effects

on society and education of these positives ought to be spread to those who see games

negatively.

The Supporting Claims-

Why must video games always lead to negative events in society? Many believe that

video games cause a neurological reaction of violence and aggression as well as teaching

violence and aggression. Through my research I have found video games to help with being a

positive outlet for escapism, aiding in education, hosting charitable event spaces, helping the
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development of personality traits, creating task management skills, and relieving the pain of

the “every day.” An article that expresses one of these many positives is Greg Beato’s article

“Gaming for Good – Are Slacker Gamers the New Super Philanthropists?” Beato speaks of

how specific games, through in-game purchases from the player with real money, donate a

percentage of the purchase to charities all across the world. A quote from the article stating

an example of this, “Log in to FarmVille, shell out $5 for some cartoon corn seeds that you

can plant in your virtual field, and a genuine 3d family in Haiti may get a chicken, goat, or

micro-loan from one of several non-profit organizations that are partnering with FarmVille

developer Zynga.” (Beato, 2014, para. 2) Expressing one of the many instances that video

games come into contact with charitable events.

Video games aid in the development of social skills and help calm anxiety in children.

They provide an outlet for children to engage with real life experiences like witnessing

failure. Therefore, when the time happens that the child creates a failure, they are not

distraught by it. This claim is brought into our attention by Lisa Bowens’ article “Video

game play may provide learning, health, social benefits, review finds.” Providing children

with a realm to experience anxieties, failures, and social challenges provides the opportunity

to gain knowledge of that situation when it occurs in real time. Bowen makes point to

mention how even the violent “shooter video games improved a players capacity to think

about objects in three dimensions just as well as academic courses designed to enhance these

same skills.” (Bowen, 2014, 4)

Video games aid in the expansion of the ways we can educate. Providing for some a

different way to approach a subject, video games can accomplish more than meets the eye.

Everyone learns differently, education cannot just be tests and textbooks. Kurt Squires article
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“Video Games in Education” delves into “the history of games in educational research and

argues that the cognitive potential of games has been largely ignored by educators.” (Squire,

para.1) As someone who has been involved with video games since around 2nd grade, I can

concretely say I have learned more from video games than I have ever been able to do while

sitting at a desk. Games connect with my cognitive thinking processes better than a lecture

ever could. Squires provides a multitude of examples of specific games (like Pac-Man) and

how those games express challenge, fantasy, and engage curiosity. Educational video games

cover a multitude of subjects. Examples of these subjects from the article are “Games: Drill

and Practice” and “Simulations and Strategy Games.”

The constant spread of false/ negative information about video games does nothing

but hurt the community of gaming itself. Craig Anderson, author of “Violent Video Games:

Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions,” gathers facts and dispels myths about video

gaming making this source one of the best I found. With eleven myths (and even more not

mentioned) in Anderson’s article, each is backed up with facts, making the “myth” unreal.

The inclusion of the “Unanswered Questions” portion of the article proves another point.

Anderson asks extensively detailed questions regarding just how violent games should be. As

stated in the article itself, “there is just not enough information to make a solid link from

violent video games to violent behavior in children.” (Anderson)

Providing yet another point of view, we have Kevin Anderton. Author and graphic

designer of the article “The Impact of Gaming: A Benefit to Society [Infographic].” As

someone not normally absorbed into the subject of video games research, Anderton presents

information in graphic format from Qutee surveys completed by 835 gamers. The goal of

these surveys is to attempt to be rid of most stereotypes surrounding violence and video
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games. In the article, Anderton states “over 40% said that gaming improves emotional well-

being” (Anderton, 2018, para. 2). Although an overly positive source, the information

provided was taken straight from the effected audience. I especially appreciate Andertons

addition in the conclusion. “It’s time we started listening to the people that actually play

these games rather than people that just want someone to blame for the violence they see on

the news. Gaming is not a perfect world. There are flaws such as gaming addiction that need

to be addressed. But for the most part, it seems that gaming has a positive impact and should

be treated as such.” (Anderton, 2018, para.4)

Infographics from the article.

The Opposing Claims-

Most of the time, people view video games as a hobby that negatively impacts

society. But what about psychological functioning? Group article “The Association Between

Video Gaming and Psychological Functioning” is a collaboration of multiple authors who all

share a love of psychology/ psychosomatic medicine. This collaboration comes with the goal

of “shed(ing) light on the unique contribution of each measure of psychological functioning

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to the prediction of problematic video game use.” (Et All, 2019, para. 1). A reasonable

worry, that is a gaming addiction. According to the article, problematic video gameplay

could result into a behavioral addiction. I do agree, however opposing the claim is, too much

of something is a bad thing. However, not all gamers are addicted. The article argues against

most of the positives of gaming in my previous points. For example, “The degree of

addictive video game use has been found to be related to personality traits such as low self-

esteem and low self-efficacy, anxiety, and aggression, and even to clinical symptoms of

depression and anxiety disorders. Potential consequences of video game used have been

identified as well, such as a lack of real-life friends, stress and maladaptive coping, lower

psychosocial well-being and loneliness, psychosomatic problems, and decrease academic

achievement” (Et All, 2019, 5). Pointing out majority of my argument stating that video

games aid in preventing for some people. However, you have to keep in mind, everybody’s’

brains work differently.

Negative effects of video games can vary from the sheer amount of gaming the person

actually participates in. I believe it to be obvious that the more extreme of gaming someone

does, the more negative effects will become apparent. However, as someone who does do

quite a bit of gaming, I do not feel that these negatives have affected me or my life. Kabir

Lals article “10 Negative Effects of Video Games” is a blog like article listing off negative

after negative of gaming. This article would be the one I see a “helicopter” parent using.

Introducing the article for video games in general is misleading. The article maintains the

thought of gaming addiction, which could be an issue for newer gamers who won’t be

allowed to game because their parent saw this article. The list of “negative effects of video

games” goes as follows. “1. Dopamine Addiction 2. Reduction in motivation 3. Alexithymia

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and emotional suppression 4. Repetitive stress injuries and other health risks 5. Poor mental

health 6. Relationship issues 7. Social disconnection 8. Exposure to toxic gaming

environments 9. Poor academic of professional performance 10. Escapism and getting stuck

in life” (Lal, 2020, para.1). This article is the perfect example of the misleading, false

information, and uneducated information that makes this paper all the more important. Kids

(or adults) who want to get into gaming or are already in gaming should not have to worry

about being judged by people who see gaming as this big bad activity. If it is something that

they enjoy, let them enjoy it.

Everything has the possibility of producing side effects. Matthew Walthers wrote the

article “Violent Video Games Can Carry Negative Side Effects” to express how different

games have the possibility to create negative scenarios. Walthers, unlike other authors,

actually played the games he wrote about in his article. Starting off with an obscene

description of the gameplay he participated in playing Grand Theft Auto V, making it seem to

be the absolute worst-case scenario. Starting with digital violence, Walthers feels shame of

the gameplay he experienced. Stressing the thought as well that “virtually every single one of

the pasty psychos who have shot their classmates and teachers in the last two decades has

played such games” (Walther, 2018, para. 3) Next up is the digital misogyny. Obviously,

misogyny is a no go regardless of the setting it is in. Walthers point of this section brings to

mind how easily men’s attitudes towards women are shaped based on their experiences. This

section basically exiles all thoughts of violence in games. Wrapping it up with subtle evils.

Creators of video games creating a connection between “video games and real-life acts of

mass murder” (Walther, 2018, para. 6). Walthers does try to end on a positive note,
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mentioning that not everyone who participates in these violent instances have reason to do

the same in the real world.

Curating information out of negative pretenses is a difficult task, more so when that

negative information makes no effort to see the positives. The majority of the positive

sources used provide both the positive and negative of video games effects on society. The

positive sources used a balance of information. Then when reading into the opposite point of

view, the negatives only talked negatives. Bombarding the reader with negative information

and pop ups, stressing how “horrible” video games effect children and adults. As well as an

abundance of psychological information that might not make sense to an average person.

Though the battle is still growing and gaining supporters on either side, the argument is far

from over. We who see the effects of video games as a positive interaction need to do what

we can to battle the efforts of the negative protestors through education. If the negative point

of view is stressed more so than the positive one, I am afraid that video game culture might

be destroyed and those who rely on gaming as an outlet for mental stresses will crash and

burn.
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Works Cited

Beato, Greg. “Gaming for Good – Are Slacker Gamers the New Super Philanthropists?”

Reason, www.reason.com/2014/05/07/gaming-for-good/

Bowen, Lisa. “Video Game Play May Provide, Learning, Health, Social Benefits, Review

Finds”, vol. 45, no. 2, 2014, https://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/02/video-game

Walther, Matthew. "Violent Video Games Can Carry Negative Side Effects." Opposing

Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2018. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/WBIZYA811034899/OVIC?u=lincclin_sjrcc&sid

=OVIC&xid=556ccd4d. Accessed 11 Sept. 2018. Originally published as "Why can’t

we all admit that violent video games are sick?" The Week, 9 Mar. 2018.

Anderson, Craig A. Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions.

Psychological Science Agenda. October 2003. Accessed February 2021.

https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.470.7223&rep=rep1&type

=pdf

Squire, Kurt. Video Games in Education. Comparative Media Studies Department, 14N-205

Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.543.5729&rep=rep1&type

=pdf

Anderton, Kevin. “The Impact of Gaming: A Benefit To Society [Infographic].” Forbes, 25

June 2018, 6:00am, www.forbes.com/sites/kevinanderton/2018/06/25/the-impact-of-

gaming-a-benefit-to-society-infographic/?sh=5157358c269d

Unknown author. Understanding Media and Culture. University of Minnesota Libraries

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Publishing. 2010. https://open.lib.umn.edu/mediaandculture/chapter/10-4-the-impact-

of- video-games-on-culture/

Juliane M. von der Heiden, Beate Braun, Kai W. Muller, & Boris Egloff. The Assosciation

Between Video Gaming and Psychological Functioning.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01731/full

Pollack, Susanna, and Stanley Pierre-Louis. “Video Games Are Transforming How We

Communicate with Each Other - and They Could Fix a Range of Other Global Issues

Too.” World Economic Forum, 10 Dec. 2019,

www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/12/video-games-culture-impact-on-society/

Lal, Kabir. “10 Negative Effects of Video Games.” Healthy Gamer, 21 July 2020,

www.healthygamer.gg/10-negative-effects-of-video-games/