Older men most likely to link video games with aggression

Video and computer games have seen a huge rise in popularity worldwide. The fact that such games provide an immersive virtual experience has led to public concerns, often articulated in the media, about a possible link between gaming and real world aggression. However, a new study by the Oxford Internet Institute at Oxford University has found that although the general population has a diverse set of attitudes towards gaming, our belief in whether there is a link between video and computer games and aggressive behaviour is often influenced by whether we have actual experience of gaming. The study found that men who never or almost never played electronic games were three and a half times more likely to believe that a link between gaming and real world aggression existed, as compared with men who said they played video/computer games most days. Younger men, aged 18-24, were almost six times more likely than the older men (65 and over) to have concrete gaming experience. In March this year, a total of 2,504 people, who were representative of the US population, were surveyed on how regularly they played video/computer games. Some participants were also asked to rate how much they agreed with the statement: 'Violent video/computer games cause real-life aggression.