Page 2: Psychological model criticized

Contents

Breiner would like to see more activity from research. "On the one hand, hardly any other topic has been researched so comprehensively and, at the same time, no other research topic has been worked on so unsoundly," says Breiner. However, there was a lack of valid long-term studies that methodically investigated a causal relationship. For Breiner, there is one main reason for this: "Anderson's General Aggression Model was very popular in psychology at the time, which suggested that computer games had a positive influence on aggression. However, this GAM model was not well-founded, proved to be incorrect and is now outdated."

Craig A. Anderson and Brad J. Bushman's model was long considered the standard for interpreting data on the interaction between game-based experiences of violence and aggression. The opinion that it is outdated is not shared by everyone involved in research on computer games. The authors last aggressively defended the model in 2022. And accused critics of claiming that the data was clear and showed correlations.

But is it conceivable that a psychological explanatory model with methodological flaws has distorted a discourse to such an extent? The debate in specialist circles goes on – in a tone that suits the topic: Opponents are taking sharp shots at each other. One group of authors accused the inventors of the GAM that the thesis confirmation was largely inherent in their model. It is not without reason that numerous publications based on the GAM have been withdrawn lately.

At the empathy threshold

The fact that violent games lower the inhibition threshold for violence is still considered probable in large parts of research. Even GAM critics are not prepared to rule this out. On the other hand, there is relatively recent research from other disciplines that questions the overall effect. For example, researchers of an Austrian study have come to the conclusion that video games have no influence on players' empathy skills. However, without a change in empathy values, a disposition towards violence would be independent of this. Does this indicate a fundamental change? For decades, media impact research has shown that media violence does not leave its mark on everyone, but it does on some people.

To this day, the legal basis of the Federal Agency for the Protection of Children and Young People assumes that content is harmful to development or even harmful to minors. Section 18 of the German Youth Protection Act states that media - including games that are harmful to minors - are to be indexed if they "depict acts of violence such as murder and butchery scenes in a self-serving and detailed manner or if vigilante justice is suggested as the only proven means of enforcing supposed justice". If there were actually no personality-altering effect at all, the legal regulation would be deprived of its scientific basis.

Social media new place of violence

The Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony (KFN) is no longer researching the topic. The reason "lies in the development of scientific findings recently", explains a spokesperson. "Many studies have indicated that there is no clear causal link between the consumption of violent computer games and an increased tendency towards real violence." Other factors such as family circumstances, socio-economic conditions and personal predispositions play a much greater role in the development of violent behavior. Which is why research is now being carried out there.

The debate on violent media is now focusing on other phenomena. Depictions of bloody reality, the many gruesome clips from Russia's war against Ukraine on social media platforms, in which real people are tortured, killed or mutilated, have long been a larger field than the number of relevant games. The sheer number of content alone makes it unlikely that effective measures are even possible here. Research in this area is still in its infancy, while calls for platform operators to take responsibility are already loud and clear.

Since a change in the law in 2003, indexing has been valid for 25 years. After that, it is lifted or extended if the BZKJ deems it appropriate following a new review. Those affected can also apply to have the indexing lifted beforehand. In 2024, the BZKJ stated that it had extended the indexing of three online, mobile or computer games, two of them for pornography and one for "brutalizing effects". This year, 18 games were removed from the list upon application. Of the games currently indexed, 24 have been on the index for more than 20 years. At this rate, the list could be free of computer games by 2044.

(vbr)