So limiting the amount of time played, even when the type of game is more violent, could be a potential way to reduce negative outcomes. About 13% of students who favored these types of games who said they played fewer than 2 hours per day said they had cyberbullied others, compared to more than 20% of those who played more hours per day. Interestingly, hours of play was also important when it came to the types of games more associated with bullying others (multiplayer battle and first/third person shooter). As shown in Chart 2, students who reported playing fewer than two hours per day were significantly less likely than those who played more to have cyberbullied others (15% compared to 7%). That is, whether a student was a gamer or not didn’t matter when hours of play was considered. Indeed, when number of hours per week played was added to the multivariate regression model, the effect of being a gamer completely disappeared. There could be something about the game itself, or the kind of kid who likes those types of games, that explains the increased risk of offending.Īnother consideration might be the number of hours per week played. Respondents who favored multiplayer online battle games as well as first- and third-person shooter games were significantly more likely to report participation in cyberbullying than those who preferred other types of games (17% compared to 7%, see Chart 1). One such variable might be the type of game. So there apparently are many other variables required to explain why someone might participate in cyberbullying. But the model only explained about 5% of the variation in cyberbullying offending. (In the following, for simplicity I will focus specifically on cyberbullying offending.) In a multivariate regression model controlling for the effects of age, race, and sex, those who identified as gamers were still significantly more likely to report that they had engaged in cyberbullying. So on its face, there seems to be a connection between gaming and bullying.īut if we dig a bit deeper, we can learn more. Interestingly, gamers were also more likely than non-gamers to be the victim of bullying at school (40.7% compared to 27.2%) and bullying online (25.9% compared to 15.7%). Specifically, 21% of gamers and 11% of non-gamers had bullied others at school, while 11% of gamers and 6% of non-gamers said they had cyberbullied others. Overall, students who self-identified as “gamers” were significantly more likely to have said that they bullied or cyberbullied others during the previous 30 days. To learn more, we included some questions about gaming in a subsample of about 1,500 respondents to our 2016 survey of 12-17-year-olds. What Our Data Show About Gaming and Bullying And while there’s been some research showing that those who play violent video games are more likely to engage in bullying ( Hamer et al., 2014), other analyses find no such effect ( Ferguson et al., 2017). But critics have questioned methodological decisions and statistical interpretations or pointed out that any effects observed have been relatively small ( Ferguson, 2007 Ferguson & Kilburn, 2010 Hilgard et al., 2017).
Multiple meta-analyses ( Anderson et al., 2010 Sherry, 2001) do suggest a pretty clear connection between violent video games and aggressive behaviors. On one hand, the American Psychological Association released a statement in 2015 warning of the effects of violent video games. While the games have become more realistic and engaging ( addicting?), the nature of the relationship between gameplay and aggression is still hotly debated. I remember spending many hours playing Mortal Kombat on the classic Nintendo and, looking back, wonder if my parents worried about the toll it would take on my temperament. There is certainly nothing new about this mentality: It was prominent in my 80s-era adolescence as well.
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