Download This PaperUnderstanding the Effects of Violent Video Games on Violent Crime
47 Pages Posted: 15 Jul 2011
There are 2 versions of this paper
Understanding the Effects of Violent Video Games on Violent Crime
Date Written: 2011
Abstract
Psychological studies invariably find a positive relationship between video game play and aggression. However, these studies cannot account for either aggressive effects of alternative activities video game playing substitutes for or the possible selection of relatively violent people into playing violent video games. That is, they lack external validity.
We investigate the relationship between the prevalence of violent video games and violent crimes. Our results are consistent with two opposing effects. First, they support the behavioral effects as in the psychological studies. Second, they suggest a larger voluntary incapacitation effect in which playing either violent or non-violent games decrease crimes. Overall, violent video games lead to decreases in violent crime.
Keywords: Video Games, Violence, Crime
JEL Classification: D08, K14, L86
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
Using Electoral Cycles in Police Hiring to Estimate the Effect of Policeon Crime
-
The Effect of Education on Crime: Evidence from Prison Inmates, Arrests, and Self-Reports
By Lance Lochner and Enrico Moretti
-
The Effect of Prison Population Size on Crime Rates: Evidence from Prison Overcrowding Litigation