The quantity and context of video game violence in Japan: Toward creating an ethical standard

Abstract

Video game entertainment, as well as animation, may be a symbol of Japanese culture for children and adolescents around the world. While children eagerly devote their time to playing video games, parents and teachers express their concerns, particularly about their violent contents, which may adversely affect children. After the schoolyard massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado, these concerns have been increasingly growing in the United States. On the effect of violent video games, more than 40 empirical studies have been reported (for reviews, see Dill and Dill 1998; Griffiths 1999; Shibuya 2001). Although recent studies indicate playing violent video games is likely to increase aggressive behavior (Anderson and Dill 2000; Sherry 2001; Sakamoto et al. 2001a; Ihori et al. 2003; Katori 2001), some results were inconsistent (Yukawa and Yoshida 2000). This inconsistency in experiments suggests that the effect of violent video games on aggression depends on the quantity and context of violent scenes, as well as the personality, sex, and age of the individuals. On the basis of television violence studies, Table 1 shows the predictions for which variables are likely to increase and decrease learning aggressive behavior. Among 17 variables, the effects of 12 variables (X1-12) were based on Wilson et al. (1997), and those of the other five variables (X13-17) were suggested by video game studies (e.g., Ballard and Wiest 1996; Brooks 1999; Calvert and Tan 1994;Yukawa and Yoshida 2000; for a review, see Shibuya and Sakamoto 2002). Table 1 also reports the effects of graphicness, reality, rewards, and competition which were empirically assessed in video games experiments (Ballard and Lineberger 1999; Sakamoto et al. 2001b; Anderson and Morrow 1995). Content analysis has been conducted on the quantity and context of popular video games in the United States (Lachlan et al. 2000), but no content analysis with category definitions has been reported in Japan. The previous content analysis analyzed best-selling games, which may not be popular among children or adolescents, and its categorization did not consider interactive video game features. This study analyzes the quantity and context of violence of popular video games selected by children, and the contexts of analysis include interactive video game features. This study posed the following research questions: 1. What is the prevalence of violence in childrens' favorite video games in Japan? 2. Among those games that contain violence, (1) How frequently is each variable found? (2) Is violence justified rather than unjustified? (3) Is violence rewarded rather than punished? (4) Are violent acts performed competitively rather than cooperatively? © 2005 Springer-Verlag Tokyo.