Video games and its relationship with violent behavior has long been debated, and with a recent increase in gun-related tragedies, this has once again become a hot topic socially and scientifically.

A recent study featured on Forbes.com has added its two cents to the entire argument, suggesting that cumulative play resulted in more aggression.

70 French students were recruited on the pretense of testing the brightness and resolution of certain games for three days, playing for 20 minutes per day. The group was separated into two: one was to play “violent” games, while the other had “non-violent” ones.

After playing, each participant underwent another test on “hostile expectations.” They were given the beginning of a random story and were asked to list down 20 things that they expected the main character to do. Researchers then listed how many times violent behavior appeared in the list.

The results showed that every day that each participant played a “violent” video game, their hostile expectations grew as much as their aggression increased; they expected their story characters to react belligerently.

These findings should be taken with a grain of salt, as many other studies debunk the reasoning that playing violent video games causes violent behavior. What parents can do is to give age-appropriate games to their children. Ratings are often found on the back of title packages to serve as their guide. Also, teaching them the difference between real and make-believe consequences may help in establishing proper decision-making.

(Photo by Marco Arment via Flickr Creative Commons)