With the recent spate of gun violence continuing America’s troubled history with firearms and their regulation, many are questioning what the path forward might be. Sensible gun legislation such as requiring background checks and banning the sale of military grade assault rifles such as the one used in the Uvalde massacre are all important, but what about video games? The link between violence in video games and real world violence has been disproven countless times, but in spite of the fact that this is the case around half of Americans, or 48% to be precise, think the opposite to be true.
This comes out of a recent YouGov survey that had a sample size of 1,000 participants. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that only 16% of respondents strongly believed in the notion that video games cause violence, with 32% agreeing only somewhat. Meanwhile, 17% somewhat disagreed with this idea, and 20% strongly disagreed both of which are higher than the percentage that strongly agreed.
When the question was modified to ask more specifically about mass shooting events that are currently rife in the US, the survey respondents started to shift in their answers. Only 14% strongly agreed that video games contribute to mass shootings, with 23% agreeing somewhat. Conversely, 16% of respondents somewhat disagreed with this, and 28% strongly disagreed making them the largest group in this category.
When asked if there should be legislation that should restrict people’s access to video games, almost a third of respondents, or 32% to be precise, disagreed vehemently. A further 20% disagreed somewhat, resulting in over half of respondents thinking that this isn’t a good idea. Only around 27% of survey respondents said that they thought this was a good idea, with 21% being unsure.
Interestingly, 66% of respondents at least partially agreed that video games were entertaining which means that at least 10-15% of these people feel like legislation limiting video game access is sensible, so this might sway the legislative process somewhat.
Read next: Smartphone Cameras Have Come A Long Way As Imaging Trends Receive Massive Upgrades
This comes out of a recent YouGov survey that had a sample size of 1,000 participants. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that only 16% of respondents strongly believed in the notion that video games cause violence, with 32% agreeing only somewhat. Meanwhile, 17% somewhat disagreed with this idea, and 20% strongly disagreed both of which are higher than the percentage that strongly agreed.
When the question was modified to ask more specifically about mass shooting events that are currently rife in the US, the survey respondents started to shift in their answers. Only 14% strongly agreed that video games contribute to mass shootings, with 23% agreeing somewhat. Conversely, 16% of respondents somewhat disagreed with this, and 28% strongly disagreed making them the largest group in this category.
When asked if there should be legislation that should restrict people’s access to video games, almost a third of respondents, or 32% to be precise, disagreed vehemently. A further 20% disagreed somewhat, resulting in over half of respondents thinking that this isn’t a good idea. Only around 27% of survey respondents said that they thought this was a good idea, with 21% being unsure.
Interestingly, 66% of respondents at least partially agreed that video games were entertaining which means that at least 10-15% of these people feel like legislation limiting video game access is sensible, so this might sway the legislative process somewhat.
