To What Extent do Video Games Cause Aggression in Adolescents

This essay investigates to what extent video gaming causes aggression in adolescents. This study was done through a meta-analysis by looking at different studies and models and analysing them through aspects of psychology and was explored further in the context of the question. The biological level of analysis is focussed around gender, personality and hormones. For the cognitive level of analysis the main focus was around the cognitive scripts that are formed in the players mind after playing which can encourage aggression and allow the player to imitate the action which are being undertaken in the game. Finally the sociocultural level of analysis explores competition in video games as well as the social learning theory created by Bandura exploring the use of a model to learn from. This study showed that there is considerable research supporting a relationship between video games and aggression yet it is unclear whether the relationship is correlational or cause and effect.