The majority of people think that playing Grand Theft Auto is more influential on behavior than watching a movie like Natural Born Killers--at least according to an extensive survey by Evolution Research. Click through for the firm's game ethics survey...

MosimageWhen talking about videogame ethics, perhaps the greatest area of scrutiny is whether or not children are playing games intended for an adult audience. An in-depth survey from Evolution Research of 2,077 people suggests that the majority of consumers—60 percent—are convinced that videogames are more influential on the behavior of children than movies (50 percent said films were the most influential media), cable/satellite TV (47 percent) and music (46 percent).

But what about books, newspapers, magazines and other print media? Apparently, respondents don’t believe that print has that great of effect on kids. Either that, or kids simply interact with audio/visual media way more than with Shakespeare. Kids these days…

Parents hip to ESRB

A key component of keeping violent games like Resident Evil and Grand Theft Auto out of the hands of minors is obviously the Entertainment Software Rating Board. Evolution’s survey found that 71 percent of parents are familiar with the ESRB’s ratings system, a figure that is actually lower than findings from an ESRB-commissioned report, which reflected an 83 percent awareness rate.

The question is, are ESRB rating-savvy parents actually taking heed to the warnings of wanton decapitations and frequent references to the ganjah? For the most part, yes. Eighty-one percent of parents polled said that they are "likely" or "very likely" to evaluate the ESRB rating of a game when deciding whether to allow their children to play a game, while 77 percent use it to decide upon the actual purchase of the game.

The results indicate that ESRB ratings are in fact effective, despite criticisms from both within and outside of the industry. While the ESRB isn’t perfect, most industry insiders and watchers would agree that it’s way better than the alternative: government regulation.

Nine percent of parents don’t allow their children to play videogames at all. However, even the majority (57 percent) of that group is familiar with the ESRB’s rating system.

Consumption control

Unsurprisingly, respondents that don’t play games are more likely to agree that some games be banned based on content. Of these non-gamers, 77 percent said that they “really agree” or “agree” that some games should never see the light of day because of material deemed unfit for the general public. So far, games with namely violent content have squeezed past the grasp of campaigning politicians and government regulation thanks to the trusty ol’ First Amendment.

As expected, the majority of “gamers” and “heavy players” that were surveyed didn’t agree that some games should be banned altogether.

Many of those against government game regulation argue that it’s the parent’s responsibility—not the government’s—to decide whether or not it’s in little Johnny’s best interest to beat pedestrians to death with a baseball bat (in a digital sense). Evolution’s survey affirmed this sentiment.

Other findings

Aside from the First Amendment, one of the other reasons that certain videogames have avoided bans in the U.S. has been because there is no conclusive evidence (that everyone can agree upon, anyway) that proves videogames have an adverse affect on youth.

Evolution’s survey stated, “Despite the heed paid to ESRB ratings, individuals from all age groups felt that video games do not and could not have a negative effect on them.”

More so than the older demographic polled, younger respondents said that videogames could actually have a positive impact on them.


[Evolution’s sample demographic explained]

From Evolution: A quantitative online survey was used to measure perceptions of the social effect of video games.  A random sample of consumers was drawn from an opt-in panel built via Web advertising and traditional mailings. Survey respondents were contacted by email and invited to visit a password-protected website to participate in the survey.

Sample size: 2077
Parents: 48% Parents, 52% Non-Parents
Gender: 40% Male, 60% Female
Age: Mean: 37; 10% 18-21, 11% 21-25, 16% 26-30, 27% 31-40, 20% 41-50, 15% 50+
Political beliefs: 25% Conservative, 28% Moderate, 30% Liberal, 17% Not sure
Political affiliation: 30% Democrat, 25% Republican, 35% Independent, 10% Other
Race: 77% White, 6% Black, 9% Asian, 8% Other