Murders and psychopaths exhibit heightened aggressive tendencies in a video game setting, study finds

In a study published in the International Journal of Forensic Medicine, researchers have uncovered a striking link between aggression displayed in video games and the severity of real-world crimes committed by individuals with pronounced psychopathic tendencies and those convicted of murder. This study sheds light on the potential of video games as tools to measure and understand aggressive behavior in a controlled, replicable environment.

The researchers embarked on this study to address a crucial question in criminology and forensic psychology: Can the aggressive behaviors exhibited in video game settings provide insights into the violent tendencies of individuals convicted of severe crimes, such as murder? Previous research had highlighted connections between video game aggression and less severe offenses, but the generalizability of these findings to a broader spectrum of criminals, particularly those guilty of the most heinous acts, remained uncertain.

By focusing on a sample of real-world offenders, the researchers aimed to explore whether those with pronounced psychopathic traits and those convicted of homicide would display heightened aggression in a video game-based shooting task.

The study involved 111 male participants apprehended by the Tehran Police in 2021. After admitting guilt, these individuals were interviewed by a forensic psychologist who also led the data collection process. Although the participants’ specific ages were not recorded, most appeared to be middle-aged based on visual assessments.

A variety of measures were collected to provide a comprehensive overview of the participants’ backgrounds, behaviors, and mental health status. These measures included demographic information such as gender, primary residence location (rural or urban), and educational background, as well as detailed assessments of dark personality traits, which include psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and sadism.

Participants engaged in a video game-based shooting decision task under the direct supervision of the forensic psychologist. The task was designed to measure their aggressive tendencies in a controlled, virtual environment. The game displays various scenarios where participants must decide quickly whether to “shoot” or “not shoot.” Participants must make rapid decisions within a brief time window, usually a few seconds. If they perceive the character as a threat, they are supposed to “shoot.” If the character appears non-threatening, they should refrain from shooting.

The study found that individuals with pronounced psychopathic traits and those convicted of murder exhibited significantly heightened aggression in the video game setting compared to other criminals. Specifically, psychopathy was associated with increased aggressive tendencies, regardless of the type of crime committed. This finding supports previous research indicating that individuals with psychopathic traits are more prone to impulsive and aggressive behaviors.

Additionally, the study revealed that homicide offenders displayed greater aggressive behavior within the game compared to their criminal counterparts. This suggests that these individuals may have an inherent bias towards violent decision-making in ambiguous contexts, aligning with recent research that highlights cognitive biases in criminals.

Interestingly, the study did not find significant differences between murderers and other criminals concerning family abuse, education, mental health, criminal history, or dark personality traits, except for the number of past crimes committed. Murderers had a lower count of past crimes compared to other criminals.

Despite its valuable insights, the study has several limitations. The sample size of homicide offenders was relatively small, which may limit the generalizability of the findings. The absence of a non-criminal control group is another limitation. Although comparing murderers to other criminals provides a straightforward comparison, incorporating a demographically matched non-offender control group could offer additional valuable insights.

“In summary, our study establishes a link between real-world violent behaviors and aggression in virtual environments,” the researchers concluded. “Both criminals with pronounced psychopathic tendencies and those convicted of the gravest crimes, such as murder, demonstrated heightened aggressive behaviors in video games. Our findings extend the boundaries of conventional video game-aggression studies, underscoring the promise of video game simulations as diagnostic instruments to dissect various criminal tendencies. Pursuing research in this domain has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of criminal behavior, rehabilitation processes, and risk management.”

The study, “From crime scenes to game screens: video game aggression among criminals with psychopathic traits and those convicted of homicide,” was authored by Armand Chatard, Soghra Ebrahimi Ghavam, Alexia Delbreil, Ghina Harika-Germaneau, and Nemat Jaafari.