Deputy prime minister tells listeners of phone-in show he is worried about effect violent games have on players' behaviour

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Computer games such as Grand Theft Auto can have a “corrosive effect” on the behaviour of players, Nick Clegg told listeners of his LBC Radio phone-in show.

Clegg’s comments came in the wake of a shooting in Washington DC in which 13 people died. Some reports have questioned the role of the killer's computer game habit.

“These games can have an incredibly powerful effect, and I expect in some cases a corrosive effect, on someone's behaviour," said Clegg. “They occupy a hermetically sealed world of their own and that can have a very detrimental effect.”

The deputy prime minister did not say on which research he based his assertion, but the effects of gaming on behaviour remain contentious.

Some critics, including teachers’ union head Alison Sherratt, warn about the effect lifelike computer games can have on young children who see older relatives playing the game, though the GTA series has always been rated 18.

One 2009 meta-analysis that examined previous studies on the link between violent media and violent behaviour concluded that “methodological problems such as the use of poor aggression measures inﬂated effect size. Once corrected for publication bias, studies of media violence effects provided little support for the hypothesis that media violence is associated with higher aggression."

In 2010, a second meta-analysis concluded that “debates can and should finally move beyond the simple question of whether violent video game play is a causal risk factor for aggressive behavior; the scientific literature has effectively and clearly shown the answer to be 'yes'."

The first paper’s authors hit back, arguing that the second contained “a number of methodological flaws that all appear likely to inflate effect size estimates”.

Grand Theft Auto 5, the latest in the long-running game series, made sales worth £498m ($800m) in its first 24 hours, making it the fastest-selling game ever.