Führen gewalthaltige Computerspiele zu eigenen Gewalthandlungen? Illustration einer wissenschaftlichen Kontroverse anhand einer Wiener Längsschnittstudie.

The debate whether exposure to violent video games causes criminal violence in everyday life has remained controversial up to now. Most research on this issue is conducted by psychologists; but with «aggressive behavior» psychologists tackle an explanandum that is much broader and encompasses much more than violent crime. This article first reviews the significance of the available literature for the explanation of adolescent violent crime and then presents the findings of an Austrian longitudinal study on the impact of playing violent video games on personal violent delinquency. The results suggest that violent video game exposure has at best a minimal, negligible effect on personal involvement in violent crime.