Survey: 54% Of U.S. Adults Believe Violent Games Cause Violent Society

54 percent of respondents believe that violent video games lead to a more violent society, finds a Rasmussen Reports phone survey of 1,000 American adults, the same percentage from another Rasmussen survey in April this year. The poll, conducted by Pulse Opinion Research during November 8-9 this year, come as the Supreme Court considers recent arguments for and against a California law that aims to restrict the sale of "excessively violent" video games to minors. Lower courts have struck down similar laws, deeming them unconstitutional. While proponents of such measures use certain research studies to argue that violent video games lead to real-world violence or aggression in youth, courts have said there is not sufficient proof that video games lead to violent behavior. Additionally, 32 percent of those polled said they don't believe video games have any direct correlation to violence in society, and 14 percent are not sure. Rasmussen said the survey has a +/- 3 percentage points margin of error. Sixty-five percent of respondents said that states should be allowed to prohibit the rental and sale of violent video games to minors, while 25 percent disagreed. But just 5 percent said the government should be primarily responsible for limiting kids' exposure to violent game content -- 71 percent said that it's parents' responsibility. The results come shortly after a U.S. Gallup survey that found 28 percent believed the government should have a "great deal" of that responsibility, and 86 percent believed it's the parents who should have a great deal of responsibility in limiting children's exposure to violent game content.