University of Texas Arlington

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A new study suggests that playing sexist video games can reduce empathy toward female violence victims, Time Magazine reported. The article quoted Michael Ward, a UTA professor of economics who has studied the link between violent video games and behavior. Ward's research shows that playing violent games doesn’t necessarily mean a person will engage in a violent act in real life in part, perhaps, because of the time spent playing the games. “There is a perfectly reasonable expectation that as people engage in media, they get desensitized,” Ward said. “I am not taking any stance on whether the psychological effect is there or not. What we might really be interested in is the actual violence against women.” Also featured in Cosmopolitan. http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/news/a56923/violent-video-games-effects-empathy/

Natural News.com quoted Michael Ward, a professor of economics at UT Arlington, in a story about patents expiring for Monsanto’s genetically modified Roundup Ready soybean and the impact to drug makers and farmers. Experts believe generic, cheaper versions of the same drug will rush in to fill the void of soybean seed. “If you see TV ads for drugs, they don’t say much about the medication. They’re just happy people dancing and doing fun things,” Ward said. “Those types of ads are probably not going [to] sway farmers. Seeds are core to farmers’ business.

Conventional wisdom suggests violent media is harming kids but some research says that sometimes a game is just a game, Scientific American reported. The article cited research by Michael Ward, a UT Arlington economics professor, which found that higher rates of violent game sales actually coincided with a drop in crimes, especially violent crimes.

UT Arlington Economics Professor Michael Ward talked about how violent video games do not increase violence in a particular region but how violent incidents decrease in those regions, a LearnLiberty.org video reported. In the video, Ward appears as an avatar, describing his position.

The Economist noted research by Mike Ward, UT Arlington economics professor, in an article about the variable benefits of investing in infrastructure. Returns on infrastructure, like any investment, can fall off steeply. In a working paper released last year, Ward and Shilin Zheng of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences study China’s massive telecoms rollout of recent decades. Only 1 percent of the population had fixed-line phones in 1990; by 2006 that number had risen nearly 30-fold. From 1990-99, the first decade of the telecoms boom, they calculate that phone services contributed two percentage points to China’s growth rate, a huge dividend. From 2000-10, the contribution was down to half a percentage point.

A story in The Economist mentioned a working paper released last year by Michael Ward, professor of economics at University of Texas at Arlington, and Shilin Zheng, of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The team studied China’s massive telecoms rollout of recent decades. Among their findings was that from 1990-99, the first decade of the telecoms boom, phone services contributed two percentage points to China’s growth rate, a huge dividend.

Whether the impact of playing violent video games influences real violence from those players continues to be debated, Zero Hora, a Brazilian magazine reported. Michael Ward, UT Arlington economics professor in the College of Business, was quoted in the article. His published work says that when violent video games are played, acts of violence tend to drop slightly. Marcelo Pesseghini, a 13-year-old Brazilian boy who killed his family and himself, played one such violent video game, the article said.

Research from a UT Arlington economics professor Michael Ward was mentioned in a report on violent video games and gun violence in society on KLAS/CBS 8 (Las Vegas). Ward’s research team reported in 2011 that they found a 1 percent increase in violent games associated with a slight decrease in violent crime and "robust evidence that violence in media may even have social benefits by reducing crime."

UT Arlington economics professor Mike Ward was quoted in a New York Times story about research into whether playing violent video games has any effect on behavior. “I don’t know that a psychological study can ever answer that question definitively,” Ward said. “We are left to glean what we can from the data and research on video game use that we have.”

The ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) National Radio program, Counterpoint, interviewed Mike Ward, associate professor of economics at UT Arlington, about his research into video games and violence. The podcast may be found at: http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2012/05/cpt_20120507_1605.mp3.

Mike Ward, associate professor of economics at UT Arlington, will appear Monday, May 7, on the national ABC radio program, Counterpoint, to discuss video games and violence. Ward’s 2010 research into video games and adolescent fighting was published in the Journal of Law and Economics, and has been cited in numerous news reports.

WREG-TV/CBS 3 (Memphis, Tenn.) broadcast a story in which Michael Ward, UT Arlington associate professor of economics, was interviewed about his research on video games that showed when sales of violent games increase, violent crime decreases. The story initially aired on KDAF-TV/CW 33 (Dallas).

As sales of violent video games go up, violent crimes in that area go down, a recent study by Michael Ward, a UT Arlington associate professor in economics, concludes. CW Channel 33 KDAF reported on the study.

Mike Ward, associate professor of economics, has new evidence that shows video games may actually reduce violent behavior. Dr. Ward is part of a team that published the research last month, and it boils down to a very simple concept: the more time kids spend playing games, the less time they have to get into trouble. His research was featured in a CBS11 news segment on May 18, 2011.