Implicit Racial Stereotypes and Violent Video Game Performance

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Tafalla ◽  
Sarah Wood ◽  
Sarah Albers ◽  
Stephanie Irwin ◽  
Eric Mann
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Racial Stereotypes ◽  
Violent Video Game ◽  
Game Performance

Violent Content Enhances Video Game Performance

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 145-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Bösche
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Acting Out ◽  
Violent Video Game ◽  
Violent Content ◽  
Custom Made ◽  
Game Activity ◽  
Video Game Content ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Game Performance

This study assesses the impact of violent video game content on players’ game performance. According to the desensitization hypothesis ( Carnagey, Anderson, & Bushman, 2007 ), violent content may elicit negative affective responses and inhibitions, which in turn should interfere with performance. On the other hand, the players might understand virtual violent acts as a digital form of rough-and-tumble play, associated with positive emotions and mobilization, which in turn should raise performance. To test these competing hypotheses on game performance, N = 50 males with no prior violent gaming experience were exposed to three different versions of a custom-made video game in which the actions to be performed were identical, though they were audio-visually presented to appear either nonviolent, moderately, or extremely violent. The results show no indication of an initial inhibition of aggressive behavior, that is, performance is elevated and remains so if the action is presented audio-visually as being violent. This supports the notion that being involved in violent video game activity is perceived as an essentially harmless acting-out of playful fighting behavior.

The Hitman Study

2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Ferguson ◽  
Stephanie M. Rueda
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Mood Management ◽  
Video Game Play ◽  
Video Game Playing ◽  
Violent Video Game ◽  
The Social

This article explores commonly discussed theories of violent video game effects: the social learning, mood management, and catharsis hypotheses. An experimental study was carried out to examine violent video game effects. In this study, 103 young adults were given a frustration task and then randomized to play no game, a nonviolent game, a violent game with good versus evil theme (i.e., playing as a good character taking on evil), or a violent game in which they played as a “bad guy.” Results indicated that randomized video game play had no effect on aggressive behavior; real-life violent video game-playing history, however, was predictive of decreased hostile feelings and decreased depression following the frustration task. Results do not support a link between violent video games and aggressive behavior, but do suggest that violent games reduce depression and hostile feelings in players through mood management.

Interactive Experience and Identification as Predictors of Attributing Responsibility in Video Games

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-15
Author(s):  
Nathan Walter ◽  
Yariv Tsfati
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Theoretical Expectation ◽  
Main Character ◽  
Attribution Of Responsibility ◽  
Attributions Of Responsibility ◽  
Violent Video Game ◽  
Grand Theft Auto Iv ◽  
Interactive Experience

Abstract. This study examines the effect of interactivity on the attribution of responsibility for the character’s actions in a violent video game. Through an experiment, we tested the hypothesis that identification with the main character in Grand Theft Auto IV mediates the effect of interactivity on attributions of responsibility for the main character’s antisocial behavior. Using the framework of the fundamental attribution error, we demonstrated that those who actually played the game, as opposed to those who simply watched someone else playing it, identified with the main character. In accordance with the theoretical expectation, those who played the game and came to identify with the main character attributed the responsibility for his actions to external factors such as “living in a violent society.” By contrast, those who did not interact with the game attributed responsibility for the character’s actions to his personality traits. These findings could be viewed as contrasting with psychological research suggesting that respondents should have distanced themselves from the violent protagonist rather than identifying with him, and with Iyengar’s (1991) expectation that more personalized episodic framing would be associated with attributing responsibility to the protagonist.

The psychophysiology of James Bond: Phasic emotional responses to violent video game events.

Emotion ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niklas Ravaja ◽  
Marko Turpeinen ◽  
Timo Saari ◽  
Sampsa Puttonen ◽  
Liisa Keltikangas-Järvinen
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
James Bond ◽  
Violent Video Game
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