Background. Recent research suggests that the competitive aspects of video gameplay may increase aggression. Further, these effects are thought to be exacerbated when highly immersive forms of gameplay (e.g., Virtual Reality) are utilised. Intervention. In order to test the effects of competition and immersion (i.e., telepresence) on aggression we had participants play a video game under one of four experimental conditions: non-competitive and non-immersive, competitive but non-immersive, non-competitive but immersive, and competitive and immersive.Method. In this study, N = 79 university students were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions. After gameplay, aggressive affect, aggressive cognition, and aggressive behaviour were measured. Immersion was manipulated by having participants play the game using a Virtual Reality headset. Results. Competitive video gameplay did not increase aggressive affect, cognition, or behaviour, relative to the non-competitive video game. Similarly, immersion had no impact on aggressive affect, cognition, or behaviour.Discussion. The current study failed to find any evidence that competitive video gameplay, or immersive technology (e.g., VR), enhanced aggressive affect, cognition, or behaviour. Given the small amount of research that has assessed the impact of competitive video gameplay and/or immersive technology on aggression, replications are key to identifying whether these aspects of video gameplay have reliable effects on thought and behaviour.
Failure to demonstrate competitive video game play increases aggressive affect, cognition, or behavior
