Video Game Violence and Interactivity: Effect or Equivalence?

2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-244
Author(s):  
René Weber ◽  
Katharina M Behr ◽  
Jacob T Fisher ◽  
Chelsea Lonergan ◽  
Christian Quebral
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Violent Video Game ◽  
Video Game Violence ◽  
Violent Content ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Player Skill ◽  
Game Violence

Abstract The effect of exposure to violent video game content on aggression is intensely debated. Meta-analyses have produced widely varying estimates as to the effect (or non-effect) of violent video games on subsequent aggressive thoughts and behaviors. Recent work suggests that interactivity and player skill may play key roles in moderating the effects of violent content in video games on aggression. This study investigates the effects of violence, interactivity, and player skill on mild aggressive behavior using a custom-developed first-person shooter game allowing for high levels of experimental control. We conduct effect and equivalence tests with effect size assumptions drawn from prominent meta-analyses in the video game violence literature, finding that aggressive behavior following violent video game play is statistically equivalent to that observed following non-violent game play. We also observe an interaction between violent game content, player skill, and interactivity. When player skill matched the interactivity of the game, violent content led to an increase in aggressive behavior, whereas when player skill did not match the interactivity of the game, violent content decreased aggressive behavior. This interaction is probed using a multiverse analysis incorporating both classical significance testing and Bayesian analyses.

Violent Video Games, Mass Shootings, and the Supreme Court

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
The United States ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Violent Video Games ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Legal Cases ◽  
Video Game Violence ◽  
Game Violence

The issue of video game violence continues to attract attention from the legal and policy communities, particularly in the wake of mass shootings. However, focusing on video game violence has generally not resulted in successful legal or public policy. In part this is because the science upon which beliefs of “harm” in video game violence are based remains inconsistent and heavily disputed. The current article examines several issues. First, the article examines the current evidence about video game violence influences on negative outcomes in players. Second, the article concerns itself with the application of video game science to several recent legal cases, involving both criminal prosecutions and attempted regulation/censorship of video game violence in the United States. Finally, the manuscript addresses several common talking points used in legal cases and by policy makers and examines whether these talking statements survive careful scientific scrutiny. It is advised that, consistent with the legal decisions and government reviews in the United States, Sweden, Australia, and elsewhere, current evidence does not support the regulation of violent video games, and legal or policy attempts to connect video game violence to specific crimes are unlikely to survive careful scrutiny.

Exploring the Effects of Violent Video Games on Healthcare Trainees

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 653-665
Author(s):  
Karlie A. Krause ◽  
Chelsie Smyth ◽  
Kate L. Jansen
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Personal Distress ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Violent Video Games ◽  
Video Game Play ◽  
Violent Video Game ◽  
Healthcare Settings ◽  
Distress Scale

Background. The prevalence of video game play has continued to increase. Previous literature has suggested negative emotional consequences related to violent video game play, such as an increase in aggression and decrease in empathy. Healthcare providers require high levels of empathy to effectively work with patients. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of video games on empathy on a sample of graduate-level healthcare trainees. Methods. A sample of 81 students on a healthcare campus completed a 30-item survey assessing video game habits and empathy levels. Participants were then placed into two groups (violent and non-violent) based on the amount of video game violence they are exposed to. Results. The results revealed no differences between healthcare trainees on overall empathy. A follow-up analysis examining individual subscales that comprise the overall empathy score, indicated the violent video game players had lower scores on the Personal Distress scale. Conclusion. Findings suggest that healthcare trainees who play violent video games do not experience decreased Empathic Concern or Perspective Taking, compared to individuals who do not play violent games. However, healthcare trainees who play violent video games indicated lower levels of Personal Distress. Given the intensity in healthcare settings, findings suggest violent video game play may be adaptive to healthcare trainees, as lower personal distress can lead to better decision-making and potentially prevent burnout. Further research is necessary to determine the role of video game play in healthcare professionals.

scholarly journals Pengaruh Perilaku Bermain Video Game Berunsur Kekerasan Terhadap Perilaku Agresi Remaja

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 261
Author(s):  
Nadia Itona Siregar ◽  
Pudji Muljono
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Visual Media ◽  
Game Playing ◽  
Personal Factors ◽  
Violent Video Games ◽  
Significance Level ◽  
Video Game Playing ◽  
Violent Video Game

 The development of today's technology so rapidly, this development affects the audio-visual media one of which is video games. The aim of this study are: 1) to analyze the differences influence the level of violent video game playing element to the level of adolescent aggressive behavior, 2) to analyze the influence of personal factors as differences in behavior-forming element violent video games to the level of adolescent aggressive behavior, 3) to analyze differences in the effect of factors situational as forming behavior of violent video game playing element to the level of adolescent aggressive behavior. The analysis in this study uses cross tabulation, the statistical test Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis with a 5% significance level. The results showed that there are differences in the level of situational and gender differences on the level of play behavior element violent video games; and there are differences in the level of playing video games behavioral element of violence against adolescent aggressiveness level.Keywords: audio-visual media, development of technology -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ABSTRAKPerkembangan teknologi saat ini begitu pesat, perkembangan ini mempengaruhi media audio-visual salah satunya adalah video game. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah: 1) untuk menganalisis perbedaan yang memengaruhi elemen tingkat kekerasan bermain video game ke tingkat perilaku agresif remaja, 2) untuk menganalisis pengaruh faktor pribadi sebagai perbedaan dalam elemen perilaku pembentuk video game kekerasan untuk tingkat perilaku agresif remaja, 3) untuk menganalisis perbedaan pengaruh faktor situasional sebagai pembentuk perilaku bermain video game unsur kekerasan ke tingkat perilaku agresif remaja. Analisis dalam penelitian ini menggunakan tabulasi silang, uji statistik Mann-Whitney dan Kruskal-Wallis dengan tingkat signifikansi 5%. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa ada perbedaan dalam tingkat perbedaan situasional dan jenis kelamin pada tingkat perilaku bermain elemen video game kekerasan; dan ada perbedaan dalam tingkat bermain video game unsur perilaku kekerasan terhadap tingkat agresivitas remaja.Kata kunci: media audio-visual, perkembangan teknologi

Playing Video Games Cooperatively Increases Empathic Concern

2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 408-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Greitemeyer
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Violent Video Games ◽  
Video Game Play ◽  
Violent Video Game ◽  
Cooperative Team

Two studies addressed whether playing video games cooperatively in a team would increase emphatic concern toward others in need. Study 1 showed that cooperative team-play ameliorates the negative effects of violent video game play on empathy. Both those participants who had played a violent video game cooperatively in a team and participants who had played a neutral video game on their own reported more empathy than participants who had played a violent video game on their own. Study 2 showed that cooperative teamplay does not only ameliorate negative effects of violent video games, but may also foster consideration for others. In fact, playing a neutral video game cooperatively in a team (relative to single-play) increased empathy.

Divergent meta-analyses do not present uniform evidence that violent video game content increases aggressive behaviour.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Drummond ◽  
James D. Sauer
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Aggressive Behaviour ◽  
Close Agreement ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Violent Media ◽  
Contentious Issue ◽  
Violent Video Game ◽  
Video Game Content ◽  
Meta Analyses

Whether violent games increase aggression is a contentious issue. The relatively enduring disagreement in the literature about whether violent video games cause increased aggression is reflected in divergent meta-analyses. Though we applaud Mathur and VanderWeele (2019) for attempting to synthesise such divergent meta-analyses to determine an overarching view on the effects of violent media, we argue that their interpretation of the evidence is misguided. Underpinning the notion that the evidence, in general, favours a “violent game effect” lie two problematic assumptions: (a) that the analyses conducted within these meta-analyses are equally methodologically and statistically rigorous and therefore equally valid, and (b) that even tiny effects are veridical. Here, we show that the effects reported by Anderson et al. (2010) appear to overstate the evidence in favour of a relationship between violent game content and aggression, and that bias-corrected models produce only tiny effects (Hilgard et al., 2017). We then compare these smaller effects estimated by Hilgard et al. (2017) and Ferguson (2015) to show that they appear to be in close agreement. Finally, as a reminder that non-zero meta-analytic effect sizes do not guarantee that an effect is meaningful, we compare these effect sizes to the sizes of (significant) yet nonsense effects of Extra Sensory Perception to show that the effects of violent game content on aggression are so small that we should dismiss them as practically meaningless.

scholarly journals Finding Common Ground in Meta-Analysis “Wars” on Violent Video Games

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 705-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maya B. Mathur ◽  
Tyler J. VanderWeele
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Point Estimate ◽  
Violent Video Games ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Meta Analyses

Independent meta-analyses on the same topic can sometimes yield seemingly conflicting results. For example, prominent meta-analyses assessing the effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior have reached apparently different conclusions, provoking ongoing debate. We suggest that such conflicts are sometimes partly an artifact of reporting practices for meta-analyses that focus only on the pooled point estimate and its statistical significance. Considering statistics that focus on the distributions of effect sizes and that adequately characterize effect heterogeneity can sometimes indicate reasonable consensus between “warring” meta-analyses. Using novel analyses, we show that this seems to be the case in the video-game literature. Despite seemingly conflicting results for the statistical significance of the pooled estimates in different meta-analyses of video-game studies, all of the meta-analyses do in fact point to the conclusion that, in the vast majority of settings, violent video games do increase aggressive behavior but that these effects are almost always quite small.

The (Not So) Evil Within? Agency in Video Game Choice and the Impact of Violent Content

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Ferguson ◽  
Kay Colon-Motas ◽  
Carolin Esser ◽  
Connor Lanie ◽  
Skylar Purvis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Violent Video Games ◽  
Violent Content ◽  
Game Condition ◽  
Ice Water ◽  
The Impact

Background. The degree to which violent video games do, or do not contribute to aggressive behavior and hostility remains controversial in the scientific community, with scholars not yet having come to a consensus about effects. Recent studies have examined whether other issues such as frustration or competition might explain some video game influences that were previously thought to be due to violent content. Aim. The current study examines whether player agency in determining choice of game played influences aggressive outcomes. Methods. Young adult players were randomized either to play a violent game, a non-violent game, or to be given the choice between several violent and non-violent games. Players were examined for subsequent aggressive behavior using the ice water task as well as for stress levels and hostility. Results. Game condition did not influence hostility, stress, or aggressive behavior, whether with randomized or chosen games. Conclusion. The present study provided no evidence that violent video games contribute to aggressive behavior. Lack of influence for agency in game choice can be understood given the lack of any aggression effect for violent game exposure.

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