The Effects of Pro-Social Context vs. Anti-Social Context in Violent Video Games
Eduardo Bunn
Texas A & M International University
Author Note
Eduardo Bunn, Undergraduate student of Psychology, Texas A & M International University.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Eduardo Bunn, Undergraduate student of Psychology, Texas A & M International University, TX.
Contact: eduardobunn@dusty.tamiu.edu
Abstract
The impact of playing violent video games in a decade where video games have become a part of the mainstream popular culture across the world has become an area of debate for modern psychologists. This research proposal will attempt to identify the effects of violent video game context on aggression,
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The two levels of the this independent variable will be the pro-social context of video game violence and anti-social context of video game violence. The pro-social context of video game violence will be provided with the Playstation 4 video game Batman: Arkham Knight (2015), an action and adventure game (see Appendix A). The anti-social context of video game violence will be provided with the Playstation 4 video game, Grand Theft Auto V (2014), an action and adventure game (see Appendix B). The dependent variable will be the Buss & Perry Aggression Questionnaire, to measure the participants’ aggression after the manipulation (see Appendix C). The Normal Beliefs About Aggression will be utilized as a pre-test to establish the participants’ beliefs about behaving aggressively, depending on situation presented (see Appendix …show more content…
Independent variable level 2 will engage in the anti-social context of video game violence with the Grand Theft Auto V video game. This video game incorporates free-roaming gameplay unnecessary violence through the perspective of a former gangster, a retired professional criminal, and a violent criminal maniac, all looking for violence and a big score. In this game the participant engages in all sorts of crime, from burglary to cold blooded murder. The synopsis gameplay provides the participant with an anit-social perspective (Appendix B). Measurement. The Normative Beliefs About Aggression will be utilized as a pretest to establish the participants’ normative beliefs about aggression through a series of questions of scenarios. Participant will have 4 choices from “it’s perfectly OK” to “it’s really wrong” (see Appendix D). After manipulation, the participant will complete the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire to assess the aggressive attitudes between subjects of independent variable level 1 and independent variable level 2. The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire consists of 29 items that assess verbal aggression, physical aggression, anger and hostility in a likert-scale format from extremely uncharacteristic of me to extremely characteristic of me (Appendix C).
Sherry, John L. (2006.January, 10). Violent Video Games and Aggression. Human Communication Research 27.3(2001):409-431-. Retrieved from http://www.wileyonlinelibrary.com
Another set of randomized experiments also examined the effects of violent video games on psychology. In these experiments, after two groups of participants played violent or nonviolent video games, they were required to list their thoughts on paper to assess their aggressive cognition. Unfortunately, the results tell us that violent video games appear to make people generate more aggressive thoughts than those who played nonviolent video games
A huge controversy in today’s society is violent video games and their behavioral effect on the children and adults who play them. Violent video games have been blamed for bullying, school shootings, and even violence towards women. Many have fought that violent video games desensitize players to real-life violence, and that they are teaching the youth that violence is an acceptable conflict-solving strategy. Other sources have stated otherwise. The 2004 Secret Service has stated that only one-eighth of attackers have exhibited interests in video games. Violent Video games do not cause violent behavior or behavior problems because it has not been proven that there is a link between violent video games and behavioral issues, playing video games provide a safe outlet for aggressive and angry feelings and reduces violence in young children, and violent juvenile crime has actually gone down since the violent video game popularity has increased.
Video games have become very influential on children and adults (Stafford, 1999). With violent video games humans are more prone to act aggressively, to have aggressive thoughts and become numb towards violence (Harding, 2009). Apart from these they are
The main argument of this article is that video games have a direct link to short term and long term aggression. The author presents this argument by providing studies from peer reviewed articles that all conclude that video games do cause an increase of aggression. The main point of this article is to answer the question, “Do violent video games lead to aggression.” The article is about the effects of violent video games leading to aggression. The author uses recent examples, like the Sandy Hook and Washington Navy Yard shooting. In both of these examples, the author cites that both shooters had a history with playing violent video games. The author uses a study which selected individuals to play violent video games for a certain period of time. The study would then compare the results to a group who played non-violent video games. The study concluded that violent video games cause a direct link in aggression due to humans reenacting the actions the characters within the video games perform.
The paper discusses how violent video games affect a person's behavior and if they manifest violence and show aggression in the real world after playing such video games. I learned that not all people who are exposed to video game or media violence turn violent. I think it depends on the person if he wants to get influenced from the game, to mimic what the game shows. This is just like the next source, discussing about what kind of behavioural problems violent gaming brings about.
“Approximately 90 percent of kids in the U.S. play video games, and more than 90 percent of those games involve mature content that includes violence.”-(Time Health). The link between violent media and aggression in video games has also created a spawn of research studies that has gone back and forth on the issue of whether
In recent decades, attention has been placed on the influence of violent videogames on the aggressive behaviour of individuals. While some scholars believe that videogames increase aggression amongst children in particular, others claim evidence on the catharsis hypothesis where videogames are argued to be a safe outlet to express aggression (Berger 2002). Although many theories have emerged regarding the influence of violent videogames, the debate continues to be divided between those who claim its destructive nature and others who claim that videogames cannot be solely blamed for the aggressive behaviour expressed by young people. This essay therefore aims to examine different arguments raised in the literature regarding
According to Hollingdale and Greitemeyer (2014), Video games that are violent are identified as very popular games that are played by the consumers. There is a concern that violent video games may pose a public health risk due to the levels of aggression due to the effects of the video games. In a cross sectional studies it has been found that there is a positive correlations with real life and video game aggression. Also in longitudinal studies shows that playing violent video games constantly it can predict that there may be later aggression even after controlling for initial levels of aggression. Experimental studies have showed that playing the video game is a factor of an increase level of
Moreover, many kids deal with violence and can’t control it. As a result of having issues with violence some people play video games to let their violence and anger out. People need to understand that “ [b]ut overall, violent crime is down in the US-indeed, as violent games have become more popular, violent crime has fallen." (Erik Kain 1) The more popular the game is studies show violent
Some children may not have any experience playing violent video games at all. (3) The gender of the children would also be a factor because usually boys are more likely to have a predisposition towards aggression than girls. Boys would also more likely have more experience playing certain kinds of video games, especially violent games, where there may be hitting or fighting. Violent video games would possibly affect boys more than girls and there is the possibility that some girls may have no experience or familiarity with violent video games at all. The background conditions of the child’s home environment would also contribute to the results garnered from the experiment. A child from a broken, dysfunctional home may have previously exposed to violence and may use violence and aggression as a way of natural expression as opposed to a child from a stable and enriched home environment. The child from a stable home may have a very different upbringing, being taught very early on to have a negative sentiment towards violence and though familiar with video games, may not even have been allowed or exposed to video games of a violent nature. These factors would affect Andersen’s findings and therefore need to be controlled in order to obtain an accurate result from the experiment.
The popularity of violent video games is rapidly increasing, but abundant evidence suggests that, “playing violent video games [diminish] the player's perception of their own humanity” (Greitemeyer 499). Violence in video games has become increasingly popular throughout the years, as gun related murders have also increased in the United States, according to the data table in “Do Games like ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ Cause Real-World Violence?”. Some might say violent video games are a positive part of people’s lives because they keep criminals off the streets, but that is not the case. People should not be playing violent video games because it causes people to act out in aggressive ways and further, violent video games are directly linked to criminal
Since violent video games, like Mortal Kombat, were created, adolescents who play these games become more aggressive than before. To me, playing violent video games is unsafe for these people since they have the negative influence on these people. I believe that researching on that topic would help us get the sense of what problems to avoid. I wish to know what are the possible effects of violent video games on adolescents’ aggression. The independent variable is violent video games, and the dependent variable is adolescents’ aggression. My hypothesis is that adolescents who play violent video games become very aggressive than those who don’t. For this essay, I would like to present the findings from each article that will answer
Aggression was significantly and positively correlated with exposure, as found in prior research. This may indicate that exposure to violent videogames is a risk factor for aggressive behavior. However, it is also possible, given the correlational nature of this and other studies, that highly aggressive individuals actively seek out more aggressive games, or that the relationship between exposure and aggression is due to some as yet unidentified third variable. It is also of note that exposure correlated most strongly with physical aggression, and showed a nonsignificant correlation for verbal aggression. This result (based on sample of men) can perhaps best be understood with reference to prior research, in which Moller and Krahe (2009) found that males were more physically aggressive than females, whereas females were more relationally aggressive than males. Further, while exposure was significantly correlated with anger, it was not correlated with hostility. The authors of the AQ defined anger as physiological arousal and preparing oneself to act in an aggressive way, whereas hostility was defined as ill will towards another individual that is not expressed violently. This suggests that playing violent games is more strongly associated with preparing to perform violent acts than with simply having ill
As video game images become increasingly more realistic and graphic. Therefore, is there any link between the violence depicted in those games and violence in real life? Students are the main group people who played violent video games very often. Also, losing a game causes many people to have a negative impact. Last, the attitudes on violent game and antisocial. Games are everywhere around us, such as cellphones, televisions, or computers, but violent games are the most popular type of game. The scene inside the game may lead to real things happen, especially for children, who are eager to experience it. Therefore, violent games may cause many impact, such as crimes, antisocial, and negative effects.