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Violent Videogames And Aggression Analysis

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Previous research has found a link between exposure to violent videogames and aggression. The current study investigated whether the endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology moderates this relationship in college men. The sample, 168 men, filled out a demographic questionnaire, the Male Role Norms Inventory-Revised, an adaptation of the Exposure to Violent Videogames Measure, and the Aggression Questionnaire. Exposure to violent videogames was, as expected, correlated with aggression. Endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology was also correlated with aggression. The endorsement of traditional masculinity ideology was found to moderate the relationship between exposure to violent videogames and aggression. High endorsement increased…show more content…
Post-hoc probing using simple slopes analyses, following the procedures outlined by Aiken and West (1991, pp. 14-21), was conducted to assess the details of moderation. We plotted the regression of the predictor on the outcome at two different conditional values for the moderator to derive the simple slopes: a high value, one SD above the mean, and a low value, one SD below the mean. These are shown in Figure 1. Whereas the slope of the regression of Exposure on Aggression conditional on the high value for MRNI-R was significantly different from zero, the slope conditional on the low value of the MRNI-R was not significantly different from zero. Thus, when MRNIR scores are high, there is a positive relationship between exposure and aggression, but when MRNI-R scores are low, there is no relationship between exposure and aggression. Hence, this hypothesis was…show more content…
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
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