Citation

Lee EJ, Kim HS, Choi S. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Mary Ann Liebert Publishers)

DOI

10.1089/cyber.2020.0033

PMID

33325791

Abstract

Effects of violent video games on aggression remain contentious despite decades of empirical investigations. Using eight-wave panel data collected from 662 South Korean adolescents (grades 4, 7, and 10) for a 4-year period (number of observations = 5,296), the current research critically tested competing hypotheses concerning the relations between violent video games and aggression. In so doing, we directly compared the results from dynamic fixed-effects (FE) regression with those from conventional contemporaneous FE regression to observe if different statistical models yield different outcomes. Consistent with the catharsis hypothesis, the dynamic FE model showed that violent (vs. nonviolent) game playing significantly lowered both verbal and physical aggression among heavy players, with no corresponding effect of the game type for light players. By contrast, results from the contemporaneous FE model lent support to the stimulation hypothesis, with violent game playing leading to increased physical aggression as well as verbal aggression among heavy players. Violent game playing did not significantly affect anger and hostility, but overall game time did, although in opposite directions depending on the statistical model. Specifically, the dynamic FE model indicated a significant reduction of the negative emotions as a result of increased game playing, whereas the contemporaneous FE model showed a significant increase in both emotions.

METHODological implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

aggression; catharsis; fixed-effects model; stimulation; violent video games