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Abstract
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Examined the effects of playing different types of videogames on players' short-term affective states in 2 experiments. In Exp I, 55 undergraduates played and rated 11 videogames. From these ratings, 2 games were selected for use in Exp II. One game was highly aggressive; the other was only mildly aggressive. In Exp II, each of 60 Ss played 1 of the games or was assigned to a no-game control condition. Hostility, anxiety, and depression subsequently were assessed by the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List. Hostility was increased in both game conditions, relative to the control group. Ss who had played the high-aggression game were significantly more anxious than the other Ss. VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
This study by Anderson and Ford examined the effects of playing different types of video games on players' short-term affective states (hostility, anxiety, and depression).
METHODOLOGY:
A two-part experimental design was used. The first experiment used 55 undergraduate students at Rice University. Each subject played 2 games from a set of 11 and completed a questionnaire that rated the games on 7 dimensions using a seven point rating scale. A rating of one indicated the games were easy, not enjoyable, not frustrating, had no violent content, had no violent graphics, had slow action, or had long pauses. Ratings of seven were the opposite of these parameters. This experiment was done to find two games which differed only in the amount of aggression. Experiment 2 consisted of an experimental design using 60 Rice students. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of 3 experimental conditions. 1) HA (highly aggressive) played Zaxxon, 2) MA (mildly aggressive) played Centipede, and 3) C (control) played no game. The games were played on a computer. The two "game groups" played the game for 20 minutes followed by assessment of the dependent measures. The control group completed the dependent measures first with the implication that they would be playing a game afterward. Dependent variables were measured by the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist. This checklist measured hostility, anxiety, and depression. Each of the three scales consisted of a set of positive words (e.g., peaceful) and a set of negative words (e.g., angry) which were selected by subjects to describe how they felt afterward. ANOVA was used to analyze the data.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
Zaxxon and Centipede were chosen to be used in experiment 2 because they differed significantly in violence (p<.001), but did not differ significantly on any other dimension. ANOVA was conducted on the affect scores using a series of 3 (highly aggressive versus mildly aggressive versus no game) by 2 (male versus female) comparisons. The main effect of the game manipulation for hostility was significant (p<.001). Subjects in either game condition were more hostile than those in the control condition (significant at.01). The main effect of the game manipulation for anxiety was significant. The highly aggressive game produced significantly higher levels of anxiety than either the mildly aggressive game or the no game condition (p<.02). Sex by game interaction was significant at meaning that males were more depressed than females in the mildly aggressive game condition while females were more depressed in the other two situations. AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors stated that studies on both direct and indirect long-term effects are clearly needed, as well as more short-term experiments such as this one. EVALUATION:
Video games have become a major part of children and young adults' lives while the impact of the games on behavior is still unclear. This study shows that there may, indeed, be a negative effect of violent video games on emotional states, thus, raising some important questions and directions for further research. The research design of this study, however, necessitates caution in acceptance of these findings. First, in addition to the problems with the artificiality of experimental research in general, there are some internal validity concerns. There was no mention of a pre-test of the affect measures; this provides no sense of what kind of emotional state the students were in going into the experiment. The definitions of the aggressiveness of the videos was done by students at Rice University. A measure which was less location specific would have been helpful. A second concern with the findings is in the area of generalizability; a study done on undergraduate students at a private university may be tapping an atypical population. Also, the fact that the students were doing the study for extra credit and were not randomly selected may be providing a selection bias. Overall, this study shows us that there is much work to do in ascertaining the effects of aggression in video games. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - Media Violence Effects
KW - Video Game
KW - Adult Aggression
KW - Adult Anxiety
KW - Adult Depression
KW - Adult Hostility
KW - Depression Causes
KW - Hostility Causes
KW - College Student Research
KW - Aggression Causes
KW - Texas |