Citation

Devilly GJ, Callahan P, Armitage G. Aust. Psychol. 2012; 47(2): 98-107.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Australian Psychological Society, Publisher Wiley-Blackwell)

DOI

10.1111/j.1742-9544.2010.00008.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Studies have found evidence that, after playing violent videogames for 20 min, people experience a mean short-term increase in aggression, hostility, and anger. The current research investigated whether or not players habituate during longer, more realistic lengths of play. Participants (N = 98) were randomly assigned to play the game Quake III Arena for either 20 or 60 min. Participants in the long condition showed a smaller change in state anger (CSA) from pre- to post-gameplay than those in the short condition, although this did not reach significance. Change in scores for gamers (not novice players) showed that short gaming led to a larger increase in anger ratings than long gaming. When the results for violent videogame players were analysed separately, there was no significant increase in anger post-gameplayirrespective of length of time playing.

RESULTS also supported the hypotheses that females would show a significantly larger CSA than males and that participants previously unexposed to violent videogames would show a significantly larger CSA than exposed participants.

Language: en