And How Does That Make You Feel?
A Psychological Approach to a Classic Game Studies Debate – Violent Video Games and Aggression
Keywords:
Video Games, Violent Video Games, Aggression, Dark TriadAbstract
Many media outlets, researchers and organisations claim that violent video games can cause aggression. The present study had participants play violent and non-violent video games and measured aggression after gameplay to investigate this claim. The susceptibility of a personality type called the Dark Triad (individuals high on psychopathic, narcissistic and machiavellian traits) and camera styles (First or Third-Person) of violent games were also investigated. Two-way ANOVAs were used for statistical analysis to compare participants. Participants who were highly correlated with the Dark Triad of personality had a statistically significant higher mean score of aggression. This increase in aggression remained irrespective of the game (violent or non-violent) played during the experiment. Violent video games and video game camera-style did not have any effect on aggression. The findings suggest that people highly correlated with the Dark Triad of personality are a high-risk group for aggression, but that this aggression is unrelated to video games.
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