Violent Video Games Research Articles

The Impact of Violent Online Games on Chinese Adolescents’ Social Relationships

Under the Chinese internet system's anti-addiction policy, online games, particularly those with violent functions, are banned, and some previous research has only examined the harmful effects of online gaming. This study examines the parents' relationship, peer relationship, and romantic relationship levels of teenagers' social relationships from the perspective of violent online games, as well as the gender variations in social relationship positivity. Specifically, Chinese teenagers were split into the violent game and non-violent game groups, gathered the adolescents' social interaction scores in three aspects via questionnaires, and conducted a quantitative study. The data revealed that violent online games had no significant influence on teenagers' moms, peers, or romantic connections, with the exception of their ties with their fathers. This demonstrates that in families affected by violent video games, the relationships between adolescents and their parents warrants further investigation and debate in order to attain healthier parent-child relationships through the examination of the mothers' relationship pattern. In addition, peer relationship and romantic relationship scores of adolescent violent game players revealed that social behavior in violent games does not influence the development of positive social interactions in the real world. In the study of gender differences, it was determined by comparing the overall differences in social relations between males and females with the differences in the violent game group that violent games are the primary factor that boosts males' enthusiasm for social relationships. Consequently, examining the online social behavior of male online violent gamers players could be a breakthrough in enhancing the social relationships of Chinese adolescents.

Is Violent Video Game Playing Related to Trait Aggression or Depression Among Law Enforcement Officers

Is Violent Video Game Playing Related to Trait Aggression or Depression Among Law Enforcement Officers

The roles of moral sensitivity and father presence on the relationship between violent video game exposure and aggression among left‐behind adolescents

AbstractThis cross‐sectional study explored the relationship between violent video game exposure (VVGE) and aggression in left‐behind adolescents (LBAs) in China, taking into account the effects of moral sensitivity and father presence. A cluster sampling design was applied in this study; we recruited 615 adolescents (45.85% male, age range 12–18 years, Mage = 14.70 years, SD = 1.66) from China. The results by using SPSS 25.0 and the PROCESS macro showed that VVGE was positively associated with LBAs' trait aggression and its items, and moral sensitivity played a partial mediating role in these relationships. Moreover, father presence moderated VVGE and LBAs' trait aggression, verbal aggression and hostility. Specifically, at a high level of father presence, the direct effect of VVGE on trait aggression was significantly moderated by increasing the level of father presence, whereas this moderating effect was not significant at a low level of father presence. The results were similar for verbal aggression and hostility. Thus, moral sensitivity and father presence should be considered in prevention and intervention strategies aimed at reducing LBAs' aggression.

Who is Most at Risk for Developing Physical Aggression After Playing Violent Video Games? An Individual Differences Perspective From Early Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood.

Many theories of development suggest that playing violent video games would not impact all adolescents the same way, yet empirical research is sparse. To date there have been no within-subjects analyses that examine which adolescents are most at risk for developing aggression after playing violent video games and under what context, and no longitudinal studies encompassing multiple developmental stages (i.e., early adolescence to emerging adulthood) that examine the long-term effects of playing violent video games. To address this gap, the current study used a longitudinal design (spanning 8 years and encompassing multiple developmental periods) with a sample of U.S. adolescents who completed questionnaires on aggression, video gaming, and multiple risk and protective factors for aggression. Participants included 488 adolescents (M age = 13.82, SD = 1.03 at the initial wave, 51% female, with 65% being White, 12% Black, 19% multiethnic, and 4% other). Mixture regression was utilized to model physical aggression over time and to examine how playing violent video games might be related to aggression on an individual level. There were four classes: "Multi-risk", "High Gaming, High Aggression" (both of which had high levels of aggression over time), "Moderate Risk", and "Low Risk, High Privilege" (both of which had lower levels of aggression over time). Individuals were most aggressive with multiple risk factors or higher levels of violent game play and playing violent video games likely increased aggression more in individuals with other gaming problems and in males with low self-regulation. The results are discussed using a balanced perspective and recognize that violent video games do not affect all adolescents the same way. This research has direct implications for designing interventions around reducing aggressive behavior among adolescents.

Attitude change towards aggressive behaviors in adolescents

Aggression and its relationship with violent video games have been studied for a long history. Among all different ages, adolescents might be an important group because they are at the stage of changing from childhood to adulthood, from immature to mature. More critically, adolescence is a stage of people to identify themselves. Their identification during this phase might be helpful in predicting their future behaviors and development. As empirical studies with comprehensive designs are critical to carry out effective research and obtain reliable data, a review has been made on a paper examining the relationship among aggression, violent video games, and wishful identification in adolescents. The review with modification could be helpful for future studies to investigating harmful consequences from violent video games on adolescents’ identification. This paper has identified two major problems of the study: one is its unclear causes of aggression - weather is due to violent element of games or the self-inference from characters’ appearance; the other is its problematic participants selecting. Suggestions have been given by providing more variations on games’ character appearance in order to deal with the causal problem. By increasing the sample size, the diversity of participants could be ensured, the sample could be more representative than before, and the problem could be solved.

Violent Video Games are the Reason for Violation of Law by a Child

Abstract: One of the main concerns that have been consistently raised for video games is that most games have an offensive element. This has led many to argue that it can have a negative impact on those who play such games. Despite more than 15 years of controversy, there are few obstacles to systematic research. This article outlines empirical research in this area, including research methods such as free play observations, self-reporting methods, and experimental research. This article argues that all published studies of video game violence have methodological issues and include only possible short-term measurements of offensive outcomes. The only consistent finding is that, in contrast to teenage children, most of the research on very young children shows that children become more aggressive after playing or watching violent video games. It means that there is a tendency. However, this is all the result of using a specific research method (that is, observing the child's free play).  1998 Elsevier Science Ltd

A Cross-Sectional Survey of Different Types of School Bullying before and during COVID-19 in Shantou City, China.

Since the end of 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has had serious wide-ranging effects on academic, occupational and other daily activities. Like other types of institutions, schools are facing unprecedented challenges. Students may face a variety of adverse consequences, including sleep disturbances and school bullying, if they are unable to adjust to the current learning and living environment. This study explored the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on school bullying. A total of 5782 middle school students were enrolled in this multi-stage, cross-sectional study (3071 before and 2711 during the pandemic). The pre-pandemic group had a mean age of 14.9 ± 1.73, the pandemic group of 14.75 ± 1.47. Three models were set up using binary logistic regression to adjust for confounding variables (gender, school type, alcohol consumption, smoking, playing violent video games). All types of bullying victimization and perpetration (physical, verbal, social and property bullying) were more common during the pandemic than before the pandemic. In terms of bullying victimization, property bullying victimization (crude odds ratio [OR]: 2.398, 95% CI: 2.014-2.854, p < 0.001; model 2 adjusted OR: 2.344, 95% CI: 1.966-2.795, p < 0.001; model 3 adjusted OR: 2.818, 95% CI: 2.292-3.464, p < 0.001) increased the most. In terms of bullying perpetration, verbal bullying perpetration (crude OR: 3.007, 95% CI: 2.448-3.693, p <0.001; model 2 adjusted OR: 2.954, 95% CI: 2.399-3.637, p < 0.001; model 3 adjusted OR:3.345, 95% CI: 2.703-4.139, p < 0.001) increased the most. This study corroborate the significance of the pandemic on traditional school bullying and suggests that we should further consider other types of bullying and establish and improve the response and prevention mechanisms during public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It Doesn’t Affect Me!” – Do Immunity Beliefs Prevent Subsequent Aggression After Playing a Violent Video Game?

Abstract: We identified participants in the United States ( N = 302) who believed that they were vulnerable to becoming more aggressive after playing a violent video game (a vulnerability belief) and those who believed that playing violent video games would not make them more aggressive (an immunity belief). Participants played either a violent or a nonviolent video game and then competed with a fictional opponent in a competitive reaction time task. Results revealed that those with an immunity belief did not behave more aggressively after playing a violent video game. Unexpectedly, those with a vulnerability belief behaved less aggressively after playing a violent video game. We discuss implications for future research and media literacy education.

The Role of Social Media in Proliferating Violent Behavior Among College Students in District Layyah, Pakistan

The usage of social media is the biggest catalyst that causes behavioral transitions among the younger age cohort. In the recent era of digitalization, the youth especially college students are addicted to various social media apps such as Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter, Whats app, and Youtube. This younger age bracket used digital media to watch violent-based entertainment content, pornographies, and video games. Aligning this,cross-sectional survey research design was conducted in the four registered colleges of Layyah, Pakistan. A total sample size of N=263 respondents was selected through a de-facto method. Questionnaire was used as a tool for the data collection process. The responses of the participants were gathered and analyzed through SPSS Version-21. The findings of the study revealed that the younger students above the age of 18 years i.e. n=157 (59.7%), who belonged to the nuclear family system(n=123, 46.8%), had low parental education (n=53, 20.2%), and had a family income of ?30,000PKR (n=96, 36.5%) were more involved in the usage of social media apps which proliferates their violent behavioral conduct. Moreover, playing violent video games (n=210, 79.8%), watching action-based movies (n=217, 82.5%), destruction of someone's possessions (n=164, 62.4%), and watchinga person shooting (n=177, 67.3%) were the major parameters that played an imperative role in amplifying the violent behavior among college students. In conclusion, to share carrier goals, information, innovations, and methods of expression, students used social media sites for various action-based audio-visual content. The vigilance provided by the parents along with college administration and teachers can help to mitigate the role of social media in proliferating violence among youth in the study context.

Do Violent Video Games Reduce Aggression? The Roles of Prosociality and Cooperation

ABSTRACT Video games have become an integral part of people’s daily life. Though detrimental outcomes of negative game factors have been demonstrated across previous studies, the effects of prevalently-exist positive game factors, for example, prosociality and cooperation, remain unclear. This study examined the effects of positive game factors in violent video games on aggressive behavior by exploring prosociality and cooperation. Based on the General Learning Model, Experiment 1 examined the effect of prosociality on aggressive behavior and the mediating role of perceived violence in the game. Experiment 2 examined the relation between cooperation in violent video games and aggressive behavior, the mediating role of hostile interpretation bias, and the moderating role of the game result. The results of Experiment 1 showed that prosociality did not influence aggressive behavior. The results of Experiment 2 showed that cooperation decreased aggressive behavior. Additionally, Experiment 2 also found that the hostile interpretation bias mediated the relation between cooperation and aggressive behavior, and win/lose results moderate the relationship between cooperation and aggressive behavior. Considering the questions raised by post hoc sensitivity analysis, future studies could investigate the effects of positive game factors in violent video games on aggressive behavior with a larger sample size.

Association of violent video gaming with mental health among male teenagers in Lebanon

ABSTRACT The impact of violent video gaming on the mental health of adolescents has been of extreme importance to health care professionals and policy makers for many years. Lebanon is gripped by political and economic events that contribute to the increased prevalence of mental disorders especially among children and adolescents. This study sought to examine the association between violent video gaming and mental health problems including aggression, depression, anxiety, and insomnia among male teenagers in Lebanon. This is a cross-sectional survey study that enrolled a sample of 388 male students from grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 (13–17 years of age). The students were drawn from five Lebanese schools between October and December 2019. The Video Game Questionnaire was used to assess the games use frequencies, the degree of violent content (blood), and the degree of violent images, the Buss and Perry Scale for aggression, the Normative Beliefs about Aggression for the perceptions and beliefs about behaving aggressively, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for depression, the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale for anxiety and the Lebanese Insomnia Scale for insomnia. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was carried out after adjusting for age and household crowding index. The results showed that higher video gaming total score was significantly associated with higher anxiety (Beta = 0.039), insomnia (Beta = 0.042), total aggression (Beta = 0.141) and approval of aggression (Beta = 0.061), but not depression (Beta = 0.009). Our findings reveal the association between higher violent VGs exposure and higher approval of aggression, aggression, anxiety and insomnia among male teenagers in Lebanon. Such data can be relied on as a framework for parents, health care providers and teachers to increase awareness and protect our teenagers from the possible negative effect of violent video gaming.

Association Between Different Attachment Styles and Trends of Engagement in Violent Video Games

Objective: To evaluate the association of different attachment styles with the exposure of Lebanese male adolescents to violent video games.Methods: This cross-sectional survey study was conducted between October and December 2019 among 388 Lebanese male adolescents (aged 13-17 years) from 5 Lebanese schools. Participants answered questions regarding the 4 attachment styles (secure, preoccupied, fearful, and dismissing) and violent video game engagement.Results: Dismissing attachment style (β = -1.389) was significantly associated with less violent video gaming. Higher fearful attachment style (β = 2.981) was significantly associated with more violent video gaming.Conclusions: Adolescents with more insecure attachment styles were found to be more engaged in violent video games. Further research is needed on stress and empathy in association with these attachment styles to investigate whether they have an impact on violent gaming exposure. Future studies should focus on the type of video games and whether they require interaction with others.

Using video games to understand sex differences in attentional biases for weapons.

Attentional biases for threatening stimuli of various kinds have been repeatedly demonstrated. More recently, sex differences in the strength of visual biases for weapons have been observed, with men exhibiting stronger biases than do women. In the current study we further explored this sex difference, by examining how immediate vicarious experience with weapons (via playing a violent video game compared to playing a non-violent video game) affected the visual attention for weapons. We found that the basic visual bias for weapons compared to non-weapons was replicated, as was the sex difference in the strength of this bias. We also observed that the context produced by playing a violent video game prior to the visual search task, produced some sex differences in responding that were not present after playing the nonviolent video game, providing modest evidence that men may be more prone to cognitive behavioural effects of violent video game play. Interestingly, there was some evidence that both sexes de-prioritised non-weapons during search after playing the violent, relative to the non-violent, video game. We recommend that future studies investigate the task dynamics that may have led to this effect.

Siri, Stereotypes, and the Mechanics of Sexism

Feminized AIs designed for in-home verbal assistance are often subjected to gendered verbal abuse by their users. I survey a variety of features contributing to this phenomenon—from financial incentives for businesses to build products likely to provoke gendered abuse, to the impact of such behavior on household members—and identify a potential worry for attempts to criticize the phenomenon; while critics may be tempted to argue that engaging in gendered abuse of AI increases the chances that one will direct this abuse toward human beings, the recent history of attempts to connect video game violence to real-world aggression suggests that things may not be so simple. I turn to Confucian discussions of the role of ritualized social interactions both to better understand the roots of the problem and to investigate potential strategies for improvement, given a complex interplay between designers and device users. I argue that designers must grapple with the entrenched sexism in our society, at the expense of “smooth” and “seamless” user interfaces, in order to intentionally disrupt entrenched but harmful patterns of interaction, but that doing so is both consistent with and recommended by Confucian accounts of social rituals.

The effects of violent video games on reactive-proactive aggression and cyberbullying

The effects of violent video games on reactive-proactive aggression and cyberbullying

Violent Video Game Exposure and Problem Behaviors among Children and Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Deviant Peer Affiliation for Gender and Grade Differences.

Based on problem behavior theory, a mediation model for gender and grade differences is explored in this study. The study examined gender and grade differences in the effects of violent video games and deviant peer affiliation on problem behaviors among children and adolescents. A total of 2118 children and adolescents from four primary and middle schools in China (M age = 13.08, SD = 2.17) were surveyed using an anonymous questionnaire on basic information, exposure to violent video games, deviant peer affiliation, and problem behaviors. The results showed that exposure to violent video games significantly positively predicted problem behaviors, and deviant peer affiliation played a mediating role. Significant gender and grade differences were found in the mediating effect. This finding helps understand the individual differences in the influencing factors of problem behaviors. Further, it has important implications for interventions to reduce problem behaviors among children and adolescents.

Does Video Game influence aggression among adolescents?

Introduction: Today in developed world most of the adolescents play video games and this has driven concerns about the possible bad effects of this recreational activity.Aim of the study: The present study explored the relationship between violent video game playing and the levels of aggression among adolescents in selected schools in Karad city.Methods: Total 150 Adolescents between 13 to 17 years of age were recruited from the selected schools for the purpose of this study. Demographic information were collected and questions regarding was level of aggression was administered among adolescents. The collected data were studied and analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics.Results: The study findings reveals that Most of the subjects 86(57%) experienced moderate aggression, 44 (29%) of the subjects experienced severe level of aggression while 4(3%) of subjects experienced very severe aggression and 16(11%) experienced mild level of aggression. Conclusion: Present findings indicating a significant relationship between violent video game playing and aggression among adolescents.

The association between violent video game exposure and sub-types of school bullying in Chinese adolescents

School bullying among adolescents has been a worldwide public health issue. It has been observed that adolescents who are exposed to violent video games (VVGs) are often more aggressive. However, research on the association between violent video game exposure (VVGE) and different types of school bullying is limited in the Chinese context. The purpose of this study was to explore whether VVGE is linked to school bullying behaviors among Chinese adolescents and to examine the relationship between different levels of violent game exposure and four sub-types (physical, verbal, relational, and cyber) of school bullying involvement. This was a cross-sectional study of 1,992 Chinese students (55.02% boys and 44.98% girls) with the average age of 15.84 ± 1.62 years. Sub-types of school bullying victimization and perpetration, Internet addiction, and VVGE were measured by using a self-administrated questionnaire. The association was examined by multiple logistic regression analysis, adjusting for covariates. Physical, verbal, relational, and cyber school bullying victimization were reported by 18.12, 60.34, 11.75, and 12.05% of the adolescents, and physical, verbal, relational, and cyber school bullying perpetration were reported by 16.62, 54.62, 21.49, and 8.23% of them. Of the students, 1,398 (70.18%) were normal Internet users, 514 (25.80%) showed moderate Internet addictive behaviors, and 31 (1.56%) of the students showed severe Internet addictive behaviors. The prevalence of no VVGE, low-level VVGE, medium-level VVGE, and high-level of VVGE were 27.70, 24.10, 24.20, and 24.00%, respectively. The risk of physical victimization and physical perpetration significantly increased with the increasing degree of violent video game exposure (P for trend < 0.001), with the highest adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of 2.251 (95% CI 1.501-3.375) and 2.554 (95% CI 1.685-3.870), when comparing high-level VVGE with no VVGE. These findings highlight the specific association between different sub-types of school bullying involvement and violent video game exposure. Physical school bullying prevention and intervention programs should be conducted after adolescents are exposed to violent video games.

The effect of justified video game violence on aggressive behavior and moderated immersion: An experimental approach.

The effect of violent video games on aggressive behavior is an important topic in the field of game research. Recently, growing evidence suggests that justified game violence decreases feelings of guilt caused by in-game immoral behavior. However, little is known about the impact on aggressive behavior, and whether other factors moderate this effect. In a two-factor experiment, we tested the impact of justification of video game violence on aggressive behavior, and whether this effect would be enhanced by game immersion. Pilot experiment 1 (N = 60) and pilot experiment 2 (N = 40) demonstrated that the justification of violence and game immersion was successfully controlled by avatar and graphics quality. In the Main experiment, 123 participants played one of four conditions of a video game (2 [justification: justified vs. unjustified violence] × 2 [immersion: high vs. low immersion])and it was found that participants who played in the justified violence condition reported greater aggressive behavior than those in the unjustified violence condition. In addition, participants who played in high immersion reported greater aggressive behavior than those in low immersion. However, game immersion did not moderate the effects of justified violence. This unexpected effect is likely due to participants' distancing themselves from and identifying less with their violent avatars.

The effect of three violent videogame engagement states on aggressive behavior: A partial least squares structural equation modeling approach.

Debate on violent games and their effect on aggressive behavior remains inconclusive. This study aims to study the predicting role of cognitive, affective, and behavioral engagement states in violent videogames on aggressive behavior, which remains nebulous to date. We visited gaming zones and administered the study survey to collect data from violent videogame users. We collected 208 valid responses that were further analyzed. The present study used SmartPLS (3.3.3) software to perform partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis in two stages. In the first stage, the measurement model assessment reported that cognitive, affective, behavioral, and aggressive behavior proved to be reliable reflective-formative composite constructs. Whereas, the second phase illustrated that cognitive engagement in violent videogames fails to impact aggressive behavior. The other two engagement states (affective and behavioral) in violent games showed a positive impact on aggressive behavior. Our study contributes to aggressive behavior literature by understanding how violent videogame engagement states impact aggressive behavior, which is crucial to recognize aggression so that steps can be taken toward addressing it. This study also contributes methodologically by utilizing the hierarchical component model (HCM) approach to estimate, specify, and validate the hierarchical structure of higher-order constructs (i.e., consumer violent videogame engagement dimensions (cognitive, affective, and behavioral) and aggressive behavior) as reflective-formative composite models.