Are the effects of unreal violent videogames pronounced when playing with a vir...

• Author(s): Arriaga, Patrícia ; Esteves, Francisco ; Carneiro, Paula ; Monteiro, Maria Benedicta
• Date: 2008
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/2149
• Origin: Repositório do ISCTE-IUL
• Subject(s): violent electronic games; virtual reality system; aggression
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

The definitive version is available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ab.20272/abstract WOS:000258787300007 (Nº de Acesso Web of Science) The present study was conducted to analyze the short-term effects of violent electronic games, played with or without a virtual reality device, on the instigation of aggressive behavior. Physiological arousal (heart rate), priming of aggressive thoughts, and state hostility, were also measured to test their possible mediation on the relationship between playing the violent game and aggression. The participants - 148 undergraduate students - were randomly assigned to four treatment conditions: two groups played a violent computer game (Unreal Tournament), and the other two a non-violent game (Motocross Madness), half with a virtual reality device and the remaining participants on the computer screen. In order to assess the game effects the following instruments were used: a BIOPAC System MP100 to measure heart rate; an emotional Stroop task to analyze the priming of aggressive and fear thoughts; a self-report state hostility scale to measure hostility; and a Competitive Reaction Time Task to assess aggressive behavior. The main results indicated that the violent computer game had effects on state hostility and aggression. Although no significant mediation effect could be detected, regression analyses showed an indirect effect of state hostility between playing a VG and aggression.