The Effects of Violent Video Game Habits on Adolescent Aggressive Attitudes and Behaviors

Video games have become one of the favorite activities of children in America. A growing body of research links violent video game play to aggressive cognitions, attitudes, and behaviors. This study tested the predictions that exposure to violent video game content is (1) positively correlated with hostile attribution bias, (2) positively correlated with arguments with teachers and physical fights, and negatively correlated with school performance, and (3) positively correlated with hostility. 607 8and 9-grade students from four schools participated. Each prediction was supported. Youth who expose themselves to greater amounts of video game violence see the world as a more hostile place, are more hostile themselves, get into arguments with teachers more frequently, are more likely to be involved in physical fights, and perform more poorly in school. Video game violence exposure is a significant predictor of physical fights even when respondent sex, hostility level, and weekly amount of game play are statistically controlled. It is suggested that video game violence is a risk factor for aggressive behavior. The results also suggest that parental involvement in video game play may act as a protective factor for youth. Results are interpreted within and support the framework of the General Aggression Model. 1 Address correspondence to: Douglas A. Gentile, Ph.D., National Institute on Media and the Family, 606 24th Avenue South, Suite 606, Minneapolis, MN 55454. Phone: 612/672-5437; Fax: 612/672-4113; E-mail: dgentile@mediafamily.org Violent Video Games 2 The Popularity of Video Games Video games have become one of the favorite activities of children in America (Dewitt,1994). Sales have grown consistently with the entire electronic entertainment category taking in between $7 billion and $7.5 billion in 1999, surpassing theatrical box office revenues for the first time (“Come in and Play,” 2000). Worldwide video game sales are now at $20 billion (Cohen, 2000). Over 100 million Gameboys and 75 million PlayStations have been sold (Kent, 2000). The average American child between the ages of 2 and 17 plays video games for 7 hours a week (Gentile & Walsh, under review). A study by Buchman and Funk (1996) highlighted the differences between boys and girls, reporting that fourth through eighth grade boys played video games for 5 to 10 hours a week while girls played for 3 to 6 hours a week. Using industry polls, Provenzo (1991) studied the most popular Nintendo video games in America and found that 40 of the 47 had violence as their main theme. In another study (Buchman & Funk, 1996) in which video games were split into six categories, human and fantasy violence accounted for about 50% of children’s favorite games, with sports violence contributing another 1620% for boys and 6-15% for girls. Research On Video Games and Aggression Many observant parents agree that the effects of violent video games are probably deleterious to children; however, they generally believe that their own children will be unaffected. This may just be bias on their part, or they may be correct. Research has shown that not all children are affected in the same way by violent video games (Anderson & Dill, 2000; Lynch, 1994; Lynch, 1999). While the literature connecting video game violence and aggression is growing, much of the research that has been done on video games to date has not taken into consideration the effect of pre-existing hostility or aggression. Several correlational studies (e.g., Anderson & Dill, 2000; Colwell & Payne, 2000; Dominick, 1984; Lin & Lepper, 1987; Fling, Smith, Rodriguez, Thornton, Atkins, & Nixon, 1992) have investigated the effects of video game habits and found a positive correlation between video game habits and an increase in aggressive behavior. However, few studies have differentiated between violent and non-violent video games. Fewer still have looked at differences in the subjects' preexisting hostility or aggression. A growing number of experimental studies (e.g., Cooper & Mackie, 1986; Silvern & Williamson, 1987; Schuttte, Malouff, Post-Gorden, & Rodasta, 1988; Irwin & Gross, 1995; Anderson & Dill, 2000) have shown support for the hypothesis that violent video games lead to an increase in laboratory aggression. A meta-analytic study (Anderson & Bushman, in press-a) found that, across 54 independent tests of the relation between video game violence and aggression, involving 4,262 participants, the average effect size was both positive and significant. The General Aggression Model The General Aggression Model (GAM) and its relation to violent video games has been described by Anderson and Dill (2000). The GAM seeks to explain aggressive behavior in children after playing violent video games. This model describes a “multi-stage process by which personological (e.g., aggressive personality) and situational (e.g., video game play and provocation) input variables lead to aggressive behavior. They do so by influencing several related internal states and the outcomes of automatic and controlled appraisal (or decision) processes” (Anderson & Dill, 2000, p. 773). The GAM is relevant to the study of violent video games for several reasons. One reason is that it differentiates between short and long term effects of video game violence on the game-player. With regard to the short-term effects of violent video games, the GAM predicts that both kinds of Violent Video Games 3 input variables, person and situation, can influence the present internal state of the person. The GAM further describes the internal state of a person with cognitive, affective, and arousal variables. Summarizing the GAM’s predictions for the effects of violent video games on children’s behavior, Anderson and Dill drew the following conclusions: “Short-term violent video game increases in aggression are expected by [the model] whenever exposure to violent media primes aggressive thoughts, increases hostile feeling, or increases arousal” (Anderson & Dill, 2000, p. 774). The GAM describes the long term effects of violent video games as a result of the development, over-learning, and reinforcement of aggression-related knowledge structures. These knowledge structures include vigilance for enemies (i.e., hostile attribution bias), aggressive action against others, expectations that others will behave aggressively, positive attitudes towards the use of violence, and the belief that violent solutions are effective and appropriate. Repeated exposure to graphic scenes of violence is also postulated to be desensitizing. Furthermore, it is predicted that long term game-players become more aggressive in outlook, perceptual biases, attitudes, beliefs, and behavior than they were before the repeated exposure. Two studies were conducted to test the efficacy of the GAM in predicting aggression from violent video game play (Anderson & Dill, 2000). In the first study, it was found that real-life video game play was positively related to aggressive behavior and delinquency (long-term effects). The relationship was stronger for individuals who were characteristically aggressive. In addition, amount of video game play was negatively related to school performance. In the second study, laboratory exposure to a graphically violent video game increased aggressive thoughts and behavior (short-term effects), although there was no moderating effect of hostility (i.e., aggressive personality). Both of these studies were consistent with the main hypotheses regarding the GAM and video game violence. Lynch’s research on the physiological effects of violent video games (Lynch, 1994; Lynch, 1999) lends further credibility to the GAM. Lynch's results are consistent with a recent metaanalysis of seven independent tests showing that blood pressure and heart rate increase with exposure to violent video games (Anderson & Bushman, in press-a). This research demonstrates that hostility in adolescence is directly related to physiological reactivity to violent video games. It also demonstrates the efficacy of the GAM for predicting arousal measures, one of the three internal states described by the GAM that may lead to aggression. The GAM also predicts that long-term effects of violent video games will appear in a number of other areas, including hostile attribution bias, desensitization, and aggressive behaviors (such as physical fights). Children who tend to interpret ambiguous social cues as being of hostile intent (i.e., have a hostile attribution bias) are hypothesized to be more aggressive. This hypothesized relationship has been confirmed consistently across a wide range of samples ranging from early childhood through adulthood, and across a number of studies (e.g., Crick & Dodge, 1994; Dill, Anderson, Anderson, & Deuser, 1997). Furthermore, there is a robust relationship between hostile attribution bias and children’s social maladjustment, such as depression, negative selfperceptions, and peer rejection (Crick, 1995). Based on the GAM, we predict that long-term exposure to violent video games (or other violent media) may create a predisposition to interpret others’ actions as having malignant intent. Following this logic, if children come to have a greater hostile attribution bias from repeated, extended exposure to violent video games over time, it is also likely that they would become engaged in more aggressive behaviors such as arguments and physical fights. The current research is designed to test four hypotheses. First, video game violence exposure is positively correlated with seeing the world as a more hostile place (hostile attribution bias). Second, video game violence exposure is positively correlated with arguments with teachers and physical fights, and is negatively correlated with academic performance. Third, trait hostility will Violent Video Games 4 be positively correlated with video game violence exposure. Fourth, limiting the amount of violent video game play, either