Violent Video Games and Aggression The great majority of video games contain violence directed towards other game characters. Almost all American Children play video games (on average of 9 hours a week) During the course of the games players not only observe violence but are often rewarded with extra points for behaving violently. Does rewarding violent behavior in video games increase, aggressive feelings, thoughts and behaviors? If violent behavior is punished, do aggressive feelings, thoughts and behaviors decrease? Nicholas Carnagey and Craig Anderso of Iowa State University explored these questions in a series of three studies in which participants played the car race game Carmageddon 2 (2005). In one version of the game, killing pedestrians and other drivers was rewarded with extra points. In the 2nd version the killing of pedestrians or other drivers were punished with the loss of points. In the 3rd version it was impossible to kill pedestrians or other vehicles. In all three studies, they found participants who were rewarded for killing pedestrians and other drivers did so far more often than those who were punished or who played the nonviolent version of the game.They were surprised to find that both those who were rewarded and those who were punished for violent behavior reported feeling more hostile and aggressive than thos who played the nonviolent video game. In other words simply playing a violent video game increased aggressive feeling regardless of rewards or punishments. They also found that rewarding violent behavior in the video game led not only to more aggressive and violent thoughts, but also to more aggressive behavior towards others after the game was over. They concluded ... people who play a video game in which violent actions are rewarded exhibit increased aggressive behavior, compared with people who play versions of the same game competitive game in which violence is punished or does not occur.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 05:58:10 +0000
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