EFFECT OF VIOLENT VIDEO

GAMES ON AGGRESSIVE
BEHAVIORS
JACK CHATAS
SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

ISSUE
DOES PLAYING VIDEO GAMES CAUSE MORE
AUTOMATIC ASSOCIATION WITH
AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIORS?

STUDY CONDUCTED BY ERIC UHLMANN AND

JANE SWANSON
PURPOSE
TEST EFFECT OF VIOLENT VIDEO
GAMES COMPARED TO NON-VIOLENT
GAMES ON AUTOMATIC SELFASSOCIATIONS WITH AGGRESSIVE
BEHAVIORS

PARTICIPANTS
154 INTRODUCTORY PSYCH
STUDENTS

RESULTS
VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES LED TO
MORE AUTOMATIC SELFASSOCIATION WITH AGGRESSIVE
TRAITS AND BEHAVIORS
DID NOT LEAD TO MORE SELFREPORTING OF AGGRESSIVE TRAITS

STUDY CONDUCTED BY STEVEN KIRSH

PURPOSE
TEST WHETHER VIOLENT VIDEO
GAMES OR NON-VIOLENT VIDEO
GAMES HAD MORE OF AN EFFECT
ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF HOSTILE
ATTRIBUTION BIAS

PARTICIPANTS
52 3RD AND 4TH GRADERS

RESULTS
PLAYING OF VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES
LEADS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF
SHORT-TERM HOSTILE ATTRIBUTION
MORE SO THAN NON-VIOLENT
GAMES

STUDY BY REN WEBER, UTE RITTERFELD,

AND KLAUS MATHIAK
PURPOSE
TEST EFFECT OF VIOLENT VIDEO
GAMES ON BRAIN SCANS

PARTICIPANTS
13 18 TO 26-YEAR-OLDS

RESULTS
VIRTUAL VIOLENCE RESULTS IN
SIMILAR NEURAL PATTERNS TO REAL
AGGRESSIVE THOUGHTS AND
BEHAVIORS

LIMITATIONS
INABILITY TO COMPLETELY MAP THE
NEURAL NETWORK INVOLVED IN IN
VIOLENT BEHAVIOR

CONCLUSIONS
VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES ARE LINKED WITH AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIORS, BUT ARE
NOT NECESSARILY LINKED TO VIOLENT ACTS
VIDEO GAMES HAVE SIMILAR EFFECT ON THE BRAIN THAT ACTUAL VIOLENCE
DOES

PERSONAL INSIGHTS
IT IS IMPORTANT TO REALIZE PLAYING VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES MAY NOT
CAUSE YOU TO BE VIOLENT DIRECTLY, BUT THEY CAN AFFECT YOUR
PERCEPTION OF VIOLENCE AND CAN HAVE AN IMPACT ON YOUR BRAIN

REFERENCES
GEE, J. P. (2003). WHAT VIDEO GAMES HAVE TO TEACH US ABOUT LEARNING
AND LITERACY.
COMPUTERS IN ENTERTAINMENT (CIE), 1(1), 20-20.
KIRSH, S. J. (1998). SEEING THE WORLD THROUGH MORTAL KOMBATCOLORED GLASSES: VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A
SHORT-TERM HOSTILE
ATTRIBUTION BIAS. SAGE 5, 177-184.
UHLMANN, E., & SWANSON, J. (2004). EXPOSURE TO VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES
INCREASES
AUTOMATIC AGGRESSIVENESS. JOURNAL OF ADOLESCENCE,
27(1), 41-52.