Research Proposal: Violent Video Games and Increased Aggression in Today’s Youth

Devorah Rothman

Bachelor of Applied Social Sciences (Counselling/Psychology)

South African College of Applied Psychology (Pty) Ltd.

Applied Research Methodology

Vanessa Stratford

8 August 2023
 Table of Contents

Violent Video Games and Increased Aggression in Today’s Youth...............................................

Literature Review............................................................................................................................

Identity formation and gaming...............................................................................................4

Social Cognitive Theory........................................................................................................5

Enhanced Dehumanization.....................................................................................................5

Moral disengagement.............................................................................................................6

The General Aggression Model.............................................................................................6

Alternate Theoretical Frameworks.........................................................................................7

The Aggression Catharsis Hypothesis...............................................................................7

The Mood Management Theory.........................................................................................7

Current Research Limitations.................................................................................................8

Research Proposal............................................................................................................................

Research Methods............................................................................................................................

Research Design.....................................................................................................................9

Participants.............................................................................................................................9

Data Collection Methods and Procedure..............................................................................10

Data Analysis.......................................................................................................................11

Ethical Considerations..........................................................................................................12

Budget and Proposed Timeline............................................................................................13

References......................................................................................................................................
 Violent Video Games and Increased Aggression in Today’s Youth

The media's influence on public opinion of socially acceptable behaviours is

Lai et al., 2015)
unmatched in modern culture ( . Television, the internet, films, newspapers,
,
radio, music, and video games are all considered mass communication (Chai 2022) In media
, 2007
violence, one person acts violently and aggressively against another (Huesmann ).

Media violence is common among adolescents due to its effect on our everyday life
(Goodson & Turner, 2021)
. Violent exposure includes verbal and physical bullying, rape,
Guo, 2022 (2022
torture, murder, and mass shootings ( ). Silva, ) says media violence is a

possible cause for school shootings. Furthermore, Silva (2022) reports that 73% of worldwide

school shootings in the recent decade have happened in the United States, where children
Duwe, 2020) 2021
enjoy unfiltered media exposure ( . Chai (2022) and Zhang et al., ( ) found

that video games may enhance juvenile aggression.

Video game (VG) design allows players to influence the activities and build
Hasan et al., 2013)
characters in a fictitious universe which they can control ( . Although

players may manage these fictional characters, certain VG are designed to make players
Sauer et al., 2015)
behave aggressively ( . The game design emphasises player involvement,

investment, and control over another player's persona, which is rewarded emotionally and

practically via a score system (

Aleem et al., 2018; Govender & Arnedo-Moreno, 2021; Jansz, 2005)
. Online games like Mortal Combat and Grand Theft Auto promote violent behaviour
Church, 2022; Jørgensen & Mortensen, 2022)
by rewarding players for murdering enemies ( .

The claim that VG violence causes juvenile hostility may be supported by Erikson's

psychosocial development stages and Albert Bandura's social learning theory. VG violence

dehumanises opponents and promotes moral desensitisation via social learning (

Vahedi, 2020)
. The General Aggression Model (GAM) says that violence is a cycle of aggression
Bushman & Anderson, 2020)
( . While studies link VG violence to juvenile aggression, Guo
(2022) points out contradictions in the research of Chai (2022) and Zhang et al. (2021).
2018 2010
Villani et al., ( ) discuss violent gaming's catharsis. Ferguson and Kilburn, ( ) and
Kersten
and Greitemeyer, (2022) use theoretical models like the Mood Management Theory

(MMT) and the Aggression Catharsis Hypothesis (ACH) to explain how players may choose

to be violent in virtual reality to release negative emotions and increase positive emotions and

decrease violence in reality.

Through conducting a review of the relevant literature, it became evident that there is

still no definitive answer as to whether there is a verified link that suggests if youth playing

violent VG will likely display increased aggressive behaviour. This research proposal will

summarise the relevant literature as well as indicate the methods in which further research

may be conducted to answer this question. If a link is found that determines violent VG is a

cause of youth aggression, then it may demand policy formation surrounding game design as

well as collaboration between experts in the educational psychology field and gaming

industry to create healthy gaming experiences for youth.

Literature Review

The research on the impact of violent VG for youth gamers uses various theoretical

frameworks from which it determines the nature of the link between violent gaming and

aggressive behaviour.

Identity formation and gaming

Psychosocial development was theorised by Eric Erikson and describes how each

stage of psychological growth involves overcoming a crisis to advance (

Kidwell et al., 1995; Syed & McLean, 2017)
. Identity formation is the crisis of adolescence, when a child shifts
(Erikson, 1970)
from dependency to self-discovery in a social and psychological setting . VG

provide seclusion for users to explore contentious imaginations without repercussions,

(Tichon & Makaresz, 2019)
encouraging psychological discovery . Players may design
aggressive characters and submissive opponents as a means to comprehend gender norms or
(Jansz, 2005)
dark fantasies . According to Tichon and Makaresz, (2019) teenagers who

struggle with identity formation may desire the same autonomy and authority in life as they

did while creating a violent character in the game. Unrestricted authority for adolescents in a

fictitious scenario might desensitise them to violence and foster violent inclinations and
(Bowman et al., 2022; Guo, 2022)
behaviours .

Social Cognitive Theory

The social cognitive theory by Albert Bandura, proposes that children develop and

learn about the world from their surrounding environments, hence behaviour is learnt through
(Grueses, 1992; Zhang et al., 2021)
observation . The social cognitive theory suggests that

behavioural outcomes such as an increase in violent tendencies can potentially develop from
(Goodson & Turner, 2021)
personal learning and cognition in certain contexts .

Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment indicates the ability children develop to mimic

physical attacks on inanimate objects that they previously witnessed; hence social cognitive

theory has provided a theoretical framework as a way of understanding the effects that media
(Chai, 2022)
violence has . Violent VG act as a learning forum that promotes the practice of
(Greitemeyer, 2018)
aggressive-based solutions in conflict situations . By carrying out and

adopting these aggressive methods in solving virtual life situations, youth with partial
(Bender et al., 2013)
development may display violent behaviour when challenged in reality .

Enhanced Dehumanization

A possible consequence of violent VG may be enhanced dehumanisation. According

to Greitemeyer and McLatchie (2011), dehumanisation is the process by where individuals

separate themselves from their own moral reproach and lessen their sense of shame for their

violent conduct. As ignoring the humanity of others leads to violent behaviours,

(Zimbardo & Haney, 2020)
dehumanisation is a significant precursor to aggressive conduct .
According to Greitemeyer and McLatchie, (2011), violent VG are made so that players

identify with the lead character, which legitimises the use of violence and immorality. In

addition, opponents in VG are frequently depicted as being sub-human, which motivates the
(Tichon & Makaresz, 2019)
player to minimise the opponent's humanity .
Greitemeyer and McLatchie, (2011) as well as Hasan et al.,
state that when this process is translated

into reality the same dehumanization occurs and causes aggression between actual people.

Moral disengagement

Moral disengagement occurs when people change their moral boundaries to tolerate
(Gabbiadini et al., 2012)
immoral behaviour . Playing violent VG may enhance antisocial
(Gabbiadini et al., 2012)
conduct, aggression, and immorality . Recent VG explicitly display
(Greitemeyer, 2018)
and reward unethical behaviours . It is possible that adolescents that are

exposed to these scenarios will apply the same principles in a real morally questionable
(Jansz, 2005) Gabbiadini et al., (2012)
context . A cross-sectional study by found that players'

who repeated immoral actions in simulated worlds increased their moral disengagement

outside of them. Violent VG exposure corresponds with higher moral disengagement, which

may lead to violent conduct or intents by adolescents, supporting the assumption that it is a
(Gabbiadini et al., 2012)
risk factor for adolescent violence .

The General Aggression Model

The GAM addresses how an individual's character and their environment may affect
(Kersten & Greitemeyer, 2022)
aggression . Additionally, it could explain how exposure to
(Ferguson & Kilburn, 2010)
violent media encourages a rise in aggressive behaviour . Past

experiences mould aggression into instinctive responses that are intended to hurt others
(Bushman & Anderson, 2020)
. As a result of these experiences, reactions to events are

guided by knowledge structures that are connected to emotions, beliefs, and behaviours
(Ferguson & Kilburn, 2010)
. Studies, such as the one by Bushman and Anderson (2020),
demonstrate a strong correlation between playing violent VG and increased violence.

Experimental proof that violent VG may incite aggressive ideas, behaviours, and emotions

includes Hasan et al.'s (2013) meta-analysis. According to Hasan et al. (2013), this model is

consistent with a cycle of increasing aggressive behaviour brought on by past game

experience.

Alternate Theoretical Frameworks

Whilst there is significant data that states the negative effects that violence in gaming
, (2018)
has on adolescent behaviour, Villani et al. , argues that there is an opinion that

illustrates a cathartic impact on gamers and thus decreasing violent behaviour (

Gabbiadini et al., 2012; Greitemeyer, 2018; Kers
. Villani et al., (2018) explain

that using theories such as the Aggression Catharsis Hypothesis (ACH) and the Mood

Management Theory (MMT), may explain the positive impact that violent VG can have on

players.

The Aggression Catharsis Hypothesis

According to the ACH, reacting aggressively in alternate realities may lessen

(Kersten & Greitemeyer, 2022)
aggressive tendencies in actuality . For instance, Greitemeyer

(2018) discovered that serious violent VG players think such games make them feel better

and make them less aggressive. According to a recent study by Kersten and Greitemeyer

(2022), people play violent VG to let out pent-up aggression and improve their

mood. However, the samples and methodology used in this study have limits, and the
Bender et al., 2013)
results might overestimate the favourable effect of playing violent VG ( .

The Mood Management Theory

The Mood Management Theory, (MMT) proposes that people try to lift their spirits
(Greitemeyer, 2018)
by interacting with stimuli that promote positive emotions . According to

Villani et al. (2018), violent VG provide players a feeling of authority and control, which
decreases adverse feelings (Jansz, 2005). Kersten and Greitemeyer, (2022) describe that in

accordance with the MMT, it is therefore possible that gamers might choose violent games to

help with their mood. Overall, the complicated association between media violence,

aggressiveness, and mood calls for further research.

Current Research Limitations

As most of the cited research utilized self-report measures, participant bias may be a

constraint because people are not always honest and affected by personal ideas, culture, and
(Goffin & Gellatly, 2001)
ideologies . Meta-analyses' that includes unpublished papers raises

bias since researchers are unknown, making publication bias a major concern in this
(Bender et al., 2013)
discipline . Violent VG studies sometimes include only studies that

support the authors' theory and exclude alternative data (Ferguson & Kilburn, 2010). There

has been an increase in the politicization of violent VG research increases prejudice (Bender

et al., 2013). And lastly, there is no standard way to measure aggressiveness, therefore result
Ferguson, 2007
ratings may be misleading ( ). Unstandardized evaluations enable researchers

to choose positive results that support their hypothesis (Ferguson & Kilburn, 2010; Bender et

al., 2013).

Research Proposal

Evans, (2007) describes a research proposal as a blueprint that sets out the content of

the proposed research; how one will gather information with which to research; what is

important about the topic they are researching and why will the results from the research have

an impact. Once one has an idea about which they hope to discover more, they need to

formulate a research question. The proposed research for this paper will aim to investigate

whether or not a relationship between violent video gaming and youth aggression exists. A
(Evans, 2007)
research question is a question that a study or project aims to answer . It usually

addresses an issue or a problem, which, through analysis and interpretation of data, is

answered in the study's conclusion (Babbie, 2020). In this paper the question is: Do violent

VG played by adolescents cause an increase in their violent and aggressive behavior? A

research hypothesis is a clear, and testable statement of expectation or prediction about the

potential outcome of a scientific research study based on a specific population or group

(Aslam & Emmanuel, 2010)
. The proposed hypothesis is, H1: Playing violent VG increases

youth aggression. In order to answer the research question and test the hypothesis one needs

to collect the necessary data in order to provide an answer for the proposed research question.

Research Methods

Research Design

A quantitative research study is a systematic investigation of a phenomena by

gathering quantifiable data, and performing statistical, mathematical or computational

(Aspers & Corte, 2021)
techniques . In order to test the hypothesis I will be conducting

quantitative research to adequately evaluate all kinds of violent behaviour on various players.

This research method will be beneficial to use as it provides reliable and accurate data, quick

data collection, wide scope of data analysis, and it eliminates bias (Babbie, 2020). The results

will be depicted in numerical form. The results received from this research will be statistical,

unbiased, and logical and will determine the direction of correlation.

Participants

The proposed research will be studying the player’s aggressive feelings before and

after playing a violent VG. The players will be habitual VG players, between the ages of 13

and 18 years. Convenience sampling, purposive/judgemental sampling will be used to obtain

participants. These are non-probability sampling methods, where in a group of participants

who are easy to reach and have the necessary characteristics that fit the objection of the study
Evans, 2007)
are gathered ( . I will approach five local and large South African high schools in

five sparse areas in Johannesburg, in order to gather participants from varying backgrounds,
ethnicities and cultures. I will inform the students as well as their guardians about the

proposed study and distribute a document that explains informed consent, required from both

the student and the guardians. Following which I will select approximately 60 individuals

from those who are interested. From those 60, each individual will belong to at least one age

group (i.e., twelve 13-year-olds, twelve 14-year-olds and so on),

(Babbie, 2020; Tabatabaei & Tayebi, 2022)
.

Data Collection Methods and Procedure

I will collect data by using sampling methods and by using the Buss-Perry Aggression
&
Questionnaire (AQ) (1992) with convenience sampling (Bryant Smith, 2001). Initially, to

determine which individuals would be interested in participating in this research, I would

distribute a simple survey/questionnaire in-person to students when I explain the proposed

research study to them. The questionnaire will comprise of close-ended questions such as are

you between the ages of 13 and 18 years? If so, please state your age below; do you have

access to a gaming platform/console (i.e., Xbox, PlayStation, and computer)? If so, please

specify which gaming platform/console it is- as well as a space for their contact details and

particularly that of their guardians. This will be a single page survey that can be filled out

while I explain the objectives of the research study.

Once I have a sample of participants, to collect data, each participant will be provided

with a copy of the violent VG (Mortal Combat). Every day for the duration of two weeks

each participant will be asked to answer the Aggression Questionnaire by Bryant and Smith,

(2001) before and after playing the provided game. Each participant will be asked to play the

game for an hour. After playing the provided VG they will then be asked to take the

questionnaire that I will create based off of and similar to the AQ. A different questionnaire

will be provided after game play as a necessity to prevent participant bias. All questionnaires

will be emailed to participants (or their guardians) and saved in a secure online data base such
as a dedicated google cloud account. Each questionnaire consists of close-ended questions,

and multiple-choice questions in the form of rating scale questions (Bryant & Smith, 2001).

Using the AQ before and a similar questionnaire after playing a violent VG like

Mortal Combat will provide in-depth and useful data from the responses, allowing me to

determine if there is indeed a correlation between violent gaming and increased violent

behaviour.

I will have to take each participant’s answers before the video game play and

calculate their results, which will be represented by a percentage, on graphs, or pie charts
(Evans, 2007)
. The same will have to be done with participants answers after playing Mortal

Combat. Once the data is collected, analysed and presented in numerical form, I will need to
Taber, 2018)
conduct a reliability test using Cronbach’s Alpha ( . Only then can I determine if

the results obtained are reliable. Statistics offer an honest representation of the research being

conducted without discrepancies and are also extremely accurate (Babbie, 2020). From the

collected data results, I can then investigate whether or not playing violent VG increases

youth aggression. The responses obtained will be coded to help structure and label levels

(ranging from low to extreme) that will describe the content of the questionnaires (
Bryant & Smith, 2001
). This will help to identify the nature of the relationship between violent VG and

increased youth aggression. The results gathered from the collected data will determine if I

reject or accept the H1: Playing violent games increases youth aggression (
Babbie, 2020; Evans, 2007; Tabatabaei & Tayebi, 2022)

Data Analysis

Since this is a quantitative study that aims to determine the relationship between

violent VG play and youth aggression, I will use a bivariate correlational analysis. A bivariate

analysis aims to analyse two variables at a given time in order to determine whether or not
Evans,
they are related ( 2007). Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) will be used as a means to
determine the strength of the linear relationship between these two interval variables (Babbie,

2020). I will use a computer programme such as the Statistical Package for the Social

Sciences (SPSS), which will read the collected data and convert it into quantitative numerical
Evans, 2007)
data, presented on a scatterplot graph ( . The purpose of the scatterplot is to

verify that a linear relationship exists between the two variables. The position of the r
Tabatabaei & Tayebi, 2022)
coefficient will determine the strength of the relationship ( . This

means that the coefficient will lie between 0 (no relationship) and 1 (a perfect relationship),

the closer the coefficient is to 0, the weaker the linear relationship between the two variables;

the closer it is to 1, the stronger the relationship (Babbie, 2020). The direction of the

relationship will be indicated by either a negative or positive coefficient: a value of -1

indicates a perfect negative relationship; a value of +1 indicates a perfect positive relationship

(Babbie, 2020).

Ethical Considerations

As a student researcher, I am inexperienced at conducting social research. The

proposed research study will be receiving input from a research supervisor, who will

critically review that the study is ethical and is conducted in great detail so as to make a

useful contribution to the greater society. Throughout this study I will keep in mind the

potential risks to participants and attempt to ensure that the rights of participants are protected
Vessuri, 2002)
( .

Such rights include the right to privacy and protection from any physical and

psychological harm; hence the participants will be represented anonymously (only I will

know the results and answers of each individual participant), and that they are treated equally
(Vessuri, 2002)
. This is of particular importance considering my sample will come from

varying backgrounds and cultures. Therefore, data collections from participants will be kept

under secure conditions and stored in a password protected cloud server, as well as each
participant will be assigned a number. The participant’s autonomy will be upheld and

respected throughout the study, with regards to participating and discontinuing participation
Evans, 2007; Vessuri, 2002)
( . An ethical consideration regarding access to selected

participants is to first approach schools and inquire if the proposed study can approach their
Babbie, 2020; Vessuri, 2002)
students (

Budget and Proposed Timeline

The proposed research study is estimated to take two weeks. There will be minimal

travelling costs as the study will be conducted online and each participant will be expected to

participate from the comfort of their own homes. However, I estimate there will be a cost of

R2 000.00 petrol costs required for traveling to schools that are far distances apart. Each

participant will be provided with a hard-drive copy of the game Mortal Combat, hence an

estimated cost of this will be R3 000. including delivery costs to the school for students to

take home. Each participant will be provided with (R50.00) 3 gigabytes of data each week (a

total of 180 gigabytes of data weekly), a total cost being (60 x 50 x 2 = R6 000.00). I am

prepared to offer the participants a R30 gaming voucher, as an incentive for participating in

the proposed research study (60 participants x 30 = R1 800), which they will receive once the

collection of the data is completed. The total expenditure amounts to R12 800.00 leaving an

extra R2 200.00 that can be used for future research or unexpected costs.

The proposed timeline for this study is as follows:

 3-6 months of conducting literature reviews during which 2 months will be used to

develop the appropriate research questions, determine the schools that will be

approached from which the participants will be selected (60 youth between the ages

of 13 and 18 years), as well to develop procedural and protocol methods.

 3 months will be spent waiting for ethical clearance, once approval has been granted.
 The overall conduction of the actual research study will only take 2 weeks, at the

same time the raw data will be collected.

 1-3 months will be used to analyse the raw data, which will be presented as statistical

data, and once completed the participants will be informed.

 The final report will be submitted in 11 months from now, so that I have enough time

to finalise everything before submission.

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