Past research shows that violent video game exposure increases aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, physiological arousal, aggressive behaviors, and decreases helpful behaviors. However, no research has experimentally examined violent video game effects on physiological desensitization, defined as showing less physiological arousal to violence in the real world after exposure to video game violence in the virtual world. This experiment attempts to fill this gap. Participants reported their media habits and then played one of eight violent or nonviolent video games for 20 min. Next, participants watched a 10-min videotape containing scenes of real-life violence while heart rate (HR) and galvanic skin response (GSR) were monitored. Participants who previously played a violent video game had lower HR and GSR while viewing filmed real violence, demonstrating a physiological desensitization to violence. Results are interpreted using an expanded version of the General Aggression Model. Links between desensitization, antisocial, and prosocial behavior are discussed. Read more...

Repeated exposure to violent media is related to negative outcomes, including aggression, hostility, and cognitive and social deficits. We examined if cardiovascular and emotional responding to video game play changed across 3 weekly sessions. Participants were 41 adolescents (M age = 14.8; male = 29; female = 12) from rural Appalachia. Participants attended 3 weekly sessions and played I of 3 video games (basketball, fighting, or horror) each time. Measures included heart rate (HR); systolic blood pressure (SBP); diastolic blood pressure (DBP); self-reported aggression, anger, and reactions to game play; and history of video game play. Resting and posttest cardiovascular measures did not differ from session to session. Adolescents displayed HR and SBP reactivity to game play within each session. They also demonstrated decreased SBP and DBP responding to video game play across the 3-week period, regardless of game content. Affective responses did not change significantly across the course of the experiment. Adolescents who played the violent games reported more frustration and arousal than those who played the sports game. The implications of these findings are discussed. Read more...

Playing violent video games is related to increased negative affect and cardiovascular reactivity. We examined the influence of high and low aggressive priming during video-game training on violence during game play (e.g., shooting, choking), hostility, frustration with game play, blood pressure, and heart rate. Male undergraduates (N = 36) were assigned to a high aggressive or low aggressive video-game priming condition. After training, they played Metal Gear Solid(TM), which allows players to advance by using stealth, violence, or both. Participants in the high aggressive priming condition used significantly more violent action during game play and reported more hostility than those in the low aggressive priming condition. Heart rate was correlated with feelings of hostility. These findings indicate that both aggressive priming and use of game violence influence arousal and negative affect and might increase behavioral aggression. Read more...

This study examined the relationship between playing violent videogames and sensitivity to aggressive acts. In 2 experiments, college students were randomly assigned to play violent or less violent videogames. They then read a series of criminal vignettes and assigned prison sentences to violent criminals. In the second experiment, participants returned 1 hr later and completed a second series of vignettes. A significant interaction between gender and videogame was found in both experiments. Men who played the violent game gave more lenient sentences to criminals than did those who played the less violent game. In the second experiment, women, unlike men, assigned harsher sentences after playing the violent game. The effects were found to persist for at least I hr. Read more...

In this article, we review research that explores how the effects of media violence on aggression may be diminished and how media productions may be used to reduce aggressive attitudes and behaviors. Studies show that adults' comments before or during media exposure can reduce the impact of violent programming on children aggressiveness under some circumstances. Experiments involving more extensive media literacy curricula show that some approaches can alter attitudes toward media violence and, in a few cases, intervene in aggressive behavior. Studies of the impact of antiviolence media productions reveal that although such efforts can be effective, unanticipated "boomerang" effects are prevalent. Overall, the effectiveness of the 3 types of interventions was highly variable, and age and gender differences were prominent. The findings suggest that more research is needed to determine the best approaches to developing parental interventions, media literacy strategies, and prosocial media presentations for reducing youth violence. Read more...

Research has shown that exposure to violent video games causes increases in aggression, but the mechanisms of this effect have remained. elusive. Also, potential differences in short-term and long term exposure are not well understood. An initial correlational study shows that video game violence exposure (VVE) is positively correlated with self-reports of aggressive behavior and that this relation is robust to controlling for multiple aspects of personality. A tab experiment showed that individuals low in VVE behave more aggressively after playing a violent video game than after a nonviolent game but that those high in VVE display relatively high levels of aggression regardless of game content. Mediational analyses show that trait hostility, empathy, and hostile perceptions partially account for the VVE, effect on aggression. These findings suggest that repeated exposure to video game violence increases aggressive behavior in part via changes in cognitive and personality factors associated with desensitization. Read more...

Objectives: To test whether the results of the accumulated studies on media violence and aggressive behavior are consistent with the theories that have evolved to explain the effects. We tested for the existence of both short-term and long-term effects for aggressive behavior. We also tested the theory-driven hypothesis that short-term effects should be greater for adults and long-term effects should be greater for children. Design: Meta-analysis. Participants: Children younger than 18 years and adults. Main Exposures: Violent media, including TV, movies, video games, music, and comic books. Main Outcome Measures: Measures of aggressive behavior, aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, physiological arousal (eg, heart rate, blood pressure), and helping behavior. Results: Effect size estimates were combined using meta-analytic procedures. As expected, the short-term effects of violent media were greater for adults than for children whereas the long-term effects were greater for children than for adults. The results also showed that there were overall modest but significant effect sizes for exposure to media violence on aggressive behaviors, aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, arousal levels, and helping behavior. Conclusions: The results are consistent with the theory that short- term effects are mostly due to the priming of existing well-encoded scripts, schemas, or beliefs, which adults have had more time to encode. In contrast, long-term effects require the learning (encoding) of scripts, schemas, or beliefs. Children can encode new scripts, schemas, and beliefs via observational learning with less interference and effort than adults. Read more...

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the impact of violent computer games on state hostility, state anxiety and arousal. Participants were undergraduate students, aged from 18 to 25 years. Before the experimental sessions, participants filled in self-report measures concerning their video game habits and were also pre-tested for aggressiveness and trait anxiety. Physiological responses (heart rate and skin conductance) were measured during the experiment. After playing, information about state hostility and state anxiety was collected. The results showed that participants who played the violent game reported significantly higher state hostility, and support the assumption that an aggressive personality moderates the effect of playing a violent game on state hostility. Read more...