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Impact of violent video game realism on the self-concept of aggressiveness assessed with explicit and implicit measures
[journal article]
Abstract We compared the standard 2D representation of a recent violent computer game to its 3D representation realized by shutter-goggles in a lab experiment. Assuming that the higher degree of realism of media violence would impact stronger on players in a pretest–posttest design, we analyzed the influence... view more
We compared the standard 2D representation of a recent violent computer game to its 3D representation realized by shutter-goggles in a lab experiment. Assuming that the higher degree of realism of media violence would impact stronger on players in a pretest–posttest design, we analyzed the influence of violent video game exposure on implicit and explicit measures of aggressiveness. According to an explicit questionnaire on aggressiveness, participants reported having becoming more peaceful, whereas an Implicit Association Test on aggressiveness (Agg-IAT) indicated that the association between self and aggressive behavior became stronger after violence exposure, confirming the unique utility of Agg-IATs in media research. The 3D visualization mode, however, did not further strengthen this association, and a mediation model of increases in aggressiveness by participants’ flow experiences was not supported. When inspecting flow experiences, an interaction effect between gender and visualization mode was evident: Male participants were more likely to have flow experiences in the high-realism (3D) format, whereas female participants were more likely to experience flow in the standard (2D) mode. We discuss the findings in the context of automatic information processing in aggression, and we contend possible changes in automatic behavioral precursors due to media influence.... view less
Keywords
aggression research; computer game; violence; measurement; aggressiveness; aggression; laboratory experiment; association (psych.); learning success
Classification
Personality Psychology
Interactive, electronic Media
Free Keywords
Violent computer games; Aggression; Immersive virtual environments; Agg-IAT; Implicit Association Test on aggressiveness
Document language
English
Publication Year
2015
Page/Pages
p. 278-288
Journal
Computers in Human Behavior (2015) 53
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.07.018
ISSN
0747-5632
Status
Postprint; peer reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0