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Effects Of Competition In Violent And Nonviolent Video Games On Aggressive/Prosocial Behavior, Christopher Edward Hawk

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research shows that playing violent video games leads to increases in aggressive feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. However, recent research has questioned the reliability of these findings. Two important variables associated with aggressive outcomes that have yet to be fully explored in the violent video game literature are the competitive aspects of the games and the outcomes of that competition (e.g., winning or losing). The present study was a two (gameplay: violent vs. nonviolent) by two (difficulty: easy vs. hard) by three (competition: no competition vs. competition win vs. competition lose) between-subjects factorial design, with aggressive/prosocial behavior measured as the …