Higher Graphical Fidelity Decreases Players' Access to Aggressive Concepts in Violent Video Games

ABSTRACT

Several features of violent video games (hence VVGs) may cause gamers to access aggressive concepts during play. Two of these features are graphical fidelity and use of narrative. In particular, the increased graphical fidelity of modern VVGs is widely theorised to cause increased access to aggressive concepts. However, despite this theoretical speculation, there is little empirical evidence of whether these formal features of VVGs actually do influence players to access aggressive concepts during play. Therefore, a 2x2 between-subjects factorial online experiment (N = 710) was employed. This examined the effects of graphical fidelity and narrative content on the extent to which players accessed aggression-related concepts when playing a VVG. Results indicated that the presence of realistic graphics in a video game representing aggression caused players to access aggressive concepts less (p = 0.014). The presence of narrative content was not found to have a statistically significant effect. Under an influential (though controversial) model of VVG effects known as the General Aggression Model, increased access to aggressive concepts causally contributes to anti-social behaviour by players of VVGs. These findings suggest that even if playing modern VVGs did lead to these negative effects, they would not be influenced by the increased graphical fidelity of modern VVGs.

References

1. J. Juul, Half-real: Video games between real rules and fictional worlds. MIT press, 2011.
2. B. J. Bushman and C. A. Anderson, "Violent video games and hostile expectations: A test of the general aggression model," Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull., vol. 28, no. 12, pp. 1679--1686, 2002.
3. M. Elson and C. J. Ferguson, "Twenty-five years of research on violence in digital games and aggression," Eur. Psychol., vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 33--46, 2014.
4. C. A. Anderson and B. J. Bushman, "Human aggression," Psychology, vol. 53, no. 1, p. 27, 2002.
5. L. R. Huesmann, "Nailing the coffin shut on doubts that violent video games stimulate aggression: comment on Anderson et al.(2010).," 2010.
6. M. A. Sestir and B. D. Bartholow, "Violent and nonviolent video games produce opposing effects on aggressive and prosocial outcomes," J. Exp. Soc. Psychol., vol. 46, no. 6, pp. 934--942, 2010.
7. C. A. Anderson and N. L. Carnagey, "Causal effects of violent sports video games on aggression: Is it competitiveness or violent content?," J. Exp. Soc. Psychol., vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 731--739, 2009.
8. N. L. Carnagey and C. A. Anderson, "The effects of reward and punishment in violent video games on aggressive affect, cognition, and behavior," Psychol. Sci., vol. 16, no. 11, pp. 882--889, 2005.
9. C. A. Anderson and B. J. Bushman, "Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: A meta-analytic review of the scientific literature," Psychol. Sci., vol. 12, no. 5, pp. 353--359, 2001.
10. B. D. Bartholow, M. A. Sestir, and E. B. Davis, "Correlates and consequences of exposure to video game violence: Hostile personality, empathy, and aggressive behavior," Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull., vol. 31, no. 11, pp. 1573--1586, 2005.
11. C. A. Anderson and K. E. Dill, "Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life.," J. Pers. Soc. Psychol., vol. 78, no. 4, p. 772, 2000.
12. C. P. Barlett, C. A. Anderson, and E. L. Swing, "Video game effects-confirmed, suspected, and speculative: A review of the evidence," Simul. Gaming, 2008.
13. C. J. Ferguson, "Blazing angels or resident evil? Can violent video games be a force for good?," Rev. Gen. Psychol., vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 68--81, 2010.
14. R. C. Hall, T. Day, and R. C. Hall, "A plea for caution: violent video games, the supreme court, and the role of science," in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2011, vol. 86, pp. 315--321.
15. C. J. Ferguson, "Does Media Violence Predict Societal Violence? It Depends on What You Look at and When," J. Commun., vol. 65, no. 1, pp. E1--E22, Feb. 2015.
16. P. J. Adachi and T. Willoughby, "The effect of violent video games on aggression: Is it more than just the violence?," Aggress. Violent Behav., vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 55--62, 2011.
17. D. C. K. Olson, "Media Violence Research and Youth Violence Data: Why Do They Conflict?," Acad. Psychiatry, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 144--150, Jan. 2014.
18. J. A. Bargh, "The four horsemen of automaticity: Awareness, intention, efficiency, and control in social cognition," Handb. Soc. Cogn., vol. 1, pp. 1--40, 1994.
19. D. L. Schacter and R. L. Buckner, "Priming and the Brain," Neuron, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 185--195, Feb. 1998.
20. D. R. Roskos-Ewoldsen, B. Roskos-Ewoldsen, and F. R. D. Carpentier, "Media priming: A synthesis," Media Eff. Adv. Theory Res., vol. 2, pp. 97--120, 2002.
21. D. Hefner, T. Rothmund, C. Klimmt, and M. Gollwitzer, "Implicit Measures and Media Effects Research: Challenges and Opportunities," Commun. Methods Meas., vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 181--202, Jul. 2011.
22. D. Domke, D. V. Shah, and D. B. Wackman, "Media Priming Effects: Accessibility, Association, and Activation," Int. J. Public Opin. Res., vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 51--74, Mar. 1998.
23. H. L. Roediger, M. S. Weldon, M. L. Stadler, and G. L. Riegler, "Direct comparison of two implicit memory tests: Word fragment and word stem completion.," J. Exp. Psychol. Learn. Mem. Cogn., vol. 18, no. 6, p. 1251, 1992.
24. C. J. Ferguson, "Evidence for publication bias in video game violence effects literature: A metaanalytic review," Aggress. Violent Behav., vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 470--482, 2007.
25. C. P. Barlett, R. J. Harris, and C. Bruey, "The effect of the amount of blood in a violent video game on aggression, hostility, and arousal," J. Exp. Soc. Psychol., vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 539--546, 2008.
26. S. Karpinskyj, F. Zambetta, and L. Cavedon, "Video game personalisation techniques: A comprehensive survey," Entertain. Comput., vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 211--218, Dec. 2014.
27. A. H. Ivory and C. E. Kaestle, "The Effects of Profanity in Violent Video Games on Players' Hostile Expectations, Aggressive Thoughts and Feelings, and Other Responses," J. Broadcast. Electron. Media, vol. 57, no. 2, pp. 224--241, Apr. 2013.
28. M. J. Wolf, "Abstraction in the video game," Video Game Theory Read., vol. 1, pp. 47--65, 2003.
29. R. T. Wood, M. D. Griffiths, D. Chappell, and M. N. Davies, "The structural characteristics of video games: A psycho-structural analysis," Cyberpsychol. Behav., vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 1--10, 2004.
30. K. M. Gerling, M. Birk, R. L. Mandryk, and A. Doucette, "The effects of graphical fidelity on player experience," in Proceedings of International Conference on Making Sense of Converging Media, 2013, p. 229.
31. S. Joeckel and N. D. Bowman, "Graphics and gratification: Exploring the link between technology and enjoyment in video games," J. Gaming Virtual Worlds, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 25--43, Mar. 2012.
32. J. Smeddinck, K. M. Gerling, and S. Tiemkeo, "Visual complexity, player experience, performance and physical exertion in motion-based games for older adults," in Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, 2013, p. 25.
33. M. Krcmar, K. Farrar, and R. McGloin, "The effects of video game realism on attention, retention and aggressive outcomes," Comput. Hum. Behav., vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 432--439, 2011.
34. J. D. Ivory and S. Kalyanaraman, "The Effects of Technological Advancement and Violent Content in Video Games on Players' Feelings of Presence, Involvement, Physiological Arousal, and Aggression," J. Commun., vol. 57, no. 3, pp. 532--555, 2007.
35. Final Fantasy IX. Square Enix, 2003.
36. Grand Theft Auto V. Rockstar, 2014.
37. Mass Effect 3. Electronic Arts, 2012.
38. S. Rigby and R. M. Ryan, Glued to Games: How Video Games Draw Us In and Hold Us Spellbound: How Video Games Draw Us In and Hold Us Spellbound. ABC-CLIO, 2011.
39. E. A. Boyle, T. M. Connolly, T. Hainey, and J. M. Boyle, "Engagement in digital entertainment games: A systematic review," Comput. Hum. Behav., vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 771--780, 2012.
40. N. Park, K. Min Lee, S.-A. Annie Jin, and S. Kang, "Effects of pre-game stories on feelings of presence and evaluation of computer games," Int. J. Hum.Comput. Stud., vol. 68, no. 11, pp. 822--833, Nov. 2010.
41. "Game4Science." {Online}. Available: https://www.facebook.com/game4science. {Accessed: 31-Mar-2015}.
42. C. A. Anderson, N. L. Carnagey, and J. Eubanks, "Exposure to violent media: the effects of songs with violent lyrics on aggressive thoughts and feelings.," J. Pers. Soc. Psychol., vol. 84, no. 5, p. 960, 2003.
43. C. A. Anderson, N. L. Carnagey, M. Flanagan, A. J. Benjamin, J. Eubanks, and J. C. Valentine, "Violent video games: Specific effects of violent content on aggressive thoughts and behavior," Adv. Exp. Soc. Psychol., vol. 36, pp. 200--251, 2004.
44. "GameSlice: Behind the Scenes of the Computer and Video Game Industry," 27-Feb-2005. {Online}. Available: http://web.archive.org/web/20050227193233/http://w ww.gameslice.com/features/gdc/index3.shtml. {Accessed: 30-Mar-2015}.
45. K. Scheiter, P. Gerjets, T. Huk, B. Imhof, and Y. Kammerer, "The effects of realism in learning with dynamic visualizations," Learn. Instr., vol. 19, no. 6, pp. 481--494, Dec. 2009.
46. S. McCloud, "Understanding comics: The invisible art," Northamp. Mass, 1993.
47. B. Ip, "Narrative structures in computer and video games: Part 1: Context, definitions, and initial findings," Games Cult., vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 103--134, 2011.
48. "BBC NEWS | Technology | Shoot first, ask questions later?" {Online}. Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5277422.stm. {Accessed: 09-Jul-2015}.

Index Terms

• Applied computing

  • Computers in other domains

    • Personal computers and PC applications

      • Computer games

• Information systems

  • Information systems applications

    • Multimedia information systems

      • Massively multiplayer online games

• Software and its engineering

  • Software organization and properties

    • Contextual software domains

      • Virtual worlds software

        • Interactive games