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Violent computer games and their effects on state hostility and Physiological arousal
Author(s) -
Arriaga Patrícia,
Esteves Francisco,
Carneiro Paula,
Monteiro Maria Benedicta
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
aggressive behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.223
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1098-2337
pISSN - 0096-140X
DOI - 10.1002/ab.20134
Subject(s) - hostility , psychology , arousal , anxiety , personality , skin conductance , poison control , aggression , injury prevention , video game , human factors and ergonomics , clinical psychology , social psychology , developmental psychology , medical emergency , medicine , psychiatry , multimedia , computer science , biomedical engineering
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 old. 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. Aggr. Behav. 32:358–371. 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.