Violent computer games and their effects on state hostility and physiological arousal

Patrícia Arriaga*, Francisco Esteves, Paula Carneiro, Maria Benedicta Monteiro

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

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.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)146-158
Number of pages13
JournalAggressive Behavior
Volume32
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2006
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Physiological arousal
  • State hostility
  • Violent computer games

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