Theoretisch-methodische Desiderata der medienpsychologischen Forschung über die aggressionsfördernde Wirkung gewalthaltiger Computer- und Videospiele

Of Virtual Victims and Victimized Virtues: Differential Effects of Experienced Aggression in Video Games on Social Cooperation

Two experimental studies were used to investigate how interacting with aggressive virtual characters in video games affects trust and cooperation of players. Study 1 demonstrates that experiencing virtual aggression from a victim’s perspective can impair players’ investments in a subsequent common goods dilemma situation. This effect is mediated by reduced expectations of trust in the cooperativeness of interaction partners. In Study 2 the same effect was replicated by using a different cooperation task and by investigating the moderating role of justice sensitivity from a victim’s perspective as a dispositional factor. Participants transferred less money to an unknown partner in a trust game after exposure to aggressive nonplayer characters in a video game. This effect was stronger for people high in victim sensitivity. Results of both studies can be interpreted in line with the sensitivity to mean intentions model and add to the body of research on violent media effects.

Hostile and Hardened? An Experimental Study on (De-)Sensitization to Violence and Suffering Through Playing Video Games

This study tests whether playing violent video games leads to desensitization and increased cardiovascular responding. In a laboratory experiment, 42 men spent 20 min playing either a high- or low-violence version of a “first-person shooter” game. Arousal (heart rate, respiration rate) was measured continuously. After playing the game, emotional responses to aversive and aggressive stimuli - pictures from Lang, Bradley, and Cuthbert’s (1999) International Affective Picture System - were assessed with self-ratings and physiological measurement (skin conductance). Results showed no differences in the judgments of emotional responses to the stimuli. However, different effects of game violence emerged in the physiological reactions to the different types of stimulus material. Participants in the high-violence condition showed significantly weaker reactions (desensitization) to aversive stimuli and reacted significantly more strongly (sensitization) to aggressive cues. No support was found for the arousal hypothesis. Post-hoc analyses are used to discuss possible moderating influences of gaming experience and player’s trait aggressiveness in terms of the General Aggression Model ( Anderson & Bushman, 2001 ) and the Downward Spiral Model ( Slater, Henry, Swaim, & Anderson, 2003 ).

Modifikation des Computerspiels Quake III Arena zur Durchführung psychologischer Experimente in einer virtuellen 3D-Umgebung

Zusammenfassung. Computerspiele können eine Bereicherung experimentell-psychologischer Untersuchungen darstellen. Existierende Computerspiele genügen jedoch hinsichtlich der Möglichkeiten zur Datenaufzeichnung und Variation der Spielinhalte oft nicht experimentellen Ansprüchen. Eine Modifikation des Computerspiels Quake III Arena sollte diese Nachteile überwinden. Eine selbst erstellte virtuelle 3D-Umgebung wurde bei einer ersten Erprobung an 85 Proband/inn/en danach beurteilt, ob sie im praktischen Einsatz zuverlässig funktioniert und ob die Proband/inn/en mit unterschiedlich komplexen Anforderungen zurechtkommen. Die Ergebnisse sprechen dafür, dass insbesondere virtuelle 3D-Umgebungen niedriger Komplexität für psychologische Experimente geeignet sind. Damit stellen Modifikationen existierender Computerspiele vielfältige neue Möglichkeiten für die experimentell-psychologische Forschung zur Verfügung.