Research suggests that individuals who play violent video games have an increase in aggression, and over the past twenty years there have been numerous studies reinforcing this belief. However, those studies fail to pinpoint the reasons why. This paper explores causal factors of aggression other than the violent video games. Therefore, variables other than the video games contribute to higher levels of aggression. Recent research suggests theses influencing variables are rumination, competition, desensitization, and gender. Surprisingly, in some cases, “gamers” did not have higher levels of aggression at all. In these instances, individuals who played violent video games with prosocial behavior did not experience higher levels of aggression.
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The GAM assumes that cognition, affect and arousal mediate a person’s perception of a situation. Violent video games may temporarily increase levels of aggression through the activation of one or more of these areas. Therefore the GAM can explain how aspects of a video game can affect players ' thoughts, feelings, physiological arousal and subsequent behavior. Research by the GAM uses two input variables--personality variables, like aggression traits and acceptance levels of aggression, and situational variables, such as the effects of real-life violence or virtual violence. When these two variables interact, they affect an individual 's internal state and their external behaviors. According to the GAM, not everyone who plays violent video games is affected the same way due to different personality traits. After playing violent video games, some players become very aggressive while others experience decreased levels of aggression (Wang and Yang, …show more content…
Desensitization theory suggests that repeated exposure to violence results in tolerance to the negative effects associated with that violence. Upon exposure, individuals may experience the following changes when they witness violent images: cognitive, emotional, and physiological. A study performed by Engelhardt, Bartholow, Kerr, and Bushman (2011), showed the effects of violent video game playing with regards to players becoming desensitized to violent images. Participants at different levels of violent video game experience played either a violent or nonviolent video game in a lab. Desensitization levels were determined using the amplitude of the P300 (P3) component of the event-related brain potential (ERP). Data from this study showed evidence associating violence desensitization with an increased level of aggression. The results were measured using electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings. Keywords: desensitization, electroencephalogram (EEG), event related brain potential (ERP), neural desensitization, violent video
The GAM assumes that cognition, affect and arousal mediate a person’s perception of a situation. Violent video games may temporarily increase levels of aggression through the activation of one or more of these areas. Therefore the GAM can explain how aspects of a video game can affect players ' thoughts, feelings, physiological arousal and subsequent behavior. Research by the GAM uses two input variables--personality variables, like aggression traits and acceptance levels of aggression, and situational variables, such as the effects of real-life violence or virtual violence. When these two variables interact, they affect an individual 's internal state and their external behaviors. According to the GAM, not everyone who plays violent video games is affected the same way due to different personality traits. After playing violent video games, some players become very aggressive while others experience decreased levels of aggression (Wang and Yang, …show more content…
Desensitization theory suggests that repeated exposure to violence results in tolerance to the negative effects associated with that violence. Upon exposure, individuals may experience the following changes when they witness violent images: cognitive, emotional, and physiological. A study performed by Engelhardt, Bartholow, Kerr, and Bushman (2011), showed the effects of violent video game playing with regards to players becoming desensitized to violent images. Participants at different levels of violent video game experience played either a violent or nonviolent video game in a lab. Desensitization levels were determined using the amplitude of the P300 (P3) component of the event-related brain potential (ERP). Data from this study showed evidence associating violence desensitization with an increased level of aggression. The results were measured using electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings. Keywords: desensitization, electroencephalogram (EEG), event related brain potential (ERP), neural desensitization, violent video