HOW VIOLENCE AND FRUSTRATION IN VIDEO GAMES AFFECT AGGRESSION by KEVIN D ...

177 Pages·2005·0.95 MB·English

HIGH SCORES: HOW VIOLENCE AND FRUSTRATION IN VIDEO GAMES AFFECT
AGGRESSION
by
KEVIN D. WILLIAMS
(Under the Direction of Joseph Dominick)
ABSTRACT
As both the popularity of video games and the reporting of teenage violent acts increase,
much has been said regarding the ability of violent video games to influence aggression in their
players. Yet, other factors in video games which may contribute to aggressive players have not
been heavily discussed in the media or in academia. Using the General Aggression Model
(GAM), a 2 X 2 factorial design was conducted with 150 male college undergraduates playing
different video games to investigate the impact of 1) the violent content in video games and 2)
frustration with playing the game on later measurements of aggressive affect and physiological
arousal. Results showed that neither violent content nor frustration affected heart rate. Violent
content did not affect blood pressure although frustration increased blood pressure. Individually,
both violent content and frustration did increase scores on a scale designed to measure feelings
of anger. The combination of violent content and frustration led to the highest scores on the
anger instrument. Findings support the GAM and suggest that frustration with gameplay could
be just as an effective means, if not more so, of influencing aggression within game players as
exposure to violent content.
INDEX WORDS: Video games, Aggression, Violence, Frustration, Mortal Kombat, Dance
Dance Revolution, Arousal, Heart rate, Blood Pressure, STAXI,
Aggression Questionnaire, Hostility, General Aggression Model,
Experiment
HIGH SCORES: HOW VIOLENCE AND FRUSTRATION IN VIDEO GAMES AFFECT
AGGRESSION

by

KEVIN D. WILLIAMS
B.A., The University of Georgia, 1996
M.A., The University of Georgia, 2002

A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

ATHENS, GEORGIA
2005
2005
Kevin D. Williams
All Rights Reserved
HIGH SCORES: HOW VIOLENCE AND FRUSTRATION IN VIDEO GAMES AFFECT
AGGRESSION

by

KEVIN D. WILLIAMS

Major Professor: Joseph Dominick
Committee: Dean Krugman
Spencer Tinkham
Janice Hume
W. Keith Campbell

Electronic Version Approved:

Maureen Grasso
Dean of the Graduate School
The University of Georgia
August 2005
DEDICATION
I may never be given as much latitude in a publication’s dedication as I am given with
this dissertation so I will say what I want now. As I write this, you have no idea or care for what
I have done or what I am doing. Nor should you have any care. You are a small toddler and
such matters should be of no concern to you. With this dissertation I have reached a great
pinnacle, but it is dwarfed in comparison to the experience of having you in my life.
When you are a child, I hope that we will have talks and I can share my observations of
life with you. I hope that you will find the world a magical and mysterious place and I hope you
will hold my hand as we share it together. You have bought so much joy into my life and such a
deeper understanding of how important love really is. When you are around, I understand more
fully what a blessing heaven truly could be; and when I think of a life without you, I can also
imagine the intolerable pain of hell.
When you are a teenager, we will no doubt have arguments over what seems to be
monumental things in your life. You may not understand the stubborn decisions I make
regarding you. You may even question how much I love you. I’ll probably be an aging hipster
who seems lame and unknowledgeable about the current world. Still, I hope we laugh together
and occasionally you’ll hold my hand.
When you are in college or first away from home, you’ll become involved with others as
your life expands beyond the normal horizons with which you were accustomed. You will find
bigger ideas. You may find the love of your life or you may be heartbroken. Maybe you’ll miss
me a little bit. The good thing about this dissertation is that it will probably be on the Internet for
iv
you to see. So, in a weird way, you could find this document and perhaps we could hold hands
on this page.
When you are an adult and are raising your own family, I may not be there to hold your
hand. But, I promise you that I will always be near. Hopefully, you will have asked me
questions about my life and our family, and you will use those lessons and inspiration in your
own life. Hopefully, you will be able to feel me there still holding your hand.
When you were born, you were premature and I was scared of how fragile you were. I
would not touch you while the nurses attended you right after your delivery. As your uncle told
me from behind the nursery glass window to touch you, I reached out my finger. You grabbed
my hand and I felt my old self die away, reborn into your father. You held my hand and life
hasn’t been the same since.
This dissertation will help me to become a better provider for my family. I dedicate it to
your life and the journeys you have ahead of you. Your daddy loves you very much, Alex.

v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In completing this project, I am reminded that I am most certainly not a self-made man.
The opportunity to pursue this degree was provided to me only through the work and sacrifice of
those around me. Most notably, my wife has sacrificed much to put me through school. She has
shown the dedication, persistence, and understanding that only comes from a person who truly
loves you. I may be a tall man but I constantly feel as though I am standing on your shoulders.
Thank You.
When I think of the word “blessing,” I am always reminded of my parents. I was blessed
to be given them as parents. Without their unwavering support and gentle kindness, the path that
leads me here would have been obscured. Thanks for letting me make my own decisions. I
know you don’t totally understand what I do. In spite of that, I hope it makes you proud.
Thanks are also in order to the two assistants who worked with me on this experiment.
Hye Jin Yoon was an extremely diligent worker who picked up the material quickly. I enjoyed
our little talks about culture and personal matters when we had “down” time. Matt Coleman was
a student of mine who proved to be an expert on video games. His expertise in this area flooded
over into the experiment, making him exuberant and eager to work every day. His energy and
work ethic were always welcome.
To my dissertation committee, I have had a class with all of you; and therefore, this work
has been shaped by your mind in some way. You have honored me with your time and your
perspective. Dr. Hume has always been there to help me in a pinch and provide guidance when I
was unsure of things both academic and personal. She has been both a mentor and a friend. Dr.
vi
Krugman has shown me the value of thought. I have found his small chats into intellectual
matters to have been at times more helpful than some full semester courses I have taken. Dr.
Tinkham has impressed upon me the belief that a scholar is ever-busy. Even when you have
reached the top of your field, your work is not done. Dr. Campbell has showed me that even
among heavily producing scholars, Hawaiian shirts are acceptable and may even be necessary
(think about that one for a while).
I was told when I began my dissertation that I would be the last student Joe Dominick
advised. This is a tremendous honor to me. When beginning my Masters degree in Joe’s class, I
felt like I had found a professor who I most resembled. I also found the mentor that I wanted to
become. This past year, Joe has served as a therapist, an adviser, a colleague, a supervisor, a
friend, and an intellectual father-figure. My most sincere desire is that he feels this dissertation
honors him. I have nearly worn a hole in his door from knocking on it daily with either a
question in mind or just to tell him what progress I was making. I never had an appointment. I
usually barged in. Yet, he never turned me away or rushed me off. Our mantra was, “Get me
done in 3 years!” I started in August of 2002 and I’m finishing in August of 2005. We kept our
promise. Thanks.

vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.............................................................................................................vi
LIST OF TABLES.........................................................................................................................xi
LIST OF FIGURES......................................................................................................................xii
CHAPTER
1 INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................1
Background and Justification.............................................................................1
Purpose of the Study..........................................................................................6
2 THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF AGGRESSION..........................................8
Understanding Aggression and Its Related Constructs......................................8
Early Theories of Aggression..........................................................................11
Recent Theories of Aggression........................................................................13
GAM: Subsuming the Many Theories.............................................................30
GAM: How it Works.......................................................................................31
Concluding.......................................................................................................39
3 UNDERSTANDING THE RESEARCH ON VIDEO GAMES.............................42
Past Work Involving Media Violence..............................................................42
Video Games Versus Television......................................................................43
Video Games in the Home...............................................................................45
The Effect of Violent Video Games on Arousal..............................................49
viii