Anderson, C. A., and C. M. Ford. 1986. “Affect of the Game Player: Short-Term Effects of Highly and Mildly Aggressive Video Games.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 12 (4): 390-402.
The present research arose from the list of potential problems generated by opponents of video games during the late 1970s and early 1980s. These potential problems centered around the aggressive content of games, the style of problem solving, and the types of play and thinking prevented by games. Imagination, creative thinking, fantasy, development of social skills were thought to be impeded by the inclusion of video games in the lives of children. Adults were worried that children were spending their lunch money on playing games, stealing money from parents, or engaging in petty theft for quarters. Lastly, video games were thought to cause and promote addictive behavior. Up to this point (1986), little data had been collected on video games or their effects. The goal of the present research was to address short-term effects of video games on affective states.
The present research builds upon the findings of Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1961) that exposure to aggressive models can lead to subsequent aggressive behavior in children. The researchers emphasize the major difference in video games is that the aggression is largely symbolic rather than involving human-like characters. However, the researchers were compelled to emphasize Berkowitz’s cognitive-neoassociation theory that media effects form because of the priming of semantic categories (such as aggression).
Two experiments were done to examine the effects of playing different types of video games on short-term affective states. In the first, 55 undergraduate college students played 11 different video games and rated them (for extra credit in a class). Ratings (on a scale of 1-7) included ease of play, frustration, violent content, violent graphics, slow action, and long pauses in gameplay (393-395). Two of these games were selected for the second experiment, differing in level aggression (one highly aggressive, the other only mildly aggressive).
Sixty undergraduates participated in the second experiment and were randomly assigned to play Zaxxon (highly aggressive), Centipede (mildly aggressive), or no game at all. Hostility, anxiety, and depression were assessed just after the second experiment was concluded with the Multiple Affective Adjective Checklist (395-398). The researchers found that hostility increased after both types of aggressive games were played. Those that played the highly aggressive game were significantly more anxious than those who played the mild aggression game or no game (control group). No significant depressive affect was found. The researchers conclude that these findings “support some type of semantic priming theory” (398).
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