The Effect Of The Competitiveness Of Video Games On Aggression

Throughout the history of the experimental study of violent video games, investigators have emphasized the effects of games’violent content. According to the general aggression model, many investigators explored the relationship between violent video games and individual aggression from cognition, affect and arousal, and then induce aggressive behavior.The competition hypothesis presents a great challenge for this view. The competition hypothesis thought that the violent video game can cause aggressive behavior because of the game is full of competition factors. High violent video games usually have a high competition. Researchers elaborated the importance of competitive elements as determinant of enjoyment in playing computer games and factors that foster the selection of computer-games as offers of social competition. Competition in the game may activate aggressive cognition of individual cognitive structure, make the individual extraction competition situation past experiences and attack related information, which leads to aggressive behavior. If the competitive factors of violent video games can influence the aggressive behavior of game player, then the previous researchers in the case of did not match competition factors, that violence is the only factors lead to aggressive behavior is not correct. Frustration-aggression theory, excitation transfer theory, and the social cognitive models of aggression all support competition factors of video games can cause the game player aggression related variables change.Compared with the study on video game violence, the research regard on the competitive factors is obviously insufficient. There is also no unified paradigm of the game selection, experimental operation of the existing research on the competition of video games. In view of the effect of competition factors of video games on game players’aggression variables should not be underestimated, and on the basis of the existing research, combined with the study on video game violence, this study try to further investigate the internal mechanism to the video game competition factors on changing individual’s offensive, (1) Matched four video games, which were different from violent and competition in the laboratory(high violent and high competitive game, high violent and low competitive game, low violent and high competitive game, low violent and low competitive game; the two high violent games had significant different on competition but none significant difference on violence, and the two high competitive games had significant different on violence but none significant difference on competition), participates were random assigned playing one of four games for 20 minutes, and then achieved the hot sauce paradigm which means aggressive behavior, to investigate the effect of the competition of video games on aggressive behavior. (2) Using the technology of event related potentials, recorded individuals’P300 amplitudes after competitive game in contact with the reality of violence; to study what is the factors affecting the brain mechanism of video game competition game affect player aggression related variables. (3) According to the frustration-aggression theory, if players experience frustration after a competitive game, this frustration will lead to further aggressive behavior. Participants completed the scale of frustration after competitive games and then completed the competitive reaction time task, to investigate the mediating mechanism of video game competition and aggressive behavior. (4) Although many studies have proven that video games have a negative effect on the individual, but few researchers have taken measures to eliminate the effects of video games on the short term after the subjects, so the fourth study attempt to relieve the negative effects of video games on the game player in a certain extent.The results showed that, (1) video game competition will affect players’aggression but violence can only affect the aggressive behavior in a certain extent:in the hot sauce paradigm, regardless the level of violence, the amount and grade of sauce of high competitive game players selected were significantly higher than the low competitive game play. (2) There is interaction between the video game competition and game player game experience:the low experienced player who played high competitive game elicited significant smaller P300 amplitudes when they viewed reality violent pictures after playing game, which phenomenon was named desensitization to violence; while for the high video game experience players, no matter what kind of game they play, the P300 amplitudes had no significant difference when they viewed pictures. (3) Frustration plays an incomplete intermediary role in the video game competition and individual’s aggressive behavior:the outcome of competition game had both a direct effect on aggressive behavior, but also an indirect effect on the level of frustration aggression. (4) Watching the cooperate video can eliminate the negative effect of game to player in a certain extent.