Video Game Violence Facts & Studies: Gamer Aggression Linked to Game Frustration, Not Violent Content

A new study reveals that aggressive behavior is linked to frustration among gamers, whether or not the game being played has violent content.

Published in the March edition of the "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology," the study, entitled "Competence-impeding electronic games and players' aggressive feelings, thoughts, and behaviors," is reportedly the first of its kind which examines gamers' "psychological experience with video games instead of focusing solely on its content," says the University of Rochester.

According to the abstract of the study, several methods were used to manipulate player competence and to gauge aggression. All in all, seven studies were conducted.

One study had undergraduates placing their hand in a bowl of cold water for 25 seconds. The participants were told that they will determine the amount of time the next participant should place his or her hand in the bowl of cold water. In reality, all participants had to hold their hand in the bowl of ice water for a uniform duration of 25 seconds.

The participants were then asked to choose between an easy and a difficult game of Tetris and were asked to play it. After playing, the participants were asked to assign a certain amount of time within which the next participant is to hold his or her hand in the bowl of cold water.

Results show that participants who played the difficult Tetris game were more likely to assign the next participants a longer amount of time within which their hand should be held in the bowl of cold water, compared to those who played the easy Tetris game. On average, those who played the difficult Tetris game assigned 10 seconds more.

This means that competence-impeding play, like a difficult game which almost always leads to frustration, led to "higher levels of aggressive feelings, easier access to aggressive thoughts, and a greater likelihood of enacting aggressive behavior," notes the study.

Authors Andrew Przybylski and Richard Ryan also wrote, "Results indicated that player perceived competence was positively related to gaming motivation, a factor that was, in turn, negatively associated with player aggression."

The study gives light to the common notion that aggressive behavior among gamers is more likely fostered by games with violent content but less likely with non-violent games.