Intense competition may fuel aggression in gamers - Military Video Games, computer games - Air Force Times

Intense competition may fuel aggression in gamers

It may not be violence but instead intense competition that fuels aggression among video gamers, according to a new study of college students who played such games as “Fuel,” “Mortal Kombat” and “Left 4 Dead 2” with different degrees of difficulty, pace, competitiveness and violence. The participants’ levels of aggression were assessed after they played the games.

The researchers found that more competitive games resulted in higher levels of aggressive behavior than less competitive games, no matter how much violence was in the games.

Aggression was measured by asking the students — who thought they were taking part in another, unrelated study — to prepare a cup of hot sauce for a taster who didn’t particularly like hot or spicy foods. The hotter the hot sauce, the more aggressive the behavior, in the researchers’ opinion.

“These findings suggest that the level of competitiveness in video games is an important factor in the relation between video games and aggressive behavior, with highly competitive games leading to greater elevations in aggression than less competitive games,” wrote lead author Paul J.C. Adachi, a Ph.D. candidate at Brock University at St. Catharines, Ontario.

The study was published online Aug. 17 in the journal Psychology of Violence.