Can Violent Video Game-Related Aggression Spread to Others? Effects on Retaliatory and Displaced Aggression

Abstract

Exposure to violent video games (VVE) has been shown to increase aggression in the player. In the present two experiments, we tested whether this effect spreads within a social network. In Experiment 1, using data from a previous study that showed an effect of VVE on aggression in a Competitive Reaction Time Task (Greitemeyer, 2014), we assigned the blasts of noise selected by players to new participants. Afterwards, they selected these parameters themselves. VVE had a causal effect on retaliatory aggression, showing that the effect of VVE may spread on non-players. In Experiment 2, 200 participants played either a violent or nonviolent video game and participated in a Cold Water Task (CWT) in which they assigned the time another person has to keep the hand in painfully cold water. Two-hundred new participants were yoked to one of the video game participants and had to keep their hand in the water for the indicated duration. Afterwards, they assigned the time to the video game participant (retaliation) or to another person (displaced aggression). Although VVE had no significant impact, we found that higher CWT duration led participants to behave more aggressively not only when retaliating, but also, to a lesser extent, in the displaced aggression condition. Implications of the spreading effect of aggression in the context of VVE are discussed.