Effects of violent video games on the player´s social network

Two recent meta-analyses showed that playing violent video games significantly increases aggressive behavior. Although effect sizes are small to medium, it thus appears that playing violent video games affects the players social behavior outside the virtual world. However, it may even be that not only the players respond with increased aggression but also individuals who do not play violent video games but are connected to the player. In all previous investigations into the effects of violent video game play, researchers have focused on how playing violent video games affects the players behavior. The present proposal aims to address the effects of violent video game exposure on the players social network. It is hypothesized that playing violent video games does not only lead to increased players aggression, but also promotes aggression in people with whom the player is directly or indirectly involved (i.e., the players social network). Previous research has demonstrated that psychological constructs can be contagious within social networks. In fact, psychological phenomena as diverse as smoking, fertility at the workplace, voting behavior, cooperative behavior, and happiness has been shown to spread in social networks. The proposed research aims to get one step further: it will be examined to what extent the effect of playing violent video games spreads across social networks. It is proposed that playing violent video games increases the players aggression outside the virtual world (which would replicate the typical violent video game effect). Crucially, it is further proposed that this increased aggression of the player spreads across the players social network in that individuals who are connected to the player also become more aggressive even when they do not play violent video games. It is also assumed that this relationship is causal. The proposed research aims to address these hypotheses. To this end, five studies will be carried out. No single methodological approach can provide unequivocal answers so multiple methodologies will be employed (one correlational, one longitudinal, three experimental studies). Given that a large number of individuals play violent video games, the proposed research does not only have important theoretical but also practical implications. Importantly, any policy intervention that alters the players video game exposure does not only influence the players aggression outside the virtual world but may also have an indirect effect on the players social network (individuals who are connected to the player but who do not necessarily have to play violent video games to be affected by the intervention).

Violent video games are characterized by using violence to harm other game characters. The question of whether playing such video games leads to aggression and violence is hotly debated both in society and in psychological research. Overall, it seems that playing violent video games increases aggressive behavior and the effects are found not only in the lab but in real life and are enduring over time. Previous research has focused on how playing violent video games affects the social behavior of players. This FWF project investigated whether not only the player of violent video games reacts with increased aggression, but also people who are acquainted with the player (the social environment). In fact, in a number of studies, we found that the effect of playing violent video games can be contagious. Violent video game players reported increased aggression scores, and this aggression correlated with increased aggression on the part of the player's friends. That is, if people do not play violent video games themselves, but have friends who do play, then they are more aggressive than people who do not have friends who play violent video games. In experimental studies, we have shown that this is a causal effect. Overall, these studies suggest that not only the player of violent video games, but also the player's social environment reacts with increased aggression. The influence of violent video games on societal aggression and violence could therefore be even greater than previously thought.