Effects of the Contextual Variables of Racing Games on Risky Driving Behavior.

OBJECTIVE This research conducted experimental studies to investigate the effects of the contextual variables of racing games on risky driving behavior. MATERIALS AND METHODS Three experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, the effect of racing game violence on the driving-related risk-taking inclination of racing game players was examined. Experiment 2 investigated the impact of the competitiveness of racing games on risk-taking inclination, and Experiment 3 investigated the impact of the rewarded/punitive characteristics of racing games on the risk-taking inclination of racing game players. The Vienna Risk-Taking Test was used to measure risk-taking inclination of participants. RESULTS The game violence, competitiveness, and the reward characteristics of racing games, all had significant impacts in increasing risky driving behavior. The punitive characteristics of racing games had a significant effect, which decreases risky driving behavior. CONCLUSION The contextual variables of game violence, competitiveness, and rewarded/punitive characteristics of racing games investigated in this study were all shown to influence the risk-taking inclination of game players, which increased risky driving behavior. This study provides a useful reference for the classification and graded management of racing games.

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