Aggressive Outcomes and Videogame Play: The Role of Length of Play and the Mechanisms at Work

Recent meta-analytic findings (Sherry, 2007) suggest that the effect of violent video games on aggression tends to decrease the longer participants play. Therefore, it is likely that different mechanisms may be at work depending on the length of play. In this study, we employed a 4 (length of game play) × 2 (sex) design to examine the effect of length of video game play on aggressive outcomes. Findings suggest that length of play may be curvilinearly related to verbal and physical aggression, and that arousal may mediate this response. Implications for our current understanding of the relationship between video games and aggression are discussed, along with directions for further research.

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