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The Effects of Violence in Video Games on Individual Levels of Hostility in Young Adults" (2018)

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The Effects of Violence in Video Games on Individual Levels of Hostility in Young Adults Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® Masters Theses & Specialist Projects Graduate School Spring 2018 The ffecE ts of Violence in Video Games on Individual Levels of Hostility in Young Adults Grant Jones Western Kentucky University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses Part of the Other Sociology Commons, Social Psychology Commons, and the Social Psychology and Interaction Commons Recommended Citation Jones, Grant, "The Effects of Violence in Video Games on Individual Levels of Hostility in Young Adults" (2018). Masters Theses & Specialist Projects. Paper 2570. https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/2570 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses & Specialist Projects by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE EFFECTS OF VIOLENCE IN VIDEO GAMES ON INDIVIDUAL LEVELS OF HOSTILITY IN YOUNG ADULTS A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Sociology Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, Kentucky In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts By Grant Jones May 2018 To my parents, close friends, and mentors, without whom the completion of this degree would not have been possible TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Literature Review.................................................................................................................3 Research on Video Games Showing Increases in Hostility and Aggression ..........4 Research on Video Games Showing No Increases in Hostility and Aggression .....5 The Role of Adverse Childhood Experiences ..........................................................7 Trait Anger ...............................................................................................................9 Competition............................................................................................................10 Theoretical Perspective ..........................................................................................13 Current Study .........................................................................................................14 Hypotheses .................................................................................................14 Methodology ......................................................................................................................15 Generalizability of Data .........................................................................................15 Measures ................................................................................................................17 Dependent Variables ..................................................................................18 Independent Variables ...............................................................................20 Analysis Plan .........................................................................................................25 Results ................................................................................................................................26 T-Testing Video Game Play and Violent Video Game Play .................................26 Correlations ............................................................................................................29 Hypothesis Testing.................................................................................................31 Hypothesis 1...............................................................................................31 Hypothesis 2...............................................................................................31 iv Hypothesis 3...............................................................................................32 Hypothesis 4...............................................................................................33 Path Analysis .........................................................................................................34 General Findings ....................................................................................................36 Findings Related to the Hypotheses ...........................................................37 Hypothesis 1...................................................................................37 Hypothesis 2...................................................................................37 Hypothesis 3...................................................................................38 Hypothesis 4...................................................................................39 Video Game Play and Violence in Video Games ..................................................40 Discussion ..........................................................................................................................42 Findings..................................................................................................................42 Connections to Literature .......................................................................................44 Limitations .............................................................................................................45 Conclusion .............................................................................................................47 References ..........................................................................................................................50 Appendix A: Survey Instrument ........................................................................................54 Appendix B: Regression Results .......................................................................................66 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Proposed Relationships between Key Terms & Information ...............................4 Figure 2: Path Analysis Diagram; Relationships & Beta Coefficients ..............................35 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Demographic Comparisons for Final Sample vs. Sample Prior to Case-Wise Deletion vs. WKU Factbook .................................................................................16 Table 2: Video Game Play on Means of Trait Anger, ACE, Competitive Orientation, Hostility, and Aggression ......................................................................................27 Table 3: Video Game Play on Means of Trait Anger, ACE, Competitive Orientation, Hostility, and Aggression ......................................................................................28 Table 4: Correlation Matrix ...............................................................................................30 Table 5: Closer Look at Path Analysis, Ordered by Strongest to Weakest Beta Strength ............................................................................................................................................35 Table 6a: ACE Score Model Summary .............................................................................66 Table 6b: Regression of Adverse Childhood Experience Scores on Independent Variables ................................................................................................................................66 Table 7a: Competitive Orientation Model Summary .........................................................68 Table 7b: Regression of Competitive Orientation on Independent Variables ..................68 Table 8a: Trait Anger Model Summary .............................................................................69 Table 8b: Regression of Trait Anger on Independent Variables ......................................69 Table 9a: Hostility Model Summary..................................................................................71 Table 9b: Regression of Hostility on Independent Variables ...........................................71 Table 10a: Verbal Aggression Model Summary ...............................................................73 Table 10b: Regression of Verbal Aggression on Independent Variables .........................73 Table 11a: Physical Aggression Model Summary .............................................................76 Table 11b: Regression of Physical Aggression on Independent Variables ......................76 vii THE EFFECTS OF VIOLENCE IN VIDEO GAMES ON INDIVIDUAL LEVELS OF HOSTILITY IN YOUNG ADULTS Grant Jones May 2018 77 Pages Directed by: Douglas Clayton Smith, Carrie Trojan, Holli Drummond Department of Sociology Western Kentucky University For a while, video games have been the target of scrutiny with regards to their perceived potential to adversely affect younger individuals. In particular, it is often argued that these video games, particularly those of violent nature, may increase hostility to an extent that it manifests itself in violent behavior. This thesis aims to denote what effects these video games have on young adults, particularly in relation to the respondents’ indicated extent of adverse childhood experiences, trait anger, and competitiveness, all three of which were assumed to have a positive relationship with hostility. A survey was distributed to students attending Western Kentucky University in an attempt to measure what effects these three aforementioned variables have on young adults, in addition to what affects video game playing and violence in video games may have
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