University of Huddersfield Repository Peake, Jonathan William A Global Perspective On The Significance of Violent Imagery in Relation To Other Variables Of Interest Within Computer Games Original Citation Peake, Jonathan William (2011) A Global Perspective On The Significance of Violent Imagery in Relation To Other Variables Of Interest Within Computer Games. Masters thesis, University of Huddersfield. This version is available at http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/14069/ The University Repository is a digital collection of the research output of the University, available on Open Access. Copyright and Moral Rights for the items on this site are retained by the individual author and/or other copyright owners. 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For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, please contact the Repository Team at: [email protected]. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/ 3D.WOUNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD A Global Perspective On The Significance of Violent Imagery in Relation To Other Variables Of Interest Within Computer Games JONATHAN PEAKE MSC BY RESEARCH UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD 03 - 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................................................................ 4 FOREWORD ........................................................................................................................................................................... 5 ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................................................ 6 1.1: CONTEXT AND JUSTIFICATION ......................................................................................................................................... 6 1.2: HYPOTHESES ............................................................................................................................................................. 7 2.0: LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................................................................................... 8 2.1: SUMMARY OF TERMS ................................................................................................................................................ 8 2.2: COMPUTER GAME VIOLENCE .................................................................................................................................... 10 2.2.1: IDENTIFYING DIFFERENT LEVELS OF VIOLENT INTENSITY IN COMPUTER GAMES ...................................................... 10 2.2.2: BEHAVIOURAL AND EMOTIONAL RESPONSES TO VIRTUAL VIOLENCE - CURRENT EVIDENCE...................................... 11 2.2.3: GENDER BIAS .................................................................................................................................................. 15 2.2.4: DESENSITISATION ............................................................................................................................................ 17 2.2.5: CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH ....................................................................................................... 17 2.2.6: SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................................................... 21 2.3: MEASURING AROUSAL ............................................................................................................................................. 22 2.3.1: QUANTITATIVE METHODS- PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY ..................................................................................................... 22 2.3.2: QUALITATIVE METHODS ...................................................................................................................................... 22 2.3.3: SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................................ 23 3.0: EPISTEMOLOGY ........................................................................................................................................................... 24 4.0: RESEARCH DESIGN ...................................................................................................................................................... 25 4.1: RESEARCH AIM ....................................................................................................................................................... 25 4.2: RESEARCH METHODS ............................................................................................................................................... 25 4.3: SAMPLE SELECTION ................................................................................................................................................. 25 4.4: ETHICS AND PARTICIPANT CONSENT .......................................................................................................................... 26 4.5: DISCUSSION OF METHODOLOGY AND METHODS ............................................................................................................ 26 4.6: QUESTIONNAIRE CONSTRUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 27 4.7: DATA ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................................................................ 28 4.8: REPEATED MEASURES DESIGN .................................................................................................................................... 29 4.9 STIMULI CONSTRUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 29 4.9.1 UNREAL TOURNAMENT 3 ..................................................................................................................................... 29 4.9.2 FUNDAMENTAL DESIGN OF BOTH STIMULI ............................................................................................................... 30 4.9.3: CONDITION 1 – VIOLENT STIMULUS ...................................................................................................................... 30 4.9.4: CONDITION 2 – NON VIOLENT STIMULUS .............................................................................................................. 30 4.9.5: INTERFACE ........................................................................................................................................................ 31 2 4.9.6: GAME DIFFICULTY .............................................................................................................................................. 31 4.10: STIMULI TRAIL ........................................................................................................................................................ 32 5.0: RESULTS ..................................................................................................................................................................... 33 5.1: Questionnaire Results .......................................................................................................................................... 33 5.2: Interview Results .................................................................................................................................................. 36 6.0: DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................................................. 38 6.1: GENERAL REACTION TO THE VIOLENT STIMULI .............................................................................................................. 38 6.2: DISCUSSION OF SAMPLES REACTION TO VIOLENT STIMULI .......................................................................................... 39 6.2.1: GAMEPLAY ...................................................................................................................................................... 39 6.2.2: AESTHETICS OF THE GAMES ............................................................................................................................... 40 6.2.3: PLAYER’S EMOTIONAL INVOLVEMENT ................................................................................................................ 41 6.2.4: THE EFFECT OF REALISM ON PARTICIPANT AROUSAL .............................................................................................. 43 6.3: EXPLANATIONS FOR WHY CONDITION 2 SCORED HIGHER ............................................................................................. 46 6.3.1: COLOURFUL FEEDBACK ..................................................................................................................................... 46 6.3.2: SAMPLES PREVIOUS OVER-EXPOSURE TO VIOLENT FPS’ .....................................................................................