CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Brock University Digital Repository Violent Video Game Playing, Moral Reasoning, and Attitudes Towards Violence in Adolescents: Is There a Connection? Mirjana Bajovic Department of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies in Education Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies Faculty of Education, Brock University St. Catharines, Ontario © Mirjana Bajovic 2012 i Abstract In this study of 109 adolescents from the eighth grade of seven public elementary schools in Ontario, the relationship among adolescents’ violent video game playing patterns, habits and attitudes, their levels of moral reasoning, and their attitudes towards violence in real life was investigated. In addition, gender differences were addressed. The mixed- methodology was employed combining qualitative and quantitative data. The research results confirmed that playing video games in general is a very popular activity among those adolescents. Significant negative relationship was found between adolescents’ amount of time playing violent video games during the day and their scores on The Sociomoral Reflection Measure. Significant difference was also found between adolescents who play violent video games and those who do not play violent video games on their scores on The Attitudes Towards Violence Scale. Boys and girls significantly differed in the amount of playing video games during the day, the reasons for playing video games, their favourite video game choices, and their favourite video game character choices. Boys and girls also significantly differed on their choices of personality traits of selected video game characters, the identification with video game characters, and their mood experiences while playing video games. The findings are put into the educational context and the context of normal development, and suggestions are given for parents, for educators, and for future violent video game research. ii Table of Contents Page Abstract .......................................................................................................... ii List of Tables ................................................................................................. v CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW AND BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 1 Problem Statement ............................................................................. 10 Rationale ............................................................................................ 10 Research Questions ............................................................................ 16 Significance of the Study .................................................................. 17 Summary of the Chapter .................................................................... 17 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERTURE .................................... 18 Media Violence Theories ................................................................... 18 Cognitive-Developmental Theories of Morality ................................ 24 Social-Learning and Social-Domain Theories of Moral Development .................................................................................. 35 Moral Development in the Educational Context ............................... 41 Media Violence and Children’s Attitudes, Behaviours and Moral Development ................................................................................... 44 Video Games: Contemporary Prevalence .......................................... 52 Video Games and Gender .................................................................. 57 Violent Video Games ......................................................................... 62 Video Games in Educational Context ................................................ 83 Summary of the Chapter .................................................................... 90 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ...................................................... 96 Two Stages of Data Collection .......................................................... 97 Rationale for Mixed Method Research Design .................................. 98 Participants ......................................................................................... 100 Defining Groups................................................................................. 101 Research Instruments ......................................................................... 101 Research Procedure ............................................................................ 107 Ethics.................................................................................................. 113 Compensation for Participants ........................................................... 114 Privacy and Confidentiality ............................................................... 114 Summary of the Chapter .................................................................... 115 CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION OF THE RESULTS......................... 116 Participants’ Video Game Patterns and Habits .................................. 119 Violent Video Game Playing Patterns and Habits ............................. 134 Defining the Violent and Nonviolent Video Game Playing Groups................................................................................... 135 Video Game Playing: Attitudes and Feelings .................................... 136 iii Beliefs about Violence in Video Games and Violence in Real Life .. 143 Video Games and Identification ........................................................ 150 Sociomoral Reasoning and Attitudes Towards Violence .................. 155 Violent Video Game Playing and Moral Reasoning.......................... 158 Violent Video Game Playing and Attitudes Towards Violence ........ 161 Violent and Nonviolent Video Game Playing Group: Sociomoral Maturity and Attitudes Towards Violence ...................................... 163 Interviews ........................................................................................... 169 Field Notes ......................................................................................... 180 Summary of the Chapter .................................................................... 186 CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, AND IMPLICATIONS ... 189 Summary of the Study ....................................................................... 189 Discussion and Implications .............................................................. 192 Adolescents’ Video Game Playing Patterns and Habits…………… 192 Video Game Players: Attitudes and Feelings………………………. 200 Violence in Video Games and Violence in Real Life………………. 209 Video Games and Identification……………………………………. 213 Sociomoral Maturity and Attitudes Towards Real Violence………. 219 Limitations of the Study..................................................................... 230 Future Research ................................................................................. 231 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 232 References ...................................................................................................... 234 Appendix A: Video Game Genre Taxonomy ................................................ 267 Appendix B: Video Game Ratings According to ESRB ............................... 270 Appendix C: Self-Reporting Questionnaire ................................................... 272 Appendix D: The Sociomoral Reflection Measure-Short Form .................... 279 Appendix E: Attitudes Towards Violence Scale ........................................... 283 Appendix F: Informal Interview Protocol (child) .......................................... 285 Appendix G: Research Ethics Board Clearance Letter .................................. 287 iv List of Tables Table Page 1 Frequency of Video Game Playing ................................................. 123 2 Amount of Time Playing Video Games .......................................... 124 3 Crosstabulation of Gender and Video Game Time Play ................. 127 4 Frequency of Video Games Played ................................................. 129 5 Crosstabulation for Favourite Video Games ................................... 133 6 Frequency for Reasons Behind Playing Video Games ................... 138 7 Playing Violent Video Game and Mood ......................................... 141 8 Personality Trait of Favourite Video Game Characters .................. 153 9 Correlations Between Amount of Time Violent Video Game Playing and SMRS ...................................................................................... 160 10 Correlations Between Amount of Time Violent Video Game Playing and ATV…………………………………………………………. 162 11 T-Test: SRMS and ATV for Violent Video Game Players and Nonviolent video Game Players .................................................... 164 12 SRMS and ATV Predictors of Violent Video Game Playing ......... 167 13 SRMS and ATV Interaction ............................................................ 168 v 1 CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW AND BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY “We must remember that education alone is not enough. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of a true education” Martin Luther King Jr . Throughout my Master in Education graduate work, I have been engaged in a longitudinal project Children Stories as Cultural Mirrors led by Dr. Anne Elliott investigating media effects on children’s attitudes, views, and