Casey Chadwick

Brittany Bittner

THE EFFECTS VIDEO GAME VIOLENCE AND NARRATIVE HAVE ON REDUCING STRESS

VIDEO GAME USAGE

• 70% of children have at least 1 video game console in home

• 33% have game systems in bedrooms (Thompson & Haninger, 2001)

• 31% daily basis

• 21% 3-5 days/week (Lenhart, Kahne, Middaugh, Macgill, Evans & Vitak, 2008)

DANGERS OF VIDEO GAMES

• Desensitization to violence

• Most popular games = most violent

• Call of Duty: Black Ops, Mortal Kombat

• Males attracted more than females

• General Aggression Model (GAM) (Bushman & Anderson, 2011)

BENEFITS OF VIDEO GAMES

• Hand-eye coordination (Silvern, 1986)

• Visual spatial skills (Spence & Feng, 2010)

• Reducing negative emotions (e.g. anger, stress) (Olson, 2010).

• Mood Management Theory (Zillman, 2008)

HOW CAN VIDEO GAMES REDUCE STRESS?

• Theory of Flow(Payne, Jackson, Stine-Morrow & Noh, 2011)

• May explain video game preference

• Narrative (Adams, Koenig, MacNamara, Mayer, & Wainess, 2011)

• Makes game more complex

• Adds challenge

CURRENT STUDY

• Examined whether video games can reduce stress

• Stress reduction

• Violent games vs. non-violent games

• Narrative vs. no narrative

METHOD – PARTICIPANTS

• IRB Approved

• 53 undergraduate Penn State Behrend students

• SONA system

• Informed consent

• 47% female

• Ages 18-33

VEQ Males Females

Play Often 84.6% 45.8%

0-5 hours 42.3% 91.7%

6 or more hours 57.7% 8.3%

COD 11.5% (never) 62.5% (never)

Guilty Party 100% (never) 95.8% (never)

Mood Survey 2

METHOD- PROCEDURES

Mood Survey 1

Stress Task (PASAT)

Play video game for 20 minutes

Call of Duty(Narrative or no narrative)

Guilty Party(Narrative or no narrative)

Mood Survey 3Serious Games MeasureVideo Game Experience

Questionnaire

MOOD SURVEY

• Asks about current mood (happiness, stress, frustration)

• On a scale of 1-5, how stressed are you?

• Taken three times:

•1st - coming into room

•2nd – after stress task

• 3rd – after playing game

Mood Survey 2

Mood Survey 1

Stress Task (PASAT)

Play video game for 20 minutes

Call of Duty(Narrative or no narrative)

Guilty Party(Narrative or no narrative)

Mood Survey 3Serious Games MeasureVideo Game Experience

Questionnaire

STRESS TASK- PACED AUDITORY SERIAL ADDITION TEST (PASAT)

Heard Answer

4

7

3

1

11

10

4

Mood Survey 2

Mood Survey 1

Stress Task (PASAT)

Play video game for 20 minutes

Call of Duty(Narrative or no narrative)

Guilty Party(Narrative or no narrative)

Mood Survey 3Serious Games MeasureVideo Game Experience

Questionnaire

Mood Survey 2

Mood Survey 1

Stress Task (PASAT)

Play video game for 20 minutes

Call of Duty(Narrative or no narrative)

Guilty Party(Narrative or no narrative)

Mood Survey 3Serious Games MeasureVideo Game Experience

Questionnaire

CALL OF DUTY

Two settings: Campaign- narrative Combat training (zombies)-no narrative

GUILTY PARTY

Two settings: Story mode- narrative Party mode- no narrative

Mood Survey 2

Mood Survey 1

Stress Task (PASAT)

Play video game for 20 minutes

Call of Duty(Narrative or no narrative)

Guilty Party(Narrative or no narrative)

Mood Survey 3Serious Games MeasureVideo Game Experience

Questionnaire

SERIOUS GAME MEASURE

• 35 items• Asked about narrative and flow

• Narrative: • I discovered the story as the game went on.

• Flow:• I forgot about time while playing the game.

• Enjoyment:• I enjoyed exploring the features by trial and

error.

(Blasko-Drabik, 2011)

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1) Did our stress task increase stress levels and did playing the video game decrease stress levels?

2) What type of video game induces more flow (violent, nonviolent)?

3) Does violence in a video game matter when reducing stress?

4) Does narrative in a video game matter when reducing stress?

RESULTS Figure 1: Mean stress levels before task, after task, and after playing. Covariate Mood Survey Time 1

Interaction of time and genderF (1,39)= 2.91, p = 0.09

Before Stress Task After Stress Task After Playing 1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4Females Males

Stre

ss M

eans

Main effect of timeF (1,39)= 4.62, p = 0.03

Main effect of genderF (1,39)= 9.09, p = 0.004

Figure 2: Mean flow levels based on game type.

Interaction of violence and narrative:F (1,50)= 2.86, p = .09

Violence No Violence1

2

3

4

5

6Narrative No Narrative

Mea

n Fl

ow L

evel

s

Main effect of violenceF (1,50)= 5.54, p = 0.01

Figure 3a: Means for stress levels based on game type and genderCovariate Mood Survey Time 1

Violent Narra-tive

Violent No Narrative

Nonviolent Narrative

Nonviolent No Narrative

00.5

11.5

22.5

33.5

44.5

Males

After Stress TaskAfter Playing Game

Game Type

Stre

ss M

eans

Interaction of narrative and violenceF(1,49) = 1.95, p = .17

Violent Narra-tive

Violent No Narrative

Nonviolent Narrative

Nonviolent No Narrative

00.5

11.5

22.5

33.5

44.5

Females

After Stress TaskAfter Playing

Game Type

Stre

ss M

eans

Figure 3b: Means for stress levels based on game type and genderCovariate Mood Survey Time 1

Interaction of narrative and violenceF(1,49) = 1.95, p = .17

DISCUSSION

• 1) Did our stress task increase stress levels and did playing the video game decrease stress levels?

• Yes

• 2) What type of video game induces more flow (violent, nonviolent)?

• Nonviolent, no narrative

• 3) Does violence in a video game matter when reducing stress?

• No interaction, however were differences between games with reducing stress

• 4) Does narrative in a video game matter when reducing stress?

• Mattered for violent games

IMPLICATIONS

• Design fun, nonviolent games

• If violent, include narrative

REFERENCESAnderson, C. A., Ihori, N., Bushman, B. J., Rothstein, H. R., Shibuya, A., Swing, E. L., Sakamoto, A., & Saleem, M. (2010).

Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in eastern and western countries: A Meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 136(2), 151-173. doi:10.1037/a0018251

Bartholow, B. D., & Anderson, C. A. (2001). Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior: Potential sex differences. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , 38, 283-290. doi:10.1006/jesp.2001.1502

Engelhardt, C.R. Bartholow, B. D., & Saults, J. S. (2011). Violent and nonviolent video games differentially affect physical aggression for individuals high vs. low in dispositional behavior. Aggressive Behavior, 37, 539-546.

Inal, Y., & Cagiltay, K. (2007). Flow experiences of children in an interactive social games environment [Electronic version]. British

Journal of Educational Technology, 38(3), 455-464. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2007.00709.x

Payne, B. R., Jackson, J. J., Stine-Morrow, E. A., & Noh, S. R. (2011, March 28). In the zone: flow state and cognition in older adults [Electronic version]. Psychology and Aging, 26(3), 738-743. doi:10.1037/a0022359

Reinecke, L. (2009). The Use of video and computer games to recuperate from stress and strain. Journal of Media Psychology, 21(3), 126-142. doi:10.1027/1864-1105.21.3.126

Silvern, Steven B. (1986). "Classroom use of video games.". Educational research quarterly(0196-5042), 10(1), p.10.

Spence, I., & Feng, J. (2010). Video games and spatial cognition. Review of General Psychology, 14(2), 92-104. doi:10.1037/a0019491

Zillmann, D. (1988a). Mood management through communication choices. American Behavioral Scientist, 31, 327–340.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to acknowledge a special thank you to Dr. Dawn Blasko for advising this research project as well as Holly Blasko Drabik for providing consultation on the design and for the use of her measure.

We would also like to thank Dr. Robert W. Light, Associate Dean for research for providing financial support through the grant program at Penn State Behrend.