Violent and nonviolent video games produce opposing effects on aggressive and prosocial outcomes

a r t i c l e i n f o Experimental studies routinely show that participants who play a violent game are more aggressive immediately following game play than participants who play a nonviolent game. The underlying assumption is that nonviolent games have no effect on aggression, whereas violent games increase it. The current studies demonstrate that, although violent game exposure increases aggression, nonviolent video game exposure decreases aggressive thoughts and feelings (Exp 1) and aggressive behavior (Exp 2). When participants assessed after a delay were compared to those measured immediately following game play, violent game players showed decreased aggressive thoughts, feelings and behavior, whereas nonviolent game players showed increases in these outcomes. Experiment 3 extended these findings by showing that exposure to nonviolent puzzle-solving games with no expressly prosocial content increases prosocial thoughts, relative to both violent game exposure and, on some measures, a no-game control condition. Implications of these findings for models of media effects are discussed. A major development in mass media over the last 25 years has been the advent and rapid growth of the video game industry. From the earliest arcade-based console games, video games have been immediately and immensely popular, particularly among young people and their subsequent introduction to the home market only served to further elevate their prevalence (Gentile, 2009). Given their popularity, social scientists have been concerned with the potential effects of video games on those who play them, focusing particularly on games with violent content. While a large percentage of games have always involved the destruction of enemies, recent advances in technology have enabled games to become steadily more realistic. Coupled with an increase in the number of adult players, these advances have enabled the development of games involving more and more graphic violence. Over the past several years, the majority of best-selling games have involved frequent and explicit acts of violence as a central gameplay theme (Smith, Lachlan, & Tamborini, 2003). A video game is essentially a simulated experience. Virtually every major theory of human aggression, including social learning theory, predicts that repeated simulation of antisocial behavior will produce an increase in antisocial behavior (e.g., aggression) and a decrease in prosocial behavior (e.g., helping) outside the simulated environment (i.e., in " real life "). In addition, an increase in the perceived realism of the simulation is posited to increase the strength of negative effects (Gentile & Anderson, 2003). Meta-analyses …