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Violence in Video Games

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Violence in Video Games: Examining Violence and Competitiveness as Predictors of Verbal Aggressiveness

Sean D. Badeer, Kathrine L. Lukes, Sarah A. Oltjenbruns, & Sergio D. Orozco
Wayne State College
Wayne, NE
April 11, 2013
Abstract
Violence in video games is the topic of much debate and controversy in the public arena. For this reason, it has been a heavily researched topic in areas of psychology and communication (Jeong, Biocca & Bohil, 2012). Much of the research on the topic examines the relationship between the violence in video games and aggression. However, despite the large community of research on the topic, researchers in communication have yet to examine the relationship between video game competitiveness and verbal aggression. Competiveness is a factor that must be considered if there is to be an accurate depiction of the impact of video games on aggressiveness (Adachi and Willoughby, 2011).

The purpose of this study is to examine the impacts of competitiveness and violence in video games on verbal aggressiveness. Furthermore, this study examines the relationship between verbal aggressiveness and attitudes toward violence. In the results of the study, the correlation between competitiveness and verbal aggressiveness was found to be significant. The correlation between video game violence and verbal aggressiveness was not significant. Furthermore, no significant correlation was found between verbal aggressiveness and attitudes toward violence. Results and implications of the findings are discussed. The subsequent shootings in Aurora, Colorado at a theater screening of The Dark Knight Rises, and in Newtown, Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary stirred U.S. citizens to call for an explanation for the killing and an end to gun violence. President Barack Obama

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