Psychology - Native Essay Writers

Psychology

1^st Journal

Anderson, C. A., & Carnagey, N. L. (2009). Causal effects of violent sports video games on aggression: Is it competitiveness or violent content? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 731-739

Abstract

Three experiments examined the impact of excessive violence in sport video games on aggression-related variables. Participants played either a nonviolent simulation-based sports video game (baseball or foot-ball) or a matched excessively violent sports video game. Participants then completed measures assessing aggressive cognitions (Experiment 1), aggressive affect and attitudes towards violence in sports (Experiment 2), or aggressive behavior (Experiment 3). Playing an excessively violent sports video game increased aggressive affect, aggressive cognition, aggressive behavior, and attitudes towards violence in sports. Because all games were competitive, these findings indicate that violent content uniquely leads to increases in several aggression-related variables, as predicted by the General Aggression Model and related social–cognitive models (Anderson & Carnagey, 2009).

Analysis (1^st Journal -Anderson & Carnagey, 2009)

The article by Anderson & Carnagey (2009) on ‘Causal effects of violent sports video games on aggression: Is it competitiveness or violent content?’ research the impact of excessive violence in sport video games on aggression. The 360 participants in the research where introduced to different levels of video games, which varied from violent to non violent games. The results give an implication that violent games lead to increased aggression as supported in the Psychophysiology Journal in a research by Bailey, West and Anderson, (2010) on ‘A negative association between video game experience and proactive cognitive control’.

The research involved three experiments with cardiovascular measures and the video game evaluation questionnaire being administered to the 360 participants. With the independent variables being violent and non violent games, then number of participants remaining constant but with dependent cardiovascular measures, the results implicated significant game violence (Anderson & Carnagey, 2009).

In most video games violence occur in similar relation to football fans’ aggression. Such aggression is noted to increase according to the psychological preparation on the game result. This was supported in both experiment 2 and 3 where Anderson and Carnagey (2009) noted that high intensity punishments are more clearly aggressive than moderate intensities. In addition, such clearly aggressive behavior was seen to be more likely to initiate retaliation as supported in another research by Bailey et al (2010), the same aggressive behavior with football fans.

The results from experiment 3 hypothesis contradicted experiment 1 and 2, by predicting that there should have been no effect of game violence on aggression, where Anderson and Carnagey (2009) asserting that ‘target nonviolent games are at least as competitive as the target violent games’. In conclusion, violent sports game participants behaved more aggressively towards their opponent participants than nonviolent sports game participants, on both measures of aggression increase in violent level of game increases the participants’ aggression proportionally Bailey et al (2010).

2^nd Journal

Bushman, B. J., Baumeister, R. F., Thomaes, S., Ryu, E., Begeer, S., & West, S. G. (2009). Looking again, and harder, for a link between low self-esteem and aggression. Journal of Personality, 77, 427-446.

Abstract

Recent field studies have revived the hypothesis that low self-esteem causes aggression. Accordingly, we reanalyzed the data from a previous experiment and conducted a new experiment to study direct physical aggression in the form of blasting a fellow participant with aversive noise. We also conducted a field study using a measure of indirect aggression in the form of a consequential negative evaluation. High narcissists were more aggressive than others but only when provoked by insult or humiliation and only toward the source of criticism. The combination of high self-esteem and high narcissism produced the highest levels of aggression. These results support the view of aggression as stemming from threatened egotism and are inconsistent with the hypothesis that low self-esteem causes either direct or indirect aggression.

Analysis (2^nd Journal – Bushman et al, 2009)

In the article by Bushman et al (2009) on low self-esteem in relation to its cause of aggression, participants indicated a link between the two where high self esteem produced high aggression levels and vice versa. The aggression implicated in the research was either direct or indirect aggression which was directed towards the source of insult or criticism. In psychology by Bushman et al (2009), they asserted that low self-esteem is a psychological trait that prompts people to aggressive behavior, considering that ‘the feelings of inferiority make people want to ravage and therefore harm those they see as better than themselves’.

In the first two studies, low-self esteem researched on children indicated that it prompted to aggressive behaviors where some incidents provoked them to fight. The third study researched on college students implicated that low self-esteem led to high score of aggressive scale. The study by Bushman et al (2009) correlation was evaluated from three variables of low self-esteem, high self-esteem, high narcissism and aggression. The research asserted that high self-esteem in first and second study resulted to respective high aggression and high narcissism while third study asserted that low self-esteem had respective aggressions which should not be overlooked.

Taking a consideration of the normal class work in colleges, students perceive relevant self-esteem from class performance which provokes aggression if humiliation is posed by their fellow students. The study by Bushman et al (2009) implicated that when ego threat was measured in the form of naturally occurring feelings of humiliation after receiving comments on class work from fellow student prompted high aggression. In computer games, the effect of aggression was induced by comments from a fellow student with whom participants actually interacted. The studies were therefore subjectively real and consequential asserting that people were mostly influenced, affected and sometimes humiliated by the criticisms they received concerning their actual class work performance, and the participants always have the psychological believe they could intimidate and ‘lower the grades of their evaluator by giving poor ratings to the feedback’ (Bushman et al, 2009) . In the findings, the study concluded that aggression was mainly associated with the grandiose, self-assurance and overt form of narcissism mainly from the people who know each other. Therefore, the students’ behavior leads to a prediction that ‘highest levels of aggression are among people with high self-esteem and high narcissism.

Conclusion

From the two articles by Bushman et al (2009) and Anderson & Carnagey (2009), self-esteem can combine with narcissism to influence levels of aggression. As supported by Bailey et al (2010) when considering association between video game experience and proactive cognitive control, it implicated that violent sports game participants behaved more aggressively towards their opponent participants than nonviolent sports game participants. The students made the practical behavior and therefore implicated that narcissism plus high self-esteem lead to highest levels of aggression.

References

Bailey, K., West, R., & Anderson, C. A. (2010). A negative association between video game experience and proactive cognitive control. Psychophysiology, 47, 34-42.

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