If you talk to people who enjoy violent video games, they give
many reasons for playing. Some just like
the chance to do things that they would never do in real life. Others enjoy the chance to get together with
friends and play. Still others see
violent video games as a chance to escape the stresses of daily life and blow
off a little steam.
Of course, one problem with asking people why they engage in
a behavior is that they often don’t have real insight into the factors that
influence their behavior. As I often
say, the reason that so many people need therapy and counseling in their lives
is because they are not entirely sure why they do what they do.
An interesting paper in the April, 2013 issue of Psychological Science by Jodi Whitaker,
Andre Melzer, Georges Steffgen, and Brad Bushman explored the role of taboo
behaviors and frustration in men’s interest in violent video games.
Taboo behaviors are things like cheating and stealing that
people know are wrong. When people are
tempted to do something wrong, it is arousing.
They engage in a battle between the strength of the temptation and their
willpower. And, as studies by Dan Ariely
and his colleagues point out, we often fail in our efforts to do the right thing.
Presumably, though, if you give in to temptation, then the
arousal that comes with the temptation subsides. If you have the chance to steal a candy bar
and you do it, then you no longer feel the temptation so strongly. If you have the chance to steal that candy
bar, and suddenly realize that you are being watched, then you can’t give in to
the temptation, but you still may feel the strength of that temptation. That may cause frustration.
Whitaker, Melzer, Steffgen, and Bushman suggest that this
frustration may make violent video games seem more attractive to play than they
would be otherwise.
To test this proposal, college men were brought to the lab
and asked to estimate the weight of two common objects using quarters. They would take a stack of quarters out of a
bowl and try to find a stack that was about equal in weight to the object. (Men were run in this study because women are
much less likely than men to be interested in playing violent video games.)
Some participants were given no chance to steal. The door to the experiment room was kept
open, and the experimenter stood watching the participant throughout the
study. A second group of participants
was told that the door would be kept closed throughout the study. These participants had the opportunity to
steal some quarters if they wanted. A
third group of participants was told that the door would be kept closed
throughout the study, but midway through the experiment, the experimenter came
back in and said that actually the door had to be kept open. This group had the temptation to steal made
active, but were then blocked from stealing.
After estimating the weight of the objects, participants
rated their current mood, which included a measure of their level of
frustration. Then, they completed a
short survey about video games. They
listed the games they play frequently and also rated the attractiveness of
eight games. Half of these games were
violent games, and the other half were not violent games.
Participants who were in a closed room throughout the study
did steal some quarters. On average,
participants took almost 75 cents. Those
who had only a limited chance to steal took about 35 cents on average. Those participants who were in an open room
for the whole experiment rarely stole.
As you might expect, the group that had a brief opportunity to steal
were significantly more frustrated at the end of the study than those who
either had a chance to steal or had no chance to steal at all.
Overall, participants rated the nonviolent video games more
attractive than the violent games.
However, the group that briefly had the chance to steal found the
violent games significantly more attractive than either of the other groups. The group that had a chance to steal
throughout the study found the violent video games more attractive than those
who had no chance to steal. Statistical
analyses demonstrated that the degree of attractiveness of the violent video
games for these groups could be explained by people’s level of frustration.
A second study obtained the same pattern of results using
cheating on a quiz rather than stealing as the taboo behavior.
This research suggests that people are attracted to violent
video games when they are aroused by a temptation and frustrated in their pursuit
of that temptation. However, there is
still an open question about why this happens.
One possibility is that people are attracted to violent video games when
they are frustrated, because they hope that playing the game will relieve the
frustration. A second possibility is
that this frustration creates arousal and that this arousal makes action
attractive.
