Causes of State Hostility and Enjoyment in Player Versus Player and Player Versus Environment Video Games

Video games have been under scholarly study since the 1980s, but few studies have blended the research areas of video games and aggression and video game enjoyment. This article seeks to determine how certain game play factors affect hostility, enjoyment, and the relationship between the 2 variables. A total of 289 students played games in player‐versus‐player (PvP) and player‐versus‐environment (PvE) situations. Findings indicate that outcome, competitive situation, and genre interact in their influence on state hostility and enjoyment. Results suggest that in some cases, game players are able to enjoy games despite negative experiences, such as losing, but players in PvP situations experience enjoyment‐reducing levels of hostility, contrary to P. Vorderer et al.'s (2004) complex entertainment model.     

Exploring How We Enjoy Antihero Narratives

Affective disposition theory (ADT), which nicely explains enjoyment of traditional hero narratives, appears somewhat limited in its ability to explain antihero narratives, primarily because of the moral complexity of the protagonists. Recent work proposes that viewers over time develop story schema that permit antihero enjoyment, despite character immorality. This article reports results from three studies that support this claim. Specifically, the findings indicate that moral judgment may be less important to antihero enjoyment than ADT would predict, that previous exposure to an antihero narrative alters responses to similar narratives, and that moral disengagement cues impact the enjoyment process. Ultimately, the studies offer empirical evidence of how antihero narratives are enjoyed differently than their traditional hero counterparts.     

Identification Matters: A Moderated Mediation Model of Media Interactivity,Character Identification,and Video Game Violence on Aggression

This study examined the effects of interactivity in violent video games on aggression and tested identification as the moderated mediating mechanism. A total of 169 male undergraduate students participated in a 2 media interactivity (enactive mediation vs. observational mediation) × 2 violence (violent vs. nonviolent) experiment. Results supported a moderated mediation model in which the effect of media interactivity on aggressive affect through identification was moderated by violence. When violence was present, interactive play resulted in higher short‐term aggressive affect through higher character identification than when violence was not present. Additionally, an interaction effect between media interactivity and violence was found for automatic self‐concept in which players associated themselves more with the game character's traits than video viewers.     

More Than Stories With Buttons: Narrative,Mechanics, and Context as Determinants of Player Experience in Digital Games

Recent research has attempted to describe meaningful experiences with entertainment media that go beyond hedonic enjoyment. Most of this research focuses on noninteractive media, such as film and television. When applied to digital games, however, such research needs to account for not only the content of the medium, but also the unique dimensions of digital games that distinguish them from noninteractive media. Experiences with digital games are shaped by the game mechanics that define the users' interaction with game content, as well as by the opportunities for social interaction that many games offer. We argue that the complex interplay of these dimensions (narrative, mechanics, and context) facilitates or inhibits meaningful user experiences in ways that are unique to digital games.     

Effects of Media Ratings on Children and Adolescents: A Litmus Test of the Forbidden Fruit Effect

Media ratings serve to inform parents about and protect minors from violent or otherwise harmful media content. Most of these systems use age pictograms and content warning pictograms for entertainment products. An experiment was conducted to investigate whether these pictograms, contrary to their purpose, have an appealing effect on children and adolescents. Compared to prior studies into this “forbidden fruit effect” concerning DVDs and games, more realistic materials were used. In the experiment, 322 elementary school students (9–11 years) and 335 high school students (13–15 years) were exposed to 10 DVD or game covers and asked to judge the products' attractiveness. The results show that the pictograms did not increase the attractiveness of games and DVDs for children and adolescents.     

Media Enjoyment as Need Satisfaction: The Contribution of Hedonic and Nonhedonic Needs

Most early research on entertainment defines media enjoyment in functional terms as the satisfaction of hedonic needs. Two studies demonstrate the value of including nonhedonic and hedonic need satisfaction in defining enjoyment. Both studies find support for a need‐satisfaction model showing that hedonic (arousal and affect) and nonhedonic (competence and autonomy) need satisfaction account for unique variance in enjoyment experienced during video game play. Study 2 extends the findings of Study 1 to account for noninteractive media entertainment enjoyment. Results show hedonic and nonhedonic need satisfaction to be distinct but complementary components of media enjoyment. Discussion focuses on the advantage of a needs‐based approach for understanding positive valuations of media and offers a new perspective on the enjoyment–appreciation distinction.     

Power distribution algorithm based on game theory in the femtocell system

This paper studies the power control problem in femtocell system based on Nash non-cooperative game theory. It designs an utility function taking fem stations' transmit power as variable and relates it to the requirements of macro users' and fem users' signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR). The utility also takes the impact of fem stations' location into account and improves the fairness of non-cooperative game. On this basis, this paper proposes a distributed power control algorithm and proves the existence and uniqueness of Pareto optimal point. The simulation results show that the algorithm improves the convergence speed and system performance through improving users' SINR.     

Triple Whammy! Violent Games and Violent Controllers: Investigating the Use of Realistic Gun Controllers on Perceptions of Realism,Immersion, and Outcome Aggression

Previous research links violent video game play and aggression, and shows that playing games using natural mapping motion capturing controllers increases immersion and perceptions of realism. We extend current research by experimentally testing whether the “weapons effect” emerges when using a realistic gun controller to play a violent first‐person shooter video game. The results provide compelling evidence that using a realistic firearm controller positively impacts cognitive aggression. Participants playing with the gun controller also experienced increased perceptions of game realism and feelings of immersion. The findings raise concerns about the harmful effects of popular realistic firearm controllers and are discussed in terms of the model matching hypothesis and the weapons effect.     

Hospitability: The Communicative Architecture of Humanitarian Securitization at Europe's Borders

This paper explores the communicative architecture of reception at the peak of Europe's 2015–2016 “migration crisis.” Drawing on fieldwork at one of Europe's outer borders—the Greek island of Chios—the paper examines the border as a site where refugee and migrant reception takes place and where the parameters of Europe's ethico-political response to the “crisis” are set. The paper demonstrates that the continent's double requirement of security and care produces a new and highly ambivalent moral order, hospitability. Constituted through techno-symbolic networks of mediation, hospitability reaffirms dominant theorizations of the border as an order of power and exclusion but goes beyond these in highlighting micro-connections of solidarity that simultaneously coexist with and attempt to challenge this order.     

A Denotative and Connotative Study in Communication

The purposes of this study were to investigate: (1) the definitions of communication preferred among 150 randomly selected members of the National Society for the Study of Communication; (2) the respondents' “ideal” referent or symbol when naming the dynamics of the interpersonal sending-receiving process. A questionnaire was sent to the above individuals, asking them to; (1) rank-order twelve definitions of communication (from most to least preferred)—this was the denotative phase of the study; (2) rate the concepts “Communication,”“Speech,” and “Persuasion” on three linear-graphic scales (of the Osgood, Suci, Tannenbaum type). The first scale measured the respondents' evaluative feelings of these three concepts (“Good to Bad” continuum). The second scale measured their feelings on the potency of the three concepts (“Strong to Weak” continuum). The third scale measured their orientation of the three concepts as to the complexity or simplicity of the terms when used to describe the process (“Complex to Simple” continuum)—this was the connotative phase of the study. Results were based on a 41% return (62 of 150); no follow-ups were made to contact the non-respondents. (1) Over-all rankings for the denotative phase of the study indicated that respondents preferred the communication definitions of: J. Ruesch and G. Bateson, first; W. Weaver, second; L. Thayer, third; S. Stevens, fourth; C. Hovland, fifth; C. Cherry, sixth; P. Tompkins, seventh; W. C. Redding, eighth; W. Schramm, ninth; T. Newcomb, tenth; E. Sapir, eleventh; and G. Miller, twelfth. Analysis of variance indicated the rankings to be significant at the .001 level. (2) The profile of mean scores in the connotative phase of the study indicated that respondents evaluated the concept “Communication” to be much better than the concepts “Speech” or “Persuasion.” The mean scores of the oriented activity scales indicated that “Communication” was perceived by the subjects to be “extremely complex,” whereas “Speech” and “Persuasion” were both viewed as being only “moderately complex.” Results from both the denotative and connotative phases of this study strongly suggested that there was much disparity among the respondents' rankings of communication definitions and ratings of concepts.     

The Influence of Morality Subcultures on the Acceptance and Appeal of Violence

Two studies examined how disposition theory‐based morality subcultures predict the acceptance and appeal of violence. Study 1 used groups formed by median splits of individual difference variables (religiosity, aggression, and sex) thought to be trait correlates of morality subcultures in three 2 × 2 × 2 designs varying trait, perpetrator disposition (positive, negative), and motive (justified, unjustified) to predict the acceptance of violence in story resolutions for a scenario. Study 2 extended this design using domain‐specific dimensions of morality from moral foundations theory (MFT) to predict perceptions of violent content and its appeal. The results suggest that morality subcultures predict response to violent drama and that dimensions of morality based on MFT offer a framework for defining morality subcultures.     

Esports as playful consumption experiences: Examining the antecedents and consequences of game engagement

This study aims to propose and test a conceptual model identifying playful-consumption experiences (i.e., role-projection, fantasy, escapism, enjoyment, sensory experiences, emotional involvement, and arousal) as potential drivers of consumer esports videogame engagement as well as continuance intentions, electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), and online reviews as possible outcomes. Using the esports games' context and analyzing data from 290 gamers, the study utilized PLS-SEM using SmartPLS 3.3.9 to test the structural model. The results showed that the proposed playful-consumption experiences such as enjoyment, sensory experiences, emotional involvement, and arousal positively affect consumers’ esports game engagement. Furthermore, the results indicate the positive influence of esports game engagement on continuance intentions to play esports, eWOM and post online reviews. This study extends the esports gaming literature by examining both the antecedents and consequences of esports game engagement and provides valuable theoretical and practical implications.     

Back to Basics Series: Ghostbusters & Me

Editor's Note: The Master Mediator is taking a break from his in‐depth series on neuroscience and the psychological factors and cognitive biases that may affect dispute resolution. As Bob Creo's earliest columns, describing and discussing mediation room techniques and practice issues, appeared only on the CPR website, he has agreed to reprise and update them for Alternatives, beginning with last month's issue, in a new “Back to Basics” series. Last month's column covered the concept of satisfactory compromise, while this one addresses “ghostbusting” in mediation. Future columns will cover such essentials as terms of reference and constructing settlements.     

Back to Basics: Legos and Me

Editor's Note: Master Mediator columnist Bob Creo has taken a break in the past two issues of Alternatives from his focus on neuroscience, psychological factors and cognitive biases that affect dispute resolution to revisit his past. He has returned to his earliest columns on mediation room techniques and practice issues—some nearly a decade old—and is reprising and updating them for a “Back to Basics” series. The articles are new to these pages, originally having appeared exclusively on the website of Alternatives' publisher, the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution. Last month's column faced “ghostbusting” in mediation—that is, dealing with the specters of “persons with influence over the outcome, but who are not physically present at the mediation session.” The November column covered the concept of satisfactory compromise. This month's column looks at the building blocks of a mediation resolution, literally. Still to come is a back‐to‐basics examination of constructing settlements.     

Defining Media Enjoyment as the Satisfaction of Intrinsic Needs

This article presents a model of enjoyment rooted in self‐determination theory ( Deci & Ryan, 1985 ) that includes the satisfaction of three needs related to psychological well‐being: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. In an experiment designed to validate this conceptualization of enjoyment, we manipulate video game characteristics related to the satisfaction of these needs and examine their relative effects on enjoyment. The validated model explains 51% of the variance in enjoyment, even without including needs usually studied in relation to enjoyment such as pleasure seeking. Results indicate the utility of defining enjoyment as need satisfaction. These results are discussed in terms of a broader conceptualization of enjoyment represented as the satisfaction of a comprehensive set of functional needs.     

BACK TO BASICS SERIES: Compromise & Me! Being in Sweden: Lagom – Meeting in The Middle

Editor's Note: The Master Mediator is taking a break from his fascinating, in‐depth series on neuroscience and the psychological factors and cognitive biases that may affect dispute resolution. As Bob Creo's earliest columns, describing and discussing mediation room techniques and practice issues, appeared a number of years ago, and only on the CPR website, Alternatives is delighted that he has agreed to reprise and update them, beginning in this issue, in a new “Back to Basics” series. This column deals with the concept of compromise; future columns in the series will cover “ghostbusting” in mediation, terms of reference, and constructing settlements.     

Entertainment as Pleasurable and Meaningful: Identifying Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motivations for Entertainment Consumption

The purpose of this research is to broaden the conceptualization of entertainment selection to identify not only pleasure‐seeking (hedonic concerns) as a motivator, but to also recognize that individuals may choose media as a means of “truth‐seeking” (eudaimonic concerns). This article conceptualized and developed measures to illustrate that entertainment can be used as a means of experiencing not only enjoyment, but also as a means of grappling with questions such as life's purpose and human meaningfulness. Four studies were conducted in the development of these measures, providing evidence for their validity in terms of entertainment preference and individual differences, and illustrating how these motivations predict preferences for entertainment that elicits unique affective experiences.     

Implicit and Explicit Attitudes as Predictors of Gatekeeping,Selective Exposure,and News Sharing: Testing a General Model of Media‐Related Selection

Media‐related selection (MRS) is an umbrella concept for selection processes such as gatekeeping by journalists, selective exposure by audience members, and news sharing by social network site (SNS) users. Importantly, individual attitudes can influence MRS. Previous research on attitude‐based MRS has relied almost exclusively on overtly expressed evaluations (i.e., explicit attitudes) as predictors of selection outcomes. We tested whether automatic affective evaluations (i.e., implicit attitudes) can predict MRS as well. In three studies (gatekeeping, selective exposure, and news sharing), we found that journalists', audience members', and SNS users' implicit and explicit attitudes predicted selection. Thus, attitudes may exert their influence even “under the radar” of conscious awareness.     

Analysis of the influencing factors of users' switching intention in the context of one-way mobile number portability

This paper reviews the implementation of mobile number portability (MNP) in other countries except China. The authors tested the influencing factors of users' switching intention in the context of the one-way MNP policy survey data from 400 China Mobile users in Tianjin (pilot city). The study briefly describes the implementation of one-way MNP, particularly the “lag system” MNP and its implementation effect in Korea, with which country China has an analogy under the MNP policy. The current paper seeks to provide a reasonable referential direction for the further development of government regulation under the MNP policy.Then, a research model is developed based on users' actual behavior in the pilot city. The results of this research show that customer satisfaction (including call quality, mobile device and customer complement), switching costs and attractiveness of alternatives have significant effects on users' switching intention. Among these factors, customer satisfaction and switching costs are the most important to China mobile users. In comparison, the attractiveness of alternatives (China Telecom, China Unicom) is not a considerable factor of switching intention to China mobile users, in the context of one-way MNP. We conclude with a discussion of the contributions and limitations of this study.     

Sports Spectators' Suspense: Affect and Uncertainty in Sports Entertainment

To explain the attraction to sports in the media, suspense theory is extended to predict suspense during sports exposure. Viewers (n = 113) of a college football game in an intense rivalry context reported their responses to the game during commercial breaks. Multilevel analysis of the longitudinal data shows that shifts in both positive and negative affect influence suspense of supporters of both teams. Likewise, affective dispositions (rooting for a team) emerge as precondition for greater suspense, regardless of specific team preference, even though habitual fan commitment did not affect suspense. Predictions regarding increased suspense due to lower certainty of the favored team's victory and due to smaller score difference were only corroborated for supporters of the winning team.