Playing Violent Video and Computer Games and Adolescent Self-Concept

Adolescents are primary consumers of video and computer games, and the games they prefer are often violent. Related research suggests that exposure to media violence may affect attitudes and behavior. Self-concept is a key indicator of core attitudes and coping abilities, particularly in adolescents. This study documents current adolescent electronic game-playing habits, and explores associations among preference for violent games, frequency and location of play, and self-concept. Multivariate analyses identify marked gender differences in game-playing habits and in scores on the Harter Self-perception Profile for Adolescents. For girls, more time playing video or computer games is associated with lower Harter scores on six subscales, including self-esteem.     

Positive Female Role‐Models Eliminate Negative Effects of Sexually Violent Media

Much debate has focused on the potential negative role of sexualized violent media on viewer attitudes toward women. One potential issue in previous literature is that depictions of sexuality and violence were confounded with subordinate depictions of female characters. The current study addressed this by randomly assigning young adults to watch either neutral media or sexually violent media with either subordinate or strong female characters. Women who watched sexually violent media were more anxious, and males who watched sexually violent media had more negative attitudes toward women, but only when female characters were subordinate. Sexual and violent content had no influence on viewer attitudes when strong female characters were present, suggesting these are not the crucial influence variables.     

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.     

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.     

Alienation, Aggression, and Sensation Seeking as Predictors of Adolescent Use of Violent Film, Computer, and Website Content

Use of violent media content by adolescents has long been a matter of public concern and debate, a concern that was heightened by the reported use of violent computer games and websites by the killers at Columbine High School in 1999. This study examined predictors of various types of self-reported use of violent media content by 8th graders (N = 3,127) from 20 schools around the U.S. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that gender, sensation seeking, aggression, and frequency of Internet use had relatively strong contributions to explaining the use of violent media content composite and the measure of violent website content use. Alienation variables contributed significantly, though modestly, to variance explained in the use of violence-oriented websites, but not to the composite measure. Alienation from school and family also appeared to partially mediate effects of sensation seeking and aggression on use of violent Internet content. A negative feedback loop model for linking uses and gratifications approaches to the study of effects of violent media content on adolescents is suggested.     

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.     

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.     

The study of youth online: a critical review and agenda

The increasing and pervasive use of online technologies, especially social media, has inspired scholars to investigate how the Internet influences communication. As young people represent the fastest growing adopters of new online technology, much of this research targets youth activity online. But how is the communication discipline taking up this issue, broadly? Typically left to new media and computer-mediated communication scholars, we argue youth online activity raises new and exciting possibilities for researchers across the communication discipline. In this paper, we present a qualitative content analysis of communication research about youth and the Internet. Our analysis of over 700 journal articles provides a clear picture of past and present trends in communication research of youth online activity. Furthermore, we discuss the top four content themes, including: uses and gratifications, engagement, identity, and the uniqueness of youth experience. Critically, we articulate how such research organizes and positions youth in meaningful ways, paving the way for issues of inclusion. We call for a shift from a “difference” framework to one that more explicitly considers “complexity” before suggesting opportunities for future research that crosses and unites subdisciplinary boundaries.     

How socially anxious people become compulsive social media users: The role of fear of negative evaluation and rejection

This study investigates the impact of social interaction anxiety on compulsive social media usage. To provide insights into the gaps in previous research, the authors identify the channels, and hypothesize that negative evaluation and rejection fears mediate the relationship between social interaction anxiety and compulsive social media usage. Further, the moderating role of frustration about unavailability and gender differences are considered in the framework for robustness purposes. Using a convenience sampling method and variance-based structural equation modeling, the authors analyzed a non-clinical sample of 402 Chinese university students. Survey results find that social interaction anxiety increases compulsive social media usage both directly and indirectly through fear of negative evaluation and fear of rejection with a stronger effect of the former. Moreover, the mediating effect of fear of negative evaluation transfers through fear of rejection, which establishes a serial link between social interaction anxiety and compulsive social media usage. Interestingly, frustration about unavailability strengthens the relationship only between fear of rejection and compulsive social media usage. Females exhibit more social interaction anxiety and fear of negative evaluation, which lead them to become more compulsive social media users, while males experience more fear of rejection. These findings can improve our understanding of the role and process by which social interaction anxiety influences compulsive social media usage, and thus may help psychologists to develop better counseling programs for compulsive male and female social media users, addressing their social interaction deficits and excessive reliance on social media applications.     

First person paparazzi: Why social media should be studied more like video games

Video games are often thought of as a type of social media, yet social media are not often thought of as a type of video game. This essay provides an exploratory study of the gaps in research at the intersection of social media and video game research, specifically as they relate to user identity and concepts of reality. Social media and video games are explored through their similarities, including goals of becoming a hero/celebrity, exemplified in social media through users acting like their own paparazzi.     

Digital Games Research: A Survey Study on an Emerging Field and Its Prevalent Debates

Digital games have become a popular form of media entertainment. However, it remains unclear whether a canon of accepted knowledge and research practices has emerged that may define an independent field of research. This study is a collaborative effort to analyze the outlines of digital games research (DGR) through a survey among the membership of 3 institutionalized structures focusing on the study of digital games (International Communication Association Game Studies Interest Group, European Communication Research and Education Association Temporary Working Group DGR, and Digital Games Research Association). The study reveals relatively homogeneous viewpoints among games researchers, even regarding controversial aspects of digital games. It mirrors the mainstream scholarly views on contentious issues of a recently emerged field within communication studies.     

I hate binge-watching but I can’t help doing it: The moderating effect of immediate gratification and need for cognition on binge-watching attitude-behavior relation

Binge-watching is becoming a new “norm” for viewers in the way they consume their favorite TV shows and movies, nevertheless, most scholarly research on binge-watching remains exploratory. This study investigated (1) the relationship between attitudes toward binge-watching and the extent of binge-watching and (2) the role of viewers’ personality traits (i.e., immediate gratification [IG] and needs for cognition [NFC]) on this association. The results from the analysis of the survey data (N?=?714) illustrated that there was a positive association between viewers’ negative attitudes and the extent of their binge-watching, showing a signature indicator of attitude-discrepant behaviors. Furthermore, a significant interaction effect of a negative attitude toward binge-watching and IG on binge-watching behavior was found. High-IG respondents with a negative attitude toward binge-watching were more likely to binge-watch than their low-IG counterparts, marked by a greater negative attitude toward binge-watching as a guilty pleasure.     

Characterizing Mood Management as Need Satisfaction: The Effects of Intrinsic Needs on Selective Exposure and Mood Repair

This study attempted to (a) extend traditional mood management theory research by investigating the influence of the intrinsic needs for competence and autonomy on selective exposure to video games and (b) test the influence of satisfying these needs on resultant mood repair. An experiment varied satisfaction of competence and autonomy needs using false feedback. Subjects then selected media that varied in level of user demand. Measures of need satisfaction were taken before and after media selection. Results demonstrated that (a) thwarted intrinsic needs significantly predict the choice of video games with different levels of user demand and (b) the satisfaction of these needs predicts enjoyment. Findings indicate that mood management can result from mood repair through need satisfaction.     

Media Exposure and Attention as Mediating Variables Influencing Social Risk Judgments

This study examined the hypothesis that media exposure and attention partially mediate the effects of variables such as demographics and personal experience on risk judgments. Risk judgments, including perceived severity, prevalence, controllability, familiarity, and concern about alcohol-related injuries, comprised the outcome measures. Alcohol-related injuries included assaults, motor vehicle crashes, and other injury incidents such as falls, fire, and drowning. Results supported the hypotheses of partial mediation with respect to most risk judgment factors. In particular, effects of education, gender, sensation seeking, and prior firsthand or secondhand experience with alcohol-related mishaps on judgments of concern and/or severity were partially mediated by media variables. The authors concluded that media effects on risk judgments can be usefully understood as part of a larger social process in which media are selectively attended to due to exogenous influences; part of the effect of these exogenous influences on these social risk judgments was via these media influences. Media use variables also retain a degree of influence after controlling for these exogenous factors.     

The Influence of News Media on Stereotypic Attitudes Toward Immigrants in a Political Campaign

This study investigates media effects on stereotypic attitudes toward immigrants in a political campaign that dealt with the naturalization of immigrants. By combining a content analysis of the campaign coverage with a 2‐wave panel survey, the study found that negative news portrayals of immigrants increased stereotypic attitudes in the public in the course of the campaign. Additionally, the frequent exposure to positive news portrayals of immigrants reduced the activation of negative outgroup attitudes. However, these findings are contingent on people's issue‐specific knowledge. Only people with low to moderate knowledge were influenced by negative and positive news stories about immigrants in the campaign. Well‐informed people were resistant to the effects of positive and news portrayals of immigrants.     

Beyond folklore: observations on fragmented traffic

Fragmented IP traffic is a poorly understood component of the overall mix of traffic on the Internet. Many assertions about the nature and extent of fragmented traffic are anecdotal rather than empirical. In this paper we examine the causes and attributes of measured fragment traffic, in particular, the effects of NFS, streaming media, networked video games, tunneled traffic, and the prevalence of packet fragmentation due to improperly configured machines. To understand the prevalence, causes, and effects of fragmented IP traffic, we have collected and analyzed seven multiday traces from four sources. These sources include a university commodity access link, two highly aggregated commercial exchange points, and a local NAP. Although there is no practical method of ascertaining whether any data provide a representative sample of all Internet traffic, we include data sources that cover several different types of WAN with traffic from commercial entities, educational and research institutions, and large government facilities. The dominant causes of fragmentation are streaming media and tunneled traffic. Although rumored to be the main impetus for IP packet fragmentation, NFS is not among the top ten causes.     

Children's moral reasoning and their perceptions of television violence

This experiment examined the effect of a child's age on his or her interpretation of an act of interpersonal violence on television. One hundred eighty-four children in 2 age groups were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 viewing conditions in which they watched a violent video clip. The clips depicted identical violent acts; however, punishment (yes/no) of the violent act and provocation (yes/no) for the violent act were manipulated to create the 4 conditions. Following the video clip, children were asked to judge whether the act was right or wrong and why. They then engaged in a test of their willingness to choose aggression as a solution to a hypothetical interpersonal conflict. As predicted, younger children thought that unpunished violence was more right than punished violence. Older children thought that provoked violence was more right than unprovoked violence, although this result only approached significance. Children's willingness to choose a violent story ending to a hypothetical interpersonal conflict was related to their experimental condition for older children but not for younger children.     

IPTV助推数字家庭时代的到来

不同行业都在关注数字家庭的发展，但数字家庭发展缓慢的现状不容忽视。现阶段来看通信和媒体娱乐业务是数字家庭市场需求的重点，基于电信网络的数字家庭通过借助IPTV的音视频和增值应用业务可以顺应此要求。IPTV业务包括基本的音视频广播、点播、时移业务，以及信息服务、音视频通信、互动游戏、即时通讯、卡拉OK、远程教育等增值应用服务，非常适合数字家庭的发展需要，将使数字家庭的应用变得更为现实。未来，进一步推动数字家庭发展需要在易用性和业务创新两个方面取得突破，需要通过设备间的协同工作，为用户提供基于数据、语音、视频的三重业务新体验。     

The media use of American youngsters in the age of narcissism : Surviving in a 24/7 media shock and awe – distracted by everything

Digital life in the age of nonstop connection is not easy, especially not for the so-called Millennials, youngsters born after 1980. Research findings, such as the recently released comprehensive reports by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Pew Foundation, highlight that media are among the most powerful forces in young people’s lives today. Eight- to twenty-somethings in the US spend more than 50 h in front of a screen each week. That is more than a regular working week. The TV shows they watch, video games they play, songs they listen to, books they read, text messages they send and websites they visit are an enormous part of their lives, offering a constant stream of messages about families, peers, relationships, gender roles, sex, violence, food, values, clothes, and so on.     

Augmentation and displacement effects of multiplayer social network games: Examining the roles of social interactions and co-players’ identities

The academic debate on whether gameplay has a positive or negative effect on players’ psychosocial well-being has yet to cease. To resolve this debate, this study focuses on multiplayer social network games (MSNGs), the affordances of which may lead to the coexistence of augmentation and displacement effects. To unpack the conditions under which gameplay has a positive or negative relationship with psychological well-being, this study distinguishes between co-player interaction modes (in-game social interactions vs. social media interactions) and between co-players’ identity types (offline friends/acquaintances vs. guild members). An online survey was conducted with 300 gamers in China. The results revealed that more in-game interaction with co-players was positively associated with players’ loneliness, whereas more social media interaction with co-players was negatively related to players’ loneliness, regardless of the co-players’ identities. However, players who played with offline friends/acquaintances did engage in more social interactions than those who played with guild members, especially social media interactions. Moreover, the effect of playing with friends/acquaintances or guild members on players’ loneliness was fully mediated by in-game social interactions and social media interactions. That is, the psychosocial influence of gameplay heavily depends on the exact social interactions that players are involved in rather than on general time spent in games, and the augmentation and displacement effects possibly coincide within one game.