Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in Eastern and Western countries: A meta-analytic review.

Meta-analytic procedures were used to test the effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, empathy/desensitization, and prosocial behavior. Unique features of this meta-analytic review include (a) more restrictive methodological quality inclusion criteria than in past meta-analyses; (b) cross-cultural comparisons; (c) longitudinal studies for all outcomes except physiological arousal; (d) conservative statistical controls; (e) multiple moderator analyses; and (f) sensitivity analyses. Social–cognitive models and cultural differences between Japan and Western countries were used to generate theory-based predictions. Meta-analyses yielded significant effects for all 6 outcome variables. The pattern of results for different outcomes and research designs (experimental, cross-sectional, longitudinal) fit theoretical predictions well. The evidence strongly suggests that exposure to violent video games is a causal risk factor for increased aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, and aggressive affect and for decreased empathy and prosocial behavior. Moderator analyses revealed significant research design effects, weak evidence of cultural differences in susceptibility and type of measurement effects, and no evidence of sex differences in susceptibility. Results of various sensitivity analyses revealed these effects to be robust, with little evidence of selection (publication) bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reliance on Direct and Mediated Contact and Public Policies Supporting Outgroup Harm

Two studies examined the effects of reliance on direct and media‐based contact for information about Muslims on Americans' stereotypic beliefs of and negative emotions toward Muslims and support for public policies harming Muslims domestically and internationally. Results revealed that reliance on media for information about Muslims was positively associated with stereotypic beliefs, negative emotions, and support for harmful policies. Reliance on direct contact for information about Muslims produced the opposite results. Results from a three‐wave longitudinal design revealed that reliance on media and direct contact significantly predict changes in negative emotions which then predict changes in support for civil restrictions for Muslim Americans. We discuss the differential effects of reliance on media‐based and direct contact in influencing intergroup outcomes.