Thinking About Games Fuels Aggression?

How long does aggression last after a person plays violent video games? Researchers randomly assigned male and female students to play violent or nonviolent video games for 20 minutes. Afterward, half of the people in each group were asked to think about their game. “The next day,” says the report, “participants competed with an ostensible opponent on a competitive task in which the winner could punish the loser with painful noise blasts through headphones.” Increased aggression was evident among males who were told to think about the violent game.

“Violent gamers usually play longer than 20 min[utes] and probably ruminate about their game play in a habitual manner,” say the authors of the study, as reported in the journal Social Psychological and Personality  cience. No significant effects were found among women, who generally dislike violent video games.

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