Bushman & Whitaker
“Like a Magnet: Catharsis Beliefs Attract Angry People to Violent Video Games”
Catharsis Theory
(=easing/relaxation)
= acting aggressively or viewing aggression
purges angry feelings & aggressive impulses into harmless channels
-> false theory, but belief is real
Bushman & Whitaker
“Like a Magnet: Catharsis Beliefs Attract Angry People to Violent Video Games”
Aim of Paper
- belief in catharsis increases attraction to violent games especially for people who want to get rid of anger
Bushman & Whitaker
“Like a Magnet: Catharsis Beliefs Attract Angry People to Violent Video Games”
Experiment 1: Method
- reading pro-, anti-catharsis and control article
- rate interest & belief
- anger manipulation (essay writing)
- survey for violent games
Bushman & Whitaker
“Like a Magnet: Catharsis Beliefs Attract Angry People to Violent Video Games”
Experiment 1: Results
- sign. interaction btw type of article & anger
- majority wanted to play violent games
- angry people who read pro-catharsis article, wanted most
- men wanted more than women
Bushman & Whitaker
“Like a Magnet: Catharsis Beliefs Attract Angry People to Violent Video Games”
Experiment 2: Method
purpose: measure natural tendencies
- same procedure but without reading articles, but measuring the belief in catharsis
Bushman & Whitaker
“Like a Magnet: Catharsis Beliefs Attract Angry People to Violent Video Games”
Experiment 2: (final) Results
- same as in Ex.1
- > BELIEF in catharsis, whether manipulated or measured, increases attraction to violent games in angry people
Krahé & Bieneck
“The Effect of Music-Induced Mood on Aggressive Affect, Cognition and Behavior”
Cogn. neo-associated model
- aversive (unpleasant) stimuli give rise to negative feelings that evoke 2 immediate reactions: fight & flight
Krahé & Bieneck
“The Effect of Music-Induced Mood on Aggressive Affect, Cognition and Behavior”
Results
- supporting escalating role of aversive music & de-escalating role of pleasant music on anger & aggression via music-induces mood
- pleasant music does inhibit accessibility of aggr. cognition (response latency towards agg. words)
Greitemeyer & Mügge
“Video-Games do affect social outcomes: a meta-analytical review of the effects of violent & prosocial video game play”
Effects of Prosocial Games
- increase helping, decrease aggression
- increase positive affect & accessibility of positive thoughts
- decrease accessibility of aggressive thoughts
-> no sig. effect on arousal
Greitemeyer & Mügge
“Video-Games do affect social outcomes: a meta-analytical review of the effects of violent & prosocial video game play”
Effects of Violent Games
- increase aggression
- (decrease helping behavior)
- increase aggr. thoughts
- (decrease empathy)
- > no sig. effect for relationship of prosocial cognition n& violent games
- > no sig. effect on arousal
Greitemeyer & Mügge
“Video-Games do affect social outcomes: a meta-analytical review of the effects of violent & prosocial video game play”
How to counteract?
- involve prosocial part in violent game content
= combination is less harmful - playing cooperatively in a team
= cooperative behavior counteracts neg. effects
