Psychology
1 st Journal
Anderson, C. A., & Carnagey, N. L. (2009). Causal effects of violent sports video games on
aggression: Is it competitiveness or violent content? Journal of Experimental Social
Psychology, 45, 731-739
Abstract
Three experiments examined the impact of excessive violence in sport video games on
aggression-related variables. Participants played either a nonviolent simulation-based sports
video game (baseball or foot-ball) or a matched excessively violent sports video game.
Participants then completed measures assessing aggressive cognitions (Experiment 1), aggressive
affect and attitudes towards violence in sports (Experiment 2), or aggressive behavior
(Experiment 3). Playing an excessively violent sports video game increased aggressive affect,
aggressive cognition, aggressive behavior, and attitudes towards violence in sports. Because all
games were competitive, these findings indicate that violent content uniquely leads to increases
in several aggression-related variables, as predicted by the General Aggression Model and
related social–cognitive models (Anderson & Carnagey, 2009).
Analysis (1 st Journal -Anderson & Carnagey, 2009)
The article by Anderson & Carnagey (2009) on ‘Causal effects of violent sports video
games on aggression: Is it competitiveness or violent content?’ research the impact of excessive
violence in sport video games on aggression. The 360 participants in the research where
introduced to different levels of video games, which varied from violent to non violent games.
PSYCHOLOGY 2
The results give an implication that violent games lead to increased aggression as supported in
the Psychophysiology Journal in a research by Bailey, West and Anderson, (2010) on ‘A
negative association between video game experience and proactive cognitive control’.
The research involved three experiments with cardiovascular measures and the video
game evaluation questionnaire being administered to the 360 participants. With the independent
variables being violent and non violent games, then number of participants remaining constant
but with dependent cardiovascular measures, the results implicated significant game violence
(Anderson & Carnagey, 2009).
In most video games violence occur in similar relation to football fans’ aggression. Such
aggression is noted to increase according to the psychological preparation on the game result.
This was supported in both experiment 2 and 3 where Anderson and Carnagey (2009) noted that
high intensity punishments are more clearly aggressive than moderate intensities. In addition,
such clearly aggressive behavior was seen to be more likely to initiate retaliation as supported in
another research by Bailey et al (2010), the same aggressive behavior with football fans.
The results from experiment 3 hypothesis contradicted experiment 1 and 2, by predicting
that there should have been no effect of game violence on aggression, where Anderson and
Carnagey (2009) asserting that ‘target nonviolent games are at least as competitive as the target
violent games’. In conclusion, violent sports game participants behaved more aggressively
towards their opponent participants than nonviolent sports game participants, on both measures
of aggression increase in violent level of game increases the participants’ aggression
proportionally Bailey et al (2010).
PSYCHOLOGY 3
2 nd Journal
Bushman, B. J., Baumeister, R. F., Thomaes, S., Ryu, E., Begeer, S., & West, S. G. (2009).
Looking again, and harder, for a link between low self-esteem and aggression. Journal of
Personality, 77, 427-446.
Abstract
Recent field studies have revived the hypothesis that low self-esteem causes aggression.
Accordingly, we reanalyzed the data from a previous experiment and conducted a new
experiment to study direct physical aggression in the form of blasting a fellow participant with
aversive noise. We also conducted a field study using a measure of indirect aggression in the
form of a consequential negative evaluation. High narcissists were more aggressive than others
but only when provoked by insult or humiliation and only toward the source of criticism. The
combination of high self-esteem and high narcissism produced the highest levels of aggression.
These results support the view of aggression as stemming from threatened egotism and are
inconsistent with the hypothesis that low self-esteem causes either direct or indirect aggression.
Analysis (2 nd Journal – Bushman et al, 2009)
In the article by Bushman et al (2009) on low self-esteem in relation to its cause of
aggression, participants indicated a link between the two where high self esteem produced high
aggression levels and vice versa. The aggression implicated in the research was either direct or
indirect aggression which was directed towards the source of insult or criticism. In psychology
by Bushman et al (2009), they asserted that low self-esteem is a psychological trait that prompts
people to aggressive behavior, considering that ‘the feelings of inferiority make people want to
ravage and therefore harm those they see as better than themselves’.
PSYCHOLOGY 4
In the first two studies, low-self esteem researched on children indicated that it prompted
to aggressive behaviors where some incidents provoked them to fight. The third study researched
on college students implicated that low self-esteem led to high score of aggressive scale. The
study by Bushman et al (2009) correlation was evaluated from three variables of low self-esteem,
high self-esteem, high narcissism and aggression. The research asserted that high self-esteem in
first and second study resulted to respective high aggression and high narcissism while third
study asserted that low self-esteem had respective aggressions which should not be overlooked.
Taking a consideration of the normal class work in colleges, students perceive relevant
self-esteem from class performance which provokes aggression if humiliation is posed by their
fellow students. The study by Bushman et al (2009) implicated that when ego threat was
measured in the form of naturally occurring feelings of humiliation after receiving comments on
class work from fellow student prompted high aggression. In computer games, the effect of
aggression was induced by comments from a fellow student with whom participants actually
interacted. The studies were therefore subjectively real and consequential asserting that people
were mostly influenced, affected and sometimes humiliated by the criticisms they received
concerning their actual class work performance, and the participants always have the
psychological believe they could intimidate and ‘lower the grades of their evaluator by giving
poor ratings to the feedback’ (Bushman et al, 2009) . In the findings, the study concluded that
aggression was mainly associated with the grandiose, self-assurance and overt form of
narcissism mainly from the people who know each other. Therefore, the students’ behavior leads
to a prediction that ‘highest levels of aggression are among people with high self-esteem and
high narcissism.
Conclusion
PSYCHOLOGY 5
From the two articles by Bushman et al (2009) and Anderson & Carnagey (2009), self-
esteem can combine with narcissism to influence levels of aggression. As supported by Bailey et
al (2010) when considering association between video game experience and proactive cognitive
control, it implicated that violent sports game participants behaved more aggressively towards
their opponent participants than nonviolent sports game participants. The students made the
practical behavior and therefore implicated that narcissism plus high self-esteem lead to highest
levels of aggression.
PSYCHOLOGY 6
References
Anderson, C. A., & Carnagey, N. L. (2009). Causal effects of violent sports video games on
aggression: Is it competitiveness or violent content? Journal of Experimental Social
Psychology, 45, 731-739.
Bailey, K., West, R., & Anderson, C. A. (2010). A negative association between video game
experience and proactive cognitive control. Psychophysiology, 47, 34-42.
Bushman, B. J., Baumeister, R. F., Thomaes, S., Ryu, E., Begeer, S., & West, S. G. (2009).
Looking again, and harder, for a link between low self-esteem and aggression. Journal of
Personality, 77, 427-446.