Violent Video Games: The Effects of Gender Match on Levels of Aggression

This study examined the relationship between gender and violence in video games on levels of aggression. Participants were college students; ages ranged from 18 to 46 (M = 20.74, SD = 4.82). Both passive and active aggression and attitudes towards violence were measured. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) found no significance between gendermatched and gender-unmatched participants, but there was significance between violent and non-violent games, p = .001. The gender-unmatched group in the violent video game condition approached significance (p = .06); power analysis indicated that more participants were needed to achieve significance. These findings suggest that violent video games increase aggression levels. Raise your fists and get ready to fight to the brutal finish. The battle comes alive with bone-jarring realism as you pummel your opponent and do your utmost to inflict maximum damage. Your fists are fast and your grip is strong, but will it be enough to help you dominate in the ultimate King of Iron Fist Tournament? So begins the synopsis on the Best Buy Web site (2010) for the recent release of Tekken 6, part of the Tekken video game series. Video games have become a big hit in the recent decade because of new and exciting game consoles such as the Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii hitting the shelves of virtually all electronic stores. Video games have reached a new level of awe. These new gaming consoles come with the technology and advancements of video graphic images that put the world’s first gaming console, the Magnavox Odyssey 1972, in its place in history. Gaming today far surpasses everything that preceded it. Every sentence in the previously quoted synopsis delineates one thing, violence. Violence is the most common theme for video games today and magazines for video games contain mostly advertisements for action and fantasy games, which are more violence-based than any other genres