Intense acts of violence during video game playmake daily life aggression appear innocuous: A new mechanism why violent video games increase aggression

• Two experiments address a new mechanism why violent video games increase aggressive behavior. • Playing violent video games alters the perception of one's own aggressive behavior. • This biased perception in turn accounts for the violent video game effect. a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Computer players often deny that playing violent video games makes them aggressive, which is in contrast to the findings of a recent comprehensive meta-analysis. The present research examines whether comparison processes between the players' intense acts of violence in a video game and their comparatively harmless aggressive behavior in daily life not only account for this apparent discrepancy but also underlie the effect of playing violent video games on aggressive behavior. In fact, two experiments reveal that playing a violent video game leads to a bias in the perception of what counts as aggressive, which in turn evokes aggressive behavior. Introduction Empirical investigations have shown that playing violent video games is associated with an increase in aggressive behavior. The most comprehensive meta-analysis so far (Anderson et al., 2010) found that violent video game exposure significantly increases aggressive thoughts, hostile affect, and aggressive behavior. Although effect sizes are only small to medium and some studies fail to find that violent video games cause aggression (e.g., Adachi & Willoughby, 2011), it appears that individuals who frequently play violent video games become more aggressive. However, if one asks avid computer players whether violent video games make them aggressive, you will most likely get a definite " no " (Bushman, 2012). I argue that comparison processes between the players' behavior in a video game and their behavior in daily life account for this apparent discrepancy. In many violent video games, the player uses guns and missiles to kill as many game characters as possible. Relative to those intense acts of violence, daily life aggressive behavior appears to be harmless. That is, after causing serious injury and death during video game play, acts such as shouting at or shoving others are perceived as relatively non-aggressive. In contrast, someone who does not play violent video games is more likely to perceive daily life aggression as such it is. What is more important: The violent video game player's biased view of what counts as aggressive may explain why playing violent video games increases aggression. Most individuals restrain themselves …