Violent Video Games 1
Running head: THE EMOTIONAL APPEAL OF VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES
The Emotional Appeal of Violent Video Games for Adolescent Men
Jeroen Jansz
ASCoR, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Address:
Kloveniersburgwal 48, 1012 CX, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Email: [email protected]
Accepted for publication in Communication Theory (2005-2006)
Violent Video Games 2
Abstract
A theoretical explanation is proposed for the popularity of violent video games among
adolescent male gamers. Theories about media and emotion as well as theories about emotion as
a process are used to develop a theory about the unfolding of emotion in violent video games. It
is argued that violent video games provide a gratifying context for the experience of emotions.
The fact that gamers are largely in control of the game implies that they can voluntarily select
the emotional situations they confront. This freedom is attractive for adolescents who are in the
midst of constructing an identity. For them, the violent game is a safe, private laboratory where
they can experience different emotions, including those that are controversial in ordinary life.
Gamers may deliberately select emotions that sustain dominant masculine identity (e.g., anger),
as well as emotions that are at odds with dominant masculinity (e.g., fear).
Keywords
Violence
Video games
Gender
Emotion
Violent Video Games 3
The Emotional Appeal of Violent Video Games for Adolescent Men
Violent titles are a substantial part of the market of video games1. In the final months of
2004, both American and British sales charts showed that the violent games Grand Theft Auto:
San Andreas, Mortal Kombat: Deception, Call of Duty: Finest Hour, Halo 2, and The Getaway:
Black Monday were all present in the top 10. So, many people bought and played violent games,
notwithstanding the fact that some non-violent titles also attracted larger audiences: the sports
games Madden NFL 2005, and FIFA 2005, and the simulation game The Sims 2 were highly
ranked too (ELSPA, 2004; NPD Funworld, 2004). In addition, violent games were also popular
in the rapidly expanding domain of on-line gaming on the Internet. The websites of, for
example, Half Life, Counterstrike, Unreal Tournament, and Return to Castle Wolfenstein
demonstrated the popularity of on-line multiplayer games with violent content.
Research about the content of video games has shown that violence is a key
ingredient of many games. Recently, Smith, Lachlan, and Tamborini (2003) analyzed 60
popular games for three game consoles (Nintendo64, Sega Dreamcast and Sony PlayStation)
and found violence in 68% of the games, with a higher proportion in games rated for teens and
adults (90%), and a lower one in games rated for all audiences (57%). Their results confirmed
the trend from previous research that the majority of video games had violent content (Braun
and Giroux, 1989; Children Now, 2001; Dietz, 1998; Thompson and Haninger, 2001). The
percentage of violence reported ranged between 64% and 89%, which can be attributed to the
definition of violence that was used. Dietz (1998), for example, found a percentage of 79%
because she used a wide definition that included the application of force against opponents as
depicted in sports games. In this paper, I will follow Smith and her colleagues (2003) and use
the more limited definition of the American National Television Violence Study that defined
‘violence’ as “any overt depiction of a credible threat of physical force or the actual use of such
force intended to harm an animate being or group of beings” (Smith et al., 1998, p. 30). The
Violent Video Games 4
intention to harm is a key element of this definition. It allows us to exclude the depictions of
strategic tackles in, for example, Madden NFL 2005 and FIFA 2005. It includes the
confrontations in, for example, Mortal Kombat: Deception, Halo2, and Grand Theft Auto Vice
City because these actions aim to harm, if not destroy, one’s opponents in the game.
The popularity of violent games has led to the public expression of worries about the
social effects of ‘gaming’. The view is often advocated that the violent content of these games
stimulates, if not causes, aggression in real life in particular among young men (Grossman &
DeGaetano, 1999; Thompson, 2002). Male adolescents and young adults are indeed the most
devoted players of violent games (Durkin & Aisbett, 1999; Gentile, Lynch, Ruh Linder, &
Walsh, 2004; Griffiths & Hunt, 1995; Kubey & Larson, 1990; Lucas & Sherry, 2004; Roberts,
Foehr, & Rideout, 2005; Wartella, O’Keefe, & Scantin, 2000, p. 26-28). Those who fear the
anti-social consequences of violent games find support in scientific research. The past two
decades social science research about video- and computer-games has been concerned with the
effects of violent content on behavior. The results of about 30 effect-studies were summarized
recently in meta-analyses that reported a significant and positive association between playing
violent video games and aggressive behavior (Anderson, 2004; Anderson & Bushman, 2001;
Sherry, 2001). On the other hand, there were also individual studies that found positive effects
of playing video games, in particular with respect to the expansion of the gamer’s social
network as a result of on-line gaming (Durkin & Barber, 2002; Griffiths, Davies, & Chapell,
2003).
Whereas many studies focused on the effects of violent games, relatively few
examined why people are drawn to playing these games in the first place (Goldstein, 1998a;
Jansz & Martens, in press; Vorderer, Hartmann, & Klimmt, 2003). In other words, the appeal of
violent games has been an under researched area. This paper aims to contribute to understanding
the appeal of violent game content, in particular among adolescent men. The appeal of violent
Violent Video Games 5
video games will be addressed from a theoretical point of view, because there is hardly any
empirical evidence available. I will use psychological theories about mediated emotions (Frijda,
1989; Oatley, 1994, 1999; Tan, 1996, 2000) to argue that violent games offer a unique
environment where emotions can be explored in ways that are generally impossible in real life.
In the safe, private laboratory of the video game, the adolescent can freely experiment with
emotions and identities, which may help him to cope with the insecurities of adolescent life.
Video Games as Entertainment Media
Video games come in many types and genres, but their shared features can be
subsumed under the following definition:
A video game is an interactive rule-based system based on computer processing power.
Its outcomes are variable, quantifiable, and differentially valorized. The efforts of
players influence the outcome, and players feel attached to the outcome.
In this definition, Juul’s (2003) classic model for games was adapted slightly and applied to
video games. I will briefly elucidate each element from the definition. The first element is
interactivity. A video game requires a constant exchange of messages between the game and its
player. When the player refrains from communicating, the game ceases to exist (Grodal, 2003;
Kiousis, 2002; Newman, 2004). The second defining element is the rule based nature of games.
The importance of rules for all kinds of games was already emphasized in classical theories of
play (Huizinga, 1950; Sutton Smith, 1997). In the case of video games, the formal nature of the
rules enables the implementation of games on a computer. The third element is that video
games have a variable and quantifiable outcome (Juul, 2003). The gamer does not know in
advance how the game will develop, but the structure of credit points will teach him
Violent Video Games 6
immediately that some outcomes are positive, and some negative. The fourth element
underlines the inextricable link between game and player: a video game requires player effort.
In other words, interacting as such is not enough, the player must take pains to bring about the
unfolding of the game in a particular direction. It is for example necessary to invest time in
order to learn, among other things, the scenery, (sub)plots, and possible tactical moves of the
game. Time is also needed to acquire the skill of operating the interface. The complexity of
multiple controls requires dire practice before eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills
become “tacit knowledge” (Polanyi, 1967), that is, before pushing the buttons or keys proceeds
more or less automatically, as in using the controls while driving a car in real life. In most
violent games, these efforts are maximized, because of the game’s high velocity. For example,
in Counterstrike, one must keep a close watch on the enemy, remember in detail the
whereabouts of one’s team-mates in the landscape, and be prepared to react promptly to an
unexpected threat. A slight hesitation about operating the interface readily results in gamedeath. The fifth, and final defining element of a video game is the attachment of the player to
the outcome. It is part of the game that a player tries to win and feels happy if he does. “The
spoilsport is one who refuses to seek enjoyment in winning, or refuses to become unhappy by
losing” (Juul, 2003, p. 38).
The inclusion of player efforts in the definition of video games emphasizes the active
involvement of the user in this kind of mediated entertainment. The active gamer stands in
relative contrast with the consumers of television entertainment who can enjoy the program in a
passive way, if they like. Sherry Turkle summarized the contrast aptly by saying: “Television is
something you watch, video games are something you do, a world that you enter, and, to a
certain extent, they are something you ‘become’” (Turkle, 1985, p. 66-67). The appropriate
emphasis is on doing, because participating in the fantasy world, and ‘becoming’ the game
character is totally dependent upon the actions of the gamer (Grodal, 2003). It renders the
Violent Video Games 7
gamer the ultimate case of the so called “active media user” that is prominent in uses and
gratifications theory, as well as in many reception studies (Giles, 2002; Ruggiero, 2000).
At the more general level of media characteristics, video games can be subsumed
under the category of ‘lean forward media’. This label is used in discussions about interactive
media to stress that these media require active and often concentrated involvement of their
users (Mellinger, 2004). Video games are typically lean forward media because their content
comes into existence in response to the gamer’s efforts (Newman, 2004). Novels also belong to
this category, because the appreciation of their content requires active acts of imagination on
the part of the reader (Oatley, 1994; Salomon, 1984). ‘Lean forward media’ contrast with ‘lean
back media’ such as film and television. Lean back media are generally less demanding, and
can be enjoyed rather passively. The distinction between lean forward and lean back media is
gradual, rather than absolute. There are, for example, many films that require more imaginative
effort than the Hollywood blockbuster movie generally does.
The necessary investment in time, and effort, makes video games one of the most
immersive kinds of lean forward entertainment media. Enjoying a video game generally means
that players are drawn into the represented world, and become less aware of the mediated
quality of the experience (Klimmt & Vorderer, 2003; Vorderer, 2000, 2003). The resulting
feeling of “being there” has been called “(tele-)presence” by researchers of the humantechnology interface (Lee, 2004: Minsky, 1980). In a more formal way, presence is defined as
“a psychological state in which virtual (para-authentic or artificial) objects are experienced as
actual objects in either sensory or nonsensory ways” (Lee, 2004, p. 37). In the case of video
games, the state of presence is reached during play, that is, when the gamer interacts with virtual
objects in the game and takes it for real (Klimmt & Vorderer, 2003). The virtual objects in the
game can be rather diverse. Para-authentic objects are characteristic for realistic games. In
Medal of Honor, for example, the authenticity of situations, characters, and weaponry from the
Violent Video Games 8
Second World War will contribute to the gamer’s feeling that he participates in a ‘real’ battle.
Artificial virtual objects are common in science fiction games. The superior graphics of Halo,
for example, may engender the feeling that the artificial monsters are ‘real’, although the gamer
knows he fights them in a fantasy world. In some cases, the experience of “being there” is
supplemented by a real feeling. For example, when the controller provides tactile feedback: the
vibration that accompanies a virtual gun shot is a real sensory experience. The actual occurrence
of presence in violent video games was reported in two recent studies. Tamborini and his
colleagues included a measure of presence in their research about the effects of violence, and
found that their respondents indeed reported the experience of presence while playing Duke
Nukem 3D (Tamborini, et al., 2004). Schneider and his colleagues found a positive relation
between presence and narrative. Participants who played a violent game with a strong story line
(Half-Life and Outlaws) reported a greater sense of presence than players of nonstory-based
games (Doom 2 and Quake 2) (Schneider, Lang, Shin, & Bradley, 2004).
In sum, video games are a prototypic example of lean forward media. Enjoying a
game requires effort, which may result in the experience of presence. This feeling of “being
there” may be gratifying in itself, because it enables gamers to distance themselves from
ordinary life (Barnett et al., 1997; Griffiths & Hunt, 1998). I will now turn to the specific
appeal of violence in video games.
The Appeal of Watching Violent Entertainment
Violence is not an exclusive property of video games. It is as popular in other media as it is in
video games (Goldstein, 1998b; Zillmann, 2000). The appeal of mediated violence has been
explained in different ways. Evolutionary theorists pointed to the adaptive value of watching
violence, biologists emphasized that it satisfies a need for excitement, and psychoanalysts
argued that mediated violence serves a cathartic function (see for an overview: Miron, 2003;
Violent Video Games 9
Zillmann, 1998). Contemporary discussions of mediated violence are almost exclusively
concerned with lean back media where the spectator is a more or less passive witness to the
execution of violence (Goldstein, 1998b). In a violent video game, the position of the media
user is radically different. The gamer himself, and no one else, decides what acts his
protagonist will be engaged in, and under what conditions. When a gamer chooses to kill
within a game, he himself has committed this virtual murder (Reynolds, 2002). Subsequently,
he will be held responsible for the violence he authored. By himself, in conscientious selfreflection, and by others who know what playing a violent game amounts to. The personal
responsibility of the gamer is in marked contrast with the moralities of using lean back media,
such as a violent film. In the latter case one can probably be tackled about watching the
violence, and possibly about enjoying it, but never about having personally pulled the virtual
trigger.
The popularity of violent video games proves that adolescent gamers are not
thwarted by the responsibility for committing violent acts in the virtual world of the game.
These games apparently exert a strong appeal on their audience that supersedes moral
reservations. Previous research among adolescents revealed that playing video games may
satisfy different needs (Barnett, et al., 1997; Collwell, Grady, & Rhaiti, 1995; Fritz, 1997;
Griffiths & Hunt, 1998; Grodal, 2000; Lucas & Sherry, 2004; Sherry, 2004). The rather small
amount of research about violent games showed that they are particularly apt to satisfy needs
for competition and challenge (Jansz & Martens, in press; Vorderer, Hartmann, & Klimmt,
2003). Social needs were satisfied by playing Counterstrike and other First Person Shooters on
line and at LAN events (Griffiths, Davies, & Chapell, 2003, 2004; Jansz & Martens, in press).
Finally it was found that playing violent games increased physiological arousal (Anderson &
Bushman, 2001; Schneider et al., 2004), which may contribute to the satisfaction of needs for
excitement (Sherry, 2004). Game induced arousal may be a non-specific corollary of the
Violent Video Games 10
gamer’s effort, it may however also be a corollary of an emotion that is incited by one or
another violent confrontation in the game. The next section focuses on the incitement,
experience and expression of emotions within the virtual world of the game.
Playing Violent Video games and the Incitement of Emotions
The content of entertainment media can be as powerful in eliciting emotions as real life,
despite the obvious differences between the ordinary world and its representation in the media.
Research about, for example, novels, films, fairy tales, and television programs has shown that
entertainment content can generate emotions such as joy, awe, and compassion, but also fear
and anger (Oatley, 1994; 1999; Tan, 1996; Valkenburg, Cantor, & Peeters, 2000). Emotions
that occur in the appreciation of art and entertainment media are generally known as aesthetic
emotions (Frijda, 1989; Tan, 2000). As they are incited by an artifact, one may wonder whether
aesthetic emotions are genuine emotions. Theorists from diverging backgrounds like, for
example, neuroscience, literary theory, and cognitive psychology have stressed the
communalities between aesthetic emotions and emotions in ordinary life: emotions incited by a
symphony, a poem or a movie can be as ‘real’ and as intense as the ones triggered by a snake, a
farewell, or winning a contest (Damasio, 1999, p. 36; Oatley, 1999; Tan, 2000; Zillmann,
2003).
Tan (2000) proposed to distinguish specifically between aesthetic emotions that are
related directly to the characteristics of the artifact, so called Artifact emotions (A-emotions),
and emotions that arise from the ‘world’ represented in the artifact, so called Representation
emotions (R-emotions). In playing a violent video game, A-emotions may occur, for example,
when a gamer admires the way in which a specific gruesome scene was staged. R-emotions
may occur when conditions of presence are maximized, and gamers experience the virtual
game reality as if it is the real world (Klimmt & Vorderer, 2003; Lee, 2004). For example,
Violent Video Games 11
when a gamer is deeply immersed in Metal Gear Solid 2, and its protagonist Solid Snake must
take a life threatening risk to complete his mission, the gamer may very well experience
feelings of fear that closely resemble real life feelings of fear.
Almost all theories about the occurence and experience of aesthetic emotions were
concerned with traditional, non-interactive media. There is no systematic treatment of aesthetic
emotions in video games, although pioneering work has been published about specific aspects
of emotions in games (Grodal, 2000; Klimmt, & Vorderer, 2003). In this section I will discuss
three theories about emotion and media, and evaluate to what extent they can help us
understand emotions in violent video games.
The first theory is Zillmann’s (1991; 1994; 2003) affective disposition theory. The theory
holds that viewer’s emotions occur in response to the dispositions that viewers form towards
media-characters. The theory “assigns a primary role to moral judgment, and, in fact, treats
observers as untiring moral monitors of the actions and intentions of others” (Zillmann, 2003,
p. 554). A positive evaluation results in positive affect towards the character. The audience
hopes that this ‘good guy’ meets positive outcomes, and fears negative ones. The empathetic
relation with the good character will generally result in positive feelings. But, not all characters
are evaluated favourably. Condemnation of a character results in dislike, or other negative
feelings, with the conceivable outcome that the character becomes the bad guy. According to
this theory, the entertainment experience is a constant trigger of emotions because users
evaluate the unfolding of the story against their expectations. When good forces triumph and
bad ones are punished spectators usually experience relief because their earlier hopes are
confirmed by the denouement. Affective disposition theory can partly explain the occurrence of
emotions in violent video games. It is conceivable that players experience emotions as a result
of their moral judgements. Linking these emotions to actions of the game character is however
problematic. As Vorderer (2001) pointed out the reception model of affective disposition
Violent Video Games 12
theory presupposes a rather passive user who witnesses the unfolding of the narrative. Gamers,
by contrast, are active participants in the story. They themselves determine the actions of the
game character, so it is hardly possible for them to evaluate the character’s actions and the
unfolding of the game-story against their expectations.
The second theory is Tan’s (1996) explanation for the occurrence of emotions in film
viewers. Film, according to Tan is a “genuine emotion machine” (Tan, 1996, p. 251). If
something emotionally significant is staged in a well made movie, and the spectators are
willing to suspend disbelief, they are liable to feel an emotion, because they imagine
themselves to be present in the fictional world. Film is a powerful stimulus that creates an
illusion of make believe, which is generally very difficult to resist for spectators (Tan, 2000).
The emotions experienced when spectators “feel into” a movie character or a scene are
comparable to the ones evoked by nonfictional emotional events in real life (Tan, 1996, p. 82).
Tan’s theory was developed with respect to lean back media where spectators are witness to a
scene but are unable to affect the action in any way. This limits its applicability to video games,
although many contemporary games include brief non-interactive segments. These ‘cut scenes’
contain short films that may very well push the gamer into a lean back position. Tan’s idea that
emotions occur because media users imagine themselves to be part of the fictional world is,
however, very well applicable to video games because the gamer actually is part of the fictional
world when he directs his game character.
The third theory is Oatley’s (1994; 1999) simulation theory. It uses the notion of
simulation to understand the incitement of emotions by art. “Literary simulations (drama, shortstories, novels) run on minds, in the imagination” (Oatley, 1999, p. 441), and may produce
three kinds of aesthetic emotions. The first kind is spectator emotions. They are comparable to
Tan’s witness emotions, and occur when a spectator, or reader, sympathizes with the feelings
of fictional characters. The second kind is the memory emotions that may occur when fictional
Violent Video Games 13
elements remind readers of similar emotional episodes in their own lives, triggering similar
emotions (Oatley, 1994). The third kind is the identification emotions. They occur when “one
becomes like the character, even becomes the character” (Oatley, 2004, p. 111). The reader
takes on the protagonist’s plans, and experiences emotions when these plans go well or badly
(Oatley, 1999). Simulation theory provides an important contribution to the understanding of
emotions in violent video games, because it is based on the active role of the media user. To a
certain extent, the gamer is the architect of his own (memory) emotions when he playfully
identifies himself with his game character.
The Experience of “Participatory Emotions” in Violent Video Games
The interactive nature of video games makes the aesthetic emotions triggered by games
different from the ones that occur in traditional media. Gamers themselves decide which
emotional situations they confront and which they stay away from. This leads to the experience
of what I would call “participatory emotions”. This first person emotional experience contrasts
with the reception of film, and other lean back media where “witness emotions” are
experienced from a third person perspective (Tan, 1996). Grodal (2000; 2003) also took the
agentic position of the gamer into account when he argued that emotions in a game context
unfold in a form that is closer to typical real-life experiences than emotions evoked by
watching a film.
In this section I will propose a theory about the incitement and experience of emotions in
violent video games. My proposal is embedded in the functional theory of emotion that
conceptualizes ‘emotion’ as a process that unfolds step by step (Frijda, 1986, 2000; Lazarus,
1991), and it also incorporates elements from the specific theories about aesthetic emotions that
were discussed in the previous section (Oatley, 1994, 1999; Tan, 1996; Zillmann, 2003).
Violent Video Games 14
The first step in the emotion process is appraisal, a very swift cognitive evaluation of a
particular event, or situation. Something happens, usually unexpected, which the individual
immediately recognizes as an event that touches his or her interests, or concerns (Frijda, 1986).
If the event does not touch a concern, an emotion fails to occur. In the context of playing video
games, the interests at stake can be manifold. For example, a situation may be interpreted as
seriously threatening physical survival in the game, which elicits fear. An event may also be
appraised as endangering one’s social status, for example, when one’s false moves endangers
one’s teammates, which elicits shame. Lazarus (1991) pointed out that this first step in the
emotion process happens very quickly, so quickly that appraisal is hardly experienced at a
conscious level. He coined the term “primary appraisal” to underline its almost automatic
nature.
The second step is context evaluation. A deliberate kind of appraising takes place, which
is done consciously, and will take more time than primary appraisal. In this phase of “secondary
appraisal” (Lazarus, 1991), the individual reflects on what caused the emotion and the situation
in which it appeared, and plans how to cope with that situation. At this point, a gamer may, for
example, ask himself why he experienced fear in the first place, or what he can do about his
shame. In this phase the moral judgments that are central to affective disposition theory are
formed (Zillmann, 2003). From the perspective of simulation theory, a gamer who identified
with the protagonist may understand his emotional reaction as signaling the necessisity to
reconsider his game character’s plans (Oatley, 1999).
The reflexive activities lead to the third step: the readiness to act. According to Frijda a
change in action readiness is the central core of an emotion, because emotions always come
with a sense of urgency that incites people to act (Frijda, 1986; 2000). Previous research about
real life situations showed that each emotion can be characterized by a specific tendency to act
(Frijda, 2004; Frijda, Kuipers, & ter Schure, 1989; Roseman, Wiest, & Swartz, 1994). For
Violent Video Games 15
example, people who experience joy want to move, or jump, angry people feel like opposing or
assaulting someone, fearful people want to run away, and sadness incites a tendency to do
nothing Whether an action tendency is realized or inhibited is dependent on the social context,
both in real life and in a video game. An angry gamer, for example, may decide to postpone
killing the object of his anger for strategic reasons.
The fourth, and last step in the emotion process is concerned with the actual translation of
emotions into actions. It includes the expressive display of emotions in the face, as well as
bodily reactions like blushing, accelerated breathing, or clenching fists that accompany many
emotions. Step four also includes the actual translation of action readiness into activities. For
example, when our angry gamer starts killing, despite the undesirable strategic consequences.
Actions may also occur outside the virtual reality of the game in the form of so called non
registered inputs (nRI), that is, all kinds of movements and (verbal) expressions that are part of
the gaming experience, but do not have consequences for the unfolding of the game (Newman,
2002). For example, players sigh or shout at their success and failure, and they involuntarily
mimic the character’s movements. Although these nRIs are not functional for the game’s
progress, they are definitely part of the emotional reactions to the game.
The emotions incited by game-content may be positive, negative, or a combination of
the two. Generally, positive emotions are coupled with action tendencies to remain in the
situation, or to continue the action that sparked the emotion (Frijda, Kuipers, & ter Schure,
1989). For example, when gamers in Metal Gear Solid 2 enter a higher (game)level, they may
experience A-emotions in response to the beautiful graphic design of this new level. They may
also experience R-emotions like, for example, joy, or pride as a result of the accomplishment of
their game-character. These positive emotions will motivate them to prolong that situation
within the game, resulting in a continuation of play. The action tendency of the negative
emotion anger may also extend playing time. Generally, anger motivates individuals to
Violent Video Games 16
approach the source of anger (Frijda et al., 1989; Roseman et al., 1994). In a beat ‘em up video
game, anger will thus prolong, and probably intensify the fighting episodes. In other words, the
action tendencies of positive emotions, as well as those of anger result in a prolongation of
gaming.
The relation between emotions and playing time is less straightforward in the case of
negative emotions like fear and disgust. We assume that gamers will experience these negative
R-emotions while playing a violent game as much as they feel anger and positive emotions.
They may, for example, experience fear when they are trapped in the labyrinth like rig of Metal
Gear Solid 2, or disgust during their battles with the atrocious corpses in Silent Hill. The action
tendencies of fear and disgust urge individuals to withdraw from the situation. When fearful or
disgusted, people tend to avert their eyes from the cause of emotion, or leave the situation
altogether (Frijda et al., 1989). The tendency to withdraw can be realized easily in a game
context. Turning off the PC or game-console breaks the spell of virtuality, and distances the
gamer from the emotional source. Obviously, this radical disruption is not common among
gamers. On the contrary, they generally play on, thus prolonging the experience of negative
participatory emotions. The action tendencies to withdraw are superseded by stronger motives
to remain in the emotion evoking situation. Apparently, continuous use of a violent video game
is gratifying for many adolescent gamers, despite the experience of negative emotions like
anger, fear and disgust. The last part of this paper seeks to explain why this is the case.
A Laboratory for the Construction of Identities and the Experience of Emotions.
In order to develop the argument about the gratifying properties of playing violent video games
for male adolescents I will first briefly discuss the challenges male adolescents face, in
particular with respect to the construction of their identities, and the ways in which they cope
with their emotions.
Violent Video Games 17
Research about adolescence has characterized this period as a sequence of changes,
conflicts, and challenges. Adolescents must adjust to physical growth and increasing sexual
feelings, to new cognitive and socio-emotional challenges at school, and to changes in their
emotional and social relations with their parents and peers (Steinberg & Morris, 2001). These
readjustments may lead to conflicts and insecurities about who they are (identity), and what they
feel (emotion), as well as about their relations with family and friends (Bosma & Kunnen,
2001). The earliest phase of adolescence is generally characterized by an increase in bickering
and squabbling between parents and teenagers, and by a decline in reported closeness (Steinberg
& Morris, 2001). For many, peers become important in providing emotional support (Hartup,
1996). During middle adolescence, the adolescent’s social network expands, and selfconceptions become more differentiated (Harter, 1998). This may for example mean that an
adolescent feels insecure in class, but confident among his friends. In late adolescence, the
continuous identity ‘work’ generally coincides with intensifying romantic relations. This kind of
emotional bonding generally continues well into early adulthood (Duck, 1998; Steinberg &
Morris, 2001).
Although most adolescents cope rather well with their insecurities and the subsequent
conflicts, some of them turned out to be less successful (Jakupcak, Salters, Gratz, & Roemer,
2003; Steinberg & Morris, 2001. Male adolescents are of particular interest in this paper
because they are the largest group of players of violent video games. Research among males in
late adolescence and early adulthood has shown that they often feel insecure about their
identities, in particular about the emotional aspects of masculinity (Jakupcak et al., 2003;
O'Neill, Good & Holmes, 1995; Thompson, Pleck & Ferrera, 1992). On the one hand, these
studies showed that adolescent men generally complied with the dominant norms of masculine
identity: they aimed to be independent, achieving in work and play, tough, and stoic, that is,
they wanted to avoid strong and dependent feelings, and refrained from grieving openly (Jansz,
Violent Video Games 18
2000; Parker, 1995; Pleck, 1995). On the other hand, research also revealed that these norms
were a common source of stress: they had persistent worries about their achievements. They
were afraid not to meet the standards for success, and they also worried about their physical
inadequacy in sports and sex, as well as about their intellectual inferiority (Good, Heppner,
DeBord, & Fischer, 2004; O'Neill, et al., 1995; Thompson, et al., 1992). Many struggled with
the norms of toughness and stoicism. They found it difficult to express their emotions and often
feared the consequences of being emotional, in particular with respect to feelings such as fear,
sadness, and envy that implied a non-masculine image of oneself (Jakupcak et al., 2003; O'Neill
et al., 1995; Thompson et al., 1992; Walton, Coyle, & Lyons, 2004). In addition, the
prototypical masculine emotion of anger also caused difficulties. Many male adolescents were
doubtful about the appropriateness of their anger, despite its frequent occurrence (Levant,
1995). As emotions are generally experienced as one of the most fundamental aspects of
personal identity (Fischer & Jansz, 1995; Jansz & Timmers, 2002; Parkinson, 1995), these
doubts about one’s emotions may reinforce doubts about oneself as a person, thus invigorating
the insecurities of the adolescent phase of life (Kindlon & Thompson, 1999).
Male adolescents are heavy users of entertainment media (Roberts, Foehr, & Rideout,
2005). The content of entertainment media may be used as a resource by an adolescent who tries
to come to terms with uncertainties about his emotional life and his identity. He may, for
example, identify with a hero from an action movie (Cohen, 2001), or develop a parasocial
relation with him (Giles, 2002), or he may, as we have seen, empathize with the emotions his
hero displays (Tan, 1996; Oatley, 1999; Zillmann, 1991).
Violent video games are unique among entertainment media as a result of their
interactive, rule based nature (Juul, 2003). The productive interaction between game and gamer
is underlined here by presenting violent video games as private laboratories where an adolescent
can experiment safely with the uncertain status of his identity and emotions. He can assume any
Violent Video Games 19
identity he likes by playing a particular game character, and he can choose to experience a wide
range of emotions by confronting himself with emotional game situations. The laboratory idea
advocated here is an expansion of an earlier notion proposed by Kestenbaum and Weinstein
(1985). They argued from a psychoanalytic perspective that video games provided “an arena”
where aggressive energies could be released that could not be discharged in real life. They
found, for example, that playing video games could contribute to a solution of Oedipal conflicts
between father and son as it re-emerged during adolescence (Kestenbaum & Weinstein, 1985).
The present laboratory idea aims to embrace more than providing a discharge for pent up
energy, and a solution for family conflict. Playing a violent video game enables the adolescent
also to experience emotions that are problematic for him in ordinary life, and it allows him to
come to terms with uncertainties about his identity.
Playing a violent game facilitates a rather easy execution of identity experiments. Within
the virtual world of the game, gamers can enact, or perform, a particular identity in the most
literal sense of the word. Their experiments can include desired identities that are difficult to
attain in real life, for example being a fighter pilot. It can also include identities they would
never dare to perform in reality. For example, playing the part of Tony Vercetti (Grand Theft
Auto Vice City), or Solid Snake (Metal Gear Solid 2) allows gamers to act in a hypermasculine
way. They can safely embrace the game heroes’ violent performance of masculine identity,
without fearing moral reproach or ridiculization by parents or peers. Whether gamers actually
identify with characters has not been studied in detail yet. One recent study did confirm the
identification with characters in violent video games, particularly in two First Person Shooters
with a strong storyline (Half-Life, and Outlaws) (Schneider, et al., 2004).
Experimenting with emotions in the laboratory-like violent video game means that the
gamer decides for himself which emotional situation he confronts and which one he avoids.
This deliberate choice to experience participatory emotions is in marked contrast with the
Violent Video Games 20
incitement of emotion in daily life. There, emotions often come as ‘a thief in the night’,
overwhelming the person involved, at least temporarily (Frijda, 1986). In the same vein, the
witness emotions experienced while watching a movie are also the result of emotional
antecedents beyond the spectator’s control (Tan, 1996). The player of violent video games may
have different reasons for his voluntary confrontation with specific emotional antecedents in the
game. I will discuss three major reasons in more detail. The first one is rather straightforward:
he wants to enjoy pleasant emotional experiences. The second reason underlines the
functionality of the laboratory: he wants to experiment with emotions that are controversial in
real life. The third reason foregrounds the social aspect of gaming: the gamer wants to
experience particular emotions with his friends to intensify their mutual bonds.
The first reason presupposes the gamer’s knowledge, or assumption, that particular game
situations will lead to pleasant emotional experiences. He may purposively revisit that situation
because of the feelings induced. Simulation theory would understand this as invoking pleasant
“memory emotions” (Oatley, 1994; 1999). A first example is the emotion joy. It qualifies as an
A-emotion when it occurs in response to a game characteristic. The gamer may enjoy the fact
that each car in Grand Theft Auto Vice City is equipped with a different radio station. When he
decides to steal a car with his favorite radio station he will experience joy, which generally is a
gratifying experience as such. The usual action tendency is to prolong this happy experience, so
he will continue to drive this car, postponing other game missions for some time. A second
example is pride. It may occur as an R-emotion when an experienced player of Mortal Kombat
equipped his game character with a set of ‘invincible’ tactical moves. The player will
deliberately seek confrontations with another fighter in the game. The battle will be appraised as
emotional, because the player’s concern for success is at stake. Playing the virtual battle will
generate pride when it turns out that his fighting moves are as successful as intended. The action
tendency to continue the action that incited pride is realized easily within the game by seeking
Violent Video Games 21
out subsequent confrontations with new adversaries. Being proud is in itself a pleasant feeling,
but it may also be gratifying for the gamer because this experience may help him to solve
conflicts about his masculine identity. Among his peers he may feel uncertain about his
accomplishments in real life, but his successes in Mortal Kombat may boost the tough aspect of
his masculine identity.
The second reason for experimenting in the emotional laboratory of the game is to
confront oneself with R-emotions that are controversial in daily life. In the game, players can
purposively violate private or public norms in order to experience the emotional consequences.
A first example is anger. A lot of violent game content will be appraised as an antecedent to
anger. Contrary to real life, the virtual game world allows a complete unfolding of anger. This is
gratifying for the gamer who simply likes the aroused feeling of anger, like he enjoyed to feel
pride and joy. He may also enjoy to put anger’s devastating action tendencies into practice. For
example, when Tony Vercetti fails on a mission in Grand Theft Auto Vice City, the gamer can
choose to express his frustrated anger in the game by crashing the car he drives, or running
down pedestrians, or beating a prostitute to death. For a young adolescent this kind of extreme
behavior may contribute to the construction of a fantasmatic hypermasculine identity he would
never dare to enact in real life. Experiencing and expressing anger in this way may also be
gratifying because he can confront authorities in a manner that would not be tolerated by his real
life authorities (Kestenbaum & Weinstein, 1985). Older adolescents may use the violent game
to gain a better understanding of their own anger. Notwithstanding the fact that anger is
generally considered to be the prototypical masculine emotion many young men report serious
troubles with anger (Levant, 1995). It is not uncommon for a man to loose control when angry,
and act in ways he regrets afterwards (Jansz, 2000). Re-experiencing anger in a violent video
game may help the gamer to better monitor his anger in real life.
Violent Video Games 22
Disgust provides a second example of a controversial emotion. Many violent video games
enable their players to become the architect of their own disgust. In Manhunt, for example,
gamers can engage themselves with the graphic and extreme ways of smashing the skulls of
their opponents. They can experience in every detail the unfolding of disgust. In principle, they
can follow the habitual action tendency and stop their abject actions when disgusted. In most
gaming situations, however, the player will prolong his atrocious actions. He may do so because
he is curious about what disgust feels like. It is after all a rather uncommon emotion in daily life
for most adolescents. It is more plausible, however, that the experience of disgust is gratifying
for other reasons. The gamer may want to proof for himself that he can commit atrocious
actions, and can endure the resulting feelings of disgust. This may be a way to test the darker
emotional aspects of his identity.
A third example is fear. Violent video games offer many situations where the gamer can
experience this emotion that is at odds with dominant masculine identity, in particular with its
tough and stoic aspects (Fischer, 1993; Jansz, 2000). Silent Hill and other ‘survival horror
games’, as well as more realistic games like Medal of Honor and Metal Gear Solid 2 use a
powerful combination of story-line, graphics, and sound to draw the gamer into an ominous
virtual experience. The gamer can fully experience the resulting fear in private. He can even
cowardly flee, without being ridiculed by his friends. He can also resist the tendency to run and
confront the cause of his fear. Then, he may be testing his endurance for fear which is an
important building block for the construction of his masculine identity.
The final example is concerned with emotions that are controversial for different reasons.
Notwithstanding the ubiquity of assault, and murder, violent games can also be used for inciting
quite different R-emotions, such as shame, guilt, and grief. Like fear, these vulnerable emotions
jeopardize dominant masculine identity. The laboratory of the violent video game offers many
opportunities to seek confrontation with vulnerable emotions in private. A player of Medal of
Violent Video Games 23
Honor, for example, may feel guilty because of his responsibility for the death of a teammate, or
a gamer may return to the yard in Grand Theft Auto Vice City where he slaughtered members of
an opposing gang, and deal with his feelings of shame about the act he committed. These
situations allow the adolescent to address personal concerns about his vulnerable side that are
difficult to discuss, and difficult to express in real life. This experimenting is most relevant in
the later years of adolescence when disclosing one’s emotions becomes an integral part of
establishing a romantic relation (Dindia & Allen, 1992; Steinberg & Morris, 2001).
The third reason for emotional experiments in the game laboratory adds a social
dimension to the argument. First Person Shooters are often played at LAN events, that is to say
in real life social situations (Jansz & Martens, in press). In this context, gamers can enlarge their
game competition to a competition about their masculine status. Given the fragility of their
masculine identity, the competiton will most probably concentrate on aspects that conform with
dominant masculinity. They may, for example, want to proof to each other how much
abhorrence they can endure, or how extreme they dare to act in the game. This kind of shared
experimenting with emotions is comparable to what happened during collective viewing of
horror movies. It was found that acting ‘fearless’ in response to the atrocities on screen
functioned as a kind of rite of passage among male adolescents (Mundorf, Weaver, & Zillmann,
1989; Tamborini, 2003). The outcome may be the creation or sustenance of a social identity
(Ellemers, Spears, & Doosje, 2002). With respect to violent video games, playing together may
intensify male friendships (Colwell, Grady, & Rhaiti, 1995), and result in the emergence of a
social identity of ‘hard core gamers’ that allows the players to identify with their own group,
and to set themselves apart from other social groups, in particular other adolescents who do not
play these kinds of games.
In sum, the experiential laboratory of violent video game offers the opportunity to
experience a wide range of emotions, from hypermasculine ones to vulnerable ones. The
Violent Video Games 24
deliberate confrontation with emotions in the game may be motivated by different reasons. The
gamer may like the feeling as such, but he may also be driven to act out emotions that are
controversial in real life. Although the exploration of emotions in the game generally unfolds
without much moral constraints, it may nevertheless lead the adolescent to evaluate who he is
and what he feels. The experience of R-emotions is an undeniable experiential fact that invites
self reflection. The adolescent may seriously wonder what the continuous performance of
violent acts reveals about him as a person. In other words, the emotional experience ties in with
identity work.
Discussion
Playing violent video games is a popular pastime among male adolescents. They are eager to
spend time and money on this kind of entertainment fare, notwithstanding the fact that violent
games often are the subject of public controversy. In this paper I developed a theoretical
explanation for the appeal of violent video games. Previous research about the appeal of video
games covered many different genres, but did not specifically address violent games. It was
found in earlier studies that male adolescents were drawn to this kind of interactive
entertainment because it satisfied needs for competition, challenge and control. In addition, the
opportunities to interact socially, and to escape from ordinary life were often mentioned as
gratifying properties of video games (Barnett, et al., 1997; Colwell, et al., 1995; Fritz, 1997;
Griffiths, et al., 2004; Grodal, 2000; Jansz & Martens, in press; Lucas & Sherry, 2004; Sherry,
2004; Vorderer, Hartmann, & Klimmt, 2003).
This paper focused exclusively on the appeal of violence in video games. In the
explanation proposed, a key role was attributed to emotional experiences. Playing a violent
video game generates emotions, I argued: gamers may experience positive emotions (for
example joy, or pride), but they may also experience negative ones, for example when graphic
Violent Video Games 25
portrayals of violence incite anger, disgust, or fear. Theories of emotion explain that an
emotion is always linked to a tendency to act (Frijda, 2004; Frijda et al., 1989). Positive
emotions generally come with the urge to prolong the action that originally incited the emotion:
proud gamers, for example, will continue to play. Negative emotions, by contrast, generally
motivate the individual to terminate the inciting action, or to withdraw from the situation.
Gamers, however, do not follow this pattern. They prolong their play despite the frequent
occurrence of situations that incite negative emotions. Apparently, their tendency to withdraw
is superseded by the gratifying properties of violent games. Playing a violent game is
satisfactory for male adolescents because it allows them to experience a wide variety of
emotions, as well as the realization of the concomitant action tendencies. The violent video
game functions as a private laboratory where a gamer can experience particular emotions and
construct different masculine identities (see also Kestenbaum & Weinstein, 1985). While
navigating through the game, he decides himself which identity he assumes, and which
emotional situations he encounters, and which ones he avoids. The interactive nature of the
game allows him to experience specific emotions in every detail, and to see what happens when
he fully realizes a certain action tendency in the virtual reality of the game.
The laboratory like properties of violent games provide a unique space in the social
landscape of adolescence, because gamers are relatively free from the moral constraints of
ordinary life. For example, a male adolescent can perform a radical macho-identity, or take his
anger to its extremes by destructive actions, or engage himself with disgusting actions without
having to fear reproaches by parents or peers. Also, a violent game allows him to undergo
emotions like grief, shame, or fear in a way that he may not like to show to his friends. The
private laboratory of the game can be expanded with a social dimension when like minded
friends join to play together for example at a LAN party, or on the Internet. As a gaming
community they may enhance their social identity as ‘hard core gamers’, including shared ideas
Violent Video Games 26
about the kinds of behavior that are applauded or must be rebuked (Ellemers, et al., 2002;
Griffiths et al., 2004; Jansz & Martens, in press).
The emotional laboratory idea was developed here with violent video games in mind,
because I wanted to provide a specific explanation for the appeal of violence in lean forward
entertainment media. It is a challenge to apply the laboratory idea to The Sims because of the
game’s focus on virtual personal relationships. A direct application of the theory developed in
this paper is, however, less obvious than it may seem. The differences in game-play between
violent games and simulation games result in a different emotional experience. Violent games
have a high velocity, and require immediate action. Simulation games, by contrast, allow far
more time for reflection. As a result, primary appraisal will be rather different in both types of
video games. An application of the theory advocated here, may need a further theoretical
differentiation of the first step of the emotion process in the context of playing video games.
Although this paper was concerned with the appeal of violent games rather than their
effects, we may finally speculate about the possible social consequences of the gamer’s
immersion in the private, or social laboratory of the violent game. As already mentioned, meta
analyses have revealed a positive association between violent game content and subsequent
aggression. It was also found that this association is relatively weak in comparison with lean
back media (Sherry, 2001). The argument of this paper may help us to understand this
difference. As lean forward media, violent video games require active involvement of its
players. Because gamers put the emotions they feel into practice in the virtual world of the
game, they may feel less inclined to engage in aggressive acts after their game play session. It
seems fruitful to investigate this hypothesis empirically in future research.
A conceivable negative effect of testing emotional experiences and identity options
in a game context may be that it enhances tendencies toward social isolation. The violent video
game may turn out to be too comfortable as an escape from the uncertainties of emotional
Violent Video Games 27
confrontations in real life. In a positive sense, the actual experience of emotions, as well as the
performance of particular identities in virtuality may contribute to a better understanding of self
and emotions in real life thus enhancing the gamer’s potential to cope with the inevitable
insecurities of adolescence.
Violent Video Games 28
References
Anderson, C.A. (2004). An update on the effects of playing violent video games. Journal of
Adolescence, 27, 113-122.
Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2001). Effects of violent games on aggressive behavior,
aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: A
meta-analytic review of the scientific literature. Psychological Science, 12, 353-359.
Barnett, M. A., Vitaglione, G. D., Harper, K. K. G., Quackenbusch, S. W., Steadman, L. A., &
Valdez, B. S. (1997). Late adolescents’ experiences with and attitudes toward
videogames. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 27, 1316-1334.
Bosma, H. A., & Kunnen, E. S. (2001). Determinants and mechanisms in ego identity
development: a review and synthesis. Developmental Review, 21, 39-66.
Braun, C. M. J., & Giroux, J. (1989). Arcade video games: proximic, cognitive, and content
analyses. Journal of Leisure Research, 21, 92-105.
Children Now (2001). Fair play? Violence, gender, and race in video games. Retrieved May, 15,
2003 from http://www.childrennow.org/media/video-games/2001/#race
Cohen, J. (2001). Defining identification: A theoretical look at at the identification of audiences
with media characters. Mass Communication & Society, 4, 245-264.
Colwell, J., Grady, C., & Rhaiti, S. (1995). Computer games, self-esteem and gratification of
needs in adolescents. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 5, 195-206.
Damasio, A. (1999). The feeling of what happens. Body and emotion in the making of
consciousness. New York: Harcourt Brace & Company.
Dietz, T. L. (1998). An examination of violence and gender role portrayals in video games:
Implications for gender socialization and aggressive behavior. Sex Roles, 38, 425-442.
Dindia, K., & Allen, M. (1992). Sex differences in self-disclosure: A meta-analysis.
Psychological Bulletin, 112, 106-124.
Violent Video Games 29
Duck, S. W. (1998). Human relationships. London: Sage.
Durkin, K., & Aisbett, K. (1999). Computer games and Australians today. Sydney: Office of
Film and Literature Classification.
Durkin, K., & Barber, B. (2002). Not so doomed: Computer game play and positive adolescent
development. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 23, 373-392.
Ellemers, N., Spears, R., & Doosje, B. (2002). Self and social identity. Annual Review of
Psychology, 53, 161-186.
ELSPA (2004). Official UK leisure software charts © ELSPA compiled by Chart Track.
Retrieved December, 10, 2004 from http://www.elspa.com/charts/charts.asp
Fischer, A.H. (1993). Sex differences in emotionality. Feminism & Psychology, 3, 303-318.
Fischer, A.H., & Jansz, J. (1995). Reconciling emotions with Western personhood. Journal for
the Theory of Social Behaviour, 25, 59-81.
Frijda, N. (1986). The emotions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Frijda, N. (1989). Aesthetic emotions and reality. American Psychologist, 44, 1546-1547.
Frijda, N. (2000). The psychologists' point of view. In M. Lewis and J. M. Haviland-Jones
(Eds.), Handbook of emotions. Second edition (pp. 59-75). New York: The Guilford
Press.
Frijda, N. (2004). Emotions and action. In A. S. R. Manstead, N. Frijda, & A. H. Fischer (Eds.),
Feelings and emotions. The Amsterdam symposium (pp. 158-174). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Frijda, N.H., Kuipers, P., & ter Schure, E. (1989). Relations among emotion, appraisal, and
emotional action readiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 212-228.
Violent Video Games 30
Fritz, J. (1997). Macht, Herrschaft und Kontrolle im Computerspiel. In J. Fritz & W. Fehr
(Herausgeb.), Handbuch Medien: Computerspiele (pp. 183-197). Bonn: Bundeszentrale
für Politische Bildung.
Gentile, D. A., Lynch, P. J., Ruh Linder, J., & Walsh, D. A. (2004). The effects of violent video
game habits on adolescent hostility, aggressive behaviors, and school performance.
Journal of Adolescence, 27, 5-22.
Giles, D. C. (2002). Parasocial interaction: A review of the literature and a model for future
research. Mediapsychology, 4, 279-305.
Goldstein, J. (1998a). Immortal Kombat: war toys and violent video games. In: J. Goldstein
(Ed.), Why we watch: the attractions of violent entertainment (pp. 53-68). New York:
Oxford University Press.
Goldstein, J. (Ed.) (1998b). Why we watch: the attractions of violent entertainment. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Good, G. E., Heppner, P. P., DeBord, K. A. & Fischer, A. R. (2004). Understanding men’s
psychological distress: Contributions of problem-solving appraisal and masculine role
conflict. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 5, 168-177.
Griffiths, M. D., Davies, M. N. O., & Chappell, D. (2003). Breaking the stereotype: The case of
online gaming. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 6, 81-91.
Griffiths, M. D., Davies, M. N. O., & Chappell, D. (2004). Online computer gaming: a
comparison of adolescent and adult gamers. Journal of Adolescence, 27, 87-96.
Griffiths, M.D., & Hunt, N. (1995). Computer game playing in adolescence: Prevalence and
demographic indicators. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 5, 189193.
Griffiths, M.D., & Hunt, N. (1998). Dependence on computer games by adolescents.
Psychological Reports, 82, 475-480.
Violent Video Games 31
Grodal, T. (2000). Video games and the pleasures of control. In D. Zillmann, & P. Vorderer
(Eds.), Media entertainment. The psychology of its appeal (pp. 197-212). Mahwah, NJ:
Erlbaum
Grodal, T. (2003). Stories for eye, ear, and muscles. Video games, media, and embodied
experiences. In: M. J. P. Wolf, & B. Perron (Eds.), The video game theory reader (pp.
129-155). London: Routledge.
Grossman, D., & DeGaetano, G. (1999). Stop teaching our kids to kill. New York: Crown.
Harter, S. (1998). The development of self-representations. In N. Eisenberg (Ed.), Handbook of
Child Psychology, Vol. 3. Social, Emotional, and Personality Development (pp. 553-618).
New York: Wiley, 5th Edition.
Hartup, W. W. (1996). The company they keep: friendships and their developmental
significance. Child Development, 67, 1-13.
Huizinga, J. (1950/1944). Homo ludens. Boston: the Beacon Press.
Jakupcak, M., Salters, K., Gratz, K. L., & Roemer, L. (2003). Masculinity and emotionality: An
investigation of men’s primary and secondary emotional responding. Sex Roles, 49, 111120.
Jansz, J. (2000). Masculine identity and restrictive emotionality. In A.H. Fischer (Ed.), Gender
and emotion. Social psychological perspectives (pp. 166-186). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Jansz, J., & Martens, L. (in press). Gaming at a LAN event: the social context of playing video
games. New Media & Society.
Jansz, J. & Timmers, M. (2002). Emotional dissonance: When emotions jeopardise identity.
Theory & Psychology, 12, 79-95.
Violent Video Games 32
Juul, J. (2003). The game, the player, the world: looking for a heart of gameness. In M. Copier,
& J. Raessens (Eds.), Level up. Digital games research conference (pp. 30-46). Utrecht:
Universiteit Utrecht and DIGRA.
Kestenbaum, G. I., & Weinstein, L. (1985). Personality, psychopathology, and developmental
issues in male adolescent video game use. Journal of the American Academy of Child
Psychiatry, 24, 329-337.
Kindlon, D. & Thompson, M. (1999). Raising Cain. Protecting the emotional life of boys.
London: Michael Joseph.
Kiousis, S. (2002). Interactivity: a concept explication. New Media & Society, 4, 355-383.
Kirsh, S. J. (2003). The effects of violent video games on adolescents. The overlooked influence
of development. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 8, 377-389.
Klimmt, C. & Vorderer, P. (2003). Media psychology ‘is not yet there’: introducing theories on
media entertainment to the presence debate. Presence. Teleoperators and virtual
environments, 12, 346-359.
Kubey, R. & Larson, R. (1990). The use and experience of the new video media among children
and young adolescents. Communication Research, 17, 107-130.
Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Emotion & adaptation. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lee, K. M. (2004). Presence, explicated. Communication Theory, 14, 27-50.
Levant, R.F. (1995). Toward the reconstruction of masculinity. In R.F. Levant & W.S. Pollack
(Eds.), A new psychology of men (pp. 229-252). New York: HarperCollins.
Lucas, K. & Sherry, J. L. (2004). Sex differences in video game play: A communication-based
explanation. Communication Research, 31, 499-523.
Melinger, D. (2004). Massive media. Thesis Interactive Telecommunications Program New
York University. Retrieved November 24, 2004 from http://massive-media.org/
Minsky, M. (1980, June). Telepresence. Omni, 2, 45-51.
Violent Video Games 33
Miron, D. (2003). Enjoyment of violence. In J. Bryant, D. Roskos-Ewoldsen, & J. Cantor
(Eds.), Communication and emotion. Essays in honor of Dolf Zillmann (pp. 445-472).
Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Mundorf, N., Weaver, J., & Zillmann, D. (1989). Effects of gender roles and self perceptions on
affective reactions to horror films. Sex Roles, 20, 655-673.
Newman, J. (2002). In search of the videogame player: The lives of Mario. New Media &
Society, 4, 405-422.
Newman, J. (2004). Videogames. London: Routledge.
NPD Funworld (2004). Top 10 video game tiles ranked by total U.S. units. Retrieved December
10, 2004 from http://www.npdfunworld.com/
Oatley, K. (1994). A taxonomy of the emotions of literary response and a theory of
identification in fictional narrative. Poetics, 23, 53-74.
Oatley, K. (1999). Meetings of minds. Dialogue, sympathy, and identification in reading fiction.
Poetics, 26, 439-454.
Oatley, K. (2004). From the emotions of conversation to the passions of fiction. In A. S. R.
Manstead, N. Frijda, & A. H. Fischer (Eds.), Feelings and emotions. The Amsterdam
symposium (pp. 98-118). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
O'Neil, J.M., Good, G.E., & Holmes, S. (1995). Fifteen years of theory and research on men's
gender role conflict: New paradigms for empirical research. In R.F. Levant, & W.S.
Pollack (Eds.), A new psychology of men (pp. 164-207). New York: HarperCollins.
Parker, I. (1995). Masculinity and cultural change: Wild men. Culture & Psychology, 1, 455475.
Parkinson, B. (1995). Ideas and realities of emotion. London: Routledge.
Pleck, J.H. (1995). The gender-role strain paradigm. An update. In R.F. Levant, & W.S. Pollack
(Eds.), A new psychology of men (pp. 11-33). New York: HarperCollins.
Violent Video Games 34
Polanyi, M. (1967). The tacit dimension. London: RKP.
Reynolds, R. (2002). Playing a ‘good’ game: a philosophical approach to understanding the
morality of games. Retrieved September 11, 2002 from
http://www.igda.org./endeavours/articles/rreynolds
Roberts, D.F., Foehr, U.G., Rideout, V.J. (2005). Generation M: Media in the lives of 8-18
year-olds. Menlo Park: Kaiser Family Foundation.
Roseman, I. J., Wiest, C., & Swartz, T. S. (1994). Phenomenology, behaviors, and goals
differentiate discrete emotions. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 67, 206-221.
Ruggiero, T. E. (2000). Uses and gratifications theory in the 21st century. Mass Communication
& Society, 3, 3-37.
Salomon, G. (1984). Television is ‘easy’ and print is ‘tough’: the differential investment of
mental effort in learning as a function of perceptions and attributions. Journal of
Educational Psychology, 76, 647-658.
Schneider, E. S., Lang, A., Shin, M., & Bradley, S. D. (2004). Death with a story. How story
impacts emotional, motivational, and physiological responses to first-person shooter
video games. Human Communication Research, 30, 361-375.
Sherry, J. L. (2001). The effects of violent video games on aggression. A meta-analysis. Human
Communication Research, 27, 409-432.
Sherry, J. L. (2004). Flow and media enjoyment. Communication Theory, 14, 328-347.
Smith, S. L., Lachlan, K., & Tamborini, R. (2003). Popular video games: quantifying the
presentation of violence and its context. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 47,
58-76.
Smith, S. L., Wilson, B. J., Kunkel, D., Linz, D., Potter, W. J., Colvin, C. M., & Donnerstein, E.
(1998). Violence in television programming overall: University of California, Santa
Violent Video Games 35
Barbara study. National television violence study (Vol. 3, pp. 5-220). Newbury Park, CA:
Sage.
Steinberg, L., & Morris, A. S. (2001). Adolescent development. Annual Review of Psychology,
52, 83-110.
Sutton-Smith, B. (1997). The ambiguity of play. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Tamborini, R. (2003). Enjoyment and social functions of horror. In J. Bryant, D. RoskosEwoldsen, & J. Cantor (Eds.), Communication and emotion. Essays in honor of Dolf
Zillmann (pp. 417-444). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Tamborini, R., Eastin, M. S., Skalski, P., Lachlan, K., Fediuk, T. A., & Brady, R. (2004).
Violent virtual video games and hostile thoughts. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic
Media, 48, 335-357.
Tan, E. S. (1996). Emotion and the structure of narrative film. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Tan, E.S. (2000). Emotion, art, and the humanities. In M. Lewis and J. M. Haviland-Jones
(Eds.), Handbook of emotions. Second edition (pp. 116-135). New York: The Guilford
Press.
Thompson, C. (2002). Violence and the political life of video games. In L. King (ed.), Game on.
The history and culture of videogames (pp. 22-32). London: Barbican.
Thompson, E. H., Pleck, J. H., & Ferrera, D. (1992). Men and masculinities: Scales for
masculinity ideology and masculinity-related constructs. Sex Roles, 27, 573-607.
Thompson, K. M., & Haninger, K. (2001). Violence in E-rated video games. Journal of
American Medical Association, 286, 591-598.
Turkle, S. (1985). The second self. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Valkenburg, P. M., Cantor, J., & Peeters, A. L. (2000). Fright reactions to television: A child
survey. Communication Research, 27, 82-99.
Violent Video Games 36
Vorderer, P. (2000). Interactive entertainment and beyond. In D. Zillmann, & P. Vorderer
(Eds.), Media entertainment. The psychology of its appeal (pp. 21-36). Mahwah. NJ:
Erlbaum.
Vorderer, P., (2001). It’s all entertainment – sure. But what exactly is entertainment?
Communication research, media psychology, and the explanation of entertainment
experiences. Poetics, 29, 247-261.
Vorderer, P. (2003). Entertainment theory. In J. Bryant, D. Roskos-Ewoldsen, & J. Cantor
(Eds.), Communication and emotion. Essays in honor of Dolf Zillmann (pp. 131-154).
Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Vorderer, P., Hartmann, T., & Klimmt, C. (2003). Explaining the enjoyment of playing video
games: the role of competition. Proceedings of the second international conference on
entertainment computing (pp. 1-9). Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon University.
Walton, C., Coyle, A., & Lyons, E. (2004). Death and football: An analysis of men’s talk about
emotions. British Journal of Social Psychology, 43, 401-416.
Wartella, E., O’Keefe, B., & Scantin, R. (2000). Children and interactive media. New York:
Markle Foundation.
Zillmann, D. (1991). Empathy: Affect from bearing witness to the emotions of others. In J.
Bryant & D. Zillmann (Eds.) Responding to the screen: Reception and reaction processes
(pp. 135-168). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Zillmann, D. (1994). Mechanism of emotional involvement with drama. Poetics, 23, 33-51.
Zillmann, D. (1998). The psychology of the appeal of portrayals of violence. In J.H. Goldstein
(Ed.), Why we watch: The attractions of violent entertainment (pp. 179-211). New York:
Oxford University Press.
Zillmann, D. (2000). The coming of media entertainment. In D. Zillmann, & P. Vorderer (Eds.),
Media entertainment. The psychology of its appeal (pp. 1-20). Mahwah. NJ: Erlbaum.
Violent Video Games 37
Zillmann, D. (2003). Theory of affective dynamics: emotions and moods. In J. Bryant, D.
Roskos-Ewoldsen, & J. Cantor (Eds.), Communication and emotion. Essays in honor of
Dolf Zillmann (pp. 533-567). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Violent Video Games 38
Author Note
Jeroen Jansz is an associate professor at The Amsterdam School of Communications
Research (ASCoR), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I gratefully
acknowledge the supportive criticisms of my colleagues in the ASCoR research group ‘Media
Entertainment’, Agneta Fischer, and the three anonymous reviewers. Correspondence
concerning this article should be addressed to Jeroen Jansz, ASCoR, University of Amsterdam,
Kloveniersburgwal 48, 1012 CX, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Email: [email protected]
Violent Video Games 39
Endnote
1
Video games is employed in this paper as a practical shorthand that includes all digital
interactive games, whatever the platform they are played on. So, ‘video games’ refers to games
played in arcades, on game consoles (e.g., Nintendo64, Sega Dreamcast, Sony PlayStation 1 or
2, Microsoft X-box, Nintendo GameCube), on handhelds (e.g., Nintendo Gameboy Advance,
Nokia N-Cage), on personal computers, and on the Internet.