Feelings of aggression after playing video games are more likely to be linked to gameplay mechanics rather than violent content, a study suggests.
Researchers carried out a range of tests, including making a non-violent version of popular game Half-Life 2.
Games modified to have counter-intuitive, frustrating controls - leading to feelings of incompetence - produced more aggressive reactions.
The team called for more sophisticated research into violent gaming.
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Six separate studies were carried out.
One of them involved modifying Half-Life 2 - a critically-acclaimed, but graphic, shooting title.
The researchers created a modified version in which rather than violently removing enemies, the player would instead "tag" foes who would then evaporate.
This version was tested alongside the normal, violent version.
However, only some of the gamers were given a tutorial before playing the game so they could familiarise themselves with the controls and game mechanics.
The researchers found that it was the players who had not had the tutorial who felt less competent and more aggressive, rather than people who had played the more violent version of the game.
Thwarted
"We focused on the motives of people who play electronic games and found players have a psychological need to come out on top when playing," said Dr Przybylski.
"If players feel thwarted by the controls or the design of the game, they can wind up feeling aggressive.
"This need to master the game was far more significant than whether the game contained violent material.
"Players of games without any violent content were still feeling pretty aggressive if they hadn't been able to master the controls or progress through the levels at the end of the session."
Further research is needed, Dr Przybylski said, into longer-term effects of video game violence beyond initial feelings of aggression.
Co-author Prof Richard Ryan, from the University of Rochester, said: "The study is not saying that violent content doesn't affect gamers, but our research suggests that people are not drawn to playing violent games in order to feel aggressive.
"Rather, the aggression stems from feeling not in control or incompetent while playing.
__________________ Recently Produced and Distributed Young but High-Ranking Political Figure of Royal Ancestry within the Modern American Town Affectionately Referred To as Bel-Air.
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And all it took was a couple decades of blaming fictional violence during to finally realize it's not the violence but the difficulty that creates frustration. God I want to cry.
KMC Community Forums
Apr 7th, 2014 06:49 PM
They had to do research to figure this out? 
