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Abstract
The issue of whether video games with aggressive or violent content (henceforth aggressive
video games) contribute to aggressive behavior in youth remains an issue of significant
debate. One issue that has been raised is that some studies may inadvertently inflate
effect sizes by use of questionable researcher practices and unstandardized assessments
of predictors and outcomes, or lack of proper theory-driven controls. In the current
article, a large sample of 3034 youth (72.8% male Mage = 11.2) in Singapore were assessed
for links between aggressive game play and seven aggression or prosocial outcomes
2 years later. Theoretically relevant controls for prior aggression, poor impulse
control, gender and family involvement were used. Effect sizes were compared to six
nonsense outcomes specifically chosen to be theoretically unrelated to aggressive
game play. The use of nonsense outcomes allows for a comparison of effect sizes between
theoretically relevant and irrelevant outcomes, to help assess whether any statistically
significant outcomes may be spurious in large datasets. Preregistration was employed
to reduce questionable researcher practices. Results indicate that aggressive video
games were unrelated to any of the outcomes using the study criteria for significance.
It would take 27 h/day of M-rated game play to produce clinically noticeable changes
in aggression. Effect sizes for aggression/prosocial outcomes were little different
than for nonsense outcomes. Evidence from this study does not support the conclusion
that aggressive video games are a predictor of later aggression or reduced prosocial
behavior in youth.
Although several longitudinal studies have demonstrated an effect of violent video game play on later aggressive behavior, little is known about the psychological mediators and moderators of the effect.