video games? Researchers randomly assigned male and
female students to play violent or nonviolent video games
for 20 minutes. Afterward, half of the people in each group
were asked to think about their game. “The next day,” says
the report, “participants competed with an ostensible opponent
on a competitive task in which the winner could punish
the loser with painful noise blasts through headphones.” Increased
aggression was evident among males who were told
to think about the violent game. “Violent gamers usually
play longer than 20 min[utes] and probably ruminate
about their game play in a habitual manner,” say
the authors of the study, as reported in the journal
Social Psychological and Personality Science.
No significant effects were found among women,
who generally dislike violent video games. Awake! August 2011 21
