Aims of the study

Research questions

• How do individuals perceive themselves after participating in violent actions within a game?
• Does exposure to violence in video games alter perceptions of humanity for both the player and their opponent?
• Would the effect differ if playing against a human-like opponent rather than a computer-controlled avatar?

The experiment used 'Mortal Kombat' as the violent game, which involves fighting and combat, and 'Top Spin Tennis' as the non-violent alternative, focusing on sports competition.

Method and participants

This was a laboratory experiment designed to test the effects of violent video games on perceptions of humanity.

Participants

• The study involved pairs of participants who played against each other.
• Participants were instructed not to interact directly, ensuring the game mediated all contact.

Procedure

1. Participants were seated in front of a shared video screen connected to an Xbox console.
2. A portable dividing wall was placed between them to block visual contact, preventing any non-game interactions.
3. They played either 'Mortal Kombat' (violent condition) or 'Top Spin Tennis' (non-violent condition) for a duration of approximately fifteen minutes in a two-player mode.
4. After the game, participants completed a questionnaire rating the game on aspects such as enjoyment, excitement, and frustration.
5. Next, they rated themselves and their opponent on a set of items assessing perceived humanity, using a Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).

Key results

The results highlighted differences between the violent and non-violent game conditions, particularly in perceptions of humanity.

Ratings of game experience

The violent game was rated higher for enjoyment and excitement, with similar frustration levels in both conditions.

Attribution of humanity

Perceptions of humanity were notably lower in the violent condition for both self and opponent ratings:

Mean scores show that participants in the violent condition viewed themselves and their opponents as less human-like compared to those in the non-violent condition.

Conclusions and implications

The study concluded that engaging in a violent video game like Mortal Kombat can lead to a decreased perception of one's own humanity and that of the opponent.