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Electronic Games, High-Risk Players of
There has been considerable debate in recent years about the risks associated with violent electronic game play by children and adolescents, with some arguing for powerful effects and others suggesting the effects are trivial. However, many of these debates overlook one important consideration: Not all players are affected equally. As Michael Slater and colleagues argue in their downward spiral model of media effects, some youth may be relatively unscathed by media violence exposure, whereas others may be especially vulnerable to its influence. In other words, there may be what Jeanne Funk has called high-risk players of electronic games.
Many risk factors for youth violence have been identified; this entry focuses mainly on risk factors identified in scholarship on electronic games. The surgeon general's report on youth violence contains a more comprehensive set of risk factors. With respect to electronic games, it is important to remember that individual risk factors are not causes of gaming effects. Instead, they should be viewed as a set of conditions that facilitate the prediction of gaming effects, especially when several are present at once. A growing body of literature suggests how developmental, personality, social, and emotional factors, along with exposure to certain game content and technology, may put particular children at higher risk for negative game play outcomes such as aggressive behavior.
Age and Developmental Differences
Age and cognitive development of children may put them at greater risk for harm from electronic game play, with younger children being most susceptible. Because these children tend to focus on perceptually salient attributes of media such as video games, their attention may center on flashy violent content and exclude other contextual features, making them more susceptible than older children to the influence of violent content. Furthermore, Jeanne Funk suggests that children are at higher risk than adolescents because they lack the ability to measure their behavior in light of moral standards and the behavior of others. Without these influences, children are less likely to feel guilty about aggressive behavior and may internalize the violent worlds of popular video games as models for acceptable behavior. Although most evidence points to children being at higher risk, certain adolescents may also be at high risk because of their greater willingness and ability to engage in reckless behavior and because they may develop stronger, more complete scripts for violent behavior as a function of repeated electronic game play over time.
Trait and Personality Predispositions
As suggested in the general aggression model (GAM) developed by Craig Anderson and colleagues, certain trait or personality attributes may make electronic game players more at risk for aggressive behavior. In one study, Anderson and Karen Dill surveyed 227 students and found real-life game play to be associated positively with aggressive behavior and delinquency, especially among males and individuals with greater trait aggression. Indicators of aggressive personality, which may include aggression and irritability, have been shown to relate positively to aggressive outcomes in both survey and laboratory studies of media violence effects. Children and adolescents with some form of aggressive personality are especially likely to be high-risk players of electronic games.
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