Ready, Aim, Fire! Violent Video Game Play and Gun Controller Use: Effects on Behavioral Aggression and Social Norms Concerning Violence

In addition to individual risk factors, recent findings surrounding the effects of violent video game play have provided compelling evidence that the contextual features of games also contribute to increased outcome aggression. The current study focuses on the relationship between violent video game play and the use of gun controllers on both social norms related to aggression and real-life behavioral aggression. As predicted, both violent video game play and gun controller use were positively related to behavioral aggression. The implications of these findings are discussed along with their influence on future research in this area.