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. 2023 Jul 5:14:1155807.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1155807. eCollection 2023.

Is playing violent video games a risk factor for aggressive behaviour? Adding narcissism, self-esteem and PEGI ratings to the debate

Szymon Zbigniew Olejarnik  1 , Daniela Romano  2   3
Affiliations

Is playing violent video games a risk factor for aggressive behaviour? Adding narcissism, self-esteem and PEGI ratings to the debate

Szymon Zbigniew Olejarnik et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Introduction: Aggressive behaviour is a challenge for society. There continues to be considerable debate over whether the consumption of violent video games affects aggression, as violent video game content has become more accessible in recent years due to the growing use of online distribution platforms. Personality traits often linked to aggression, such as narcissism and self-esteem, have been considered in the context of violent video game play and their relationship with aggression.

Methods: We surveyed an international population of 166 game players on their personality traits and their three favourite video game choices, which were classified as violent or non-violent, using Pan European Game Information (PEGI) 16 and 18 ratings.

Results: We found that violent video game choice is a predictor of verbal aggression alongside narcissism, and hostility alongside self-esteem. A categorical regression highlighted the desire to impersonate society's undesirable role models (e.g., 'be a thief or a killer') as one of the motivations for aggression and violent video game choice.

Discussion: These findings show that video game violence should be considered a risk factor for aggression, as in other violent media, as it provides a social reinforcement of aggressive behaviour and observational learning of aggressive models, calling for the introduction of stricter online age verification procedures on online game platforms to safeguard children from violent video game content; and increased use of parental controls on content fruition. More granularity should be considered in the PEGI classifications.

Keywords: aggressive behaviour; narcissism; self-esteem; social psychology; violent video games.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Models of simple mediations of violent video game choice on the relationship between narcissism and aggression dimensions: (A) physical aggression, (B) verbal aggression, (C) anger, and (D) hostility.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Models of simple mediations of violent video game choice on the relationship between self-esteem and aggression dimensions: (A) physical aggression, (B) verbal aggression, (C) anger, and (D) hostility.
Figure 3
Figure 3
A model of the categorical regression of aggressive gaming motivations on aggression as a composite.
Figure 4
Figure 4
A model of the categorical regression of aggressive gaming motivations on violent video game choice.
Figure 5
Figure 5
A frequency histogram of country of origin in the obtained sample.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Analyses on Violent Video Game Choice, Narcissism, and Anger: (A) a mediation model of Violent Video Game Choice on Narcissism and Anger, (B) a multiple linear regression model of Narcissism and Violent Video Game Choice on Anger. Note: in the (A) panel, the b path is not shown, as the analysis was terminated.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Analyses on Violent Video Game Choice, Narcissism and Physical Aggression: (A) a mediation model of Violent Video Game Choice on Narcissism and Physical Aggression, (B) a multiple linear regression model of Narcissism and Violent Video Game Choice on Physical Aggression. Note: in the (A) panel, the b path is not shown, as the analysis was terminated.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Analyses on Violent Video Game Choice, Narcissism and Verbal Aggression: (A) a mediation model of Violent Video Game Choice on Narcissism and Verbal Aggression, (B) a multiple linear regression model of Narcissism and Violent Video Game Choice on Anger. Note: in the (A) panel, the b path is not shown, as the analysis was terminated.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Analyses on Violent Video Game Choice, Self-esteem and Hostility: (A) a mediation model of Violent Video Game Choice on Self-esteem and Hostility, (B) a multiple linear regression model of Self-esteem and Violent Video Game Choice on Hostility. Note: in the (A) panel, the b path is not shown, as the analysis was terminated.
Figure 10
Figure 10
A categorical regression model of aggressiveness gaming motivations on composite aggression.
Figure 11
Figure 11
A categorical regression model of aggressiveness gaming motivations on violent video game choice.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Overall results of significant analyses on the relationships between Self-esteem, Violent Video Game Choice, Narcissism and Aggression dimensions. The figure is not a structural equation model, but an aggregated result of all significant relationships for the variables of interest.
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