Letting Off Steam - Testing Restorative Effects of Playing Violent Video Games after Frustration

In the ongoing debate about whether violent video games (VVG) increase aggression, playing VVG has been suggested by some researchers to have an aggression-reducing effect. For example, Lee and colleagues (2021) showed that for heavy players, playing VVG reduced verbal and physical aggression over 6 months. However, this apparently cathartic effect may not be specific to playing VVG, but that video games can be used to cope with stress and negative emotions in general (Lee et al., 2021). Similarly, playing a moderately violent game led to restoration of well-being after frustration induction (Tyack et al., 2020). We tested the potential restorative effects of playing VVG on self-reported, physiological, and behavioral levels in a lab experiment (N=55, Mage = 23.31; SD = 4.22; male = 38.2%; female = 61.1%). Participants were randomly assigned to either a frustration group (with a frustrating cognitive task taken from a standard intelligence test) or a control group (with a neutral cognitive task) before playing the VVG Battlefield 1 for 25 minutes. Results showed a significant decrease in self-reported post-gameplay frustration that indicated restoration in the experimental group. However, playing the violent video game did not affect aggression after frustration induction. In addition, participants in both conditions experienced similar levels of physiological relaxation (i.e., increase in heart rate variability) during and after gameplay. These findings suggest that playing VVG may offer restoration by improving mood and inducing physiological relaxation without increasing aggression, thus calling into question current theoretical concepts of aggression effects of playing VVG.