Jih-hsuan Lin, National Chiao Tung University, Department of Communication and Technology, tamm...@nctu.edu.tw
Abstract
This study examined the moderating effect of media interactivity on the relationship between video game violence and short-term aggression and the mediating role of self-concept. A total of 169 male undergraduate students participated in the experiment, which had a 2 (media interactivity: play vs. watch) × 2 (violence: violent vs. non-violent) factorial design. The results showed that media interactivity and violence significantly affected participants’ short-term aggressive affect. Media interactivity also had a main effect on systolic and diastolic blood pressure. A conditional moderating effect—in that participants who played the violent video game displayed greater aggressive affect and blood pressure than participants who watched the recorded violent game play—was also found. An interaction effect between media interactivity and violence was found for automatic self-concept. The current study extended existing literature and further demonstrated that media interactivity exhibited significant influence on media effects after controlling violent content.
