Null Effects of Game Violence, Game Difficulty, and 2D:4D digit ratio, thought to index prenatal testosterone exposure, on Aggressive Behavior

Null Effects of Game Violence, Game Difficulty, and 2D:4D Digit Ratio on Aggressive Behavior. Joseph Hilgard et al. Psychological Science, March 7, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619829688

Abstract: Researchers have suggested that acute exposure to violent video games is a cause of aggressive behavior. We tested this hypothesis by using violent and nonviolent games that were closely matched, collecting a large sample, and using a single outcome. We randomly assigned 275 male undergraduates to play a first-person-shooter game modified to be either violent or less violent and hard or easy. After completing the game-play session, participants were provoked by a confederate and given an opportunity to behave aggressively. Neither game violence nor game difficulty predicted aggressive behavior. Incidentally, we found that 2D:4D digit ratio, thought to index prenatal testosterone exposure, did not predict aggressive behavior. Results do not support acute violent-game exposure and low 2D:4D ratio as causes of aggressive behavior.

Keywords: violent video games, aggressive behavior, digit ratio, Bayesian analysis, open data, open materials