• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Aggression from video games 'linked to incompetence'

DedValve

Banned
People getting angry at videos is pretty funny.

People getting angry at any hobby is pretty funny.

Organic lifeforms that have emotion are pretty hilarious indeed.

And yes I agree with this, games never made me violent until they are stupidly difficult or just bad (hey dk64 thanks for making me punch a hole in my tv)
 
wait

so research has found that humans get angry when they find something frustrating or too hard?!
OH MY GOD how has nobody ever seen this before? why this is surely the revelation humanity needs, this could have led to wars over not getting into art college or over frustration that you didn't have as much natural resources as another country

scientists really research the obvious don't they
 
Bit worried at the suggestion of adding more tutorials to make mechanics less frustrating. You know how we all love tutorials, if they did research using Mario & Luigi they would find constant tutorials lead to aggression.
 

Jintor

Member
wait

so research has found that humans get angry when they find something frustrating or too hard?!
OH MY GOD how has nobody ever seen this before? why this is surely the revelation humanity needs, this could have led to wars over not getting into art college or over frustration that you didn't have as much natural resources as another country

scientists really research the obvious don't they

you know people do research to confirm things that appear obvious but may not be, or may be affected by a variety of uncontrolled factors etc, right
 

Ironjam

Member
I used to rage quite a bit when something was really hard or frustrating, lot calmer now though.
I even remember the first time i raged playing Driver and not being able to complete the fucking training. Fuck that shit :lol.
 
Organic lifeforms that have emotion are pretty hilarious indeed.
Getting angry at something designed to provide entertainment is hilarious because it's a completely disproportional response to the situation.

What's not hilarious is the potential underlying mental issues that cause it.
 

hesido

Member
wait

so research has found that humans get angry when they find something frustrating or too hard?!
OH MY GOD how has nobody ever seen this before? why this is surely the revelation humanity needs, this could have led to wars over not getting into art college or over frustration that you didn't have as much natural resources as another country

scientists really research the obvious don't they

You don't understand science, do you? :)

There's a lot of value in this research, here's my take.

On screen violence may not make people violent but it has the potential to shape how we perceive violence around us. So I don't think we should all dismiss violence in gaming having no effect on us whatsoever, but this study supports that violence on screen does not directly translate to aggression, in a seemingly well designed manner.
 

lenos16

Member
So....Dota 2 and LOL must be the most rage inducing games ever right? I can't remember how many times I was upset over the game/my own teammates.
 

Piers

Member
It takes Oxford University to point out something like "When people are irritated or angry they are more aggressive"
 
I'll never get gamer rage that manifests itself in a way that prohibits you from playing games. Maybe it's because I grew up poor so if I broke a controller, mommy wasn't running to the store to by me a new one, it was simply no more video games until Christmas or my birthday... which is in Feb so there's a massive window where I could be out of commission.

Anyways, study is obvious like someone wasting time to research if running a sprint makes you tired or sweaty.

I grew up in similar conditions and also had a February birthday, but that didn't stop me from assassinating my SNES controller after a failed 150cc run in Super Mario Kart.
 
You don't understand science, do you? :)

There's a lot of value in this research, here's my take.

Well to be fair, behavioural science/ecology is filled with research proving the validity of rather mundane insights that have been common wisdom. I don't find the findings nor the implications surprising, but it is nice to have some empiracal back up ;) This should self-evident to any gamer as you said though. I get angry when I repeating fail to advance in a game and I feel like the system is 'cheating' or has an unfair advantage. Video games are games, people with a unhealthy taste in perverse violence probably manifest in other ways outside of just playing games, or would do if they had the opportunity.
 

jroc74

Phone reception is more important to me than human rights
Any kind of frustration can lead to violent behaviors so I can believe this is true.

Was thinking the same thing.

Ever see a sports game...some one will either throw a bat, hat, kick a cooler, slam a helmet, slam a basketball on the floor, kick a chair, etc.

We also see frustration lead to fights in sports.... but it just seems easier to link something negative to video games.
 

Shmuppers

Member
I'm doubtful that there is any real correlation between violent behavior and video games themselves. It's got more to do with how an individual handles stress.

When i'm getting humiliated in Killer Instinct, brutalized in Dark Souls, or curb-stomped in Marvel 3, I get very frustrated- but my stress dissipates in a matter of minutes. One just needs to be mature enough to stop and calm down, instead of lingering on the moment of failure and allowing the frustration to consume oneself.

By no means does this apply exclusively to video games. When a baseball player throws his helmet after striking out, or an artist rips his canvas in half after accidentally smearing mustard all over his masterpiece, he is undergoing the same feeling of frustration one feels when they die in a video game.

EDIT: Damn, the guy above me posted the same thing I did, essentially.
 

Shengar

Member
Now this is beliavable and I can attest to that. Thankfuly, the only thing I broke because of gaming-induced rage was just plate. Stomped it too hard when I died repeatedly from grenade on the train level of Killzone 2 campaign.
 

jroc74

Phone reception is more important to me than human rights
I'm doubtful that there is any real correlation between violent behavior and video games themselves. It's got more to do with how an individual handles stress.

When i'm getting humiliated in Killer Instinct, brutalized in Dark Souls, or curb-stomped in Marvel 3, I get very frustrated- but my stress dissipates in a matter of minutes. One just needs to be mature enough to stop and calm down, instead of lingering on the moment of failure and allowing the frustration to consume oneself.

By no means does this apply exclusively to video games. When a baseball player throws his helmet after striking out, or an artist rips his canvas in half after accidentally smearing mustard all over his masterpiece, he is undergoing the same feeling of frustration one feels when they die in a video game.

Exactly.
 

Videospel

Member
But how long do people stay angry? Is it a short burst where they throw a controller or punch the wall or do people stay angry long enough to actually do harm later in the day?

I've smashed keyboards over losing in pvp in mmos, but it is a rather short emotional response. Do all people recover quickly though?

I think that sort of instant relief of aggression is preferable. The danger is when you let your anger slowly build up until some unfortunate object has to take all the rage at once.
 

atpbx

Member
Its fitting that its an Xbox controller thats smashed in the OP, as an Xbox controller is the only thing Ive ever vented on.

Pro Evo 4- original Xbox.

World cup final, 2-0 up against France on 4 star difficulty 85 minute my goal keeper decides to have one of those Pro Evo moments where he decides to disobey the laws of physics and allow the ball to pass through his body unchecked.

Stoppage time, my entire team decides to put tackles in the opposite direction to where the ball is, allowing Henry to run, unchallenged, through the entire team to slot the equalizer away.

Stoppage time, a perfectly good challenge 5 yards from the 18 yard box results in a free kick, which my goal keeper tips on to the bar, it rebounds off his head and over the line.

I hurl the game pad at the wall where it smashes to pieces.
 

Shmuppers

Member
You don't understand science, do you? :)

There's a lot of value in this research, here's my take.

On screen violence may not make people violent but it has the potential to shape how we perceive violence around us. So I don't think we should all dismiss violence in gaming having no effect on us whatsoever, but this study supports that violence on screen does not directly translate to aggression, in a seemingly well designed manner.

It needs to be kept in mind that the "potential to shape how we perceive violence around us" only applies to those that cannot distinguish fantasy from reality.

I would assert that these people already had a warped perception of violence, and video games gave them a means to express it.
 

Lusankya

Member
I usually only get angry while playing video games when I play FIFA or PES with my friends and have the feeling the game is betraying me.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
See, I think maybe this research was suggested by someone who plays video games. We all know hard games make us angry. Kinda awesome to think that Oxford University researchers are gamers too, huh?

Yes it is.
 

Aces&Eights

Member
I don't break stuff but unfair stuff happening in gaming makes me say 3 certain sentences every single time:

What the FUCK!?!
Are you FUCKING kidding me?!?

And the granddaddy of them all...

That is fucking BULLSHIT!!!!
 

Aces&Eights

Member
I don't break stuff but unfair stuff happening in gaming makes me say 3 certain sentences every single time:

What the F×÷@!?!
Are you F%÷=ing kidding me?!?

And the granddaddy of them all...

That is f%@#ing BULLSH@t!!!!
 
They should have used some of the Sound Shapes Death Levels for this. Put them in a room and said you have to complete 3 of the harder levels, and film it! I would love to see the reactions to that. Lol.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
wait

so research has found that humans get angry when they find something frustrating or too hard?!
OH MY GOD how has nobody ever seen this before? why this is surely the revelation humanity needs, this could have led to wars over not getting into art college or over frustration that you didn't have as much natural resources as another country

scientists really research the obvious don't they

even if it's obvious it's always good to have scientific data to back it up.
 

dab0ne

Member
Oh now this is true. I bought a shitty ikea coffee table for the sole purpose of punching when a game pisses me off. I even write the name of the game next to the hole.
 
c69.jpg
 

spekkeh

Banned
Oh neat, it's actually Ryan and Przybylski who are involved with the research. I like them. They wrote interesting things about Self Determination Theory and games too. I guess it would fit, perceived lack of competence and all that.
 
Top Bottom