Do the Gender and Race of Video Game Characters Matter? The Effects of Violent Game Playing on Implicit Stereotyping and Aggressive Behavior.

Abstract

Within the framework of social cognitive theories and current models of media priming, two experiments tested hypotheses regarding video game playing, implicit stereotyping, and a behavioral manifestation of aggression. In these two experiments, race and gender of the video game characters played served as a media prime that was expected to affect the players’ attitudes and behavior. In Experiment 1, playing a violent male (as opposed to a violent female) avatar led to a stronger implicit association of males with violence and directly primed aggressive behavior. No significant relation was found between the activation of the implicit gender-violence association and aggressive behavior. In Experiment 2, playing a violent Black (as opposed to a violent White) avatar led to a stronger implicit association of Blacks with violence and directly primed aggressive behavior. A significant relation was found between the activation of the implicit race-violence association and aggressive behavior. Furthermore, mediation analysis showed that implicit racial stereotyping significantly mediated the effect of racial priming induced by playing a violent Black avatar on subsequent aggression. These results provide unique insight into the media priming literature by demonstrating experimental evidence for the cognitive mechanisms underlying media priming effects. More specifically, the implicit associations prompted by a media prime were shown to be actually translated into the behavior indicative of that activated stereotype. Implications for stereotyping processes and aggressive outcomes are discussed.