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Historically, debates over media violence have been a central focus of media research. Yet lacking from these debates is a meaningful discussion about the conceptualization of media violence. We argue that violence is not a monolithic construct, and is based on viewer perceptions of
specific types of images and framing in media content. This idea h...
Citations
... In a content analysis of video games, Smith et al. (2003) found that the majority (68%) of the top 20 popular games across Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast, and Sony PlayStation platforms contained at least one act of violence and that 78% of these actions were considered lethal acts of aggression (Tamborini et al., 2013). Although increasingly popular in entertainment, game violence is simultaneously perceived with disgust and fear by some members of the audience, as evidenced by social outrage against game violence and demands for its legal regulation (see Gonzalez, 2007, andKohler, 1994, for social outcries against violence in games in the past decades; see Hall et al., 2011, andFerguson, 2018, for a discussion of the persisting legal debate on gaming violence). ...
... Moreover, with more people identifying as gamers today, increased acceptance of gaming and game content can be seen in society. Indeed, there is likely a societal paradox about game violence where people both celebrate and revile on-screen violence, as highlighted by Tamborini et al. (2013). The split in societal attitudes toward game violence may be due to differences in group identification as gamers, with group identification mitigating the negative perception surrounding violent games. ...
Since the introduction of commercial video games in the 1970s, video game players have attracted the perhaps undeserving but negative stereotype of being unpopular and socially dysfunctional. However, with gamers increasing in numbers that now reach billions worldwide, the contents of gamer stereotypes may be in flux. The current study investigated the content of gamer stereotypes along the dimensions of physical/social attractiveness, warmth, competence, and morality as a function of genre violence level and gamer identity. Male and female participants (656 U.S. and 428 Indian) completed an online survey on the MTurk platform, rating social stereotypes of gamers in high‐violence and low‐violence genres on 22 adjective pairs and answering questions about gamer identity. Results revealed positive gamer stereotypes, especially in the low‐violence genres in both the United States and India. Low‐identifiers' stereotypes were less favourable in the high‐violence than in the low‐violence genres; this tendency diminished among high‐identifiers. This study suggests that, whereas once gamers were seen negatively, they are now seen remarkably positively. The implications of such positive views of those engaging in violent gaming are discussed.
... One argument is that players engage metaemotional processes in order to reappraise any negative affect associated with discrete moral violations by contextualizing the acts. Discrete punches and kicks, however gruesome, are understood as the means to the end goal of a hard-fought and emotionally rewarding victory requiring mastery of a game's cognitive and physical demands-a process likely aided by the role that justification plays in decreasing the perceived violence of an on-screen action (Tamborini, Weber, Bowman, Eden, & Skalski, 2013). Here, we could also consider emotional demands with respect to the presentation of gruesome content more akin to horror genes that can paradoxically frighten and delight audiences. ...
This handbook provides a strong collection of communication- and psychology-based theories and models on media entertainment, which can be used as a knowledge resource for any academic and applied purpose. Its 41 chapters offer explanations of entertainment that audiences find in any kind of ‘old’ and ‘new’ media, from classic novels to VR video games, from fictional stories to mediated sports. As becomes clear in this handbook, the history of entertainment research teaches us not to forget that even if a field is converging to a seemingly dominant perspective, paradigm, and methodology, there are more views, alternative approaches, and different yet equally illuminative ways of thinking about the field. Young scholars may find here innovative ways to reconcile empirical-theoretical approaches to the experience of entertainment with such alternative views. And there are numerous entertainment-related phenomena in contemporary societies that still fit the „bread and circuses-“ perspective of the initial Frankfurt School thinking. So while the mission of the present handbook is to compile and advance current theories about media entertainment, scholars active or interested in the topic are invited to also consider the historic roots of the field and the great diversity it has featured over the past nearly 100 years. Many lessons can be learned from this history, and future innovations in entertainment theory may just as likely emerge from refining those approaches compiled in the present handbook as from building on neglected, forgotten, or marginalized streams of scholarship.
... Indeed, even contemporary research into video games suggests challenge and competition to be among the most prevalent motivations for playing games in the first place (Sherry et al., 2006;Yee, 2006). Importantly, these early games were mostly non-violent in nature-at least, they did not feature elements of unjustified, graphic, or realistic violence that signal violence perpetration (Tamborini et al., 2013). Kocurek (2012) argues that the 1976 release of Death Race marked a watershed moment in the public perception of video games, as it was the first game that received widespread attention specifically for being violent. ...
Interactive media such as video games and virtual reality (VR) provide users with lived experiences that may be dangerous or even impossible in daily life. By providing interactive experiences in highly authentic, detail-rich contexts, these technologies have demonstrated measurable success in impacting how people think, feel, and behave in the physical world. At the same time, violent interactive media content has been historically connected with a range of antisocial effects in both popular press and academic research. Extant literature has established a small-but-statistically significant effect of interactive media violence on aggressive thoughts and behaviors, which could serve as a risk factor for interpersonal violence. However, left unexplored is the seemingly paradoxical claim that under some conditions, interactive media experiences might protect against interpersonal violence. Drawing on advances in media theory and research and the evolution of interactive media content and production practices, the current manuscript suggests ways in which interactive media violence may be leveraged to lower the likelihood of real-world violence experiences. For example, research on both violent and non-violent games has found that players can (a) express guilt after committing violent acts, (b) report reflective and introspective emotional reactions during gameplay, and (c) debate the morality of their actions with others. Regarding VR, studies have demonstrated that (a) witnessing physical violence in immersive spaces led participants to take the perspective of victims and better understand their emotional state and (b) controlled exposure to traumatic or violent events can be used for treatment. Broadly, studies into video games and VR demonstrate that the impact of actions in virtual worlds transfer into the physical worlds to influence (later) attitudes and behaviors. Thus, how these experiences may be potentially harnessed for social change is a compelling and open consideration, as are side-effects of such interventions on vulnerable groups. The current manuscript summarizes emerging research perspectives (as well as their limitations) to offer insight into the potential for interactive media violence to protect against real-world violence victimization and perpetration.
... It is a powerfully provocative case, and I see much value in it as a primer to questions in virtual ethics. However, as Ali (2015) has proposed and as I hope to have substantiated, the dilemma can easily come to mask the fact that context matters, even in virtual worlds (see also Goerger 2017;Tamborini et al. 2013). ...
The gamer’s dilemma (Luck in Ethics Inf Technol 11(1):31–36, 2009) asks whether any ethical features distinguish virtual pedophilia, which is generally considered impermissible, from virtual murder, which is generally considered permissible. If not, this equivalence seems to force one of two conclusions: either both virtual pedophilia and virtual murder are permissible, or both virtual pedophilia and virtual murder are impermissible. In this article, I attempt, first, to explain the psychological basis of the dilemma. I argue that the two different action types picked out by “virtual pedophilia” and “virtual murder” set very different expectations for their token instantiations that systematically bias judgments of permissibility. In particular, the proscription of virtual pedophilia rests on intuitions about immoral desire, sexual violations, and a schematization of a powerful adult offending against an innocent child. I go on to argue that these differences between virtual pedophilia and virtual murder may be ethically relevant. Precisely because virtual pedophilia is normally aversive in a way that virtual murder is not, we plausibly expect virtual pedophilia to invite abnormal and immorally desirous forms of engagement.
... A clear operationalisation of "sexist video game" may prove curiously elusive. Similar issues have also plagued definitions of "violence" in games, noting "violence" is not a monolithic construct as often it is used in the literature (Tamborini, Weber, Bowman, Eden, & Skalski, 2013). In most studies, "sexist" games appear to be represented mainly by sexualised images of female characters in games. ...
Background:
There is continued debate about whether sexualisation in games can influence sexist attitudes and reduced empathy towards women in real life. There is research evidence both supporting and refuting the possibility.
Aims:
Our aim was to examine the relationship between sexualised content in video games and players' sexist attitudes and empathy. Our research question was, do any such relationships exist once other factors including gender and trait aggression are controlled?
Methods:
An online sample of 125 participants were recruited and asked to rate their video game playing experience, complete a trait aggression scale and record responses to a vignette about rape. Scores were first correlated, and then hierarchical multiple regression was employed followed by PROCESS examination of interactions between sexualised game content and trait aggression.
Results:
Exposure to sexualised content in video games was neither correlated with higher sexist attitude ratings nor with lower empathy scores. Sexualised content in games was associated with slightly lower sexist belief scores for those with higher scores on trait aggression (the 12.8% of our current sample at one standard deviation above the mean). No effects were observed for those low in trait aggression.
Conclusions and implications:
While it is natural to be concerned about the impact of potentially arousing video games, actual effects may be counterintuitive, so if seeking to regulate, it is important to act from actual information. Further research with groups of particular concern will be important.
... This pattern of qualitative findings is consistent with quantitative work that has identified perceived meaning (Bartsch & Mares, 2014) and realism (Tamborini, Weber, Bowman, Eden, & Skalski, 2013) as important predictors of audiences' preference for violent media content. But how can audiences' self-reported positive outlook on realistic portrayals of violence be reconciled with research suggesting that perceived realism can reinforce aggression effects (Eron, 1982) and cultivation effects (Hawkins & Pingree, 1980) of violent media content? ...
... Perceptions of the content as realistic are not a necessary constituent of eudaimonic appreciation. However, given the prominent role of realism in both qualitative and quantitative research on violent portrayals (e.g., Bartsch et al., 2016;Schlesinger et al., 1992;Shaw, 2004;Tamborini et al., 2013), perceived realism was included as an additional validation criterion. We used Bartsch and Mares' (2014) measure that consists of three items: "the people in the [content] were just like in real life", "the events in the [content] were just like real life", and "the plot of the [content] was realistic" (USA: Cronbach's α = .93, ...
This study investigates audiences’ reflective thoughts about violent media content with the aim of developing a bilingual self-report scale in English and German. Scale development was based on an item pool of statements derived from previous qualitative interviews about individuals’ reflection and meaning-making of violent media content. Two survey samples from the US (N = 431) and Germany (N = 412) rated their agreement with these statements, with an example of violent fiction, violent nonfiction, or the most recent violent content they had seen in mind. Factor analysis of the data revealed five main dimensions including reflective thoughts about: (1) human cruelty and suffering from violence, (2) own or close others’ experiences with violence, (3) moral complexities of violence, (4) the true story behind violent content, and (5) strategies learned for dealing with violence in real life. Scale items selected to represent these five dimensions showed convergent validity with eudaimonic media experiences and perceived realism as well as comparable measurement properties across the two countries (US and Germany). Results are discussed with regard to the role of reflective thoughts as potential buffer against negative effects of exposure to media violence.
... Six contextual features have been identified that may predict teens' preferences for televised aggression: the presence of reward, punishment, justification, graphicness, realism, and humor (see the appendix for definitions; Smith et al., 1998). Because contextual features can change the meaning of aggressive content, researchers have argued that it is perhaps not the presence of aggression in general that attracts (some) teens to certain television programs but the particular way in which it is presented (Tamborini, Weber, Bowman, Eden, & Skalski, 2013). For example, aggressive teens may specifically seek out justified aggression on television because of a need to justify their own aggressive behavior (Cantor & Nathanson, 1997). ...
The effect of teens’ exposure to televised aggression depends on the characteristics of the viewer and the portrayed aggression. However, few studies have investigated which teens prefer what forms of televised aggression. Therefore, this study investigated how teens’ trait aggression and sex guide their preferences for types (physical, verbal, and indirect) and contextual features of televised aggression (reward, punishment, justification, graphicness, realism, and humor). A linkage analysis combined survey data of 156 teens (balanced for trait aggression and sex, age 10-14 years) with a content analysis of 4,839 scenes from their favorite television programs. Aggressive teens preferred more physical aggression than less aggressive teens. Trait aggression was not related to preferences for contextual features of aggression. Boys preferred more physical aggression than girls, as well as more realistic, graphic, justified, rewarded, and punished aggression. This study underscores the importance of distinguishing between different viewers and forms of televised aggression.
... Players typically enjoy fighting for good outcomes, and they typically dislike harming innocent characters or fighting for an unjust cause. That is the story told by the data (Gollwitzer and Melzer 2012;Lin 2010;Tamborini et al. 2013;Weaver and Lewis 2012). This result, however, is neither surprising nor, I submit, particularly worrying. ...
Moral disengagement refers to cognitive processes of misrepresenting immoral acts in order to justify them. Research on moral disengagement factors in violent video games assumes that the digital representation of violence in video games is meaningfully similar to the cognitive misrepresentation of immoral acts that defines moral disengagement. Thus, the story worlds of violent video games are thought to misrepresent violence as being justified in order that players may morally disengage from their violent actions. This article challenges the moral disengagement perspective on violent video games by demonstrating its empirical reliance on a conceptual misunderstanding: The story worlds of most video games are not representational; they do not deviously misrepresent an underlying reality against which players ought rightfully to judge their own in-game conduct. Rather, video games simply present a story world that is as real or unreal as the violence that occurs within it. Therefore, moral disengagement theory is not readily applicable to the story worlds of video games. The article proceeds to show how this misconception leads researchers to draw empirically false and topically fraught conclusions about how players perceive and respond to violence in video games. Thus, the article challenges the moral disengagement literature’s claim to meaningfully inform the pervasive debates surrounding violent video games.
... Conjoint analysis can be used to investigate the relative importance of different attributes for the preference of a stimulus. Although conjoint analysis is a standard technique in marketing research (Green, Krieger, & Wind, 2001), it is surprisingly unknown in the field of communication studies (though compare to Hartmann & Klimmt, 2006;Knudsen & Johannesson, 2018;Tamborini, Weber, Bowman, Eden, & Skalski, 2013). ...
Surveys on choices oftentimes rely on Likert-type scales. However, they prevent researchers from identifying the relative importance of different stimulus features for the choice decision. Here, it is shown that conjoint analysis offers a variety of advantages emerging from its use of questions that force the subject to trade off conflicting attribute levels. This study discusses some problems of Likert-type scale measures and shows when conjoint analysis may solve some of these problems. Differences between measurements are illustrated in a uses and gratifications study, assessing convergent validity on Likert-type scale measures with traditional conjoint analysis and choice-based conjoint analysis. Results show that subjects prefer “cogni- tive needs” by Likert-type scale measures against “tension release needs” by both conjoint analyses. The different outcome is independent from linguistic variation and from dual-process models of information processing. Implications for communica- tion research are discussed.
... On the other hand, a considerable body of research in media and cognitive studies (cf. Gunter & Furnham, 1984;Gunter 1985;2008;Potter, 2003;Prince 2003;2009;Tamborini et al. 2013) has unravelled the more complex factors of people's perceptions and preferences of violence in audiovisual media. For instance, Potter (2003) proposes that audiences' perceptions of media violence draw on graphicness, realism, and justification for witnessed, onscreen violent actions. ...
... In other words, how authentic and how real the audiovisual narratives are presented to the viewers influences the narrative and persuasive effects of violent events. The recent empirical studies by Tamborini et al. (2013) broaden these factors and show just how screen violence is justified has impact on the viewers' enjoyment. ...
... That means, upon the reception of screen violence, the viewers' prior genre knowledge guides their expectations of how and why the characters use violent actions. Research findings reveal that screen violence is experientially distinct from real life violence (Shaw 2004;Tamborini et al. 2013) because screen violence is a part of recurring narrative event patterns that contribute to the enjoyment of the media and is contextualised within broader storytelling conventions familiar to the viewers. In sum, the narrative impact and social influences are rooted not in the presence of single violent fighting scenes but rather in the overall representation of human motivations and values, realised by complex relations (such as justification, motivation, and consequence) between narrative events. ...
This article aims to examine the narrative impacts and social influences of screen violence in audiovisual media. It suggests an integrative approach to synthesising the recent research findings in different disciplines such as cognitive science, media studies, neuroscience, and social semiotic theories. Based on the theoretical synthesis of narrative effects and persuasive functions, this paper establishes a method for analysing the contextualisation of violent events. In particular, the analytical method focuses on the two main narrative mechanisms for contextualising violent events, justifications of characters’ motivations for using violence and depictions of consequences . This article will apply the method to elucidate how different kinds of contextualisation yield different types of narrative impacts, persuasive potentials, and the ways in which social, political, and ideological issues can be learnt. Furthermore, a typology of characters’ motivations is also provided, which are often used for justifying the characters’ violent actions in audiovisual narratives. This paper also unravels how genre expectations are closely related to narrative functions of screen violence, particularly how genre shapes the viewers’ prediction and interpretation of violent events. Finally, the methods for motivation analysis of violent narrative events are extended to examine a particular genre of interactive audiovisual texts — empathy games.
