Wei Ming-Chen, Chen Shuai, Wang Xu, Liu Yan-Ling
Institute of Curriculum and Instruction, Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
Research Center of Mental Health Education, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
J Adolesc. 2025 Aug;97(6):1656-1666. doi: 10.1002/jad.12526. Epub 2025 Jun 2.
Interactions within gaming contexts, whether competitive or cooperative, play a pivotal role in shaping players' behavioral responses. Research suggests that competitive gaming can exacerbate aggressive behavior. However, the impact of competition on aggression among high school students and potential mitigating factors remains inadequately explored. This study examines the effects of competitive and cooperative gaming contexts on aggressive behavior in high school students through survey research and experimental studies.
Study 1 collected data via online questionnaires in December 2022, utilizing the Gaming Experience Questionnaire and the Aggression Questionnaire to investigate 876 first-year high school students (455 boys, 421 girls) from Sichuan Province, China. Study 2 employed 2 (competitive context: yes/no) × 2 (cooperative context: yes/no) between-groups experimental-control design. In December 2022, 108 first-year high school students (46 boys, 62 girls) from Sichuan Province, China, were recruited to participate in the study. The game material used was "Overcooked 2," and the dependent variable was assessed using the Competitive Reaction Time Task.
The results of Study 1 indicated that highly competitive game exposure was associated with increased aggression, while cooperative game exposure played a moderating (or mitigating) role. The results of Study 2 revealed that competitive game context significantly increased the player's aggressive behavior, whereas cooperative game context moderated (or alleviated) the influence of competitive game context on aggressive behavior.
Findings from this study indicated that competitive contexts within games amplified postgame aggressive behavior among high school students. Notably, cooperative contexts within games were found to alleviate the aggression-enhancing effects of competition. These results present a novel avenue for exploring strategies to mitigate the adverse impacts of online video games on player behavior.
游戏环境中的互动，无论是竞争性的还是合作性的，在塑造玩家的行为反应方面都起着关键作用。研究表明，竞争性游戏会加剧攻击性行为。然而，竞争对高中生攻击性行为的影响以及潜在的缓解因素仍未得到充分探讨。本研究通过调查研究和实验研究，考察竞争性和合作性游戏环境对高中生攻击性行为的影响。
研究1于2022年12月通过在线问卷收集数据，使用游戏体验问卷和攻击问卷对来自中国四川省的876名高一学生（455名男生，421名女生）进行调查。研究2采用2（竞争环境：是/否）×2（合作环境：是/否）组间实验对照设计。2022年12月，招募了来自中国四川省的108名高一学生（46名男生，62名女生）参与研究。使用的游戏材料是《煮糊了2》，因变量通过竞争性反应时任务进行评估。
研究1的结果表明，高竞争性游戏暴露与攻击性增加有关，而合作性游戏暴露起到了调节（或缓解）作用。研究2的结果显示，竞争游戏环境显著增加了玩家的攻击性行为，而合作游戏环境调节（或减轻）了竞争游戏环境对攻击性行为的影响。
本研究结果表明，游戏中的竞争环境会放大高中生赛后的攻击性行为。值得注意的是，游戏中的合作环境被发现可以减轻竞争的攻击增强效应。这些结果为探索减轻在线视频游戏对玩家行为的不利影响的策略提供了一条新途径。
