Impact of Violent Video Games and Aggression Among Adolescents

With the increasing prevalence of technology and the growing availability of gaming platforms, violent games have attained widespread popularity among young people, prompting serious concerns about their effect on mental health and behavior. Drawing on the General Aggression Model proposed by Anderson and Bushman (2002), the study explored whether frequent engagement with violent gaming material shapes hostile thinking patterns, emotional reactions, and hostile behavior in adolescents. The research applied a quantitative correlational approach, including 150 participants (105 male and 45 female) between the ages of 10 and 19. These individuals were chosen through convenient sampling from different schools and colleges throughout Pakistan. The researchers collected data using two identified instruments: the Violent Video Game Exposure Questionnaire (Anderson & Dill, 2000) and the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire-Short Form (Bryant & Smith, 2001). The data were examined using Pearson correlation, linear regression, independent samples t-tests, and one-way ANOVA. The findings indicated a robust positive relationship among violent video game exposure and aggressive tendencies (r= 0.84, p < 0.01). Regression results demonstrated that exposure to violent games was a significant predictor of aggression, accounting for 80% of the total variance (R² = 0.80). Moreover, adolescents who spent over two hours daily playing violent games exhibited the most evident aggression levels, whereas those who were involved with non-violent games displayed the least aggressive behavior. These results prove the hypothesis that exposure to violent video games is linked to greater levels of hostile behavior in Pakistani adolescents.