Game Player Characteristics and Interactive Content: Exploring the Role of Personality and Telepresence in Video Game Violence

Abstract

The methodological techniques used in past video game content analyses overlook player differences that might play an important role in generating violent content. The current study aimed to explore these differences in terms of personality type, trait hostility, perceived realism, and telepresence tendency. One hundred and sixty participants were assigned to play one of four video games after filling out a series of personality inventories. Content was then evaluated using coding techniques adapted from prior video game content analyses (Smith, Lachlan, & Tamborini, 2003). The findings indicated that game content is highly variable across player characteristics and telepresence tendencies.

Keywords:

• Aggression
• Content Analysis
• Video Games

Notes

Standardized regression coefficients: ∗p < .05, ^†p < .01.

Standardized regression coefficients: ∗p < .05, ^†p < .01, ‡p < .06.

The observant reader will notice that traditional intercoder reliability statistics were not used in the coder training procedures. This decision was made due to the fact that as count variables, the data are continuous. More typical intercoder reliability statistics, such as Cohen's kappa and Scott's pi, are intended for evaluating exact agreement between coders on categorical data (see Cohen, 1960; Krippendorf, 1980). Given the continuous nature of the data, the current study used Cronbach's alpha to assess intercoder reliability, treating each of the coders as a separate indicator of the same variable and evaluating their consistency.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kenneth A. Lachlan

Kenneth Lachlan (PhD, Michigan State University, 2003) is an assistant professor in the Communication Department at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA.

Erin K. Maloney

Erin Maloney (MA, University of Connecticut, 2006) is a graduate assistant in the Communication Department at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.