Aggressive motivation mediates the influence of prosocial video game play on young children's aggressive behavior.

IF 2.6 3区心理学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Frontiers in Psychology Pub Date : 2025-06-04 eCollection Date: 2025-01-01 DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1526493

Yan Li, Tao Deng, Nicola Ngombe, Philipp Kanske

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction: Aggressive behavior in early childhood can have lasting consequences. This study examined whether prosocial video game play can reduce aggressive behavior in relatively Chinese preschoolers and explored the mediating role of aggressive motivation and the moderating effects of age and gender.

Methods: A total of 132 children aged 4 to 6 years (50% girls; M = 5.0, SD = 0.82) participated in a between-subjects experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to play either a prosocial or a neutral video game. Aggressive behavior and aggressive motivation were assessed following gameplay.

Results: Children who played the prosocial video game exhibited significantly lower levels of aggressive behavior than those in the neutral game condition. Revenge motivation significantly mediated this effect. The mediating effect was stronger in boys than in girls; age did not moderate the associations.

Discussion: These findings suggest that prosocial video games may be effective in reducing aggressive behavior among preschoolers, partly by lowering revenge-related motivation. Gender differences in the mediation pathway highlight the need for tailored early interventions.

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攻击动机在亲社会电子游戏对幼儿攻击行为的影响中起中介作用。

儿童早期的攻击行为会产生持久的后果。本研究考察了亲社会电子游戏是否可以减少相对中国学龄前儿童的攻击行为，并探讨了攻击动机的中介作用以及年龄和性别的调节作用。方法：共132例4 ~ 6岁儿童(50%为女童；M = 5.0, SD = 0.82)参加受试者间实验。参与者被随机分配玩亲社会或中立的电子游戏。在游戏结束后，对攻击行为和攻击动机进行评估。结果：亲社会游戏组儿童的攻击行为水平明显低于中性游戏组儿童。报复动机显著调节了这一效应。男孩的中介效应强于女孩；年龄并没有缓和这种关联。讨论：这些发现表明亲社会的电子游戏可以有效地减少学龄前儿童的攻击行为，部分原因是通过降低与复仇相关的动机。调解途径中的性别差异突出了量身定制早期干预措施的必要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Frontiers in Psychology PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY-

CiteScore

5.30

自引率

13.20%

发文量

7396

审稿时长

14 weeks

期刊介绍： Frontiers in Psychology is the largest journal in its field, publishing rigorously peer-reviewed research across the psychological sciences, from clinical research to cognitive science, from perception to consciousness, from imaging studies to human factors, and from animal cognition to social psychology. Field Chief Editor Axel Cleeremans at the Free University of Brussels is supported by an outstanding Editorial Board of international researchers. This multidisciplinary open-access journal is at the forefront of disseminating and communicating scientific knowledge and impactful discoveries to researchers, academics, clinicians and the public worldwide. The journal publishes the best research across the entire field of psychology. Today, psychological science is becoming increasingly important at all levels of society, from the treatment of clinical disorders to our basic understanding of how the mind works. It is highly interdisciplinary, borrowing questions from philosophy, methods from neuroscience and insights from clinical practice - all in the goal of furthering our grasp of human nature and society, as well as our ability to develop new intervention methods.