PRZYBYLSKI.DECI.RIGBY.AND RYAN sders the factor in the gaming-ea this.it is plausib le that need-thwarting experiences in g bustly contribute to layer essive thoughts.feeling and ntexts th and well-be s well as stoke po aggressi n.By vational sources of aggressive feelings,thoughts,and behavior Study 1 The Present Research Stdy 1investigated how players'com tudies omn-r arting experiences of comp games influence indicators of son et al 2004)that violent and the cuive deba gam nt gam y-ofcoitrolsinncncCd th d-thwarting hypoteses across ca the en (Studies and7),that xplicitly manipulated vels of mastery Sudies4.and 6.Designing the studies in this way allowed us o disentangle game content from the motivational aspects of game would be negatively associated In Study 1.we revisited a widely cited gaming related ag Method e origin of twe duates (41 males omputer games related to player aggression.In this study ived exra course credit for participating.Questionnaires wen tent of a s participan were to play one of two targe to test how e tionnaires,aggressive feelings were ass sed before and afte gam mastery-of-contro was mea dig deeper into the factor s that shan randomly of tv target gan n et al and zle game's interface to test how this ange inuen ed a emplarenl-playc game. pacted the e c positivity of attitude abo ut the gam Thi skill ca dily mastered by gaming ndermine s me meant for dedicaed c puter game plavers.Designed fo ive tigate by and in sudy 6.we All items nipulated a puz s leve of cha nge to evaluate how scales and utilized their scale as appropriate response ancho nces player aggressive feeling Aggre aim was to test the competen dance hypothesis in a com o explode and "I feel friendly"(reversed)Jtems ability in player compe stplay ssive feelings g enio ss the =0.95.= .96 we are inte rested in short-term seven studies.our aim was to investigate a perspective that con- shifts in aggressive feelings from pre-to postengagement,we engagement, immersion, and positive short-term shifts in player well￾being (Przybylski et al., 2009; Ryan, Rigby, & Przybylski, 2006). Given this, it is plausible that need-thwarting experiences in games have the opposite effect. Specifically, gaming contexts that impede the fundamental need for competence may undermine game appeal and well-being, as well as stoke postgame aggression. By empir￾ically evaluating this idea, our aim is to bring a new perspective to the current literature and advance understanding about the moti￾vational sources of aggressive feelings, thoughts, and behavior. The Present Research Seven studies were conducted to explore how competence￾thwarting experiences of computer games influence indicators of aggression and gaming motivation. Given the active debate sur￾rounding the links between violent content and aggression, the present work evaluated these need-thwarting hypotheses across a range of gaming contexts. We examined the effects of competence deprivation using specific designs that compared games varying in their violent content (Studies 1 and 7), that explicitly manipulated violent content (Studies 2 and 5), or that had nonviolent content (Studies 3, 4, and 6). Designing the studies in this way allowed us to disentangle game content from the motivational aspects of game structure. In Study 1, we revisited a widely cited gaming related aggres￾sion study from a motivational perspective. The original work focused on how differences between the violent contents of two computer games related to player aggression. In this study, we explored how the varied motivational features of the games used in the experiment related to short-term shifts in aggressive feelings. In Study 2, we manipulated the violent content of a single game, holding the motivational features of the game constant. Our goal was to test how players’ experiences of mastery related to aggres￾sive feelings independent of the violent contents of the game. In Studies 3 and 4, we shifted the focus to nonviolent gaming contexts to dig deeper into the factors that shape player experi￾ences of competence as well as influence aggressive thoughts and feelings. In both experiments, we manipulated the complexity of a puzzle game’s interface to test how this change influenced assess￾ments of competence and aggression. First, we evaluated how complex game controls impacted the accessibility of aggressive thoughts and positivity of attitudes about the game. Second, we tested the idea that increases in aggression rooted in competence deprivation would undermine game enjoyment. In Studies 5 and 6, we examined additional mechanisms through which games might influence player competence, aggressive feel￾ings, and aggressive behavior. In Study 5, we investigated how different levels of player experience influenced aggressive feelings as mediated by players’ felt competence, and in Study 6, we manipulated a puzzle game’s level of challenge to evaluate how competence-impedance influences players’ aggressive feelings and behavior. Finally in Study 7, we shifted from experimental methods to a field study, recruiting self-selecting computer-game players. Our aim was to test the competence-impedance hypothesis in a com￾munity sample. We evaluated how variability in player compe￾tence as well as between-game variability in violent content related to postplay aggressive feelings and gaming enjoyment. Across the seven studies, our aim was to investigate a perspective that con￾siders the interactivity of games as a factor in the gaming-related aggression area and to clarify how some aspects of gaming ro￾bustly contribute to players’ aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. We did that by evaluating the need-thwarting hypoth￾esis derived from SDT in the gaming domain, an area that is principally concerned with performance, interaction, and compe￾tence. Study 1 Study 1 investigated how players’ competent use of game in￾terfaces related to gaming-related aggression. We adapted a widely cited experimental design focused on gaming and aggression (An￾derson et al., 2004) that compared one violent game and one nonviolent game. Because the violent game had complex controls and the nonviolent exemplar had simpler controls, we tested the extent to which self-reported mastery-of-controls influenced short￾term increases in aggressive feelings while controlling for the game content. We predicted that those playing the violent game (with a complex interface) would report lower levels of mastery￾of-controls compared to those assigned to play the low-violence game, and we hypothesized that the players’ mastery-of-controls would be negatively associated with aggressive affect. Method Procedure. Ninety-nine university undergraduates (41 males) received extra course credit for participating. Questionnaires were administered before and after a 20-min game engagement period. Following the completion of the first group of questionnaires, participants were randomly assigned to play one of two target games. Demographic information was collected on the initial set of questionnaires, aggressive feelings were assessed before and after game engagement, and the players’ mastery-of-controls was mea￾sured following game engagement. Target games. Participants were randomly assigned to play one of two target games identified by Anderson et al. (2004; Study 2) as representative of violent and nonviolent games. The nonvi￾olent exemplar, Glider Pro 4, is a single-player game, designed for relatively short play, in which players use two keyboard keys to navigate a paper airplane through a two-dimensional image of a home interior. This skill can be readily mastered by gaming novices. The violent game used in this study, Marathon 2, is a game meant for dedicated computer game players. Designed for extended gaming sessions, players must use a mouse and 20 keyboard keys to navigate combat in a three-dimensional environ￾ment. Measures. Survey measures were delivered in HTML format. All items, except for participant gender and age, used 7-point scales and utilized their scale as appropriate response anchors. Aggressive affect. The 35-item State Hostility Scale was used to assess aggressive feelings (Anderson et al., 1995). Participants rated the extent to which they agreed with each hostile mood statement at that moment: “I feel irritated,” “I feel like I am about to explode,” and “I feel friendly” (reversed). Items were reversed appropriately and averaged, creating before-play (M
2.41, SD
0.82,
.97) and after-play aggressive affect scores (M
2.54, SD
0.95,
.96). Because we are interested in short-term shifts in aggressive feelings from pre- to postengagement, we This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. 444 PRZYBYLSKI, DECI, RIGBY, AND RYAN