Abhängigkeitsphänomene, Aggressivität und Empathie bei exzessiven Nutzern von Computerspielen vom First-Person-Shooter-Typ

The question, if and how playing First-Person-Shooter games (FPS) has an effect on real aggressive behaviour, has not been answered conclusively and is still controversially discussed. In this context, there is a lack of knowledge, in how far quantitative aspects of excessive or addicted use of FPS are of concern. The presented study deals with addicted features of a group of excessive users and their relation to factors of aggressiveness and empathy. 25 young men using FPS at least 4 h/d during the preceding 2 years were examined psychometrically and compared with a group of male controls with an equal distribution of sex, age and school education. The excessive users with a mean age of 23,5 years mainly play online-games and exhibit significantly higher values in the Internet Addiction Scale (ISS) than the control group. Within the group of excessive players the ISS-values correlate significantly with the global scale for factors of aggression (FAF). Concerning aspects of aggressiveness and empathy the results are complex and inconsistent. Yet, for the excessive users the results of the FAF-subscale for aggressive inhibition and for the Eysenck Empathy Scale are significantly lower and correlate with each other positively. The 8 excessive players (32%), who fulfilled the criteria for Internet addiction, showed significantly higher scores for spontaneous aggression, hostility and antisocial tendencies. The results imply that online-FPS contain an addictive potential. Not only qualitative but also quantitative aspects of an addictive use of violent video games and their effects on aggressiveness should be taken into account in terms of further research and prevention.