Yang, S. (2014). Effects of avatar race in violent video games on racial attitudes and aggression

Yang, S. (2014). Effects of avatar race in violent video games on racial attitudes and aggression

The article claims that the media frequently portrays Black characters as violent in video games. These characters reinforce racial stereotypes and aggression perpetuating racist or prejudice tendencies amongst White gamers.

There were 126 White college students, which is 60% male and 40% female; the gender of the participants was not relevant to the experiment though. The participants were told that they were only being tested on their gaming skills. After giving their consent, participants played Saints Row 2, a game that is Grand Theft Auto, for 20 min on a Playstation 3. The participants were randomly assigned to play the game as either a Black or White male avatar. Prior to the participants’ arrival at the experiment, the experimenter set up the game with the appropriate avatar and rotated the game view, so that the avatar was seen face on by the participant when he or she started playing. Black characters were given “Black features” and “Black dialect” and cornrows, with a more conservative style for White characters. Participants were also assigned randomly to play the game with a violent or nonviolent goal. In the violent condition, participants were told the goal was to break out of prison, which required them to kill many guards. Participants who completed the prison break before 20 min elapsed were given a chance to explore the city. In the nonviolent condition, participants were told that the goal was to find a chapel somewhere in the city and that they should avoid harming others during gameplay. Participants who found the chapel before 20 min elapsed were given a second goal. Thus, the design was a 2 (Black vs. White Avatar Race) 2 (Violent vs. Nonviolent Gameplay) between-subjects factorial design. To measure implicit negative attitudes about Blacks, participants completed a test in which photos of White and Black males and females are paired with ‘‘good’’ words like wonderful, glorious, happy or ‘‘bad’’ words like terrible, horrible, evil. 

This research tested the effects of playing a violent game as a Black (vs. White) avatar on racial stereotypes and aggression. In Experiment 1, White participants who played a violent video game as a Black avatar displayed stronger implicit and explicit negative attitudes toward Blacks than did participants who played a violent video game as a White avatar or a nonviolent game as a Black or White avatar. In Experiment 2, White participants who played a violent video game as a Black (vs. White) avatar displayed stronger implicit attitudes linking Blacks to weapons. Implicit attitudes, in turn, related to subsequent aggression. 

This article compares to, Gray, K. L. (2011). Deviant bodies, stigmatized identities, and racist acts: examining the experiences of African-American gamers in Xbox Live because they both did research relating to the depiction of Black characters as violent and the negative effects it has on Black people. Brock (2011). ‘‘When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong’’: Resident Evil 5, Racial Representation, and Gamers is similar as well because it examines the responses of white game players to black stereotypes and how it relates to white privilege.

Keyword: violent video games, implicit racism, prejudice, African American, Black, aggression

Why do White people associate a video game characters with actual Black people?

Have they had any other prior experience with actual Black people?

Were there any black characters that did not perform violently?