Association Between the Time Spent Playing Video Games and the Tendency to Aggressiveness in University Students from Bogotá D.C.

Abstract

Currently, research on the benefits and harm of video games on the psychological well-being of individuals has produced contradictory evidence on variables such as the time spent on this practice and the expression of aggressiveness. This study aims to describe the association between the time that people spend daily on video games and the tendency to aggressiveness. A factorial cut correlational design (4 x 2 x 2 x 4) was carried out considering variables of age, sex, type of university and daily time of dedication. An online instrument of 20 items on a 5-level Likert scale was applied to a sample of 121 university students from Bogotá D.C. The analysis plan included exploratory factor analysis in JASP 0.12.2.0 and analysis of variance, multivariate analysis of variance and description of the profile of the study population in SPSS 24. Three factors of interest were obtained: anxiety in the use of video games, instrumental aggressiveness and verbal aggressiveness. Additionally, significant differences were found between casual players (less than 2 hours a day) and players with a time playing videogames greater than 2 hours per day in items of instrumental insult, isolation, emotional manipulation and trolling. The theoretical implications of the findings are discussed and strategies are offered to reduce the impact of screen leisure time, highlighting the educational potential of video games within adequate time limits in order to prevent future video game addiction disorders.