Aggressive motivation mediates the influence of prosocial video game play on young children’s aggressive behavior
IntroductionAggressive 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 gen...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1526493/full |
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| author | Yan Li Yan Li Tao Deng Nicola Ngombe Philipp Kanske |
| author_facet | Yan Li Yan Li Tao Deng Nicola Ngombe Philipp Kanske |
| author_sort | Yan Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionAggressive 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.MethodsA 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.ResultsChildren 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.DiscussionThese 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. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a11c36b65a464825876b3c9b9eaef4e1 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-a11c36b65a464825876b3c9b9eaef4e12025-08-20T03:07:21ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782025-06-011610.3389/fpsyg.2025.15264931526493Aggressive motivation mediates the influence of prosocial video game play on young children’s aggressive behaviorYan Li0Yan Li1Tao Deng2Nicola Ngombe3Philipp Kanske4Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, GermanyDepartment of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandFaculty of Education, Northeast Normal University, Jilin, ChinaClinical Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, GermanyClinical Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, GermanyIntroductionAggressive 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.MethodsA 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.ResultsChildren 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.DiscussionThese 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.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1526493/fullprosocial video gamesaggressive behaviormotivationpre-schoolersmediation analysis |
| spellingShingle | Yan Li Yan Li Tao Deng Nicola Ngombe Philipp Kanske Aggressive motivation mediates the influence of prosocial video game play on young children’s aggressive behavior Frontiers in Psychology prosocial video games aggressive behavior motivation pre-schoolers mediation analysis |
| title | Aggressive motivation mediates the influence of prosocial video game play on young children’s aggressive behavior |
| title_full | Aggressive motivation mediates the influence of prosocial video game play on young children’s aggressive behavior |
| title_fullStr | Aggressive motivation mediates the influence of prosocial video game play on young children’s aggressive behavior |
| title_full_unstemmed | Aggressive motivation mediates the influence of prosocial video game play on young children’s aggressive behavior |
| title_short | Aggressive motivation mediates the influence of prosocial video game play on young children’s aggressive behavior |
| title_sort | aggressive motivation mediates the influence of prosocial video game play on young children s aggressive behavior |
| topic | prosocial video games aggressive behavior motivation pre-schoolers mediation analysis |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1526493/full |
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