Is Aggression Contagious Online? A Case of Swearing on Donald Trump’s Campaign Videos on YouTube

This study explores whether aggressive text-based interactions in social media are contagious. In particular, we examine swearing behaviour of YouTube commentators in response to videos and comments posted on the official Donald Trump’s campaign channel. Our analysis reveals the presence of mimicry of verbal aggression. Specifically, swearing in a parent comment is significantly and positively associated with the likelihood and intensity of swearing in subsequent ‘children’ comments. The study also confirms that swearing is not solely a product of an individual speech habit but also a spreadable social practice. Based on the findings, we conclude that aggressive emotional state can be contagious through textual mimicry.

Measuring the capacity of active video games for social interaction: The Social Interaction Potential Assessment tool

Active Video Games (AVGs) have been designed and promoted for family centred leisure in the home. However, few studies have investigated their capacity to facilitate psychosocial outcomes. This study aimed to establish a reliable system to rate the potential of AVGs to facilitate social interaction among players. A conceptual framework was developed to establish the core elements of the Social Interaction Potential Assessment Tool (SIPA). Four raters implemented the SIPA across five AVGs. ANOVAs were conducted to establish the ability of the SIPA to differentiate between AVGs and inter- and intra-rater reliability was tested. The overall SIPA could differentiate between AVGs social features. A significant difference was found for Social Facilitators and Pro-social Features, but not for Anti-social Features (p < 0.05). The overall SIPA exhibited excellent inter-rater (ICC = 0.92) and intra-rater (ICCs = 0.95 - 0.99) reliability. This study identified the core elements of AVGs that enable social interaction. The SIPA tool can assess AVGs’ potential to facilitate social interaction among players. Subsequently, the SIPA rating can provide consumers with valuable information on which to base AVG purchasing decisions

A digitális kultúra hatása az emberi viselkedésre a gamifikáció példáján keresztül = The impact of digital culture on human behiavor through the example of gamification

Kutatásom két legfontosabb megállapítása: 1. A technológia terjedés sebesség miatt egy olyan nemzedék jelenik meg, mely (digitális) kultúrájának kialakításakor nem támaszkodhat elei tudására és tapasztalatára – "magára hagyott nemzedék". 2. A játékszerű gondolkodás messze túlmutat a szórakozáson, társadalmi működési rendszer. Meglátásom szerint a gamifikációs mentális logikák működése (a digitális kultúra számos jellemzőjének összegeként is) meghatározza a digitális kultúrába belépő, de még inkább az ebben nevelkedő emberek viselkedését

Factoring in gamer identity : the application of social identity theory and flow to understanding video game violence effects

The video game industry has become integrated into American lives and has continued to grow at a steady rate. This project utilizes social identity theory, self-categorization theory, and flow theory to examine differences in aggression and processing of video games between three gamer types: non-gamer, casual gamer, and core gamer. A careful review of previous literature was conducted to explore research involving violent video games, various effects caused by video game play, and how video game research has been utilized in conjunction with social identity theory, self-categorization theory, and flow theory. A gap in the literature was identified that most studies focusing on video game effects did not address participants' relationship with video games beyond the amount of time dedicated to gameplay. In past research focused on analyzing gamer identity (Neys, Jansz, and Tan, 2014), non-gamers were excluded from analyses, limiting the conclusions one can make about how video game may affect gamers versus non-gamers differentially. Gamer identity is not unidimensional, rather different types of gamers have a different level of investment in the time they dedicate to video games as well as preferences for what they play. This project explored the idea that gamers may react differently to video game stimuli when compared to non-gamers. Grand Theft Auto IV was utilized as a stimulus in an experiment that measured how violence impacts the different types of gamers. The results indicated that core gamers do react to violent content differently than non-gamers and casual gamers in that hostility and empathy are unaffected by short-term exposure to a violent game stimulus for core gamers. This study suggests that core gamers process video game stimuli differently than non-gamers and casual gamers. The mechanisms by which this happens were not explored, but the consistency of the results provide evidence for unique processing of video game stimulus by core gamers. Results are discussed, and suggestions are made for future research.Includes biblographical reference

Voices of USU: An Anthology of Student Writing, 2015

This collection of student writing represents the voices of over 2,000 students who enroll each academic year in Utah State University’s second-year composition course, Intermediate Writing: Research Writing in a Persuasive Mode. Voices of USU celebrates excellence in writing by providing undergraduate students of diverse backgrounds and disciplines the opportunity to have their work published.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/voicesofusu/1006/thumbnail.jp