Seeking Solace, Not Catharsis: Frustration Diminishes the Inclination to Play Violent Video Games

We conducted an experiment involving N = 788 participants with the aim to confirm the existence of the causal effect of frustration on the immediate inclination of habitual gamers to play violent video games (VVGs). Frustration was manipulated, and long-term VVG exposure was measured. We hypothesized that an interaction between frustration and VVG exposure would occur, predicting an increased inclination to play VVGs when frustrated, and this tendency should be most pronounced for habitual VVG players. Contrary to our predictions, our findings demonstrate the absence of such an interaction effect, showing instead a reduction in the inclination to play VVGs when frustrated, irrespective of the level of VVG exposure. In light of our findings, we provide a critical discussion of the theory according to which players seek to experience catharsis in VVGs. We argue that our findings contribute to the cumulative knowledge about frustration and offer new perspectives for future research in the field of VVG research

Effects of demand characteristics in VVG research

This project aims to investigate the effects of demand characteristics in violent video game researc

A practical test of the link between perceived identifiability and prosociality with two field studies

Covering the face with masks in public settings has been recommended since the start of the pandemic. Because faces provide information about identity, and that face masks hide a portion of the face, it is plausible to expect individuals who wear a mask to consider themselves less identifiable. Prior research suggests that perceived identifiability is positively related to prosocial behavior, and with two pre-registered field studies (total N = 5706) we provide a currently relevant and practical test of this relation. Our findings indicate that mask wearers and non-wearers display equivalent levels of helping behavior (Studies 1 and 2), although mask wearers have a lower level of perceived identifiability than those without a mask (Study 2). Overall, our findings suggest that claims that face masks are related to selfish behavior are not warranted, and that there is no practical link between perceived identifiability and prosocial behavior

Bestiary of Questionable Research Practices in Psychology

Questionable research practices (QRPs) pose a significant threat to the integrity and credibility of scientific research. However, historically, they remain ill-defined and a comprehensive list of QRPs is lacking. The article addresses this concern by defining, collecting, and categorizing QRPs using an expert consensus method. Collaborators of the study agreed on the following definition: “Questionable research practices (QRPs) are ways of producing, maintaining, sharing, analyzing, or interpreting data that are likely to produce misleading conclusions, typically in the interest of the researcher. QRPs are not normally considered to include research practices that are prohibited or proscribed in the researcher’s field (e.g., fraud, research misconduct). Neither do they include random/non-motivated researcher error (e.g., accidental data loss).” Drawing from both iterative discussions and existing literature, we collected, defined and categorized 40 QRPs. We also considered attributes such as potential harms, detectability, clues, and remedies for each QRP. The results suggest that QRPs are pervasive and versatile, and have the potential to undermine all stages of the scientific enterprise. This work contributes to the maintenance of research integrity, transparency, and reliability by raising awareness for and improving the understanding of QRPs

Practicing theory building in a many modelers hackathon: A proof of concept

Scientific theories reflect some of humanity's greatest epistemic achievements. The best theories motivate us to search for discoveries, guide us towards successful interventions, and help us to explain and organize knowledge. Such theories require a high degree of specificity, and specifying them requires modeling skills. Unfortunately, in psychological science, theories are often not precise, and psychological scientists often lack the technical skills to formally specify existing theories. This problem raises the question: How can we promote formal theory development in psychology, where there are many content experts but few modelers? In this paper, we discuss one strategy for addressing this issue: a Many Modelers approach. Many Modelers consist of mixed teams of modelers and non-modelers that collaborate to create a formal theory of a phenomenon. We report a proof of concept of this approach, which we piloted as a three-hour hackathon at the SIPS 2021 conference. We find that (a) psychologists who have never developed a formal model can become excited about formal modeling and theorizing; (b) a division of labor in formal theorizing could be possible where only one or a few team members possess the prerequisite modeling expertise; and (c) first working prototypes of a theoretical model can be created in a short period of time