Research Comparison and Analysis
Gretchen Palmer
Department of Behavior Sciences, Liberty University
PSYC 312: Social Psychology (D01)
Dr. Jamie Claus Getz, LCMHC
November 24, 2025
Research Comparison and Analysis
In this paper I will be summarizing two different articles. I will be displaying their purpose,
method, findings, and limitations. Then I will be comparing the article’s content, methodology, findings,
and limitations. The first article that I will be discussing is, “A Longitudinal Social Network Perspective on
Adolescents’ Exposure to Violent Video Games and Aggression”.
A Longitudinal Social Network Perspective on Adolescents’ Exposure to Violent Video Games and
Aggression
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to inform the readers of the spreading violent video game exposure
and the aggression that it could affect the adolescent mind. The study that was performed shows that
adolescents started friendships with individuals who were comparable in aggression and had the
exposure to violent video games. An interesting fact that this article portrays is that even though your
friends’ are playing the violent video game, your aggression should not be effected. (G. P. Verheijen,
2021). So, if your friend is playing the video games more than you are playing them, then your
aggression will stay the same.
Method
First, I would like to discuss the procedure for collecting data for this articles’ study the
Kandinsky Longitudinal Study. For this study, the data is collected annually from seventh to tenth grade
students using surveys that are done on the computer during class. This particular study collected data
between 2014 to 2018 and included data from two different schools in the Netherlands. (G. P. Verheijen,
2021). Now let’s talk about the participants in this method. Adolescents’ were given their first survey
when they were in the seventh grade, the second survey was taken a year later, when the students were
in the eighth grade. Students were asked to choose their friends with unlimited choices, but to start with
the ones that they were closest to. Then students were asked to choose between classmates who kick,
push, or hits others; if the score was between 0.01-0.10 it was considered low aggression, 0.10-0.20 was
considered moderate aggression, and >0.20 was considered high aggression. (G. P. Verheijen, 2021).
Violent video game exposure was measured by the surveys that the students had taken about the kinds
of video games that they played in the past year.
Results
For the first survey, the number of friendship ties was three thousand six hundred forty-six, the
average number of nominated friends was 4.49, and the reciprocal friendship ties was forty-seven
percent. For the second survey, the number of friendship ties reduced by three hundred three, but the
reciprocated friendship ties went up to fifty percent. The results for the first survey regarding aggression
was that four hundred seventy-eight students were nonaggressive, one hundred eighty-six students had
low aggression, seventy-four students had moderate aggression, and fifty-eight students had high
aggression. The first survey for the VVE was one hundred fifty-three students who did not have VVE, one
hundred ninetyeight students had low VVE, one hundred ninety-seven students had moderate VVE, and
one hundred ninety-seven students had high VVE. (G. P. Verheijen, 2021). The findings for social
influence still remain a mystery.
Limitations
The limitations of this study were that the effect of adolescents’ self-reported exposure to
violent games on aggressive behavior was inconclusive. There were higher expectations that this study
would have more correlation to show higher numbers. I feel that if they had tested the same students
instead of the same classes, then the results could have been more profound and accurate.
The Contagious Impact of Playing Violent Video Games on Aggression: Longitudinal Evidence
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to show the research that violent video game play affects the players
friends. There were nine hundred eighty participants in this study. This study had the participants
describe their friends’ amount of violent video game play and their own aggression. (Greitemeyer, 2019).
This article was written as an informative article to help parents and teachers.
Method
The researchers gathered their data by gathering participants, both men and women with a
median age of thirty-five. They gave each participant an aggression survey and a survey about the
amount of violent video games that they played. The next step was that the participants were given the
same surveys, but the answers were about the people that were closest to them. (Greitemeyer, 2019).
Results
The results proved that the amount of violent video game play and the reported aggression was
profound. The results proved that there is an increase in aggression with the violent video game play.
The participant’s found that their friends’ are similar to them and that their aggression was similar in the
amount of violent video game play. (Greitemeyer, 2019).
Limitations
The first limitation is that there is no way to know if the participant accurately described their
friends’ violent video game play or if they were using their own answers as an anchor. The second
limitation would be that there is no way to tell if the participants were being truthful on their
selfreporting of their aggression survey. The self-reporting is a good way to incorporate this study, but
there is no way to tell if the participant’s are being truthful or making themselves look more favorable
than their friends.
Analysis and Comparison
Both of these articles were strong, but I do not think that one was stronger than the other. Both
articles gathered their research with a self-reporting survey; there is just no way to tell if the participants
were being truthful in their answers. The results do not contradict each other, because one study was
done on seventh and eighth graders, whereas the other study was done on men and women around
thirty-five years old. Yes, conflicting results could both be correct, because the participant group might
be different. I think that the limitations detract from the results in a significant way, because there is no
way to know if the self-reported answers are truthful or if the participant is trying to be more favorable.
Conclusion
Both of these articles had very important information. Instead of using a longitudinal research
study, I think that there should be an experimental research study done on the relationship between
violent video game play and aggression. I feel that the limitations of the self-reporting surveys greatly
affect the results. Experimental research is “manipulating some factor to see its effect on another”
(Twenge, 2025).
References
G. P. Verheijen, W. J. (2021). A Longitudinal Social Network Perspective on Adolescents' Exposure to
Violent Video Games and Aggression. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 24(1),
24-31.
Greitemeyer, T. (2019). The contagious impact of playing violent video games on aggression:
Longitudinal evidence. Aggressive behavior, 45(6), 635-642.
Twenge, D. G. (2025). Social Psychology. New York: McGraw Hill LLC.
