Multiple Personalities

In general, I am your average, mild-mannered graduate student.  I'm pretty low-key, good at keeping my emotions in check, and my daily life can be characterized as a drama-free zone; however, when I put on any kind of team uniform or athletic gear and being my preparation for an athletic competition or training session, I become a totally different person.  I'm intense, aggressive, and fiery, and while I have a lot of respect for my opponents, being friendly is the last thing on my mind.

For me, the context of athletic competition definitely results in elevated levels of aggression.  The Gentile (2007) article brings up the idea of cognitive cues sparking certain emotions based on the associations the brain makes with these cues.  Just as my athletic preparation gets my blood going, for a gamer, picking up the controller, flipping on the console, and beginning to play can have a similar effect.

Even though this idea is used to support the notion that video games lead to violent behavior, I would argue that these cues compartmentalize the increase aggression within a specific context and, in doing so, prevent this violent or aggression behavior, in most cases, from being transferred to the real world.

Jen mentioned last class that it's never just one thing that is the cause of either good or bad behavior.  Many factors need to be taken into account.  There isn't any one thing in my pre-game ritual that creates a sudden spike in my adrenaline level--it's a combination of factors, which, together, cue my brain to get fired up.  Similarly, a person getting ready to play a video game probably doesn't experience any kind of emotional rise until a combination of cues has helped him or her "become" the in-game character.  

So, while I do agree that certain cues, both inside and outside of video games, can lead to elevated levels of aggression, I also feel that, in most, cases, any increase in levels of aggression stay safely within the word in which those cues exist.

**Now, to completely contradict my argument, here is a Nike commercial that Caleb and I were discussing in class last Tuesday during the break.  This is actually a single cue that gets me fired up every time I see it (although I should also note that it hasn't caused me to violently attack anyone...at least not yet.)