The unexpected comfort of wearing headphones: Emotional and cognitive effects of headphone use when playing a bloody video game

Karyn Riddle; Zhen Di; Sunghak Kim; Eunyoung Myung; Swee Kiat Tay; Fangxin Xu

doi:10.1016/j.entcom.2016.10.004

The unexpected comfort of wearing headphones: Emotional and cognitive effects of headphone use when playing a bloody video game

Karyn Riddle^*, Zhen Di, Sunghak Kim, Eunyoung Myung, Swee Kiat Tay, Fangxin Xu

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Media and Communication

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study tests the theory of vivid media violence, exploring whether the presence of blood in a violent game and the use of headphones impacts emotions (frustration, fear, anxiety) and the level of cognitive elaboration. Results of an experiment suggest participants felt stronger negative emotions when playing a bloody game with headphones off. When the video game was not bloody, headphones did not affect emotions. In addition, frustration was related to cognitive elaboration whereas fear and anxiety were not. Implications for research exploring discrete emotions, as well as the intersection between auditory and visual features in video games, are discussed. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	43-52
Journal	Entertainment Computing
Volume	19
Online published	2 Nov 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2016.10.004
Publication status	Published - Mar 2017

Bibliographical note

Full text of this publication does not contain sufficient affiliation information. With consent from the author(s) concerned, the Research Unit(s) information for this record is based on the existing academic department affiliation of the author(s).

Research Keywords

Blood
Emotions
Headphones
Video games
Vividness

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10.1016/j.entcom.2016.10.004

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title = "The unexpected comfort of wearing headphones: Emotional and cognitive effects of headphone use when playing a bloody video game",

abstract = "This study tests the theory of vivid media violence, exploring whether the presence of blood in a violent game and the use of headphones impacts emotions (frustration, fear, anxiety) and the level of cognitive elaboration. Results of an experiment suggest participants felt stronger negative emotions when playing a bloody game with headphones off. When the video game was not bloody, headphones did not affect emotions. In addition, frustration was related to cognitive elaboration whereas fear and anxiety were not. Implications for research exploring discrete emotions, as well as the intersection between auditory and visual features in video games, are discussed. {\textcopyright} 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.",

keywords = "Blood, Emotions, Headphones, Video games, Vividness",

author = "Karyn Riddle and Zhen Di and Sunghak Kim and Eunyoung Myung and Tay, {Swee Kiat} and Fangxin Xu",

note = "Full text of this publication does not contain sufficient affiliation information. With consent from the author(s) concerned, the Research Unit(s) information for this record is based on the existing academic department affiliation of the author(s).",

year = "2017",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1016/j.entcom.2016.10.004",

language = "English",

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AU - Di, Zhen

AU - Kim, Sunghak

AU - Myung, Eunyoung

AU - Tay, Swee Kiat

AU - Xu, Fangxin

N1 - Full text of this publication does not contain sufficient affiliation information. With consent from the author(s) concerned, the Research Unit(s) information for this record is based on the existing academic department affiliation of the author(s).

PY - 2017/3

Y1 - 2017/3

N2 - This study tests the theory of vivid media violence, exploring whether the presence of blood in a violent game and the use of headphones impacts emotions (frustration, fear, anxiety) and the level of cognitive elaboration. Results of an experiment suggest participants felt stronger negative emotions when playing a bloody game with headphones off. When the video game was not bloody, headphones did not affect emotions. In addition, frustration was related to cognitive elaboration whereas fear and anxiety were not. Implications for research exploring discrete emotions, as well as the intersection between auditory and visual features in video games, are discussed. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

AB - This study tests the theory of vivid media violence, exploring whether the presence of blood in a violent game and the use of headphones impacts emotions (frustration, fear, anxiety) and the level of cognitive elaboration. Results of an experiment suggest participants felt stronger negative emotions when playing a bloody game with headphones off. When the video game was not bloody, headphones did not affect emotions. In addition, frustration was related to cognitive elaboration whereas fear and anxiety were not. Implications for research exploring discrete emotions, as well as the intersection between auditory and visual features in video games, are discussed. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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KW - Emotions

KW - Headphones

KW - Video games

KW - Vividness

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DO - 10.1016/j.entcom.2016.10.004

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 1875-9521

VL - 19

SP - 43

EP - 52

JO - Entertainment Computing

JF - Entertainment Computing

ER -

The unexpected comfort of wearing headphones: Emotional and cognitive effects of headphone use when playing a bloody video game

Abstract

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Research Keywords

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