Determination of agression and vital signs in university students playing violent games

Related literature illusstrate that violent games trigger aggressive behavior and changes in vital signs of individuals during violent game play, and the effects of violent situations and excitement on blood pressure and heart rate. This study is conducted as a descriptive, comparative and cross-sectional study to examine aggression and vital signs in university students playing violent video games. The research data are collected in January-February 2020 at a private university located on the European side of Istanbul. The universe of the study was the students studying at the university where the research was conducted, and the sample consisted of 92 university students, 50 of whom played violent games and 42 students who did not prefer to play these games. Research data are collected using a questionnaire form and the Buss Perry Aggression Scale. The Buss Perry Aggression Scale total scores of the experiment group was 81.28 ± 15.29, while the score of control group was 81.78 ± 8.91; and finally the score of the whole group was 81.51 ± 12.72. We found that there is no significant difference between the aggression of experiment and control group. When the vital findings of the experimental and control groups were compared before the game, we found that there is no statistically significant difference between systolic blood pressures, and there was a significant difference between the experimental group and the control group in terms of divastolic blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature values. When the vital signs of the experimental group during the game (before the game, the 5th minute of the game and the 10th minute of the game) were compared, we found that there was a difference in systolic blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature values of the students. As a result; we conclude that playing violent games among university students did not have a significant effect on students' aggression levels, but there were changes in terms of vital signs.