Violent or Competitive? Unpacking Adolescent Cyber-Aggressive Behavior in Text, Video, and Game Context

Yanlei Chen¹Lubin Wang²SHAOYANG GUO^3*Qian Gu¹

• ¹Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, Shandong Province, China
• ²Zibo Mental Health Center, Zibo, China
• ³Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China

Violence and competition are two major factors contributing to cyber-aggressive behavior among adolescents. A behavioral experiment was conducted to explore the effects of violence and competition on cyber-aggression in adolescents. In Study 1, a mixed experimental design of 2 (violence vs. competition) ×3 (context types: text, video, game) was employed, using a gamified assessment approach to examine the impact of violent-competitive factors and context types on cyber-aggressive behavior. The results indicated that both violence and competition had significant main effects. Specifically, across all context types, cyber-aggression levels were significantly higher when triggered by violent factors compared to competitive factors. Study 2 distinguished between verbal and physical aggression and introduced the personality variable of social comparison tendency, forming a three-factor mixed experimental design: 2 (violence vs. competition) ×3 (social comparison tendency: high, medium, low) ×2 (aggression type: verbal vs. physical). The results showed that violent-competitive factors had significant main effects, while neither aggression type nor social comparison tendency demonstrated significant main effects. Additionally, a significant interaction was found between violent-competitive factors and aggression type, with verbal aggression being more likely to provoke cyber-aggressive behavior under competitive conditions. Furthermore, a significant interaction was observed between violent-competitive factors and social comparison tendency, indicating that individuals with high social comparison tendencies exhibited higher levels of cyber-aggression when exposed to violent conditions. Violence is the primary factor influencing cyber-aggressive behavior, with higher levels of violence correlating with higher levels of cyber-aggression. Under violent conditions, cyber-aggressive behavior is influenced by social comparison tendency, and individuals with high social comparison tendencies are more susceptible to the positive effects of violence, resulting in greater increases in cyber-aggression as violence intensifies. Compared to violent conditions, competitive conditions tend to elicit more cyber-aggressive behavior through verbal rather than physical means.