{"id":10287,"date":"2022-01-10T15:07:55","date_gmt":"2022-01-10T13:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/?p=10287"},"modified":"2022-01-10T15:07:55","modified_gmt":"2022-01-10T13:07:55","slug":"little-children-big-anger-understanding-gamer-rage-in-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/little-children-big-anger-understanding-gamer-rage-in-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Little children, big anger – Understanding gamer rage in children"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018\u201cIf the game does not work, it is lagging, or you die in game, you just get furious\u201d – children\u2019s experiences on gamer rage.\u2019,\u00a0by Juho Kahila, Satu\u00a0Piispa-Hakala, Sanni Kahila, Teemu Valtonen, Henriikka Vartiainen and Matti Tedre, explores aggressive and violent tendencies experienced by children\u00a0due to video gaming.\u00a0Prior studies have discussed digital and violent games\u00a0and\u00a0their effects on aggressive behaviour, but also the effect\u00a0games have on emotional self-control. However,\u00a0most studies focus on adults and e-sports rather than children, even though children play games more than ever before.\u00a0This study asks children themselves how they would explain the causes and consequences of their\u00a0gamer\u00a0rage.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rage and anger are both natural and normal\u00a0emotions but\u00a0can be difficult for teens\u00a0during\u00a0puberty and\u00a0learning to control them is important.\u00a0Aggression and digital games, violent ones especially,\u00a0have often been\u00a0associated with each other in public discussion.\u00a0There are studies, however, that suggest that the violence itself is not the reason, but instead the competitiveness\u00a0and fast pace of said games that causes rage, since similar study results came from violent and nonviolent games.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The main reasons for rage explained by the children were divided into three main categories: in-game failures, incompetent teammates, and technical problems. In-game failures refer to personal failures within the game, such as dying\u00a0at crucial moments\u00a0or\u00a0losing to other\u00a0players in a competitive setting. Cases like these were mentioned in multiple essays.\u00a0One sixth grader wrote \u201cI raged in Fortnite when I died. I threw the controller into the wall, but it did not\u00a0break. My feelings were mixed.\u201d\u00a0Another one mentioned how much they hate losing\u00a0and how their friend winning made them\u00a0restart the entire game.\u00a0Repeated failures like losing and making mistakes were also found aggravating.\u00a0A sixth grader boy had lost 200 of their 3900 trophies\u00a0(a measure of skill rating from 0-5000)\u00a0in\u00a0Clash Royale, a popular mobile game, and as a result broke their phone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The second main source of anger was incompetent teammates, whether friends or strangers.\u00a0\u201cI once broke my laptop when I lost my temper in\u00a0CS:GO\u00a0when my team was full of Russian silvers (silver is the lowest\u00a0player\u00a0rank in\u00a0CS:GO), but now I have a desktop computer.\u201d\u00a0said one ninth grader about\u00a0Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, a very popular team-based tactical first-person shooter. Participants\u00a0described how their teammates\u2019 failures affected their own playing experience and success, and therefore made them angry.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The final major reason was technical problems, meaning causes out of the\u00a0players\u2019 control. Examples of this would be faulty hardware, problems within the\u00a0game like glitches and bugs, and bad internet connection. A\u00a0sixth-grade\u00a0girl wrote \u201cI have been furious with many games. If the game does not work, it is lagging, or you die in game you just get furious.\u201d Game sessions ending abruptly due to technical problems were\u00a0found especially frustrating.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Naturally, these negative emotions need an outlet, which were also\u00a0divided into three separate categories, the first of which is verbal expressions, which usually means screaming and sometimes even crying.\u00a0Then, there\u00a0are\u00a0physical\u00a0expressions. This translates to\u00a0physical\u00a0violence towards the gaming device or nearby furniture,\u00a0anything readily nearby when the rage manifests.\u00a0The targets of these outbursts are often damaged or\u00a0break\u00a0down entirely. A sixth grader boy wrote\u00a0\u201cThe controller broke when I died in Fortnite. I tried to throw it on the couch, but it hit the wall and now it no longer works;\u00a0it\u00a0does not charge.\u201d This\u00a0text, however, is also relevant in the sense that\u00a0it\u00a0shows an important side of the\u00a0physical\u00a0expressions: children try not to\u00a0break\u00a0their surroundings even when enraged, and many of them wrote that they\u00a0usually manage to hold their temper and\u00a0prevent themselves from\u00a0destroying\u00a0whatever they were just about to.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The third expression is to simply quit the game. This can mean\u00a0an indeterminately long break, whether an hour or a week, or quitting the game entirely, and there were\u00a0examples of both cases in the essays. Most children only quit\u00a0temporarily and come back after a short break. \u201cSometimes when you die in a game then you get\u00a0angry\u00a0and you rage. It makes playing difficult and it can last for a while, or the rest of the day that your gaming doesn\u2019t pan out and that\u2019s when I take a break because I don\u2019t want to lose every game.\u201d\u00a0Some of the essays mentioned that their writers had learned to avoid gaming when tilted (a furious state of mind).\u00a0A\u00a0couple\u00a0of\u00a0participants had also taken more extreme measures with their quitting, with one ninth grader quitting gaming entirely, since they felt like it was so easy to get mad while doing it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rage has been studied in different ways, but there has been a distinct lack of asking children themselves how they feel about rage.\u00a0Earlier studies suggested that\u00a0some major reasons for gamer rage would be violent content, fast pace and competitiveness, and the loss of the feeling of the\u00a0player\u2019s\u00a0competence.\u00a0This study found no connection to the violence in the games, but the other two\u00a0theories were backed by the results of this study. In addition, this study showed that children have the capability of controlling their rage to an extent, and that they were conscious of their emotions. It should also be noted that quitting a game altogether is a\u00a0sign of a significant self-control.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The results of this study let us understand more about children\u2019s gamer rage and\u00a0could be used in other fields to help teachers, media educators, and other professionals working with children\u00a0to understand more about the perspectives of the children themselves. Furthermore, it shows that\u00a0we should study the ways gamer rage can impact children\u2019s lives out-of-game, as well as the way children themselves think about gamer rage as a phenomenon.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Original article:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kahila J.,\u00a0Piispa-Hakala S., Kahila S.,\u00a0Valtonen T.,\u00a0Vartiainen H.,\u00a0Tedre\u00a0M.,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cIf the game does not work, it is lagging, or you die in game, you just get furious\u201d – children\u2019s experiences on gamer rage.\u00a0<\/span>Proc. of the 5th International\u00a0GamiFIN\u00a0Conference,\u00a0Levi, Finland, April 7-9, 2021<\/span><\/i>,\u00a021-29.\u00a0<\/span>http:\/\/ceur-ws.org\/Vol-2883\/paper3.pdf<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pictures used:<\/p>\n

“You probably will quite like me when I’m angry”<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Palladius<\/a><\/span>\u00a0is licensed under\u00a0CC BY-NC-SA 2.0<\/a>, https:\/\/search.creativecommons.org\/photos\/16b3c547-da8e-48f6-8abf-b8b81c522206<\/p>\n

“Broken computer monitor found in the woods”<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0binarydreams<\/a><\/span>\u00a0is licensed under\u00a0CC BY-NC 2.0,<\/a> https:\/\/search.creativecommons.org\/photos\/b3acdc54-916e-46b7-8157-852e5179b157<\/p>\n

“You Died!”<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Wesley Fryer<\/a><\/span>\u00a0is licensed under\u00a0CC BY 2.0,<\/a> https:\/\/search.creativecommons.org\/photos\/77e30d89-5db9-4fee-a560-f3553122f332<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Children nowadays play a lot of games, and just like with everyone else, it can be quite a rough experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":10290,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[237],"tags":[1491,632,1210,1490,1489,1487,1488],"class_list":["post-10287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-research-highlights","tag-angry","tag-children","tag-gamer","tag-kid","tag-kids","tag-rage","tag-study","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}