Violent Video Game Players and Non-Players Differ on Facial Emotion Recognition Ruth L. Diaz, Ulric Wong, David C. Hodgins, Carina G. Chiu, and Vina M. Goghari* Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada ......................................... ......................................... Violent video game playing has been associated with both positive and negative effects on cognition. We examined whether playing two or more hours of violent video games a day, compared to not playing video games, was associated with a different pattern of recognition of five facial emotions, while controlling for general perceptual and cognitive differences that might also occur. Undergraduate students were categorized as violent video game players (n ¼ 83) or non-gamers (n ¼ 69) and completed a facial recognition task, consisting of an emotion recognition condition and a control condition of gender recognition. Additionally, participants completed questionnaires assessing their video game and media consumption, aggression, and mood. Violent video game players recognized fearful faces both more accurately and quickly and disgusted faces less accurately than non-gamers. Desensitization to violence, constant exposure to fear and anxiety during game playing, and the habituation to unpleasant stimuli, are possible mechanisms that could explain these results. Future research should evaluate the effects of violent video game playing on emotion processing and social cognition more broadly. Aggr. Behav. 9999:1–13, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. ......................................... ......................................... Keywords: video games; violence; social cognition; cognition; facial recognition; emotions INTRODUCTION Video game playing is becoming a universal form of entertainment. Approximately 58% of North Americans play video games (Entertainment Software Association of Canada, 2013; Entertainment Software Association of United States of America, 2013), with males playing an average of 18 hr a week and females 6.5 hr (Phan, Jardina, Hoyle, & Chaparro, 2012). Violent video games are among the top best-selling games (Entertainment Software Association of Canada, 2012). Violent video game playing has been demonstrated to influence both neurocognition and social cognition (for reviews see Bailey, West, & Anderson, 2011; Barlett, Anderson, & Swing, 2009), and has been associated with different behavioral patterns (Anderson et al., 2010). Given the popularity of violent video game playing (Entertainment Software Association of Canada, 2013; Entertainment Software Association of United States of America, 2013), it is necessary to assess how violent video game playing influences players’ ability to recognize facial expressions, a key contributor to successful social interactions (Halberstadt, 2003). Only three studies (Bailey & West, 2013; Kirsh & Mounts, 2007; Kirsh, Mounts, & Olczak, 2006) have explored the effects of violent video game playing on the recognition of facial expressions, but none have investigated the effects of chronic violent video game playing on the recognition of facial expressions. Therefore, the goal of this inves- tigation was to compare facial emotion recognition in individuals who were frequent violent video game players and those who were not video game players, using an experimental control task to control for general perceptual and cognitive changes that may also occur. The positive and negative effects of violent video game playing on neurocognition and social cognition (for reviews see Bailey et al., 2011; Barlett et al., 2009) may be reflected in facial emotion recognition abilities. Contract grant sponsor: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. Conflicts of interest: None. Ã Correspondence to: Dr. Vina M. Goghari, Department of Psychology, Clinical Neuroscience of Schizophrenia Laboratory, Administration Building, 2500 University Drive NW, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 1N4. E-mail: vina.m.goghari@ucalgary.ca Received 8 September 2014; Revised 8 June 2015; Accepted 9 June 2015 DOI: 10.1002/ab.21602 Published online XX Month Year in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR Volume 9999, pages 1–13 (2015) © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.