The longitudinal relationship between everyday sadism and the amount of violent video game play

Previous research found correlational evidence that the trait of everyday sadism is associated with the amount of violent video game play. Due to the correlational design, the direction of the association remained unclear. According to the selection hypothesis, everyday sadists should be attracted to violent video games, whereas the socialization hypothesis would propose that repeated exposure to violent video games makes the player more sadistic. However, these hypotheses are by no means mutually exclusive and the relation between everyday sadism and violent video game exposure could be bidirectional. To examine the causal mechanisms more closely, we carried out a longitudinal study (N = 743) for which we collected data at two points in time, six months apart. Results showed that (a) everyday sadists are more likely than others to play violent video games and (b) repeated exposure to violent video games predicts everyday sadism over time. Overall, this bidirectional influence reflects a downward spiral of everyday sadistic tendencies and violent video gaming reinforcing each other.