Are violent video game-aggression researchers biased?

•Researcher bias among violent video game-aggression researchers was examined.•Studies that manipulated violent game play and measured aggression were examined.•Meta-analysis was used to examine differences in effect size based on authorship.•No evidence was found that researcher bias explained effect size differences.•Researcher bias is unlikely to explain the causal violent game-aggression effect.

Several recent commentaries have suggested possible researcher bias on the part of scientists conducting studies that find evidence of a causal link between violent video game play and aggression. The present article argues that patterns of authorship, publication, and research findings within the experimental violent video game-aggression literature are inconsistent with the researcher bias hypothesis. It is concluded that the claim of a causal link between violent video game play and aggression is a defensible interpretation of the current experimental and meta-analytic literatures.