The Effects of Violent Video Game Characters' Race on Implicit and Explicit Racial Attitudes

This study investigates how racialized representations in violent video games influence implicit and explicit racial attitudes, and whether these effects are moderated by the player's racial identity. Grounded in the General Aggression Model and Evaluative Conditioning theory, 140 participants were randomly assigned to view a violent gameplay video featuring either a Black or a White character. Implicit attitudes were assessed using the Implicit Association Test, and explicit attitudes were measured with a biological racism scale. Results revealed a significant main effect of character race on implicit attitudes: participants exposed to the Black character showed stronger pro-White/anti-Black biases. Moderation analysis indicated that this effect was significant among White participants but not among Black participants. Conversely, Black participants exhibited a significant reduction in explicit racism after exposure to the violent Black character, whereas White participants showed no change. Although moderation effects were marginally significant, the crossover pattern suggests that ingroup identification and stereotype activation may operate in opposite directions depending on viewer identity. These findings advance understanding of media-induced racial bias and highlight the need for more inclusive character representations in interactive media. Implications for theory, game design, and media literacy are discussed.