The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not physical fitness affects a person's ability to physiologically handle the high stress situations to which many modern video games expose the player. Two, six-participant groups were formed: one of fit individuals and one of sedentary individuals. To assess physiological arousal, the subjects were asked to play 20 minutes of the video game Dead Space. After determining baselines, the participants had their galvanic skin response measured continuously and had their heart rate and blood pressure measured at two minute intervals for the duration of the 20 minutes bout. Time was then determined between the peak values of each response and the return to baseline to determine which group coped with the stress more efficiently. Upon analyzing the results, it was found that there was no statistically significant difference between the groups for any of the above variables (p>.05). Therefore, the data suggest that a person's level of fitness is not a determining factor in a person's ability to cope with the stress found in violent video games.
