Mirrored selves: The influence of self-presence in a virtual world on health,appearance, and well-being

Though considerable research has investigated spatial and social presence, little research has examined the influence of self-presence in a mediated environment. The present work is an empirical study of the role of self-presence in a social virtual world on individuals’ offline health, appearance, and well-being. Second Life users (N = 279) completed an online questionnaire about their experiences of presence in the virtual world, the influence of their avatar on their offline appearance and health behaviors, and their level of satisfaction with the relationships they developed online. It was hypothesized that self-presence would be positively associated with avatar influence on health and appearance and that self-presence would render the influence of spatial and social presence statistically non-significant. Additionally, it was hypothesized that self-presence would be positively associated with satisfaction with relationships developed in the virtual world. Support was found for these predictions. Results suggest that self-presence is uniquely linked to the influence of the virtual self on offline health and appearance and is a significant predictor of the development of satisfying online relationships. Individual differences and potential prosocial effects of virtual worlds are also discussed.     

Defining the virtual self: Personality,behavior, and the psychology of embodiment

Although researchers have discussed the existence of a virtual self, or embodiment of human characteristics within an avatar, little known about how the virtual self influences a player’s behavior within a virtual environment. To better understand this relationship, World of Warcraft game players were asked to complete personality-rating scales for both themselves and their avatars. In addition, in-world behavior was recorded and then analyzed using a behavioral assessment checklist. Results suggested a relationship between personality and behavior within the domain of agreeableness. Based on these findings, the researchers discuss implications for the construct known as the virtual self, as well as the inclusion of psychological systems design into the overall game design process.     

Even in virtual environments women shop and men build: A social role perspective on Second Life

The present study examined whether traditional gender role expectations (Eagly, 1987) influence behaviors in non-traditional contexts such as online virtual environments. Participants were 352 Second Life users who reported their activities and experiences in Second Life. Results indicated that men and women differed in the types of activities they engaged in a manner predicted by social role theory. Specifically, as compared to women, men were more likely to report building things (e.g. objects), to own and work on their own virtual property, and were less likely to change their avatar’s appearance. Women, as compared to men, were more likely to meet people, shop, regularly change their avatar’s appearance, and buy clothes/objects for their avatar. The present study adds to our understanding of how traditional gender role expectations may carry over to online virtual worlds and influence online behavior.     

“It doesn’t matter what you are!” Explaining social effects of agents and avatars

Empirical studies have repeatedly shown that autonomous artificial entities, so-called embodied conversational agents, elicit social behavior on the part of the human interlocutor. Various theoretical approaches have tried to explain this phenomenon: According to the Threshold Model of Social Influence (Blascovich et al., 2002), the social influence of real persons who are represented by avatars will always be high, whereas the influence of an artificial entity depends on the realism of its behavior. Conversely, the Ethopoeia concept (Nass & Moon, 2000) predicts that automatic social reactions are triggered by situations as soon as they include social cues. The presented study evaluates whether participants´ belief in interacting with either an avatar (a virtual representation of a human) or an agent (autonomous virtual person) lead to different social effects. We used a 2 × 2 design with two levels of agency (agent or avatar) and two levels of behavioral realism (showing feedback behavior versus showing no behavior). We found that the belief of interacting with either an avatar or an agent barely resulted in differences with regard to the evaluation of the virtual character or behavioral reactions, whereas higher behavioral realism affected both. It is discussed to what extent the results thus support the Ethopoeia concept.     

Impact of similarity between avatar and their users on their perceived identifiability: Evidence from virtual teams in Second Life platform

Research on the application of avatars in the virtual teams is growing. In this study, we examined the effect of perceived similarity of an avatar user with his/her avatar on the perceptions of his/her identifiability within a virtual team. The study utilized a sample of 124 users actively involved in Second Life, a virtual world platform. Results of structural equation modeling utilizing the partial least squares method corroborate the hypothesis. An important contribution of this research is to inform practitioners about the critical role that users’ similarity with the avatar plays in enhancing their identifiability. We draw conclusions based on the result and identify some important avenues for future research.     

Influence of personality and individual abilities on the sense of presence experienced in anxiety triggering virtual environments

In the literature, there are few studies of the human factors involved in the engagement of presence. The present study aims to investigate the influence of five user characteristics – test anxiety, spatial intelligence, verbal intelligence, personality and computer experience – on the sense of presence. This is the first study to investigate the influence of spatial intelligence on the sense of presence, and the first to use an immersive virtual reality system to investigate the relationship between users’ personality characteristics and presence. The results show a greater sense of presence in test anxiety environments than in a neutral environment. Moreover, high test anxiety students feel more presence than their non-test anxiety counterparts. Spatial intelligence and introversion also influence the sense of presence experienced by high test anxiety students exposed to anxiety triggering virtual environments. These results may help to identify new groups of patients likely to benefit from virtual reality exposure therapy.     

A virtual “Room” with a cue: Detecting personality through spatial customization in a city simulation game

Online simulation games provide an opportunity for people to express their personality through the design of their in-game virtual environment in a manner visible to third-party observers. We found that zero-acquaintance observers of these games can identify personality traits by simply looking at screenshots of the created virtual environment, and that the observed personality is closer to the self-reported “real” personality than “ideal” personality of the creator. These results contradict studies on avatar customization and personality, suggesting that spatial customization is more reflective of unintentional behavioral residue than conscious selective self-presentation.     

Understanding emotional bond between the creator and the avatar: Change in behavioral intentions to engage in alcohol-related traffic risk behaviors

This study examines the joint impact of an individual's relationship with his or her avatar and negative consequences to the avatar on changing the individual's behavioral intentions (BI) in terms of alcohol-impaired driving. One hundred eleven participants volunteered to participate in several experimental conditions where the degree of choice of avatar features and the degree of control of the avatar's actions were manipulated in Second Life, an immersive 3D virtual environment. Participants who were allowed to customize their avatars viewed their avatars not only more similar but also emotionally closer to themselves, and perceived their avatars to be physically more attractive than those who were assigned basic avatars. After observing a car crash caused by drunk driving, participants in the choice and control condition were more likely to change BI positively when they identified their avatars to be similar to themselves, and regarded their avatars more attractive. Furthermore, participants who were allowed to control their avatars were more likely to attribute the responsibility of the car accident to themselves than those who observed someone else's avatar playing. Implications for the use of virtual reality games in promoting healthy behaviors are discussed in detail.     

Watch what I do,not what I say I do: Computer-based avatars to assess behavioral inhibition,a vulnerability factor for anxiety disorders

Behavioral inhibition (BI), a tendency to withdraw from or avoid novel social and non-social situations, is a personality trait which can confer risk for anxiety disorders. Like many personality traits, BI is often assessed via self-report questionnaires where respondents rate themselves for frequency of certain behaviors or feelings. However, questionnaires have inherent limitations, particularly in psychiatric populations where there may be unawareness of deficit. A viable alternative may be virtual environments, in which the participant guides an on-screen “avatar” through a series of onscreen events meant to simulate real-world situations. Here, we report on initial development of such an assessment tool, involving several onscreen scenarios with choice points where the participant can select from response options corresponding to inhibited or uninhibited behaviors. In two experiments involving over 300 college students, scores on the computer-based task were strongly correlated with BI scores attained through self-report questionnaire (r > .780, p < .001); this relationship held regardless of participant gender and experience with computer games. The results suggest that virtual environments may hold promise as alternative formats for assessment of personality traits in populations unsuited to traditional paper-and-pencil questionnaire formats due to psychopathology, limited attention span, or poor vocabulary and/or literacy skills.     

Classrooms matter: The design of virtual classrooms influences gender disparities in computer science classes

Three experiments examined whether the design of virtual learning environments influences undergraduates’ enrollment intentions and anticipated success in introductory computer science courses. Changing the design of a virtual classroom – from one that conveys current computer science stereotypes to one that does not – significantly increased women’s interest and anticipated success in computer science. Effects occurred even when the learning material, gender of the professor and gender ratio of the classmates were identical, isolating the physical environment as a key determinant of women’s choices and expectations. Men’s interest and anticipated success were not similarly affected by the environmental changes. Statistical analyses indicated that gender disparities in interest and anticipated success in the stereotypically designed classroom were mediated by women’s lower sense of belonging in that environment. Changing the design of virtual learning environments may be a vehicle that universities can use to signal belonging to a wider net of students, and thus increase students’ likelihood of enrolling and succeeding in those classes.     

Pre-service teachers’ perspectives on using scenario-based virtual worlds in science education

This paper presents the findings of a study on the current knowledge and attitudes of pre-service teachers on the use of scenario-based multi-user virtual environments in science education. The 28 participants involved in the study were introduced to Virtual Singapura, a multi-user virtual environment, and completed an open-ended questionnaire. Data from the questionnaire indicated that gender and current computer game use were likely to affect the perceived benefits of using virtual worlds in a classroom setting. Behavior management was seen as being a constraining factor on a pre-service teacher’s willingness to use a virtual world in the future. Overall, the results of the study indicate that pre-service teachers as a result of their use of Virtual Singapura are both aware of virtual worlds and have a reasonable understanding of both their potential advantages and disadvantages within a classroom setting.     

Deception in avatar-mediated virtual environment

This study explored the effects of avatars on deception – how perceived avatar likeness to self can affect the truthfulness and accuracy of interactions online. More specifically, this study examined the extent to which perceived avatar similarity influences self-awareness and users’ degree of attraction to them, and how these psychological states affect deception in the context of Second Life. The results, based on web-based survey data of 159 Second Life users, revealed that avatar similarity in attitude and behavior to the owner heightened self-awareness, which, in turn, reduced deception. Perceived avatar similarity in terms of appearance was found to have a direct negative impact on deception so that those who perceived their avatars to look similar to themselves were less likely to engage in deceptive behavior. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Change detection in desktop virtual environments: An eye-tracking study

It is common knowledge that attention is important for learning. We need to utilize attention in order to learn something efficiently and effectively. Similarly, we may also need to acquire familiarity with (i.e., learn) our surroundings in order to utilize our attention. In this study, learning is defined as a product of one’s exposure to natural visual stimuli. Using a virtual model of a natural scene, we investigate both attention and its relationship to learning, according to this definition. Specifically, our focus is the effect of environment familiarity on gaze direction. Our findings reveal that the factor of familiarity with one’s surroundings in virtual reality environments exerts a significant influence on peoples’ ability to detect a variety of specific changes that occur within scenes under their observation.     

When your Second Life comes knocking: Effects of personality on changes to real life from virtual world experiences

A survey study (N = 223) of participants in the social virtual world, Second Life, examined the relationship between Big Five personality factors, experiences in the virtual world and reports of changes to real life resulting from the virtual world experiences. Hypotheses about direct and indirect effects of personality on real life changes were tested with structural equation modeling. Results showed that the strength of users’ relationship to the virtual environment, identification with and similarity to their avatars positively predicted reports of changes to real life, and that these three factors mediated effects of Agreeableness, Extraversion, Intellect, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Stability, on real life changes. Conscientiousness also had a direct negative relationship with real life changes. Implications are discussed for the potential of virtual social media features for activating facets of personality traits.     

Virtual shopping and unconscious persuasion: The priming effects of avatar age and consumers’ age discrimination on purchasing and prosocial behaviors

This study examined how operating elderly or young avatars affected shoppers’ product perceptions and purchasing behaviors. It also investigated how virtual shopping experiences translated into prosocial behavior regarding a nonprofit organization supporting the elderly. Operating elderly avatars influenced shoppers’ product choice and walking speed while shopping compared to operating younger avatars. In addition, operating elderly avatars positively affected participants’ attitudes and willingness to donate to and volunteer for a nonprofit organization supporting the elderly. Statistical interactions between avatar age and a shopper’s ageism on behavioral and persuasion outcomes were also confirmed, and these findings implied an assimilation/contrast effect influenced by a shopper’s preexisting prejudices toward the elderly.     

Using smartphone technology to deliver a virtual pedestrian environment: usability and validation

Various programs effectively teach children to cross streets more safely, but all are labor- and cost-intensive. Recent developments in mobile phone technology offer opportunity to deliver virtual reality pedestrian environments to mobile smartphone platforms. Such an environment may offer a cost- and labor-effective strategy to teach children to cross streets safely. This study evaluated usability, feasibility, and validity of a smartphone-based virtual pedestrian environment. A total of 68 adults completed 12 virtual crossings within each of two virtual pedestrian environments, one delivered by smartphone and the other a semi-immersive kiosk virtual environment. Participants completed self-report measures of perceived realism and simulator sickness experienced in each virtual environment, plus self-reported demographic and personality characteristics. All participants followed system instructions and used the smartphone-based virtual environment without difficulty. No significant simulator sickness was reported or observed. Users rated the smartphone virtual environment as highly realistic. Convergent validity was detected, with many aspects of pedestrian behavior in the smartphone-based virtual environment matching behavior in the kiosk virtual environment. Anticipated correlations between personality and kiosk virtual reality pedestrian behavior emerged for the smartphone-based system. A smartphone-based virtual environment can be usable and valid. Future research should develop and evaluate such a training system.     

Virtual humans: thirty years of research, what next?

In this paper, we present research results and future challenges in creating realistic and believable Virtual Humans. To realize these modeling goals, real-time realistic representation is essential, but we also need interactive and perceptive Virtual Humans to populate the Virtual Worlds. Three levels of modeling should be considered to create these believable Virtual Humans: 1) realistic appearance modeling, 2) realistic, smooth and flexible motion modeling, and 3) realistic high-level behaviors modeling. At first, the issues of creating virtual humans with better skeleton and realistic deformable bodies are illustrated. To give a level of believable behavior, challenges are laid on generating on the fly flexible motion and complex behaviours of Virtual Humans inside their environments using a realistic perception of the environment. Interactivity and group behaviours are also important parameters to create believable Virtual Humans which have challenges in creating believable relationship between real and virtual humans based on emotion and personality, and simulating realistic and believable behaviors of groups and crowds. Finally, issues in generating realistic virtual clothed and haired people are presented.     

The embodiment of sexualized virtual selves: The Proteus effect and experiences of self-objectification via avatars

Research has indicated that many video games and virtual worlds are populated by unrealistic, hypersexualized representations of women, but the effects of embodying these representations remains understudied. The Proteus effect proposed by Yee and Bailenson (2007) suggests that embodiment may lead to shifts in self-perception both online and offline based on the avatar’s features or behaviors. A 2 × 2 experiment, the first of its kind, examined how self-perception and attitudes changed after women (N = 86) entered a fully immersive virtual environment and embodied sexualized or nonsexualized avatars which featured either the participant’s face or the face of an unknown other. Findings supported the Proteus effect. Participants who wore sexualized avatars internalized the avatar’s appearance and self-objectified, reporting more body-related thoughts than those wearing nonsexualized avatars. Participants who saw their own faces, particularly on sexualized avatars, expressed more rape myth acceptance than those in other conditions. Implications for both online and offline consequences of using sexualized avatars are discussed.     

Design characteristics of virtual learning environments: state of research

Virtual learning environments constitute current information systems’ category for electronically supported training and development in (higher) education(al) and vocational training settings. Frequently expected advantages of using virtual learning environments refer, for instance, to the efficiency, individuality, ubiquity, timeliness and learning task orientation. However, a crucial precondition of realising such advantages is an appropriate system design. Hence, the question “Which specific design characteristics actually characterise successful virtual learning environments?” is of specific interest for training and development practice. This paper therefore discusses virtual learning environments’ design characteristics by conducting an in-depth literature review. Based on this, a comprehensive set of diverse design characteristics of virtual learning environments as well as particular information associated with them are elicited, presented and discussed. Beyond this, particular implications for research and practice are derived. This may contribute to a successful development, implementation and (continuous) improvement/evaluation of virtual learning environments.