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Effect of Virtual Avatars On Real-Life Behavior

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the color-me-skeptical dept.

Betsy Carroll writes "The Stanford research group on virtual teams discusses how the appearance of one's avatar in virtual worlds has an effect on real life behavior in an NPR interview. The researcher they speak with focuses on the concept of vicarious reinforcement for changing behavior. They also talk a bit about identity issues surrounding the avatar and the 'real' physical self."

7 of 189 comments (clear)

  1. Audio-only by CogDissident · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Anyone else ever get annoyed at audio or audio/video news? I'm at work, can't listen to those.
    Transcripts, much more helpful

  2. Look no further than LARPers by dave562 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm sure that the stereotype is familiar enough to /.ers. Most of us know those people who have been playing roleplaying games for so long that their personality becomes the character that they play. There are the Vampire players who really believe that they are walking undead. There are the D&D players who eventually get into Wicca and other "majik" kind of stuff to the point where they believe that they can cast spells and talk to spirits. I think it's basic psychology that anybody who spends any significant amount of time pretending to be someone else will eventually manifest behavorial changes.

  3. Re:RTFA!!! by TubeSteak · · Score: 4, Informative

    I LTFA and it boils down to visualization therapy (they call it 'vicarious reinforcement'). If you 'see' yourself as thinner in VR then you will be more likely to become thinner IRL. They also talk about how picking an attractive avatar leads to more confidence in the real world an hour later.

    I'm pretty sure that's called "priming". Like in all those self help books that tell you to look into a mirror and say "I'm a winner, I'm beautiful, I'm good at math, etc." And it really does work.
    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
  4. Re:RTFA!!! by truthsearch · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm going to be modded funny! I'm going to be modded funny! I'm going to be modded funny!

    *crosses fingers*

    --
    Developers: We can use your help.
  5. Re:Role model? by techpawn · · Score: 4, Funny

    does anyone else try to use their alter-ego as a role model?
    Yes! I wish to bathe in the blood of my fallen foes as their allies flee in terror of the sight.
    I'm not sure it would help in IT... Maybe if I was an RIAA lawyer...
    --
    Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what your country did to you
  6. Re:RTFA!!! by pavon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That is actually a very interesting conclusion. It really is true that just "thinking happy thoughts" does make you more likely to achieve them, but for naturally cynical people this is easier said than done. If I try to sit there and talk myself up, it usually backfires because the cynic in my just can't help poking holes in everything I'm saying and I end up talking myself down instead. It was easier when I believed in god, because it acted as a way of suspending disbelief.

    What they are saying here is that just the act of imagining yourself as being better, even in the context of an artificial world that has no bearing on reality, has some of the same effects of imagining yourself being a better person in the real world. That seems like it would be a very useful technique. It is probably also part of the reason that MUDs can help asocial people be more social. I had always assumed that it was just because it sidestepped one's fear of external expectations/judgment, but the fact that it also bypasses internal judgment as well is something I hadn't thought of. Oh, and playing MUDs will help me be a better person IRL, so there naysayers:)

  7. Re:RTFA!!! by CowboyNealOption · · Score: 4, Funny

    But how do you keep normal people's eyes from glazing over as you explain all that??