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Researchers Find Racial Bias In Virtual Worlds

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the big-shocker dept.

schliz writes "Real-world behaviours and racial biases could carry forward into virtual worlds such as Second Life, social psychologists say. According to a study that was conducted in There.com, virtual world avatars respond to social cues in the same ways that people do in the real world. Users, who were unaware that they were part of a psychological study, were approached by a researcher's avatar for either a 'foot-in-the-door' (FITD) or 'door-in-the-face' (DITF) experiment. While results of the FITD experiment revealed no racial bias, the effect of the DITF technique was significantly reduced when the experimenter took the form of a dark-skinned avatar."

9 of 592 comments (clear)

  1. RACIST! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    You're just saying that because I'm blue...

    1. Re:RACIST! by smittyoneeach · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, no.
      Driving the Indy car around was the give-away you're a racist.

      --
      Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
    2. Re:RACIST! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      You're just saying that because I'm blue...

      You think that's bad... The jerk down the street who is half black, half white thinks he's all that. Here is a picture of him (on the left, me on the right). Look at that smug expression. What a prick. Just like the rest of his kind.

      Everyone knows that my people, those of us who are half white, half black are the superior ones!

    3. Re:RACIST! by Yvan256 · · Score: 4, Funny

      "You know when it comes to racism, people say: " I don't care if they're black, white, purple or green"... Ooh hold on now: Purple or Green? You gotta draw the line somewhere! To hell with purple people! - Unless they're suffocating - then help'em." - Mitch Hedberg

    4. Re:RACIST! by mikiN · · Score: 5, Funny

      Me stereo beat you stereo anytime! Me have latest JVC with latest amp, 800 Watts max. beat you puny GE hands down! I rig up my EQ lights to supa dupa neon and blinkers, see? 6" woofers in my tailpipes, add 10 horsepower easy! Wanna race? Honda Type R rulezzz!

      s/r/l/g

      --
      The Hacker's Guide To The Kernel: Don't panic()!
  2. no shit sherlock? by El_Muerte_TDS · · Score: 5, Funny

    According to a study [...] virtual world avatars respond to social cues in the same ways that people do in the real world.

    Isn't that caused by the fact that those virtual world avatars are controlled by people in the real world?

  3. Other virtual worlds give different results by WDot · · Score: 5, Funny

    I have both light-skinned and dark-skinned characters in Guild Wars. I'd say I regularly get called a noob regardless of skin color. )=

  4. In WOW... by vjmurphy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Instead of the Foot-In-The-Door experiment or Door-In-The-Face experiment, you have the Gank-the-N00b experiment and the Give-Gold-And-Items-to-Hot-Female-Night-Elves-Who-Are-Really-Men experiments.

    --
    Vincent J. Murphy
    Spandex Justice
  5. Re:tribalism by clone53421 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Years ago, I attended a community Labor Day parade. I wore a bright orange T-shirt with the word "STAFF" across the back. Worked wonders for gaining access to areas off-limits to ordinary "unwashed masses" folks. Social engineering can be entertaining.

    Entertaining, yes... so I figure you"ll appreciate this. http://improveverywhere.com/2006/04/23/best-buy/

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.