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Effect of Virtual Avatars On Real-Life Behavior

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Mon Apr 28, 2008 02:54 PM
from the color-me-skeptical dept.
Technology Science
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."
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Submission: Effects of Virtual Avatars in Real Life Behavior by Anonymous Coward
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  • I guess everybody is excused for not reading TFA this time... I'm glad slashdot.org is evolving with its readership! :D
    • 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.

      • Re:RTFA!!! (Score:5, Informative)

        by TubeSteak (669689) on Monday April 28 2008, @03:10PM (#23229008) Journal

        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.

        • Re:RTFA!!! (Score:5, Funny)

          by truthsearch (249536) on Monday April 28 2008, @03:15PM (#23229068) Homepage Journal
          I'm going to be modded funny! I'm going to be modded funny! I'm going to be modded funny!

          *crosses fingers*
          • It worked.

            Not enough people are mean enough to reverse-mod you.

            However, something like "insightful" applied to your post comes close to a paradox.

            • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

              by Anonymous Coward

              Not enough people are mean enough to reverse-mod you.
              Yes, we are. I just didn't have mod points right now.
          • I'm going to reply to truthsearch! I'm going to reply to truthsearch! I'm going to reply to truthsearch!

            *crosses fingers*

          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            by story645 (1278106)
            Not quite priming-which is basically a memory task where you learn to associate a word/object with another, kind of like associating the content of an array cell with it's index (A[0]=B, you teach yourself to think B when you see 0). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priming_(psychology) [wikipedia.org]
            "I'm going to be modded funny" doesn't 'cause any associative links to be made (which is how psychological priming works-it's Cognitive-Behavioral where you learn to associate your mental image with your wishes and behave base

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by Falkkin (97268)
            I'm going to be modded insightful! I'm going to be modded insightful! I'm going to be modded insightful!

            *crosses fingers*

        • Re:RTFA!!! (Score:5, Insightful)

          by pavon (30274) on Monday April 28 2008, @04:03PM (#23229668)
          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:)
        • They also talk about how picking an attractive avatar leads to more confidence in the real world an hour later.

          So if I pick Sauron as an avatar, I'll be 9 feet tall and able to bash a dozen men with my mace shortly thereafter?
      • ... when you're visualizing yourself as thinner in VR and you AREN'T chowing down on chips/nachos/doritos/pizza/chinese food/raw cookie dough/pure lard while throwing back soda/beer/coffee/pure liquified lard the entire time.

        Which, unfortunately, is why I'm *not* thinner after all these years of online gaming...

        • chips/nachos/doritos/pizza/chinese food/raw cookie dough/pure lard
          That sounds awful. Everyone knows that you never mix doritos and raw cookie dough.

          Crushed potato chip crumbs are much nicer in that recipe.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by erpbridge (64037)
        The question is, what if your Avatar in your VR is a Undead in WoW? Will you then be Skin and Bones... without the skin?

        I understand what the article is talking about, but this will only work for people with certain mindsets, and who use the VR interface (whether a real VR, or a avatar based system such as SecondLife or ActiveWorlds) in moderation. Using the VR extensively will mean you are giving up time in Real life that could be used moving around and instead settling into a sedentary state.

        All things in

  • Audio-only (Score:5, Insightful)

    by CogDissident (951207) on Monday April 28 2008, @03:01PM (#23228882)
    Anyone else ever get annoyed at audio or audio/video news? I'm at work, can't listen to those.
    Transcripts, much more helpful

    • Transcripts, much more helpful
      Indeed. Which is why NPR lets you buy a transcript a couple hours from when it airs.

      Personally, I'll just email myself the link and listen to it when I get home. I'm appreciative of the headsup either way.

    • Death to video (Score:4, Funny)

      by Joe the Lesser (533425) on Monday April 28 2008, @03:35PM (#23229306) Homepage Journal
      Nothing is worse than not being able to get the news beyond the headline because you don't want to stream video. I don't want to waste 5 minutes for a video, I want to waste 20 seconds skimming articles and making assumptions, like I do on /.
    • Hell, yes. I can read several times faster than the taking head in the suit can speak and can skim if the article is crap or stuff I already know.

  • Long Story Short (Score:3, Interesting)

    by TubeSteak (669689) on Monday April 28 2008, @03:06PM (#23228958) Journal
    They seem to be saying that seeing a skinny avatar of yourself can condition you to see that weight change is possible & attainable.

    Seems to be they're heavily implying that thinspiration [google.com] is a good idea.

    I'd like to see the followup studying looking into longterm issues of body dysmorphic disorder [wikipedia.org] or compulsive exercise.
    • They seem to be saying that seeing a skinny avatar of yourself can condition you to see that weight change is possible & attainable.

      And the guy playing a giant troll? (Guess that would be an EQ Troll not a WoW Troll...)

      Follow your dreams. You can reach your goals, I'm living proof...Beefcake, BEEFCAKE!
      • Actually, there is a male equivalent to the body image distortion issues that women with eating disorders have, but instead of perceiving themselves as fat, men tend to perceive themselves as small (in more ways than one). So, a man is less likely to binge and purge, and more likely to overtrain at the gym and take steroids and various questionable herbal "male enhancement" concoctions.

        In any case, playing a non-human character probably puts you out of the scope of what we're discussing, because no matter

        • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

          by Plugh (27537)

          no matter what you do, you cannot change your species.

          Tell that to Michael Jackson
    • I'm guessing that thinspiration *is* effective. And for a normal, healthy person, there's nothing wrong with that. Like many dieting techniques, it only becomes a bad thing when someone who is already unhealthy misuses/overuses/abuses it.

  • Look no further than LARPers (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dave562 (969951) on Monday April 28 2008, @03:08PM (#23228976) Journal
    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.

    • There are the Vampire players who really believe that they are walking undead.

      To be fair, not many people can tell the two apart ;).

    • 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.
      And those pesky Bible Serial readers that actually believe the Jesus myth...

    • 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 would've bet anything that Jack Chick didn't post to Slashdot.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by demi (17616) *

      Look, I didn't spend all those years playing Dungeons and Dragons and not learn a little something about courage.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Phrogman (80473)

      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...

      Or possibly, you know, they might develop an interest in a bona-fide religion [wikipedia.org], whatever you may personally think of it. Are you suggesting that if someone plays a Cleric in AD&D they are suddenly going to become a rabid Christian fanatic? (Oh maybe not, I forgot that D&D used the trappings of Christian beliefs and religious organizations but didn't actually include the Christian Mythos in Deities and Demigods)

      Overall thats a pretty fucking obnoxious attitude to hold in my opinion. Sure, Wicca an

    • I've been trying to figure out why those darn kids keep attacking my gazebo. They've obviously been playing too much D&D [netfunny.com]! When will they learn to separate games from reality?
    • Mmmm.... perhaps. But it could be the other way round, also. Vampire players could be attracted to the game because they have an innate interest in drinking blood to begin with; likewise, Wicca practitioners may be attracted to the Art because they innately sense life forces around them. In the end, I'd say that both life and LARP are iterative processes, and LARPing simply exhibits self-reinforcement of behaviors that are already there.
      • Ah, good old chicken or the magical zombie egg circular reference.

        In my opinion, LARP is actually a good thing as it forces social interaction on a group of people who are the types to live in their parents basements.
      • I've heard that response a lot. It was best summed up as, "If I'm going to have to stare at my avatar's backside for days on end, you better believe she's going to be hot."

  • MMORPGs (Score:4, Funny)

    by techpawn (969834) on Monday April 28 2008, @03:10PM (#23229002) Journal
    What's this say about the MMORPGs? You know, Many Men On Line Role Playing Girls...
    Picture yourself as a thin girl with big boobs..?

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by trongey (21550)

      What's this say about the MMORPGs? You know, Many Men On Line Role Playing Girls...
      Picture yourself as a thin girl with big boobs..?
      Nah.
      I generally make a more substanial build, curvy, nicely proportioned all around. She's gotta have more mass than the weapons she's using, and you find some pretty big weapons in MMOs.

      So why was the totally accurate parent modded "Flamebait"?
  • else why do people have so much trouble telling effect and affect apart?
    • Because, like so many other aspects of the English language, it's not a particularly intuitive difference.
    • It is the affect of standardized testing, nobody reallizes how it is going to effect the kids till it is too late. Their going to go sit on they're hands again and stop teaching the proper use of words because it can't be multi-choiced easily. Your getting frustrated with you're grammer obsession now aren't you?

    • Because they're weird words. Both of them can be either a noun or a verb, and in both cases they have very different meaning depending on whether they're nouns or verbs. To compound the trouble, the verb "to affect" means "to have an effect on", while the verb "to effect" means "to cause". But as nouns, "cause" and "effect" are antonyms.

      So yes, it's true, teh Anglish be a hard language too lern.

  • Role model? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Kelz (611260) on Monday April 28 2008, @03:13PM (#23229034)
    Though I can't HTFA as I'm at work, I'm sure it raises some insightful points. When I create an avatar or online persona, I tend to imbue the characteristics into it that I wish my RL self was stronger in (in this case mostly social awareness and assertiveness). Giant penis jokes aside, does anyone else try to use their alter-ego as a role model?

    • Re:Role model? (Score:5, Funny)

      by techpawn (969834) on Monday April 28 2008, @03:17PM (#23229092) Journal

      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...
    • I tend to create personas that are very different from me, to kind of test out what those types of people might be thinking.

  • Must be true (Score:4, Funny)

    by elrous0 (869638) * on Monday April 28 2008, @03:38PM (#23229352)
    I play Second Life. Every day, I now have the urge to fly to work, turn myself into a giant penis, and grief the shit out of every newbie I see.

  • I don't think I've seen .... (Score:4, Funny)

    by PPH (736903) on Monday April 28 2008, @04:14PM (#23229834)
    ... the avatar who lives on cold pizza and pop and lives in his mom's basement.

  • Here are some good reading links (Score:3, Informative)

    by DocJohn (81319) on Monday April 28 2008, @05:03PM (#23230414) Homepage
    Here are the projects the researcher is talking about in the interview:

    http://vhil.stanford.edu/projects/ [stanford.edu]

    Avatars and Behavioral Modeling

    Virtual reality enables us to create a powerful and persuasive stimulus: the virtual self. Using digital photographs, we can create avatars that have a striking resemblance to the self. We can then manipulate the virtual self in myriad ways that would be difficult or even impossible in the real world. The virtual self can modify its appearance or perform a behavior that the real self cannot, thus serving as a novel type of model. According to social cognitive theory, models can be valuable stimuli for encouraging the imitation of particular behaviors. Thus, we are investigating how using self-models and virtually manipulating social cognitive constructs such as identification, self-efficacy, and vicarious reinforcement can influence imitation, particularly in the context of health and consumer behaviors. Is seeing the virtual self engage in a healthful activity more or less effective than a virtual other? When an avatar shows positive benefits of using a product in the third person, does the consumer then go out and buy that product? Can behaviors be encouraged by seeing the virtual self model health-related rewards and punishments such as weight loss, weight gain?

    The Proteus Effect

    Cyberspace grants us great control over our self-representations. At the click of a button, we can alter our gender, age, attractiveness, and skin tone. But as we choose our avatars online, do our avatars change us in turn? In a series of studies, we've explored how putting people in avatars of different attractiveness or height change how they behave in a virtual environment.


    Out of the three links to "research" provided, only one links to an actual published paper (the other two are to research papers not in peer reviewed journals).

    So, yeah, in a lab with undergraduate students, some of this stuff may be true. Out in the real world, with real adults working 9 to 5 jobs, with family and kids, maybe not so much....

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