GDR Strategy Director Ella Sy explores the implications of the increasing plasticity of our virtual self-representations online and IRL.
The notion of transforming our appearances permeates our culture, from hair and make-up, dressing up and cosmetic surgery, to screen names and avatars. Nowhere is self-representation more flexible and easier to transform than in virtual environments, where users can choose or customise their own avatars. In these spaces the avatar is not simply a uniform that is worn, the avatar is our entire self-representation.
Research has shown that an individual’s behaviour within virtual worlds shifts in accordance with the visual characteristics and traits of their avatar. For example, in a video game, someone who creates an avatar based on a Viking warrior is likely to act more boldly within the game. This phenomenon, first introduced in 2007 by Stanford University researchers Nick Yee and Jeremy Bailenson, is called the “Proteus Effect”. The concept is named after the Greek mythological figure who could change his shape at will, and is driven by the increased ability to control one’s appearance in online virtual environments where users can continuously change many aspects of their appearance that are less malleable in the real world (e.g. height, weight, facial features). Follow-up research suggests that these changes in behaviour subsequently transfer back into the physical world after time has been spent embodying a virtual character. This can have both positive and negative effects.
The mutability of our self-representations in online environments is a fundamental aspect of what it means to have a virtual identity. And as our presence and life within virtual worlds (video games, social media, the metaverse, etc.) is increasing, it becomes ever more important to understand the changing relationship between our virtual and physical identities. In this article I consider the key ways in which online/virtual identities affect people’s behaviours and what the implications are for brands.
1. Avatar modelling can act as a virtual self-fulfilling prophecy
Evidence of the Proteus Effect can be seen most clearly in hugely successful massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), where the behaviour of millions of global players provides a vast quantity of data about digital self-representation. Interestingly, research shows that, because avatars and profiles mimic the human form and experience, players often begin identifying with their online identities.
Researchers Yee, Ducheneaut, Yao and Nelson revealed, during the 2011 international Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, that when examining World of Warcraft players they found that those who played under a different gender to how they identify in the real world, aligned their in-game behaviour with their virtual gender, rather than their actual gender. Yee and Bailenson’s 2007 research The Proteus Effect: The Effect of Transformed Self-Representation on Behavior suggests that “the impact of anonymity and authenticity […] changes social interactions”. Indeed, the discrepancies in behaviour between a users’ real self and their virtual character can be explained by the freedom they feel in the virtual environment when they are not constricted by the social norms assigned to them in the physical world.
It is clear then that computer game characters, social media personas and metaverse avatars do alter our behaviour in both game and virtual environments, so should we be concerned with the potential for virtual characters to cause us to conform to anti-social or extraordinary behaviours (adjectives that I use here in their widest sense and without any pejorative connotation)? Video games have always come under fire from certain sections of the media regarding their relationship with violence. Still, more research is needed to fully understand the Proteus Effect in video games and, increasingly, in the metaverse. With a recent Gartner study suggesting “by 2026, 25% of people will spend at least one hour a day […] for work, shopping, education, social and/or entertainment” in the metaverse, I think this is a space worthy of significant further investigation.
2. Virtual avatar embodiment also informs individuals’ behaviours IRL
There have been a number of studies that examine how avatar customisation and control within video games can be intentionally designed to motivate users to take part in post-gameplay physical activity.
For instance, the 2022 “Jogging in Your Avatar’s Footsteps: The Effects of Avatar Customization and Control Intuitiveness” study by Rheu, Ratan, Sah, Cherchiglia and Day found that study participants’ running performance on a treadmill after playing an avatar-running game was influenced by their avatar. The study states: “avatar customization and control as elements of video games […] can be designed intentionally to motivate post-gameplay physical activity through the Proteus Effect […] even after avatar use”.
The two main variables that impacted participants’ performance were whether they were using an avatar that they customised themselves, compared to a random avatar, and whether their control over the avatar was intuitive or not. Playing the game with a customised avatar increased identification with and embodiment in the avatar and thus had a positive impact on post-gameplay exercise. However, using unintuitive controls diminished that feeling of identification.
Elsewhere, Robin S. Rosenberg’s 2013 study “Virtual Superheroes: Using Superpowers in Virtual Reality to Encourage Prosocial Behavior” found that VR experiences can have a positive impact on how people behave in the real world. Their study suggests that people flying like a superhero in a VR experience are more likely to show positive social behaviour afterwards.
I think this is where the fusion of virtual and physical really demonstrates seamless interoperability between both worlds, suggesting the Proteus Effect can be harnessed to nudge people towards better behaviour.
3. Avatars can help break stereotypes and correct unconscious bias
Research into the Proteus Effect suggests that it isn’t just real-life behaviours that can be influenced by virtual engagement, but attitudes, stereotypes and unconscious biases that are entrenched in real-world society.
A recent study by Tammy Lin JH and Dai-Yun Wu (“Exercising With Embodied Young Avatars: How Young vs. Older Avatars in Virtual Reality Affect Perceived Exertion and Physical Activity Among Male and Female Elderly Individuals”, 2021) found that when a gamer uses an elderly person’s avatar in VR it can reduce their negative stereotypes towards the elderly and also act as a positive effective manipulation to promote exercising.
In a similar way, researchers Markowitz, Laha, Perone, Pea and Bailenson also used the Proteus Effect in 2018 to improve attitudes and behaviours towards climate change by getting users to embody animals and plants under threat from temperature changes and deforestation. The old adage, “dress for the job you want not for the job you have”, is perhaps most relevant in this regard, as users have the ability to learn and grow by embracing virtual characters that force them to look at things from a different perspective.
Another study by The Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL) in 2013 has shown “a female tendency to objectify or sexualise themselves through their avatars.” By studying these types of behaviours, scientists believe they can help build solutions for some societal problems that are caused or exacerbated by unhealthy online behaviours or trends. While research is thin in this area, this evidence suggests that the world of (cyber)psychology fuelled by the Proteus Effect has the potential to make positive real-world changes.
The future influence of the Proteus Effect
Studies of the Proteus Effect over the past two decades have established a clear link between the appearance and functionality of avatars and the way people behave in virtual worlds, and even in real life. The next step for academics is to continue research to help understand and mitigate known and unknown psychological problems that will arise in the metaverse.
Potential research avenues include continuing to understand how users can be manipulated in advertisement scenarios, what physical properties of avatars are likely to have psychological influence over users and how risky behaviours translate between real and virtual scenarios. There is also the question of how the overall psychological effect of digital interaction in the Metaverse will impact the daily lives of users (think how augmented images affect self-esteem).
Despite this, there are clearly many positive impacts that interactions with digital humans can have, and the challenge for all digital creatives and brands operating in the virtual space is to create an ethical iteration of the Metaverse.
My advice to any brand intending to create a metaverse experience is that it is essential that you first understand the potential of the Proteus Effect. Only then can you offer something valuable for your audience that will elicit the behaviour, attitude-changes and insights you are hoping to generate.
Sources:
– The Proteus Effect: The Effect of Transformed Self-Representation on Behavior
– Virtual Superheroes: Using Superpowers in Virtual Reality to Encourage Prosocial Behavior
– The Priming Effects of Avatars in Virtual Settings
– Can exergaming promote physical fitness and physical activity?: A systematic review
– Immersive Virtual Reality Field Trips Facilitate Learning About Climate Change
ADD WORKGROUP