Virtual worlds: an analysis of the psychological effects content of avatar-mediated activity

We discuss the psychological effects of avatar-mediated activities in virtual worlds, as well as their possible mechanisms. Along with the known effects: immersion, presence, Proteus and unconscious communication by language of gestures and poses of the avatar, we present several new ones. Among them are: anchoring (fixing the high importance of the virtual world in the mind); confabulation (increased realism of audiovisual picture in memory); superpower (distortion of unconscious expectations about the physical norm); incarnation (the perception of an avatar as a second body). We suggest that the effects of the presence and incarnations are the result of the inclusion of avatar and other objects in area of the psychological mechanisms of control the social behavior and the environment.

1. Averbukh N. V. Psikhologicheskie aspekty fenomena prisutstviya v virtual’noi srede [Psychological aspects of the phenomenon of presence in a virtual environment]. Voprosy psikhologii [Questions of Psychology], 2010, no. 5, pp. 105–113. (In Russ.)
2. Becker B., Mark G. Social conventions in computer-mediated communication: a comparison of three online shared virtual environments. In R. Schroeder (ed.), The Social Life of Avatars: Presence and Interaction in Shared Virtual Environments. London, Springer, 2002, pp. 19–39.
3. Fiscal Year [Electronic resource]: President’s Budget Submission, 2013. Department of Defense. 2013. URL: http://www.darpa.mil/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=2147484865 (access date: 01.07.2014).
4. Goza S. M., Ambrose R. O., Diftler M. A. Telepresence Control of the NASA/DARPA Robonaut on a Mobility Platform [Electronic resource]. In Proceedings of ACM international conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2004, vol. 6, pp. 623–629. URL: ftp://ftp.nada.kth.se/pub/IPLab/robotfiles/ chi2004/robotpapers/1p623.pdf (access date: 01.07.2014).
5. Herring S. C. Computer-mediated communication on the Internet. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, 2002, vol. 36, pp. 109–168.
6. Lee K. M. Presence, Explicated. Communication Theory, 2004, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 27–50.
7. Leontiev A. N. Deyatel’nost’. Soznanie. Lichnost’ [Activities. Consciousness. Personality]. 2nd ed. Moscow, Politizdat Publ., 1977, pp. 235–302 (In Russ.).
8. Lombard M., Ditton T. At the heart of it all: The concept of presence. Journal Of Computer-Mediated Communication, 1997, vol. 3, pp. 1–33.
9. McLellan H. Virtual realities. In D. H. Jonassen (ed.), Handbook of research for educational communications and technology. N. Y., Macmillan, 1996, pp. 457–487.
10. McLuhan M. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Canada, McGraw-Hill, 1964, 318 p. (Russ. ed.: Maklyuen G. M. Ponimanie media: vneshnie rasshireniya cheloveka. Per. s angl. V. G. Nikolaev. 3 ed. Moscow, Giperboreya Publ., 2007. 462 p.)
11. Minsky M. Telepresence. Omni. 1980, vol. 2, no. 9, pp. 45–51.
12. Murray J. Hamlet on the Holodeck: The future of narrative in cyberspace. Cambridge, MA, The MIT Press, 1997, pp. 98–99.
13. Oxford Dictionaries [Electronic resource]: Immerse. URL: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/ definition/english/immerse (access date 01.07.2014).
14. Persky S. Employing Immersive Virtual Environments for Innovative Experiments in Health Care Communication. Patient Educ Couns, 2011, vol. 82, no. 3, pp. 313–317. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2010.12.007.
15. Schiano D. J., Nardi B., Debeauvais T., Ducheneaut N., Yee N. A new look at World of Warcraft’s social landscape. In 6th International Conference on Foundations of Digital Games. Bordeaux, France, 2011, pp. 174–179. doi: 10.1145/2159365.2159389.
16. Sheridan T. B. Musings on telepresence and virtual presence. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 1992, vol. 1, pp. 120–126.
17. Short J., Williams E., Christie B. The social psychology of telecommunications. London, Wiley, 1976. 205 p.
18. Slater M., Wilbur S. A. Framework for immersive virtual environments (FIVE): Speculations on the role of presence in virtual environments. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 1997, vol. 6, no. 6, pp. 603–616.
19. Voiskunskii A. E., Selisskaya M. A. Sistema real’nostei: psikhologiya i tekhnologiya [System of realities: psychology and technology]. Voprosy filosofii [Questions of Philosophy], 2005, no. 11, pp. 119–130 (In Russ.).
20. Witmer B. G., Singer M. J. Measuring presence in virtual environments: A presence questionnaire. Journal of Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 1998, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 225–240.
21. Yee N., Bailenson J. N. The Proteus Effect: The Effect of Transformed Self-Representation on Behavior. Human Communication Research, 2007, vol. 33, pp. 271–290.
22. Yee N., Bailenson J. N., Ducheneaut N. The Proteus Effect: Implications of transformed digital self-representation on online and offline behavior. Communication Research, 2009, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 285–312. doi: 10.1177/0093650208330254.
23. Yee N., Bailenson J. N., Urbanek M., Chang F., Merget D. The Unbearable Likeness of Being Digital: The Persistence of Nonverbal Social Norms in Online Virtual Environments. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 2007, vol. 10, pp. 115–121. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2006.9984.
24. Zhao S. Toward a taxonomy of copresence. Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 2003, vol. 12, no. 5, pp. 445–455.