10: I can fly!

Flying isn’t the only thing that makes the metaworld Second Life different from the physical world. In the immersive virtual world of Second Life, one can change their appearance drastically with a few clicks of the mouse (see inventory and characteristic modification images). The ease of self-re-representation begs the question: Do the characteristics of a person’s online appearance (an avatar) affect that person’s behavior?

Yee and Bailenson refine the concept of behavioral confirmation in immersive 3D metaworlds. The Proteus Effect involves the consequence of self-perception on one’s own behavior, whereas behavioral confirmation also includes how another person’s expectations of a target can shape the way the target behaves.

For the most part, the Proteus effect describes my experiences on Second Life. I had no problem going up to random people to talk. This exhibits the deindividuation effect that Yee and Bailenson mention. Analogous to the dyads placed in a dark room for an hour that gravitated and interacted physically with each other, I felt that my anonymity made me an assertive, outgoing character. I initially landed on “Orientation Island” and I found myself in a group of newbies, whose avatars looked bland and generic, much like my own avatar. (Not knowing how one should look on Second Life, I judged my own attractiveness relative to the other characters around me. I would judge that my character was quite unattractive and short.) One bystander, “Lnders Rice,” was taller and seemed different than the newbies because of her well-coordinated attire, tall stature, and detailed avatar characteristics. I began to converse with Rice, and I experienced a momentary loss of identity where I found myself speaking for the “newbie group,” even though I knew the answers to most of my questions.

[23:44] NngFe Kanto: I don`t know how to play T_T

[23:44] You: where is the actual world...

[23:44] You: like, where am i now

[23:44] Lnders Rice: we all have something special boot camp

[23:45] You: how can i finsh bootcamp

[23:45] You: im lazy

[23:45] NngFe Kanto: >_<~

[23:45] Lnders Rice: that is up to you

[23:46] Lnders Rice: and what you want to learn

Lnders seemed to take on a maternal role in giving advice to me. From a role playing perspective, the visuals seemed to affirm that she was the more dominant and wise character. Being the shorter character, I accepted her indirect answer which was delivered in a superior tone, instead of challenging her. I also noticed that I was more comfortable being closer to the newbies than to Lnders. This experience affirms Yee and Bailenson’s confidence and interpersonal distance results. Taller avatars were more confident and unattractive people were more uncomfortable at close distances.

My experience did not completely jive with Yee and Bailenson’s self-disclosure results. They found that attractive avatars were more willing to self disclose; however, I found myself (unattractive) very willing to disclose my newbie identity, thoughts, and concerns, while Lnders’ (attractive) indirect and vague response to my question indicated a resistance to self-disclosure. This discrepancy may have occurred because of her perception of my unattractive character. (In Yee and Bailenson’s study, incongruent avatars were used in order to mitigate this uncertainty.)

Comments:

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5400576841210402935&postID=808027312932563121
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5400576841210402935&postID=6044286284970537414