Live, Work, Play in the Virtual World
The Persuasion Power of the Virtual Self
When the Virtual You Changes the Real You from Scientific American, MP3
A podcast by 60-Second Psych gives a brief report of a study by Jesse Fox at Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab on how people's avatars influence their behavior in the real world. It concludes, "Persuasion studies have shown that we are most influenced by those similar to us, in looks, values, education. But here we are being persuaded by the ultimate model: our own self."
The effect is quite powerful: comparing to the control subjects who watched another person jogging, or those who watched their own avatar doing nothing, those who watch a digital clone of themselves running on a treadmill for five minutes spent more than an hour exercising within a 24-hour period!
I was wondering about the mechanism of the amazing effect. Is it driven by the ultimate similarity between the avatar and the real self? Or is it possibly because the avatar represents more of one's ideal self than the real self (since the digital workout may seem intense, yet so effortless ;)? I would be interested to look at the stimuli.
A podcast by 60-Second Psych gives a brief report of a study by Jesse Fox at Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab on how people's avatars influence their behavior in the real world. It concludes, "Persuasion studies have shown that we are most influenced by those similar to us, in looks, values, education. But here we are being persuaded by the ultimate model: our own self."
The effect is quite powerful: comparing to the control subjects who watched another person jogging, or those who watched their own avatar doing nothing, those who watch a digital clone of themselves running on a treadmill for five minutes spent more than an hour exercising within a 24-hour period!
I was wondering about the mechanism of the amazing effect. Is it driven by the ultimate similarity between the avatar and the real self? Or is it possibly because the avatar represents more of one's ideal self than the real self (since the digital workout may seem intense, yet so effortless ;)? I would be interested to look at the stimuli.
Groups
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Architecture and Design
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Virtual Journalism
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Academic Researchers
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Second Life Analytics
(12 members)
Reuters Second LIfe News
Blog: Second Life bluesman signs record deal
The newest destination for talent scouts looking to sign fresh acts is Second Life.
Second Life residents propose their own solutions to a troubled UI
Doug Thompson, through his Second Life avatar Dusan Writer, came up with an idea: hold a contest throughout Second Life to see who could figure out how to make the interface better. And to sweeten the pot, he committed L$800,000 of his own money, almost three thousand American dollars, to the three avatars who could come up with the best design.
Blog: RL/SL instant-messaging weeks away: report
SLNN.com carries an interview with Linden VP Joe Miller which says the reported "SLim" is only weeks away
Blog: Land supply freeze extended again: Has Linden hit a wall?
Linden extends its freeze on new land as prices refuse to rise.
Linden hires former AOL exec to improve scalability
Linden hired former AOL executive Frank Ambrose to oversee work on scalability problems with Second Life
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