An Avatar Can Affect One's Behavior

Research on avatar's impact can become one of the most useful inventions for the video-game industry.

A study carried out at the University of Texas shows that avatars having negative associations (dark or Ku-Klux-Klan-like uniforms) might provoke antisocial behavior.

The experiment included assigning avatars to research participants and asking them either to write a story about their avatars or play a video game with a virtual team. Participants that were assigned 'negative' avatars demonstrated negative behavior in both tasks.

Researchers suggest that this may happen due to deeply ingrained representation of a 'bad guy' wearing dark hooded clothes. Study's findings can be applied in video game development, where avatars can be used to predict players' behavior and increase competitiveness.

Posted by gurk