Two social psychologists from Northwestern University have determined that actions in virtual worlds, such as the popular Second Life, mimic those in real life, according to Science Daily.
Northwestern’s Paul W. Eastwick, a doctoral student in psychology, and Wendi L. Gardner, associate professor of psychology and member of Northwestern’s Center for Technology and Social Behavior, found that social cues - as well as racial biases - happen in much the same way as real life. Their field study focusing on Second Life is one of the first of its kind.
The study used what is called a ‘reciprocity-inducing technique’ by making one avatar ask another an unusually large request (generally declined) followed by a smaller request (generally accepted.) The most profound of the findings, though, may be that of the color of the requester’s avatar-skin. When the moderate request was done by a white-skinned avatar, the positive response rate increased 20%; when the avatar was dark-toned, the increase was only 8%:
“For decades, research has shown that the outcome of that reciprocity-inducing technique is affected by how the requester is perceived, whether a person — or in this case an avatar — is deemed worthy of impressing,” said Gardner.
The study, done in the virtual world There.com, showed that, as in the real world, physical characteristics impact perception and judgment.
Vint Falken weighs in with his opinion about this story on his blog with a succinct “duh,” adding, “Conclusion? Interactions among strangers within the virtual world are very similar to interactions between strangers in the real world… Over at Science Daily, they think that is something to worry about, something I do not see reason for.”
Paul Eastwick, one of the study’s investigators said, “You would think when you’re wandering around this fantasyland, operating outside of the normal laws of time, space and gravity and meeting all types of strange characters, that you might behave differently, but people exhibited the same type of behavior — and the same type of racial bias — that they show in the real world all the time.”
i hate those hypocrites… oh my god, racist, racist…
why shouldnt a black guy look _strange_ to me when in my whole life i hardly met one aside from walking past the street once or twice a year?
i dont hate him. i dont like him. hes just another guy. but hypocrites like these who have no better things to do than making _stupid_ surveys can really p.ss me off.
also if every furry i have ever met is _weird_ why shouldnt i be precautious when meeting the next one?
or why shouldnt i be disgusted by their ‘yiff’? maybe they should do something for themselves so people dont get wary when they see one.
also*2 if someone is ugly, then he is ugly, period. you shouldnt remind him everytime that hes ugly, but he is ugly.
if you dont have a face, get a personality.
I think it is interesting to try out some experiments like this. SL has made me wonder if humans have an ability (as of yet scientifically unmeasured) to sense another human other than through the normal senses. More to the point: if a given avatar is operated by different humans, would that avatar have a different “feel” when it interacted with others?