1. Contact: jjchandl@umich.edu Online I am “We”: Contrast and assimilation effects in virtual environments Jesse Chandler, Sara Konrath & Norbert Schwarz Summary: Including an Avatar as a part of the self: Computer game characters are often thought of as extensions of the self (e.g. Turkle, 1995) or as something that can be included within the self (Myers & Biocca, 1992) However, as individuated agents, avatars can also serve as targets of comparison. If the phrase “including the other in the self” can be taken literally, the degree of closeness that people feel to an avatar should predict whether the avatar is included in their self concept Method: 386 online gamers (67 women) with same- gender avatars took part in the survey. As a part of a larger questionnaire, participants completed:  a version of the Inclusion of Other in the Self scale (IOS; Aron et al., 1991)  the Body Image Assessment for Obesity Scale (BIA-O; Williamson et al, 2000)  randomly assigned to complete a version of the BIA-O referring to their avatar or their ideal body  estimated their own height and weight Study Two: Awareness of information’s influence should attenuate the effect observed in Study 1 (Strack, Schwarz, Bless, Kübler & Wänke, 1993). Manipulated the salience of the avatar’s body by changing the order in which people made ratings for the self and avatar. Method: 394 online gamers (174 women) with same- gender avatars took part in the survey. Estimated their height and weight Described their avatar Completed the modified IOS Modified BIA-Os for themselves and their avatar (randomly assigned) Conclusions: For women, feeling overlapped leads to assimilation effects when estimating their body size prior to thinking of an avatar (Studies 1 & 2). Drawing attention to the avatar’s body may attenuate this effect (Study 2) These findings suggest that the degree to which people include media figures as a part of their self determines their influence More generally it may be appropriate to treat media figures (particularly avatars) as relationship partners Including the other in the self should predict assimilation effects in other kinds of relationships as well Limitations Avatar bodies were not randomly assigned, nor was the feeling of closeness. People might simply identify more with avatars who have similar bodies to themselves. The effect is only observed in women and it is not clear why. It may be that women pay more attention to the bodies of their avatars or are more concerned about their own body image There was no relationship between avatar body size, overlap, and actual body size prior to thinking about their avatar’s body. For women, there was a relationship between avatar body size, overlap, and body size after after bringing an avatar’s body to mind, β =.596, t (386) = 2.14, p <.05 This effect was not observed for men. One reason this may be the case is that men are less concerned with the body image of their avatar, F (1, 313) = 22.35, p =.000. Study 1 Results : Study 2 Results : Again, for women there is a relationship between avatar body overlap and body size after thinking about their avatar β =.280, t (394) = 2.75, p <.001 The contrast effect is attenuated somewhat for women who report low overlap and think of their avatar’s body first β = -.229, t (394) = 1.95, p =.052 Again, avatar body size does not predict weight prior to thinking of an avatar. The effects of computer game characters (“avatars”) on women’s body image depends on how close they feel to their avatar. Women who feel close to their avatar assimilate their avatars body into their body image. The opposite is true for those who do not feel close to their avatars. This has implications for understanding the effects of media exposure and close relationships more generally. Self Avatar