An investigation into how avatar appearance can affect interactions in a virtual world
by Leonie O'Brien, John Murnane
International Journal of Social and Humanistic Computing (IJSHC), Vol. 1, No. 2, 2009

Abstract: In the virtual world of Second Life, participants create their own avatar to represent them. From an initial template, this avatar can be physically manipulated in multiple ways to individualise its look and behaviour. This pilot study reports on the social experience of a male and female avatar in a controlled environment. Each avatar had an 'attractive' and 'unattractive' representation. In line with similar studies in real life, we found that attractive people are more likely to be included in conversations and interactions in a virtual online environment and are more likely to be offered friendship than their more unattractive counterparts, but the more interesting questions involved deeper interactions related to deliberate 'unattractiveness' and its possible motives.

Online publication date: Sun, 17-Jan-2010

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