You are here:

Who am I - and if so, where? A Study on Personality in Virtual Realities
ARTICLE

, ,

Journal of Virtual Worlds Research Volume 2, Number 5, ISSN 1941-8477 Publisher: Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

Full Text

Abstract

Virtual realities form a new technical platform, raising scientific questions about the human mind, communication and identity. There is hardly any scientific research on the influence of a virtual reality on the identity perception and the personality of a user of these virtual realities. The present study attempts to contribute to filling this gap by assessing the potential difference between real-life personality and the ‘virtual’ avatar personality using the online virtual world of Second Life. Dutch participants (N = 34) were asked to use their own avatar or create a new avatar within this online virtual reality, to communicate with other avatars and finally to fill in a Big Five personality questionnaire (5 Persoonlijkheids Factoren Test - 5PFT) via a virtual interactive testing screen within Second Life. The virtual 5 PFT scores were compared to pencil and paper scores of the same questionnaire, which had been filled in by all 34 participants during a first-year undergraduate test battery, seven months prior to the virtual testing. The results show no difference for any of the five subscales (extraversion, friendliness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, development) between the pencil and paper and the virtual version, suggesting that users of virtual realities do not create a ‘virtual’ personality for their avatar. Furthermore, high scores of internal consistency and high test-retest correlations between the two versions were found, which are very similar to the original test-retest scores of the 5PFT. These findings show the potential of virtual realities as new platforms for reliable (psychological) testing and future clinical applications.

Citation

Aas, B., Meyerbröker, K. & Emmelkamp, P. (2010). Who am I - and if so, where? A Study on Personality in Virtual Realities. Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, 2(5),. Retrieved August 20, 2022 from .

Keywords

References

View References & Citations Map
  1. Baecker, D. (2007). Studien zur naechsten Gesellschaft. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
  2. Bainbridge, W. (2007). The scientific research potential of virtual worlds. Science, 317, 472-476.
  3. Bargh, J., McKenna, K.Y.A., & Fitzsimons, G.M. (2002). Can you see the real me? Activation and Expression of the “true self”on the internet. Journal of Social Issues, 1, 33-48.
  4. Bessiére, K., Seay, A.F., & Kiesler, S. (2007). The ideal elf: Identity exploration in world of warcraft. Cyber Psychology& Behavior, 10, 530-535.
  5. Boellstorff, T. (2008). Coming of age in second life: An anthropologist explores the virtually human. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  6. Botgirl Questi (2008). You can help investigate human and avatar personality by taking brief test. Retrieved 12 November 2008, from: http://botgirl.blogspot.com/2008/05/you-can-helpinvestigate-human-and.html.
  7. De Nood, D., & Attema, J. (2006). Second Life. Het tweede leven van virtual reality. EPN rapport. Retrieved June 5, 2008, from http://www.epn.net
  8. Elshout, J.J. (1999). De vijf persoonlijkheidsfactoren test (5PFT) 1973-1999. Nederlands tijdschrift voor de psychologie, 54, 195-207.
  9. Elshout, J.J., & Akkerman, A. (1973). Een Nederlandse test voor vijf persoonlijkheidsfactoren, de 5PFT. In Drenth, P.J.D., Willems P.J., & De Wolff, Ch. (Eds.). Arbeids-, en organisatiepsychologie (pp. 49-56). Deventer: Kluver.
  10. Elshout, J.J. & Akkerman, A. (1975). Vijf persoonlijkheids factoren test 5PFT handleiding. Nijmegen: Berkhout/Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.
  11. Emmelkamp, P.M.G. (2005). Technological innovations in clinical assessment and psychotherapy. Psychotherapy& Psychosomatics, 74, 336-343.
  12. Gallego M.J., Botella C., Garcia-Palacios A., Banos R.M., & Guillen V. (2008). A self-help treatment via the Internet for fear of public speaking: A single case study. Psicologia Conductual, 16, 2, 323-340.
  13. Mischel, W. (1999). Introduction to Personality (6th ed). Fort Worth, Texas: Harcourt Brace.
  14. Patrick, C.J., Curtin, J.J., & Tellegen, A. (2002). Development and validation of a brief form of the multidimensional personality questionnaire. Psychological Assessment,14, 150-163.
  15. 2,Precht, R.D. (2007). Werbin ich – und wenn ja, wie viele? Eine philosophische Reise. München: Goldmann.
  16. Schubert, T., Friedmann, F., & Regenbrecht, H. (1999). Embodied presence in virtual environments. In R. Paton, & I. Neilson (Eds.), Visual representations and interpretations, (pp. 268-278). London: Springer-Verlag.
  17. Schubert, T., Friedmann, F., & Regenbrecht, H. (2001). The experience of presence: Factor analytic insights. Presence, 10, 266-281.
  18. Tellegen, A., Lykken, D.T., Bouchard, T.S., Wilcox, K.J., Segal, N.L., & Rich, S. (1988). Personality similarity in twins reared apart and together. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1031-1039.
  19. Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the screen. Identity in the age of the internt. New York: Simon& Schuster.
  20. Turkle, S. (1997). Multiple subjectivity and virtual community at the end of the Freudian century. Sociological Inquiry, 67, 72-84.
  21. Wagner, B., & Lange, A. (2008). Internet-basierte Psychotherapie ‘Interapy’. In S. Bauer und H. Kordy (Eds.), E-Mental Health. Neue Medien in der psychosozialen Versorgung, 9, 105120.
  22. Westerhoff, N. (2007). Therapie 2.0. Gehirn und Geist, 3, 92-97.
  23. Yee, N., & Bailenson, J. (2007). The proteus effect: The effect of transformed self-representation on behavior. Human Communication Research, 33, 271-290.

These references have been extracted automatically and may have some errors. Signed in users can suggest corrections to these mistakes.

Suggest Corrections to References