How You Represent Yourself As An Avatar Affects Your Behavior In The Real World- Meg Mickelsen

A new study, published in Psychological Science,  shows strong evidence that virtual role play in video games strongly effects behavior in the real world.  194 participants were given either Voldemort, Superman, or a Circle to be their video game avatar, and then asked to battle enemies in an epic virtual universe for five short minutes.  In what they were told was an unrelated study, they were then asked to pour either chocolate sauce or extremely hot chili sauce in a plastic dish for the next participant.  They were told that this unwitting victim had to eat the entirety of whatever maliciously or lovingly filled the plastic vessel.  Participant who played as Voldemort were twice as likely to pour chili sauce into the dish as participants who played as Circle; likewise, participants who played as Superman were twice as likely to pour chocolate sauce into the dis as participants who played circle.  As one might guess, no one actually had to eat the chocolate or the chili sauce. Further experiments of a similar nature confirmed these results and that actually playing as an avatar yielded stronger effects on behavior then watching someone play as an avatar.  Strangely peoples preconceptions and identifications with either heroic or villainous characters appeared to be irrelevant.  "These behaviors occur despite modest, equivalent levels of self-reported identification with heroic and villainous avatars, alike," Yoon and Vargas note. "People are prone to be unaware of the influence of their virtual representations on their behavioral responses."
I find this study fascinating, because it exhibits the power of roleplaying and modeling; furthermore it encourages me to only ever use Audrey Horne as an avatar.  Here is the link to my article http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140210083239.htm