Study: Using A Sexy Video Game Avatar Makes Women Start Perceiving Themselves In A Sexually Objectif
105 replies, posted
[quote]When we don a virtual reality avatar, our real-life behavior can change, too. Like, for example, when people embody a tall avatar, they have a tendency to act more confidently. It's called the Proteus Effect. And according to a study from Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab, it's the reason overly sexualized portrayals of women in video games are terrible. According to this research, women who embody sexualized avatars are more likely to objectify themselves, and more likely to say that rape is the victim's fault. (Always worth noting: It's not.)
A total of 86 women participated in the study, donning a head-mounted display that placed them in a virtual environment where they could look in the mirror and see their avatar self, which moved as they moved in real life, dressed either in a sexy outfit or wearing jeans and a jacket. In some conditions, the avatar's face resembled the woman playing her, based on a photograph acquired earlier in the study. The participants had a get-to-know-you conversation with another person's male avatar during the scenario, which allowed the researchers to assess how much they were objectifying themselves. While wearing the sexy, short-skirted avatar, women talked more about their bodies, hair and dress than the women who wore pretty everyday clothing in the scenario.
The researchers write "the results indicate that women who wear sexualized avatars may internalize the features of their avatars and start perceiving themselves in a sexually objectified manner." Gross. But OK, so women who embodied an avatar who was wearing outlandish clothing talked about their clothing. Maybe not that big of a deal?[/quote]
The source:
[url]http://www.popsci.com/article/gadgets/using-sexy-video-game-avatar-makes-women-objectify-themselves?dom=PSC&loc=recent&lnk=1&con=using-a-sexy-video-game-avatar-makes-women-objectify-themselves[/url]
The study:
[url]http://vhil.stanford.edu/pubs/2013/fox-chb-sexualized-virtual-selves.pdf[/url]
So women are objectifying themselves?
Anita Sarkeesian would probably explode when she hears that :v:
So how long until the feminists declare war on Stanford University?
oh so thats why ive been acting like a cat lately
thanks jaykin bacon
i can definitely say that i have strange women from across the country friend me on facebook only when i have an attractive profile picture
So what about guys that have a girl as their avatar?
[QUOTE=Desuh;42490733]So what about guys that have a girl as their avatar?[/QUOTE]
it makes there peepee bigger
Reminds me of that [URL="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053810013000597"]study[/URL] showing that having a black avatar makes you less racist.
[QUOTE=Desuh;42490733]So what about guys that have a girl as their avatar?[/QUOTE]
It does actually make me feel like a saint who can multitask now that you mention it :v:
[QUOTE=AlienFanatic;42490644]oh so thats why ive been acting like a cat lately
thanks jaykin bacon[/QUOTE]
A user on tumblr identifies themselves as a cat.
No, seriously.
He's had species dysphoria.
i played a khajiit in skyrim and now i am a gay furry
"the results indicate that women who wear sexualized avatars may internalize the features of their avatars and start perceiving themselves in a sexually objectified manner."
aka "we can't conclude anything except that for the duration of the experiment, women were objectifying themselves more." In its current state, this study is not very useful, especially with a sample of only 84.
I can imagine this thread won't end very well
At some point someone will say something leading to a major women's right [del]shitstorm/[/del]debate
I can see it already
[quote]women who embody sexualized avatars are more likely to objectify themselves, and more likely to say that rape is the victim's fault.[/quote]
what
I think I care more about being respected and not looking like an idiot when I have this avatar. So I can see how this sort of thing would make sense.
Feminism is irrelevant here, this is basic human psyche of the ego ideal. If your ego ideal is manifested beyond the realm of thought into a visual or virtual environment you become more likely to believe that is you.
Say in any game, your avatar that you made in the sense that this is your ego ideal (This is who you want to be), has a tail or extra appendage or is cybernetic with say an emotional inhibitor. You are more likely to belive in those characteristics in real life.
E.g. Someone would claim to feel a phantom tail or someone would become more logical and less emotionally bound, respectively.
so does playing pyro in tf2 make me want to don an asbestos suit and mask and run around mumbling gibberish?
[QUOTE=Rubs10;42490803]Reminds me of that [URL="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053810013000597"]study[/URL] showing that having a black avatar makes you less racist.[/QUOTE]
i hope having a red avatar does the same
if so, thank you kneesocks
Nothing about this study does not make sense. Of course this is the case. Why would having a hyper sexualized female avatar in game not have the same effect such things do in real life? Internal misogyny is dangerous and is an easy trap for many women to fall into in this society.
[QUOTE=FlakAttack;42490900]"the results indicate that women who wear sexualized avatars may internalize the features of their avatars and start perceiving themselves in a sexually objectified manner."
aka "we can't conclude anything except that for the duration of the experiment, women were objectifying themselves more." In its current state, this study is not very useful, especially with a sample of only 84.[/QUOTE]
what would a proper sample be then?
...Well okay.
[QUOTE=person11;42491518]Nothing about this study does not make sense. Of course this is the case. Why would having a sexualized female avatar in game not make a woman feel objectified? It's like in real life: the eternal potentiality of being ogled by potentially predatory men.[/QUOTE]
the study doesn't show that women feel more objectified, but that they were more likely to objectify themselves. that's actually pretty interesting.
[editline]11th October 2013[/editline]
is it because they are being objectified? do objectified people objectify themselves?
Good point. Still shows that these things make a difference, and that it is a negative impact.
[QUOTE=person11;42491518]Why would having a sexualized female avatar in game not make a woman feel objectified?.[/QUOTE]
Do you think this has the same affect on men? You can't deny that men are also sexualized.
[QUOTE=Rangergxi;42491578]Do you think this has the same affect on men? You can't deny that men are also sexualized.[/QUOTE]
Not quite. Men are sexualized in a very different way from women, denoting their superior status in our society. Men are given different sexual ideals than women are.
[QUOTE=Rubs10;42490803]Reminds me of that [URL="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053810013000597"]study[/URL] showing that having a black avatar makes you less racist.[/QUOTE]
we must force racists to play as the most obvious versions of the ethinicies they hate then, racism solved, global peace next :v:
[QUOTE=person11;42491551]Good point. Still shows that these things make a difference, and that it is a negative impact.[/QUOTE]
where you see negativity i see a bit of optimism. this means that adding more "normal"(i.e. not overly objectified) female protagonists and minority protagonists in video games might do good work to undo a lot of internalized misogyny.
[editline]11th October 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=Rangergxi;42491578]Do you think this has the same affect on men? You can't deny that men are also sexualized.[/QUOTE]
we aren't, really.
[editline]11th October 2013[/editline]
except in the context of "buy this product and you will get tons of women drooling over you", which is more of a power fantasy than a sexual fantasy.
Makes sense. I generally use an avatar of myself. Wonder what that does?
[QUOTE=Rubs10;42490803]Reminds me of that [URL="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053810013000597"]study[/URL] showing that having a black avatar makes you less racist.[/QUOTE]
If someone ever calls me racist I will tell him that I main Demoman in TF2.
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