A study at the University of Texas has shown that dependent on the virtual avatar the user is using, moods and teamwork are affected. When users take control of a negative figure, in this case, a character wearing black cloaks or a member of the KKK, the users were seen to exhibit more agressive behaviors towards teammates in team excerises as well as the unwillingness to cooperate. Users in white cloaks or physicians were shown to show teamwork and the ability to complete the team exercises given. In order to have a control group, some users were given transparent characters. People using the negative avatars were later asked to create a scenario based on information they were given. All scenarios created by these people involved murder or other scandals whereas the positive groups created scenarios with relationships involved. This was definitely an interesting article to read and is some insight as to moods caused by video games.
link to original image
Who would wear a KKK hood in a video game? Don't people realize how offensive that is? There are some weird people on the internet, wow.
ReplyDeleteI think this is so interesting, and to be honest, it reminded me a bit of the popular TV show, The Office, because Dwight Shrute is addicted to his aviatar in the show. Also, this entry was a bit like one of my entires on my blogs that was talking about the effects technology has.
ReplyDelete