Title Player-Avatar Identification in Video Gaming

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Title Player-avatar identification in video gaming: Concept and measurement Author(s) Li Dong Dong, Albert Kien Liau and Angeline Khoo Source Computers in Human Behavior, 29(1), 257-263 Published by Elsevier

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NOTICE: This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Computers in Human Behavior. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 29, Issue 1, January 2013, pages 257-263, doi: dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.09.002 *Title Page with Author details

Running title: Player-avatar identification

PLAYER-AVATAR IDENTIFICATION IN VIDEO GAMING:

CONCEPT AND MEASUREMENT

Li Dong Dong, M.A.1

Albert Kien Liau, Ph.d.1

Angeline Khoo, Ph.d.1

** Corresponding Author [email protected] National Institute of Education Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Walk 637616 Singapore +65 67903344 (Tel)

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Education, Singapore and the Media

Development Authority for jointly funding the research project (Project # EP 1/06

AK) as well as the National Research Foundation for funding the research project

(NRF-20008-IDM-001-MOE-014).

Disclosure Statement

No competing financial interests exist.

1 Psychological Studies, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore *Manuscript without Author Details Click here to view linked References 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 PLAYER-AVATAR IDENTIFICATION IN VIDEO GAMING: 6 7 8 9 CONCEPT AND MEASUREMENT 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 1 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 Abstract 6 7 8 This paper aims to develop an instrument to measure Player-Avatar Identification 9 10 11 (PAI) in video game playing. Survey studies were conducted with over 1000 students in 12 13 14 Singapore primary and secondary schools. The results of the studies demonstrated that 15 16 17 18 PAI can be conceptualized and reliably measured in terms of four factors – feelings 19 20 21 during play, absorption during play, positive attitudes toward the game avatar and 22 23 24 importance of the avatar to one’s self identity. The four-factor model showed acceptable 25 26 27 model data fit and satisfactory reliability and validity. The construct validity was 28 29 30 supported by the relationship between PAI and identity style. The result suggested that 31 32 33 students with diffused identity style reported significant higher scores on absorption and 34 35 36 37 importance to identity. The usefulness of the concept and the scale was discussed in 38 39 40 relation to behavioral and developmental implications. 41 42 Author Keywords 43 44 45 Identification, identity, video game, player avatar relationship, measurement 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 2 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 1. Introduction 6 7 8 As video games become more popular among children and adolescents, there is 9 10 11 12 growing concern that identifying with game avatars may influence the development of 13 14 15 self-concept and identity (Klimmt, Hefner, Vorderer, Roth, & Blake, 2010). However, the 16 17 18 definition of identification with media characters was usually vague and varied in content 19 20 21 from one study to another (Konijn & Hoorn, 2005). There are studies which used 22 23 24 identification to represent concepts such as empathy or imitation (Olds, 2006). There are 25 26 27 28 also studies that classify identification into specific categories. For example, Von 29 30 31 Feilitzen & Linne (1975) distinguished between wishful identification (the desires to 32 33 34 become a character) and similarity identification (shared salient traits with the character). 35 36 37 As the definition of identification is not well established, the measurement of 38 39 40 identification also varied to a great extent in different studies. 41 42 43 Building upon a comprehensive review of the literature, Cohen (2001) presented a 44 45 46 47 theoretical discussion on the concept of identification with media characters and its 48 49 50 consequences on identity development. He also proposed ten items to measure 51 52 53 identification with media characters. However, no empirical studies were carried out to 54 55 56 validate these items. This paper is thus an attempt to expand on Cohen’s 57 58 59 conceptualization and apply it to video game context. The concept of Player-Avatar 60 61 62 3 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 Identification (PAI) in video gaming is discussed following Cohen’s theory; a measure of 6 7 8 PAI is then developed and validated using a sample of adolescent game players. 9 10 11 12 1.1 Concept of Identification 13 14 15 The term “identification” was first used by Freud and later other psychoanalysts 16 17 18 to explain the process of personality formation through taking the role of the other 19 20 21 (Freud, 1938, 1962). Previous definitions of identification with media characters usually 22 23 24 followed the vicarious role-taking perspective. For example, in an early study on 25 26 27 28 identification with film characters, Maccoby and Wilson (1957) defined the process as 29 30 31 “the viewer, in fantasy, puts himself in the place of a character and momentarily feels that 32 33 34 what is happening to that character is happening to himself” (p. 76). Similarly, 35 36 37 Livingstone (1998) described identification with TV characters as imagining being in 38 39 40 someone else’s shoes and seeing the world through his or her eyes. 41 42 43 Cohen (2001) articulated a conceptualization of identification with media 44 45 46 47 characters based on a review of past research. According to this definition, identification 48 49 50 is a process that involves perception toward the character, adopts goals of the character, 51 52 53 and consists of “increasing loss of self-awareness and its temporary replacement with 54 55 56 heightened emotional and cognitive connections with a character” (p.251). He suggested 57 58 59 that identification could be measured in four dimensions. The first is empathy or sharing 60 61 62 4 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 the feelings of the character, such as “when character X succeeded I felt joy, but when he 6 7 8 or she failed, I was sad”. The second is sharing the perspectives of the character and 9 10 11 12 understanding the character emotionally as well as cognitively, such as “I felt I knew 13 14 15 exactly what the character X was going through”. The third component assessed the 16 17 18 degree to which the audience member internalized and shared the goals of the character, 19 20 21 for example, “I tend to understand the reasons why character X does what he or she 22 23 24 does”. The fourth component was absorption or the degree to which self-awareness is lost 25 26 27 28 during exposure to media, for example, “while viewing program X, I forgot myself and 29 30 31 was fully absorbed”. 32 33 34 However, the difference between video games and the traditional media must be 35 36 37 noted before applying Cohen’s theory in video game research. For one thing, the 38 39 40 audience and the media are two different social entities in the traditional media, but the 41 42 43 boundary is vague in video games (Klimmt, et al., 2010). Video games with avatars 44 45 46 47 provide higher levels of interactivity, selectivity and personalization (Bryant & Love, 48 49 50 1996). When the avatar encounters a situation, socializes, achieves or fails, it is the 51 52 53 player behind the avatar who is making the move and experiencing the emotions 54 55 56 attached. In such cases, sharing the game avatars’ perspective and goals (the second and 57 58 59 60 61 62 5 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 third dimension in Cohen’s definition) may not apply1. It is also logical to assume that the 6 7 8 player will experience certain emotions and get absorbed while taking action in the game 9 10 11 12 world. In a recent study on human brain process about identification with game avatars, 13 14 15 Ganesh and colleagues (2011) also used “emotional involvement” to represent feelings 16 17 18 and absorption as the essential features of PAI. What matters in this case, is the extent of 19 20 21 feelings and absorption the player experiences. Therefore, PAI may be measured in the 22 23 24 following two dimensions following Cohen’s theory (1) feelings during play and (2) 25 26 27 28 absorption during play. These two dimensions define identification as emotional and 29 30 31 cognitive connections between the player and the avatar (Cohen, 2001). 32 33 34 Another important component in the definition of identification, especially when 35 36 37 applying to video games, is merged identity. According to Cohen (2001), identification 38 39 40 involves the merging of self and other, and repetitive internalization of alternative 41 42 43 identities of media characters which are powerful and seductive. In video game studies, 44 45 46 47 48 49 1 There are different types of avatars found in videogames. The term Avatar was derived from the Sanskrit 50 51 word avatara, meaning “descent” (Sheth, 2002). Since 1980s, the term was adopted by one of the first 52 multi-player online virtual environment: Habitat (Morningstar & Farmer, 2008). This game used “avatar” 53 54 to refer to the animated figures of players, which are usually humanoid in appearance. Game players 55 could control the avatar to “move around, pick up, put down and manipulate objects, talk to each other, 56 57 and gesture” (p.3). In this article, we focus more on the type of avatars found in role playing games 58 described by Kromand (2007) as “central-open” avatars rather than avatars with scripted roles. 59 60 61 62 6 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 researchers have also started to include merged identity in defining PAI. Steen, 6 7 8 Greenfield, Davies and Tynes (2006) utilized a concept of identification-as-simulation 9 10 11 12 along the lines of Oatley (1994). In both studies, the player treats the avatar as if it were 13 14 15 himself/herself in certain ways. Klimmt, Hefner and Vorderer (2009; 2010) also 16 17 18 emphasized the importance of self-concept and identity in defining PAI as a merger of 19 20 21 players’ self-concept with perceived attributes of the target avatar. They argue that the 22 23 24 users adopt (parts of) the identity of the target avatar for the moment of game exposure. 25 26 27 28 As the changes of the players’ self-concept may occur without conscious awareness, the 29 30 31 identification process might not be measurable by survey or interview method. Instead, 32 33 34 the Implicit Association Test (Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) was used to 35 36 37 assess the cognitive associations between avatar-related concepts and the players’ self- 38 39 40 concept. 41 42 43 In line with studies on wishful identification, identification is believed to occur 44 45 46 47 because an individual desires to incorporate positive traits of the identified into one’s 48 49 50 self-concept (Reinhard, 2005). People often wishfully identity with media characters who 51 52 53 are more successful, more popular, or in other ways rewarding or positive (Hoffner, 54 55 56 1996; Hoffner & Buchanan, 2005; von Feilitzen & Linné, 1975). According to Klimmt, 57 58 59 Hefner and Vorderer (2009), game players perceive themselves as more courageous, 60 61 62 7 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 heroic, and powerful during identification with a soldier avatar. Informed by these 6 7 8 studies, we propose that PAI as self-defining process could also be measured from 9 10 11 12 emotional and cognitive dimensions. First, a player who identifies with his or her avatar 13 14 15 should have positive emotions and positive evaluations toward the avatar. Second, a 16 17 18 player who identifies with his or her avatar should cognitively recognize the importance 19 20 21 of the avatar to the real-life self-concept. In other words, identification occurs when a 22 23 24 player accepts and values some aspects of the in-game self (positive attitudes toward 25 26 27 28 avatar) and perceives those aspects as important parts of his or her own real-self 29 30 31 (importance to identity). 32 33 34 1.2 PAI and identity style 35 36 37 Hence, we would like to expand on Cohen’s conceptualization of identification 38 39 40 and hypothesize a construct of PAI that involves four components: feelings during play, 41 42 43 absorption during play, positive attitudes toward avatar, and importance of the avatar to 44 45 46 47 one’s self identity. In other words, PAI in this study is defined as the status when a player 48 49 50 is absorbed in video games with heightened feelings and adopts certain aspects of the in- 51 52 53 game identity both emotionally and cognitively. Based on this definition, we expect that 54 55 56 PAI would influence adolescents’ identity development. 57 58 59 60 61 62 8 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 An adolescent may build his or her identity through identifying with media 6 7 8 characters (Cohen, 2001; McCall & Simmons, 1978). Similarly, young players of video 9 10 11 12 games who are in the diffusion identity status may also explore different identities by 13 14 15 identifying with game avatars. Past research has also shown that individuals with diffused 16 17 18 identity style tend to employ avoidant-oriented coping strategies, such as wishful thinking 19 20 21 (Berzonsky, 1992). Thus, they may be more likely to use video games as “identity 22 23 24 workshops” (Turkle, 1994, 2005). It is thus hypothesized that students with diffused 25 26 27 28 identity style will report higher scores of PAI. 29 30 31 1.3 The Current Study 32 33 34 Based on the above conceptual definition, two studies were conducted to develop 35 36 37 and evaluate an instrument to measure PAI. Items were developed and tested following 38 39 40 the procedures of measurement theory validation (Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson, & 41 42 43 Tatham, 2006) using both exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). 44 45 46 47 Besides convergent and discriminant validity, the criterion validity of the scale was also 48 49 50 tested between PAI and identity style. 51 52 53 Paper and pencil surveys were conducted in classrooms with the help of school 54 55 56 teachers. Informed consent was sought from the parents through the schools. Students 57 58 59 whose parents did not give their consent were excluded from the study. The participants 60 61 62 9 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 were informed that the study was voluntary and their responses would be read only by the 6 7 8 researchers. Confidentiality was assured as the teachers were required to seal collected 9 10 11 12 questionnaires in the envelopes in the presence of the students to insure the privacy of the 13 14 15 students’ responses. The data was drawn from a larger scale study. Due to the length of 16 17 18 the questionnaire, it was administered in four different orders over a period of four days. 19 20 21 The order of these questionnaires was counterbalanced so that they wouldn’t be done in 22 23 24 the same sequence in the same day for different classes. The length and time needed to 25 26 27 28 complete each set was also considered. Besides, the four sets of questionnaires were 29 30 31 printed on four coloured papers for each day to facilitate ease of data collection. 32 33 34 Similar to other computer-related behavior, video gaming is known to be a 35 36 37 gendered phenomenon (Whitley, 1997). Past studies have shown that adolescent boys 38 39 40 usually played more often than girls (Griffiths & Hunt, 1995; Lucas & Sherry, 2004; 41 42 43 Phillips, Rolls, Rouse, & Griffiths, 1995). However, there is little research on gender 44 45 46 47 differences in identification with game avatars. Several recent studies either used only 48 49 50 male participants or did not consider gender effects (Ganesh, et al., 2011; Klimmt, et al., 51 52 53 2010; Van Looy, Courtois, & De Vocht, 2010). To add to the literature, we conducted a 54 55 56 group invariance test between boys and girls in this study. In summary, the main 57 58 59 60 61 62 10 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 objectives of the study were to develop an instrument to measure PAI, and to evaluate its 6 7 8 validity with adolescent gamers and to test the group invariance between genders. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 2 Pilot Study 16 17 18 The purpose of the pilot study was to develop and select a list of potential items 19 20 21 for the Player-Avatar Identification Scale (PAIS) that corresponds to the definition of 22 23 24 each of the four components of our hypothesized construct: feelings during play, 25 26 27 28 absorption during play, positive attitudes toward avatar, and importance to identity. The 29 30 31 Scale was preceded by the following instructions: Think about your favorite game and 32 33 34 game character. Read each sentence carefully and choose the answer that best describes 35 36 37 you when you are playing video games such as: Maple Story, World of Warcraft, 38 39 40 EverQuest, and The Sims. 41 42 43 A total of 42 items were revised or drafted based on previous studies (Cohen, 44 45 46 47 2001; Hefner, Klimmt, & Vorderer, 2007; Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992). These items were 48 49 50 tested with 150 secondary school video game players. Revisions were made to the items 51 52 53 based on the feedback from the student gamers as well as a preliminary exploratory factor 54 55 56 analysis. Items that did not load well to their designed theoretical factors were deleted. 57 58 59 60 61 62 11 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 Some items were revised in wording to reduce confusion. A finalized set of 23 items 6 7 8 were selected for the main study (Appendix). 9 10 11 12 3 Main study 13 14 15 The purpose of the main study was to further reduce the length of PAIS using EFA 16 17 18 and to validate the factor structure using CFA. Besides convergent and discriminant 19 20 21 validity, the criterion validity of the scale was also tested between PAI and identity style. 22 23 24 3.1 Sample 25 26 27 28 A total of 1263 students from Singapore primary and secondary schools 29 30 2 31 participated in this study, out of which 935 self-identified gamers completed PAIS . This 32 33 34 sample is randomly split into two equal subsamples for exploratory (EFA) and 35 36 37 confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) separately. The EFA subsample included 450 38 39 40 students with a mean age of 12.58 (SD = 2.11). This sample consists of 72.2% males, 41 42 43 76.2% Chinese, 11.3% Malay and 9.6% Indian. They spent on average 22.12 hours (SD= 44 45 46 47 20.22) per week on gaming. The CFA subsample included 485 students with a mean age 48 49 50 of 12.55 (SD = 2.28). This sample consists of 74.8% males, 73.8% Chinese, 10.7% 51 52 53 2 54 The gender distribution did not differ (70.9% for the whole sample and 73.6% for the self-selected 55 gamers, (1) = 2, p = n. s.). For sections on game-related questions, the instruction for students was “if 56 57 you do not play any games, please check here___& leave this page blank”. As PAIS focuses on role- 58 playing games such as Maple Story, we also provided a “Not Applicable” option for each item. Those 59 60 students who checked “N.A” were not included in the analysis for PAIS. 61 62 12 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 Malay and 9.1% Indian. They spent on average 22.27 hours (SD = 21.88) per week on 6 7 8 gaming. 9 10 11 12 3.2 Instrument 13 14 15 Player-Avatar Identification Scale (PAIS). A total of 23 items were tested in the 16 17 18 main study. Students responded on a 5-point Likert scale with 1= “strongly disagree”, 2= 19 20 21 “disagree”, 3= “neither agree nor disagree”, 4= “agree” and 5= “strongly agree”. The 22 23 24 students were reminded to answer the questions based on video games such as: Maple 25 26 27 28 Story, World of Warcraft, EverQuest, and The Sims. 29 30 31 Identity Style Inventory. 40 items of the Identity Style Inventory with simplified 32 33 34 language for children was used in the study (White, Wampler, & Winn, 1998). The 35 36 37 inventory measures three different ways individuals construct or maintain their sense of 38 39 40 identity. Individuals with information-oriented identity style engage in high levels of 41 42 43 exploration and correspond to either a moratorium or achieved identity status. Individuals 44 45 46 47 with normative identity style are those with a foreclosed identity status, who conform to 48 49 50 authorities or significant others. Individuals with diffuse/avoidance style tend to 51 52 53 procrastinate and avoid dealing with personal issues, who are usually in the diffusion 54 55 56 identity status. Students responded each item on a 5-point scale from strongly disagree to 57 58 59 strongly agree. 60 61 62 13 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 3.3 Results 6 7 8 3.3.1 EFA 9 10 11 12 An exploratory factor analysis was conducted using SPSS 19 with an oblique 13 14 15 promax rotation. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy index was .91, 16 17 18 and Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant, 2 (253, N = 450) = 4397.17, p < .01, 19 20 21 which indicated that the data were appropriate for factor analysis. An initial solution with 22 23 24 five factors explained 60.98% of variance. The result showed that most items loaded as 25 26 27 28 expected with several exceptions of cross loadings. Items were thus selected based on the 29 30 31 following criteria: (1) face validity; (2) satisfactory factor loadings (>0.6), communality 32 33 34 (>0.5) and diagonal value of the anti-image matrices (>0.7); (3) no substantial cross- 35 36 37 loading; (4) variance explained (>60%). The final solution included 15 items with four 38 39 40 factors explaining 61.67% of variance (Table 1). 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 ------Insert Table 1 here------48 49 50 3.3.2 CFA 51 52 53 A confirmatory factor analysis using maximum likelihood estimation was 54 55 56 conducted with AMOS16. Three competing models were also tested in the CFA analysis, 57 58 59 including (a) 1-factor (b) 3-factor and (c) 4-factor second order. The competing 1-factor 60 61 62 14 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 model has all 15 items loading on a single factor of identification. The competing 3- 6 7 8 factor model was obtained by collapsing importance to identity and positive attitudes 9 10 11 12 toward avatar as one merged identity factor. The 1-factor and 2-factor models represented 13 14 15 more parsimonious factorial solutions. The last competing model has the four first-order 16 17 18 factors subordinate to a single second-order factor. 19 20 21 Multiple indices were examined to compare the different models, and to 22 23 24 determine whether the models had a reasonable fit to the data (Table 2). The χ2 values, 25 26 27 28 the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), the standardized root mean 29 30 31 square (SRMR), the comparative fit index (CLI) and the Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) were 32 33 34 used for model selection (Hu & Bentler, 1999). For the hypothesized 4-factor model, all 35 36 37 values satisfied the recommended level of acceptable fit. In comparison, the model fit 38 39 40 was poorer for the competing models except for the 4-factor second order model. The 41 42 43 similar fit for the 4-factor model and the 4-factor second order model suggests that while 44 45 46 47 identification is multidimensional, it can still be seen as one general construct. 48 49 50 ------Insert Table 2 here------51 52 53 54 55 56 The validity was assessed for the hypothesized 4-factor model. As shown in table 57 58 59 3, all the standardized loadings are between 0.59 and 0.79. Construct reliabilities are 60 61 62 15 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 between 0.68 and 0.84. Using the criteria suggested by Hair et al. (2006), these measures 6 7 8 support the convergent validity of the model. Table 4 shows the correlation matrix for the 9 10 11 12 constructs. The diagonal elements have been replaced by the square roots of the average 13 14 15 variance extracted. For discriminant validity to be judged adequate, the diagonal values 16 17 18 should be greater than the off-diagonal values in the corresponding rows and columns. 19 20 21 Discriminant validity appears satisfactory for the model. It indicates that each construct 22 23 24 shares more variance with its items than it does with the other constructs. Based on the 25 26 27 28 above analysis, the four-factor model representing different aspects of PAI including 29 30 31 feeling during play, absorption during play, positive attitudes toward avatar and 32 33 34 importance to identity, showed acceptable model data fit, convergent and discriminant 35 36 37 validity. 38 39 40 ------Insert Table 3 here------41 42 43 ------Insert Table 4 here------44 45 46 47 3.3.3 Group invariance 48 49 50 After the best fitting four-factor model was established, group invariance was 51 52 53 tested by gender using the whole sample. Four increasingly restrictive models were 54 55 56 tested, with each retaining the equality constraints of the preceding model (Table 5). 57 58 59 60 61 62 16 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 Group invariance in factor patterns and factor loadings was supported by acceptable 6 7 8 model fit index and a non-significant chi-square difference test between Model 1 and 9 10 11 12 Model 0. Model 2 with constant measurement intercepts was not supported. 13 14 15 ------Insert Table 5 here------16 17 18 19 20 21 3.3.4 Criterion validity 22 23 24 3.3.4.1 Identification and identity style 25 26 27 One-way MANOVA was conducted to determine the effects of identity style on 28 29 30 the four dimensions of PAI. Significant differences were found among the three groups of 31 32 33 identity style, Wilks’ Λ = .96, F (8, 1750) =4.10, p < .01, partial η2 =.02. Table 5 contains 34 35 36 the means and the standard deviations on the dependent variables for the three groups. 37 38 39 40 ------Insert Table 6 here------41 42 43 Using the Bonferroni method, between-subjects effects were tested at the p = .017 44 45 46 level for each dependent variable. The effect of identity style on positive attitudes toward 47 48 49 avatar and feelings during play was non-significant. On the other hand, the effect on 50 51 52 importance to identity (F (2,878) = 5.12, p < .01, partial η2=.01) and on absorption (F 53 54 55 (2,878) =10.22, p < .01, partial η2=.02) were significant. Post hoc analysis revealed that 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 17 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 students with diffused identity style reported significant higher scores on importance to 6 7 8 identity as well as absorption compared to the other two groups. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 4 Discussion 16 17 18 The results of the present studies demonstrated that PAI can be conceptualized 19 20 21 and reliably measured in terms of four factors: feelings during play, absorption during 22 23 24 play, positive attitudes toward avatar and importance to identity. The four-factor 25 26 27 28 correlated model as well as the second-order model accounted for the data better than the 29 30 31 competing one-dimensional or three-dimensional model. The four-factor model showed 32 33 34 acceptable model data fit, satisfactory construct reliability, convergent and discriminant 35 36 37 validity. Tests of invariance showed that factor patterns and loadings were invariant 38 39 40 between genders. The construct validity was supported by the relationship between PAI, 41 42 43 and identity style. The result suggested that students with diffused identity style reported 44 45 46 47 significant higher scores on absorption and importance to identity compared to the other 48 49 50 two identity style groups. 51 52 53 The inclusion of feelings and absorption to define identification has surfaced 54 55 56 repeatedly in the literature (Bandura & Huston, 1961; Cohen, 2001; Hoffner & 57 58 59 Buchanan, 2005; Kagan, 1958). Similarly, these two constructs also formed important 60 61 62 18 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 parts in defining PAI. A recent brain research has shown that the intense emotional 6 7 8 involvement with avatar resembles the level of intimacy one experiences when 9 10 11 12 interacting with a close other (Ganesh, et al., 2011). Coulson and colleagues (2012) found 13 14 15 that virtual characters may be liked and even loved by the real people with whom they 16 17 18 interact. These finding partly addresses the debate about whether player could have 19 20 21 empathic feelings toward one’s own avatar. It thus provides support to the inclusion of 22 23 24 feelings and absorption to define PAI in this study. 25 26 27 28 However, future research is still needed to understand the effects of feelings and 29 30 31 absorption. The above mentioned brain study only examined PAI from a third-person 32 33 34 visual perspective. Past research indicated that empathic feelings often result from deep 35 36 37 involvement and shared perspective (Coke, Batson, & McDavis, 1978). It may lead to a 38 39 40 person “respond to the behavior of other people or objects by initiating in fantasy or 41 42 43 reality the same behavior himself” (Sanford, 1955, p. 109). Hence, future studies could 44 45 46 47 explore the effects of feelings and absorption comparing games played from different 48 49 50 visual perspectives. For example, are there any differences between players’ level of 51 52 53 feelings and absorption when they are playing a first-person or third-person shooting 54 55 56 game? 57 58 59 60 61 62 19 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 The inclusion of positive attitudes toward avatar and importance to identity was 6 7 8 the major contribution of this study. Video game players usually spent months or even 9 10 11 12 years to develop his/her avatar. The continuous absorption in the game world may 13 14 15 increase the salience of a gamer identity. Social identity theory and the related self- 16 17 18 categorization theory posit that an increase in identity salience leads to an increase in 19 20 21 identification with that identity (Hitlin, 2003; Tajfel, 2010). It is especially true when 22 23 24 game players collaborate with others in their “clans” or “guilds” and undertake 25 26 27 28 competitive group quests for years. Therefore, PAI may not be just a temporary shift of 29 30 31 gamers’ self-perception. It may have a long term effect on the players’ self-concept and 32 33 34 identity development. Hence, the two subscales could provide valuable tools for such 35 36 37 studies on the relationship between identification, self-perception and identity 38 39 40 development. 41 42 43 Given that the long-term effect of PAI is possible, the discrepancy-reduction 44 45 46 47 model of gaming (Li, Liau, & Khoo, 2011) could be further examined. In this model, 48 49 50 players are motivated to escape into games because of a narrowed gap between one’s 51 52 53 actual self and ideal self during play. The model provided some empirical support for 54 55 56 identification and enjoyment theory (Klimmt, et al., 2009; Klimmt, et al., 2010). This 57 58 59 theory posits that identification is enjoyable for game players due to the reason that 60 61 62 20 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 altered self-perceptions during game exposure reduce self-discrepancies. With a salient 6 7 8 gamer identity in mind, the discrepancy-reduction hypothesis could be further tested for 9 10 11 12 both short term as well as long term consequences. For example, is identification causing 13 14 15 only “myopia effect” of distorted self-perception similar to alcohol abuse? Will the 16 17 18 players experience discomfort or lower self-esteem due to a clear perception of self in 19 20 21 “sober” after gaming? Is the change of self-perception sustainable and thus affects their 22 23 24 identity development for adolescents? 25 26 27 28 In this study, the concept of PAI was mainly established from a developmental 29 30 31 perspective (Erickson, 1968). In this view, identification is the “cognitive or behavioral 32 33 34 activities that serve to establish, maintain, clarify, or modify identities” (Schlenker, 1985, 35 36 37 p. 66). Thus, the relationship between PAI and identity style provided supports to the 38 39 40 concept of identification from an identity-formation perspective. Another recent study 41 42 43 also showed support on the relationship between PAI and identity. Park and Lee (2011) 44 45 46 47 found that player-avatar identification positively affected the intention to purchase game 48 49 50 items. As a player internalized the emotions, values and identity of his/her avatar, the 51 52 53 player would be more likely to purchase game items to increase the avatars’ appearance 54 55 56 and competence in order to maintain and enhance that identity. Future studies could thus 57 58 59 60 61 62 21 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 examine the effects of PAI and its relationship with identity development using the PAI 6 7 8 scale. 9 10 11 12 On the other hand, the validity of an identification measure can be examined 13 14 15 using the cognitive and behavioral framework. In this view, identification is seen as a 16 17 18 process of “vicarious learning” or “observational learning” (Maccoby & Wilson, 1957). 19 20 21 Following Bandura’s theory (1969) , the game player could pattern his/her avatars’ 22 23 24 actions through this active identificatory process and have resultant behaviors in real-life. 25 26 27 28 For example, a player’ who identifies with his/her avatar with leadership skills might 29 30 31 show more leadership behaviors in real life (Barnett & Coulson, 2010). Yee and his 32 33 34 colleagues (2007), on the other hand, found that a player when given an attractive avatar 35 36 37 behaved more confident and sociable independent of how others perceive them. As the 38 39 40 interactions between media and real-life behaviors are often complex, future studies 41 42 43 could thus explore whether players would identify more with attractive avatars, and 44 45 46 47 whether such Proteus Effect still exist when a player is identified with the avatar. 48 49 50 One of the limitations of the study is that the PAI scale was not compared with 51 52 53 other identification scales, for example, the Player Identification Scale (Van Looy, et al., 54 55 56 2010). In this scale, a total of 28 items measures identification in three dimensions, 57 58 59 including avatar identification, group identification and game identification. The avatar 60 61 62 22 63 64 65 1 Running title: Player-Avatar Identification 2 3 4 5 identification was further measured in three dimensions of wishful identification, 6 7 8 similarity identification and embodied presence. Their result showed that identification 9 10 11 12 was a strong predictor of gaming motivation, empathy and Proteus effect. As the two 13 14 15 measures define identification from different perspectives, a comparison between the two 16 17 18 could provide more insights about the concept of PAI. Another limitation of this study 19 20 21 was that gamers were defined by a single-item question. 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Table 1

Communalities, Rotated factor pattern matrices for 15 items of PAI

FL AB PA ID h2 FL1 When my character is facing danger in the game, I feel nervous. .89 .65 FL2 I feel the same disappointment when my character experiences a failure in the game. .71 .57 FL3 When my character achieves his/her goals, I feel happy. .72 .63 FL4 I feel the same joy my character experiences when a task is accomplished. .62 .51 AB1 I have forgotten my surroundings during the game. 83 .65 AB2 I have forgotten myself during the game. .81 .68 AB3 I feel as if I am physically in the game world during the game. .67 .65 PA1 I never regret that I play my game character. .81 .59 PA2 I am proud to play the character I am playing now. .79 .59 PA3 Other gamers are happy to be friends with my game character. .71 .58 PA4 My co-gamers have high respect for my character. .66 .58 ID1 The characters I play reflect who I am. .91 .69 ID2 My character and I are one and the same. .84 .70 ID3 The characters I play influence the way I feel about myself. .75 .55 ID4 The characters I play are important to my sense of what kind of a person I am. .67 .66

Percent of variance explained 10.81 7.29 8.54 35.04

Note: FL: Feelings during play; AB: Absorption during play; PA: Positive attitudes toward avatar; ID: importance to identity.

Coefficients with values of .40 or less are not shown.

Table 2:

Summary of Fit Indices from Confirmatory Factor Analyses

Model χ2 df χ2/df CFI TLI RMSEA SRMR

Hypothesized 4-factor Oblique 248.59* 84 2.96 .93 .91 .06 .05

Competing 1-factor 784.31* 90 8.67 .70 .65 .13 .09

Competing 3-factor 444.71* 87 5.11 .84 .81 .09 .07

Competing 4-factor Second Order 261.17* 86 3.04 .92 .91 .07 .05

* p < .01 Table 3:

Convergent validity

FL AB PA ID

FL1 .61

FL2 .69

FL3 .63

FL4 .63

AB1 .62

AB2 .68

AB3 .79

PA1 .59

PA2 .65

PA3 .65

PA4 .66

ID1 .75

ID2 .79

ID3 .68

ID4 .72

Construct reliability .68 .70 .78 .84

Note: FL: Feelings during play; AB: Absorption during play; PA: Positive attitudes toward avatar; ID: importance to identity.

Table 4:

Discriminant validity

FL AB PA ID

FL .64

AB .44 .69

PA .52 .36 .64

ID .55 .65 .58 .74

Note: FL : Feelings during play; AB: Absorption during play; PA: Positive attitudes toward avatar; ID: importance to identity.

Table 5

Tests of Invariance by gender

2 Model Specification χ df χ2/df CFI TLI RMSEA △χ2 △df

Model 0 No equality constraints; Factor patterns are constant 462.76** 158 2.93 .93 .91 .05

Model 1 Model 0 & Factor loadings are constant 480.91** 169 2.85 .93 .91 .04 18.15 11

Model 2 Model 1 & Intercepts of the measured variables are constant 521.13** 184 2.83 .92 .91 .04 58.36** 26

Model 3 Model 2 & Residual variances of the measured variable as well 597.17** 209 2.86 .91 .91 .05 134.41** 51

as the covariance of the latent variables are constant

** p<.01, *p<.05

Table 6:

Descriptive of identification and identity style

Identity style Mean SD N

FL Information 3.30 0.89 231

Normative 3.36 1.00 249

Diffused 3.37 0.85 401

Total 3.35 0.91 881

AB Information 2.50 0.91 231

Normative 2.62 0.98 249

Diffused 2.84 0.94 401

Total 2.69 0.96 881

PA Information 3.55 0.80 231

Normative 3.59 0.81 249

Diffused 3.52 0.77 401

Total 3.55 0.79 881

ID Information 2.76 0.96 231

Normative 2.77 0.94 249

Diffused 2.97 0.89 401

Total 2.86 0.93 881

Note: FL: Feelings during play; AB: Absorption during play; PA: Positive attitudes toward avatar; ID: importance to identity.

Appendix: 23 items of PAI used in the main study

FL1 When my character is facing danger in the game, I feel nervous. FL2 I feel the same disappointment when my character experiences a failure in the game. FL3 When my character achieves his/her goals, I feel happy. FL4 I feel the same joy my character experiences when a task is accomplished. FL5 When my character was respected with other gamers, I feel proud. FL6 When my character was treated unfairly in the game, I feel angry. FL7 When my character was laughed at for low level or poor equipment, I feel upset. FL8 I feel the same excitement my character experiences when succeeding in a difficult quest. AB1 I have forgotten my surroundings during the game. AB2 I have forgotten myself during the game. AB3 I feel as if I am physically in the game world during the game. AB4 The problems I face are the same problems that my character faces. PA1 I never regret that I play my game character. PA2 I am proud to play the character I am playing now. PA3 Other gamers are happy to be friends with my game character. PA4 My co-gamers have high respect for my character. PA5 It is worthy to play my character. PA6 My co-gamers like the character I play. PA7 My co-gamers consider my character to be attractive. ID1 The characters I play reflect who I am. ID2 My character and I are one and the same. ID3 The characters I play influence the way I feel about myself. ID4 The characters I play are important to my sense of what kind of a person I am.

Note: FL1 to FL8, drafted and adapted from Cohen (2001). AB1 to AB4, drafted and adapted from Cohen (2001) and Hefner et al. (2007). PA1 to ID4 drafted and adapted from Luhtanen and Crocker (1992).