Parasocial Interaction with an Avatar in Second Life

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Seung-A Annie Jin Parasocial Interaction with an Department of Communication Boston College Avatar in Second Life: A Typology Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467 of the Self and an Empirical Test of the Mediating Role of Social Presence

Abstract

3D virtual environments (VEs) can induce parasocial interaction (PSI) and strong feelings of social presence through interactive communication among avatars. Throughout this research, PSI was operationally deﬁned as the extent of VE users’ interpersonal involvement with other avatars and perception of themselves as interacting with the other virtual actors in the environment. Self-construal refers to an individual’s view of self. Self-construals play an important role in shaping PSI in interactive media environments. After proposing a typology of the self, the experiment in this study empirically examined the inﬂuence of users’ interdependent self-construals on their feelings of social presence and PSI with a recommendation avatar in avatar-based communication within the 3D VE of Second Life (SL). The results revealed that people with high interdependent self-construals experience closer PSI with a recommendation avatar and feel stronger social presence in SL than people with low interdependent self-construals. A path analysis also demonstrated that social presence mediates the effects of users’ self-construals on their PSI with a recommendation avatar in VEs.

1 Introduction

One noteworthy current Internet trend is the emergence and exponential growth of 3D virtual worlds such as Second Life, Active Worlds, Habbo Hotel, Gaia Online, VSide, There, and so on. Users of these 3D virtual environments (VEs) can navigate and view settings ﬁlled with a wide variety of virtual objects and interact with virtual characters using their personalized avatars. These multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) involve more than one user because the avatars interact with one another. Thus, 3D virtual worlds can convey strong feelings of social presence through avatar interaction, enhancing the sense of togetherness for remote users who are connected through some kind of telecommunication medium (Gorini, Gaggioli, Vigna, & Riva, 2008). This study investigated users’ interaction and relationship with a recommendation avatar (‘‘artiﬁcial, computer-animated representations of human interlocutors,’’ Bente, Ru¨ggenberg, Kra¨mer, & Eschenburg, 2008, p. 288, employed to provide information in real time, Jin, 2009a) within the 3D virtual world of Second

Presence, Vol. 19, No. 4, August 2010, 331–340 ª 2010 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology *Correspondence to [email protected].

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Life (SL). More specifically, this study examined the phe- 2009a), video games (Jin, 2009b; Jin & Park, 2009), nomenon of parasocial interaction (PSI) between avatars and MMORPGs. The key difference between the and how feelings of social presence mediate the effects of disembodied self and the embodied self is that the users’ interdependent self-construal on their PSI with a former is a psychologically imagined or mentally proc- recommendation avatar in 3D VEs. essed self, whereas the latter is a physically manifested or visually represented one. The current study employed avatars as an embodied 1.1 Parasocial Interaction (PSI) form of the self. In VEs, embodiment becomes possible Horton and Wohl (1956) first coined and intro- through either of the following routes: (1) direct visual- duced the term parasocial interaction (PSI) to refer to ization of one’s own image (exact replica of the actual the relationship between media viewers and media char- self), or (2) indirect creation of a virtual avatar. In the acters. PSI, a ‘‘seeming face-to-face relationship between case of direct visualization of one’s real image, one spectator and performer’’ (Horton & Wohl, p. 215), experiences the authentic representation of his or her reflects mediated interaction. What differentiates interac- actual image. This embodiment assumes the form of tive 3D VEs from traditional media is their utilization of direct reflection and is realized through visualization avatars and the interactions among them. In contrast to technologies. Through advances in motion tracking traditional media such as television and movies, VE users and visualization technologies, direct visualization has can actively participate in their environment by interact- become very similar to looking into a mirror. In the ing with other users or virtual performers in the form of case of a virtual avatar, one experiences the para- personalized characters (i.e., avatars). In SL, for example, authentic (which refers to ‘‘closely resembling authentic users may experience and develop PSI with other avatars entities’’) self (see Lee, 2004, for an extensive review (Jin, 2010a). For this study, PSI was operationally and detailed explanation of ‘‘virtual’’; see Jin, 2009b, defined as the extent of users’ interpersonal involvement 2010b, for a discussion about the actual self versus the with other avatars and perception of themselves as inter- ideal self). The para-authentic self in the form of a vir- acting with the other virtual actors in the environment. tual avatar does not share any innate traits with the authentic self, as the virtual avatar is an arbitrarily cre- ated self (Fox, Bailenson, & Binney, 2009). The ability 1.2 A Typology of the Self: The Self- to customize one’s avatar in VEs like SL, however, has Concept in Avatar-Based Interactive blurred the clear dividing line between the authentic Media Environments (real) self and the para-authentic (virtual) self. In addi- Self-concept has become increasingly important in tion to making a selection from a list of given characters interactive media environments (Jin, 2010b). This sec- (thus representing the virtual or para-authentic self), tion provides a typology of the self in new media envi- VE users, leveraging the avatar-customizing function, ronments and its relevance to self-related processes in can represent themselves via a personalized avatar avatar-based communication. reflecting their actual self (thus sharing some innate The first aspect of taxonomy of the self is the embod- traits with the authentic self). ied versus disembodied self. In avatar-based media envi- The second aspect of taxonomy of the self is self as a ronments in which users perceive their avatars from doer versus self as an object of one’s own attention. Psy- first-person or third-person points of view, users experi- chologists have long recognized this duality of the self. ence an embodied self through visual observation. Ava- People can act as a doer of an action, or, conversely, they tar is one form of user embodiment in VEs (Gerhard, can view themselves as an object of their own attention Moore, & Hobbs, 2003). Avatars have become (Brown, 1998). When people engage in interactive 3D increasingly incorporated into a wide range of interac- VEs, they actively participate as a doer (subject) and thus tive media environments including e-commerce (Jin, maintain a high level of control over their actions. At the

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same time, they become the very object of their own provides practical implications for designing more attention, as the media environment enables the users immersive, engaging, and greater presence experiences. to observe an instant and visual manifestation of their The research question at hand is, What are the roles of physical activity via avatars (Fox et al., 2009). This self-construals in avatar-based VEs? taxonomy resonates with the duality of the self in VEs like SL where participants actively control their 1.3 Human Factors: Interdependent avatars (self as a doer) and observe a visual representation Self-Construals of their own avatars (self as an object) simultaneously. The third aspect of taxonomy of the self is individual Self-construal is an individual’s view of self. There self (private self) versus relational self (collective self). are individual differences in chronic self-construals. Peo- These private and collective selves can be (1) tempo- ple view themselves either as an individual entity or in rarily primed as a situational variable (i.e., temporarily relation to others (Verplanken et al., 2009). Differences accessible due to situational cues); or (2) measured as in self-construals significantly influence how people individual difference or chronic personality factors think, feel, and behave (Markus & Kitayama, 1991; (i.e., chronically accessible and stable; Aaker, 1999; Lewis, Goto, & Kong, 2008). A number of studies Markus & Kunda, 1986). In avatar-based interactive across a wide variety of domains demonstrate that differ- media, the private self dimension or independent ent self-construals are associated with a broad range self-construal versus the collective self dimension or of cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses (Ver- interdependent self-construal can be experimentally planken et al., 2009). For example, with respect to the manipulated or activated (e.g., the primed self as a sit- influence of self-construals on the cognitive or judgmen- uational factor; Jin, 2010c), thus becoming temporarily tal dimension, Gardner, Gabriel, and Lee (1999) found salient (Sinclair & Fehr, 2005). For example, inde- that people with a dominant independent self-construal pendent self-construals can be activated when one plays value freedom whereas those with a dominant interde- the role of an individual player against an opponent in a pendent self-construal prioritize relationships. Regarding battle mode, whereas interdependent self-construals affective responses, Neumann, Steinhaüser, and Roeder become salient when one plays multi-user games (e.g., (2009) examined how self-construal shapes emotion. MMORPG such as World of Warcraft) in a cooperative With regard to behavioral responses, Utz (2004a, mode. Thus, different selves may be activated or primed 2004b) indicated that ‘‘I ’’-primes (independent self- by cues that relate to the respective domains (Trafimow, construal) result in a lower level of cooperation than Triandis, & Goto, 1991). On the flip side, with regard neutral or ‘‘we’’-primes (interdependent self-construal). to the self as a stable or chronic personality trait, self- The interdependent self involves cognitions concern- construal lingers as an individual difference factor (Sin- ing characteristics that are indicative of how one relates gelis, 1994) and may function as a chronic self-schema. to others (Aaker & Schmitt, 2001). Individuals with Individuals with chronic independent self-construals interdependent self-construals approach relationships view themselves as unique and distinct from others, differently than those with independent self-construals. whereas individuals with chronic interdependent self- The underlying principle that shapes the interdependent construals view themselves in terms of relationships self-construal is the premise that the person is connected with others (Verplanken, Trafimow, Khusid, Holland, to others; thus, relationships define the self (Cross, Ba- & Sttentjes, 2009). These individual differences in self- con, & Morris, 2000; Cross, Gore, & Morris, 2003). In construals raise an important research question (RQ) order to maintain and enhance the interdependent view with regard to feelings of presence in avatar-based of the self, people with a high interdependent self-con- interactive media environments since understanding strual think and behave in ways that emphasize their con- individual differences in experiences of and behaviors nectedness to others and strengthen existing relation- in VEs (1) is of general scientific interest, and (2) ships. These individuals stress sociability and understand

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their behavior in light of others’ thoughts, attitudes, to examining external media factors and sensory factors feelings, and actions (Lewis et al., 2008). Not surpris- (e.g., technological attributes of 3D virtual reality tech- ingly, studies have shown that interdependent individu- nologies enhancing users’ perceived vividness, realism, als are more sensitive to the needs and emotions of and interactivity), this study tested media users’ individ- others than those individuals with a dominant independ- ual difference factor, interdependent self-construal, as a ent self-construal (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). possible exogenous variable that predicts users’ feelings In interactive media environments, the manner in of social presence. Furthermore, this study examined the which a user perceives the self can influence his or her mediating effect of social presence on users’ PSI with a social interactions and relationships with other users or recommendation avatar. embodied avatars in the environment (Jin 2010a; Jin & Based on the above discussion, the following hypothe- Park, 2009). In this study, it was proposed that VE ses were proposed with regard to the roles of users’ users’ interdependent self-construal is a significant pre- interdependent self-construal and the mediating role of dictor of experiencing closer PSI and feeling stronger social presence. social presence within the context of the VE. H1: People with high interdependent self-construals will 1.4 Social Presence (a) feel stronger social presence and (b) experience closer PSI with a recommendation avatar in SL than Feelings of presence play a significant mediating people with low interdependent self-construals. role in shaping media users’ attitude toward, evaluation H2: Social presence will mediate the effects of interde- of, and enjoyment of communication technologies and pendent self-construals on users’ PSI. media environments (Lombard & Ditton, 1997). Com- munication, media, and presence scholars have empiri- 2 Method cally verified presence’s mediating role in affecting people’s psychological processes in a wide variety of 2.1 Participants domains. For example, in the realm of e-commerce, feelings of social presence play a mediating role in influenc- Participants were 179 (N ¼ 179, 136 females 19.80, ing consumers’ attitudes toward products (Jin, 2009a; and 43 males) undergraduate students (MAge ¼ 0.99) recruited from communication courses at Lee & Nass, 2004). In the human-robot-interaction do- SDAge ¼ Boston College in the United States. Participation was main, Lee, Park, and Song (2005) reported a mediating voluntary, and there was no monetary compensation. effect of presence on people’s evaluation of the long- term artificial development of a robot. In the domain of 2.2 Procedure haptic interfaces, Jin (2010d) discovered the mediating role of physical presence in determining the effects of Data collection began by inviting students to a lab haptic force feedback on brand communication. In the equipped with a computer on which SL was preinstalled. domain of electronic games, Jin and Park (2009) Upon their arrival at the lab, participants read and signed revealed the mediating role of self-presence. The present the informed consent form approved by the Institutional study examined the mediating role of social presence on Review Board of Boston College. Before interacting with people’s PSI with a recommendation avatar in the 3D a recommendation avatar (medical doctor avatar), partic- VEs of SL. ipants were asked to fill out a pretest questionnaire Lee (2004) defines social presence as ‘‘a psychological designed to measure their interdependent self-construal. state in which virtual social actors are experienced as After the completion of the pretest questionnaire, partic- actual social actors in either sensory or non-sensory ipants explored the Center for Disease Control and ways’’ (p. 45). 3D VEs such as SL convey strong feelings Prevention (CDC) inside the 3D VEs of SL for about of social presence through avatar interaction. In addition 5 min. In order to induce feelings of social presence

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5. I respect people who are modest about themselves. 6. I will sacrifice my self-interest for the benefit of the group I am in. 7. I often have the feeling that my relationships with others are more important than my own accom- plishments. 8. I should take into consideration my parents’ advice when making education/career plans. 9. It is important to me to respect decisions made by the group. 10. I will stay in a group if they need me, even when I’m not happy with the group. 11. If my brother or sister fails, I feel responsible. Figure 1. Interaction between a participant’s avatar (left) and 12. Even when I strongly disagree with group a recommendation avatar (right). members, I avoid an argument (Cronbach’s a ¼ .73). during interaction with a recommendation avatar in virtual worlds, the researcher exposed participants to an These items were measured using a seven-point Likert educational message about a health problem using the scale ranging from ‘‘strongly disagree’’ (1) to ‘‘strongly instant messaging (IM) function of SL. A recommenda- agree’’ (7). tion avatar delivered the message for about 5 min (for the actual screen shot of the recommendation avatar 2.4 Postexperimental Dependent with which participants interacted, please see Figure 1). Measures After their exploration of the CDC and interaction with the recommendation avatar, participants filled out the Each postexperimental data point was converted to posttest questionnaire designed to measure postexperi- form an index (average score of four items in each vari- mental dependent variables. The researcher debriefed able). Social presence was measured using a seven-point participants at the end of the session. scale anchored by ‘‘not at all’’ (1) to ‘‘very much’’ (7). The four items modified from Lee, Peng, Jin, and Yan’s (2006) human-robot-interaction (HRI) study were as follows. 2.3 Preexperimental Measures

Interdependent self-construal was measured using 1. How much did you feel as if you were alone? Singelis’s (1994) interdependent self-construal scale. (reverse coded) Interdependent self-construal was an index composed of 2. How much did you feel as if you were with an the following items (average score of the 12 items). intelligent being? 3. How much did you feel as if you and the recom- 1. I have respect for the authority ﬁgures with whom mendation avatar were communicating with each I interact. other? 2. It is important for me to maintain harmony 4. How much did you feel like it was a face-to-face within my group. encounter? (Cronbach’s a ¼ .72.) 3. My happiness depends on the happiness of those around me. Closeness of parasocial interaction was measured 4. I would offer my seat in a bus to my professor. using a seven-point Likert scale anchored by ‘‘strongly

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disagree’’ (1) to ‘‘strongly agree’’ (7). The four items were as follows.

1. I could establish a personal relationship with the recommendation avatar. 2. I often felt that the recommendation avatar was responsive to me. 3. I often felt that the recommendation avatar was Figure 2. Path diagram: The mediating role of social presence. real. 4. I think the recommendation avatar could be a 3.2 The Mediating Effects of Social friend of mine (Cronbach’s a ¼ .92). Presence on PSI with a Recommendation Avatar

3 Results A path analysis was conducted to test the mediating effects of social presence (H2). Data from the 3.1 Effects of Interdependent current study satisfied the five required criteria recom- Self-Construals mended by Baron and Kenny (1986) for proving media- A simple linear regression was conducted to evalu- tion. First, the independent variable (interdependent ate the extent to which people’s interdependent self- self-construal) had a significant effect on the mediator construal predicts their feelings of social presence when (social presence), b ¼ .17, p < .05. Second, the mediator interacting with a recommendation avatar in 3D virtual was a significant predictor of the outcome variable (PSI), worlds. The regression equation for predicting social b ¼ .51, p < .01. Third, when the dependent variable presence was: was regressed on the independent variable without the mediator, the independent factor had a significant effect Feelings of social presence ¼ :300 interdependent on the dependent variable, b ¼ .17, p < .05. Fourth, self -construal þ 1:630 when both the independent variable and the mediator Interdependent self-construal and feelings of social were used as predictors for a regression equation, the presence were linearly related such that as interdepend- effect of the mediator on the dependent variables ent self-construals increase, feelings of social presence remained statistically significant, b ¼ .50, p < .01. Fifth, increase, F(1, 177) ¼ 5.10, p < .05, adjusted R2 ¼ .023. when the dependent variable was regressed both on the H1a was supported. independent variable and the mediating variable, the A simple linear regression was conducted to evaluate effect of the independent variable on the dependent vari- the extent to which people’s interdependent self- able declined and became nonsignificant, b ¼ .09, p ¼ construal predicts closeness of parasocial relationship ns. Figure 2 depicts the mediating role of social presence when interacting with a recommendation avatar. The in user’s PSI with a recommendation avatar. H2 was sup- regression equation for predicting a parasocial relation- ported. Three 2D scatter plots, which illustrate the rela- ship was: tionships among the key measures, are graphically described in Figure 3. PSI ¼ :306 interdependent self -construal þ :607 Interdependent self-construal and closeness of PSI were 4 Discussion and Suggestions for linearly related such that as interdependent self- Future Research construals increase, perceived closeness of PSI increases, F(1, 177) ¼ 5.20, p < .05, adjusted R2 ¼ .023. H1b This study examined the influence of users’ self- was supported. construals on PSI with a recommendation avatar and

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feelings of social presence. Participants with a high level of interdependent self-construal demonstrated closer PSI and felt stronger social presence than those with a low level of interdependent self-construal. Thus, this study discovered an individual difference factor (interdependent self-construal) that affects the degree to which people form a parasocial relationship with a recommendation avatar and feel social presence in the 3D virtual worlds of SL. Creating avatars and playing via personalized avatars are the key aspects of VEs (Bailenson, Yee, Merget, & Schroeder, 2006; Bente et al., 2008; Jin, 2009a). Theo- retical discussion and empirical investigation of self- related processes, construals of self, and self-expression can provide helpful insights for research on avatar-based virtual environments. With regard to theoretical contri- butions, this study demonstrates that feelings of social presence mediate the effects self-construals have on the degree of PSI with a recommendation avatar in 3D VEs, thus contributing evidence about the mediating role of presence in virtual social interaction to the extant litera- ture on presence. In addition, the current study supplies empirical evidence about a signiﬁcant correlation between self-construals and presence to available scholar- ship examining the correlation between a variety of human factors (e.g., empathy, absorption, creative imag- ination, and willingness to suspend disbelief) and presence (Sas & O’Hare, 2003). With regard to practical implications, this study suggests that users’ self-construal is an important factor to take into account when designing interactive and immersive virtual interfaces. Several limitations of the current research should be considered. First, the effect sizes of statistical analyses were small given the large number of participants. Small effect size may be the consequence of a lack of convinc- ing or powerful experimental manipulations and the lim- ited use of a nonrandom homogeneous population (i.e.,

Figure 3. Scatter plots. (top) Interdependent self-construal (x) and social presence (y). (middle) Interdependent self-construal (x) and parasocial interaction (y). (bottom) Social presence (x) and parasocial interaction (y).

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undergraduate students) with relatively small variance factors on the self-construal of participants and the vir- among the participants. The issue with gender imbalance tual social interactions among them. also needs to be addressed. Second, with regard to self- Among the four different types of presence (social construals, this study only utilized participants’ chronic presence, spatial presence, physical presence, and self- self-construal by measuring it before they engaged in vir- presence), this study focused on the discussion and em- tual social interaction with a recommendation avatar. pirical testing of social presence since it examined VE The chronic self (chronically accessible self) is viewed as users’ relationship formation with other avatars (i.e., a frequently activated construct within one’s usual social user’s PSI with a medical recommendation avatar). Feel- or cultural surroundings, whereas the situational self ings of social presence, the extent to which users perceive (primed or contextually activated self) can be considered a recommendation avatar as a real social actor, mediated a recently activated construct (Agrawal & Maheswaran, the effects of interdependent self-construal on the per- 2005; Oyserman, Coon, & Kemmelmeier, 2002). In 3D ceived closeness of PSI with the recommendation avatar. VEs and other interactive media environments, media In avatar-based media, however, self-presence also plays users’ self-construal can be situationally primed through an integral role in users’ self-related processes, including experimental manipulation, such as assigning specific identification with one’s own avatar as well as the self- goals (individual vs. collective goals) and different roles/ expressive process of avatar-creation (Jin & Park, 2009; tasks (single player role/task which primes the private Jin, 2010b). Testing the mediating role of self-presence self vs. team player role/task which primes the collective in users’ PSI with their own avatar is an important topic self). Examining different psychological mechanisms in for theory building or explication as well as empirical which there is interplay between the situationally primed testing. In addition, physical presence and spatial pres- self-construal (Jin, 2010c) and chronically accessible self- ence are important factors that explain users’ perceived construal is a good and interesting topic for follow-up realism and vividness of 3D virtual objects (physical studies. Third, participants interacted with a medical dimension) and environments (visuospatial dimension). doctor avatar, which prevents generalizing the findings Examining these four dimensions of presence in follow- from the current study to a wide range of contexts up studies would enrich our understanding of the roles involving interaction with different types of avatars (e.g., played by various types of presence in different psycho- sales/spokes-avatars, pedagogical avatars, and enter- logical mechanisms. tainer avatars). Prior research on self-construals demonstrates differ- Acknowledgments ences in social and cognitive processes between East Asians and European Americans (Aaker & Schmitt, The author thanks the associate editor and the two anonymous 2001; Lewis, Goto, & Kong, 2008), such as collectivism reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions. The versus individualism. Examining cultural differences in author also thanks Tiffany Enos for her research assistance with the effects of self-construal on PSI with virtual avatars data collection. would advance our understanding of the role played by cultural factors in VEs. VE-based social networking web- References sites such as SL are a promising arena for researching the role of culture in self-expression for the following two Aaker, J. L. (1999). The malleable self: The role of self-expres- reasons: (1) SL connects global citizens with a wide vari- sion in persuasion. Journal of Marketing Research, 36(2), ety of ethnicities, nationalities, languages, and cultures 45–57. from all over the world; and (2) every SL user engages in Aaker, J., & Schmitt, B. (2001). Culture-dependent assimila- self-expressive activity, the creation and customization of tion and differentiation of the self: Preferences for consump- personal avatars. Follow-up studies could recruit real SL tion symbols in the United States and China. Journal of users and examine the impact of cultural difference Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32(5), 561–576.

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