The unbearable likeness of being digital: the persistence of nonverbal social norms in online virtual environments.

Full Abstract

Every day, millions of users interact in real-time via avatars in online environments, such as massively-multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). These online environments could potentially be unique research platforms for the social sciences and clinical therapy, but it is crucial to first establish that social behavior and norms in virtual environments are comparable to those in the physical world. In an observational study of Second Life, a virtual community, we collected data from avatars in order to explore whether social norms of gender, interpersonal distance (IPD), and eye gaze transfer into virtual environments even though the modality of movement is entirely different (i.e., via keyboard and mouse as opposed to eyes and legs). Our results showed that established findings of IPD and eye gaze transfer into virtual environments:
(1) male-male dyads have larger IPDs than female-female dyads, (2) male-male dyads maintain less eye contact than female-female dyads, and (3) decreases in IPD are compensated with gaze avoidance as predicted by the Equilibrium Theory. We discuss implications for users of online games as well as for social scientists who seek to conduct research in virtual environments.

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Author information

Author/s: Yee, Nick (N); Bailenson, Jeremy N (JN); Urbanek, Mark (M); Chang, Francis (F); Merget, Dan (D);

Affiliation: Department of Communication, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA. nyee(-atsign-)stanford.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Cyberpsychology & behavior : the impact of the Internet, multimedia and virtual reality on behavior and society (Cyberpsychol Behav), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Feb; vol 10 (issue 1) : pp 115-21

Dates: Created 2007/02/19; Completed 2007/04/20;

PMID: 17305457, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Female
Humans
Internet - statistics & numerical data
Male

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