Can We Identify with a Block? Identification with Non-anthropomorphic Avatars in Virtual Reality Games

Abstract

This article explores identification with non- anthropomorphic avatars in a virtual reality game and its relationship to arousal and valence. Fifty-six male and female participants played a virtual game in a 360o stereoscopic immersive interactive visualization environment using either body movement or a joystick. A scale was developed to test identification with the block that represented each participant in the game. A gender effect occurred in which males that played using body movement experienced significantly higher identification than males that played with a joystick. Also, within the entire sample a positive correlation was found between identification and arousal as well as between identification and valence. Results suggest that identification might not be a process exclusively related to anthropomorphic characters.