There.com Study Shows Persistence of Identity and Racial Bias in Virtual World

A new study from Northwestern University in There.com shows the persistence of racial bias in virtual environments, but, maybe more importantly, a connection between users' identities and their own avatars. The study featured a researcher's avatar, Mike111, alternately making requests of 416 random users with Mike111 set with the lightest possible skin tone and the darkest alongside facial characteristics meant to make him seem more African American. The study found that users responded more positively when Mike111 had a light skin tone. In a separate request meant to gauge users' self-perception, the responses were remarkably similar to those expected in a real-world environment, showing a strong connection to the avatar.

The users assessed responses to Mike111's skin tone by using the door-in-the-face test. A subject is asked for a very large favor (in this case, teleporting around for 2 hours to take screen shots) followed by a small request (one teleport and one screen shot). It's normally expected that subjects who turn down the first request will meet the questioner's toned down request by reciprocating with their own positive moderation. In There.com, the the second question received about a 20% increase in compliance for the whitest avatars, but the increase for the dark-toned avatars was only 8%.

The researchers note that it's unclear whether users are reacting solely to Mike111's skin tone or to some perceived attribute of the controlling user.

However, "we find the former explanation to be more likely given the nuances of the present findings," the report notes. "For one, avatar skin tone did not influence compliance in the control condition, yet presumably it would have done so if it triggered an attributional bias against a user who would choose an unusual skin tone. Moreover, because neither the light nor dark skin tone represented any of the three default skin tones in There.com, both would be seen as unusual choices. Importantly however, whether the DITF skin tone bias reflects either an automatic racial bias unfortunately imported from the real world or a thoughtful bias against users who would choose an unusually dark (but not unusually light) skin tone, both explanations undoubtedly have racist implications."

The second test, the foot-in-the-door technique, is meant more as a test of whether users consider themselves helpful. A small favor is asked, followed by a more moderate one. If users respond favorably to the first, they likely see themselves as more helpful and will then respond positvely to the second. On average, There.com users were subject to the foot-in-the-door influence just as in the real-world.

The researchers believe that together the two tests show a strong social significance to virtual world interactions. Unfortunately, the press release focuses on the racial bias and also notes that "In at least one sense, worries may be inflated about virtual world users spending too many hours alone at their computers, cut off from reality." [ed: ugh.]

The researchers' report, however, takes a different interpretation.

"Although it is undoubtedly exciting that modern technology can facilitate such realistic communication across vast distances, the virtual world may not prove to be a perfect utopian getaway from the real world," concludes the report. "The present research raises the specter that real-world racial biases, as they are inextricably intertwined with the rest of the human social mind, may also emerge in virtual environments. However, the social power inherent in virtual worlds also implies that there is perhaps little need to worry about frequent virtual world users spending time “alone” with their computers. Given the social power of online virtual worlds, users may well be experiencing rich social realities, including the formation of genuine relationships and strong social networks."

The study, "Is It a Game? Evidence for Social Influence in the Virtual World," was published online in the journal Social Influence by Paul W. Eastwick, a doctoral student in psychology, and Wendi L. Gardner, associate professor of psychology and member of Northwestern's Center for Technology and Social Behavior. It can be downloaded here [PDF].

Comments

[Dedric Mauriac]

I do not see any control measures here. Is there an indication of the avatars skin color that are being asked for this request? Do people of similar skin color react better towards each other? What is the demographic of the whole of there.com versus the people sampled in this study? Do individuals often try to represent their own physical characteristics with avatars and behave the same way?

[Prokofy Neva]

I'm not buying this, because I think it's is a built-in bias of certain "progressive" researchers that they go looking for racist trouble in online worlds because they believe them already to be "white dominated" and "power structures of the majority" etc.

I've written about this problem in SL here:
http://secondthoughts.typepad.com/second_thoughts/2007/12/black-not-like.html

I don't know the culture of There or the mechanics, but in SL, it is considered hugely rude to send an unsolicited TP request. You can't see the face or avatar or "look" of the person asking for a tp at first, only the blue screen drop-down saying "[Name] Has Offered you a Teleport". Most people automatically bat them away, without even looking up the people. I doubt that looking them up and seeing what colour they are would influence them; they'd be more likely to try to determine whether the groups or description indicated that it was a mall or a club spamming them, or something else, i.e. a customer needing help.

I think these researchers have chosen a horrible way to try to document racism, if it exists, as they are chosing an activity that is likely in There to be as obnoxious as it is in SL -- "the foot in the door" which is an unsolicited TP. It's pre-determined to engender negative responses.

[Joey Seiler]

There's plenty more in the actual study about methodology, control, etc., that I think answers a few of those points. All requests were made face-to-face in a public area of avatars that were standing around by themselves.

As a side note, here's a study from UCF about using virtual environments to overcome racial bias in medical settings: http://news.ufl.edu/2008/09/03/research-report-65/