Gender Differences in Interactions with Avatars of Diverse Ethnic Appearancesстатья
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Дата последнего поиска статьи во внешних источниках: 18 марта 2019 г.
Аннотация:Background. Gender differences exist in almost every aspect of our life. Individuals have an array of different societal expectations with regard to behaviors, communication, appearance, attitudes, and social roles, but these expectations tend to be based on whether the individual is male or female. Currently, a lot of social studies have been done with the help of virtual reality technologies. They have been effectively applied in the studies of many social phenomena – in nonverbal communication, in social skills training, in social anxiety rehabilitation, etc. Recently, a lot of attention has been paid to the problem of gender differences during social interaction with the virtual partners – avatars. However, the problem of gender differences during interactions with avatars of diverse ethnic appearances has little been studied.
Objective. The goal of this study was to investigate the gender peculiarities of the interaction with avatars having different ethnic appearances. Using the CAVE virtual reality system, gender differences in interpersonal distances maintained with avatars were studied.
Design. There were designed four three-dimensional virtual scenes with avatars. Four types of avatars with different ethnic appearances were created. They were avatars of Slavic, Asian, North Caucasian, and African appearance. All avatars were male. The participants (all positioned themselves as Russians) were immersed in virtual environments with the help of CAVE virtual reality system. Their task was to approach the avatar, to present herself/himself in a free form and to give instructions for the further work. During the task the interpersonal distances were registered. After leaving the CAVE the participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire assessing the Presence effect.
Results. The results showed there were gender differences in maintaining interpersonal distances: women preferred to keep shorter interpersonal distances with virtual partners in comparison with the distances chosen by men. Moreover, the impact of ethnic appearance on interpersonal distances was revealed. Women approached the avatars of their own ethnic group more closely and kept further away from the avatars of other ethnic groups. Unlike women, men adhered to the same distance with avatars of different ethnic groups. Both gender groups kept equally far away from the avatar of African appearance. Gender differences were also revealed in the Presence effect estimates.
Conclusion. There was developed a comprehensive method for the analysis of gender differences in interacting with avatars, including subjective (the sense of presence, semantic differential technique) and objective (assessment of interpersonal distance) characteristics. This method allows to assess gender variables during social interaction using both behavioral and psychological responses. It can successfully be applied for the study of gender differences regarding different social phenomena.