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Want a thinner body in real life? Design a slim, trim avatar in Second Life

Thin in Second Life, thin in real life? RTI study establishes links. This is an avatar from Second Life.

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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – Creators of slim, trim, athletic avatars in the 3D online world of Second Life are likely to be more fit in real life because they want life to reflect fantasy.

That’s the conclusion of a new study from researchers at RTI International.

“Preliminary results of survey interviews in Second Life support our hypotheses that individuals whose avatars engaged in healthy behaviors were more likely to engage in physical activities in the real world than individuals with less physically active avatars,” write the researchers in an abstract of their study.

“Furthermore, thinner-looking avatars were associated with lower BMI (body mass index) in real life.”

Only a week ago, RTI reported that expanding waistlines in America are costing the economy as much as $147 billion a year in 2008 compared to $78.5 billion in 1998. Data from 1998 through 2006 shows that obesity in the U.S. increased by 37 percent, driving up related costs to 9.1 percent of medical expenditures.

So could Second Life avatars be used as a means of fighting obesity?

"Based on these preliminary results, it seems likely that virtual reality users may adjust their identity to be consistent with that of their avatars," said Elizabeth Dean, a research survey methodologist at RTI who was lead author of the study. "The public health urgency surrounding the issue of obesity means that any intervention that might possibly affect real-life health should be considered.

Dean added that gyms, healthcare professionals and others might want to explore links between social factors, body image, fitness and obesity.

"Health professionals are starting to use virtual worlds to conduct research and even provide treatment based on the idea that people are influenced by their avatars." Dean said.

In the abstract of the study, Dean and others noted that they manipulated their own avatars in conducting the survey. RTI has its own presence in the 3D world.

“One unique feature of interviewing with avatars in Second Life is that researchers have the ability to manipulate environmental factors and interviewer characteristics with a consistency that is absent in the real world,” they wrote. “In our preliminary results, respondents were more likely to report higher BMI or weight to a heavier-looking avatar than to a thinner-looking avatar.”

The study was published in the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research. RTI interviewed 29 Second Life “residents,” with half being asked questions by a thin avatar and half being questioned by an obese avatar.

Some other points, as reported by RTI:

• 80 percent who reported high levels of physical activity for their avatars reported participating in high levels of physical activity in their real lives.

• Participants interviewed by the thin avatar were more likely to report that their own avatar shape was thin than those interviewed by the obese avatar.

• The average BMI reported by participants was higher when interviewed by the obese avatar than was reported by those interviewed by the thin avatar.

• Nearly 75 percent of respondents interviewed by a thin avatar described their avatar shape as thin.

• Only one-third of respondents interviewed by a heavy avatar described their avatar shape as thin.

The full abstract of the study follows:

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has observed consistently increasing obesity trends over the past 25 years. Recent research suggests that avatar behavior and appearance may result in positive changes to real life individual behavior. Specifically, users may adjust their identity to match that of their avatars. Preliminary results of survey interviews in Second Life support our hypotheses that individuals whose avatars engaged in healthy behaviors were more likely to engage in physical activities in the real world than individuals with less physically active avatars. Furthermore, thinner-looking avatars were associated with lower BMI in real life. One unique feature of interviewing with avatars in Second Life is that researchers have the ability to manipulate environmental factors and interviewer characteristics with a consistency that is absent in the real world. In our preliminary results, respondents were more likely to report higher BMI or weight to a heavier-looking avatar than to a thinner-looking avatar.”

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