Pimentel Daniel, Kalyanaraman Sri
Oregon Reality Lab, School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon, Portland, OR, United States.
Media Effects and Technology Lab, College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States.
Front Psychol. 2020 Dec 3;11:566682. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.566682. eCollection 2020.
Character customization is a prominent feature in digital games, affording users the ability to tailor one's virtual self-representation (avatar) to match aspects of their actual or ideal self, influencing psychological well-being. The mental health implications of character customization can be partially explained by self-discrepancy theory, which argues that achieving congruence with one's avatar reduces cognitive dissonance. However, the role of undesirable self-concepts such as mental health ailments have largely been overlooked in this context despite forming part of one's identity. In theory, customization of an avatar representing undesirable self-concepts presents a self-regulatory paradox: individuals desire to reduce discrepancies with a self-representation, yet they also desire to enlarge discrepancies with a disliked-self. To reconcile this, two experiments explored the psychological implications of imbuing avatars with undesirable self-concepts. In Study 1 ( = 90), participants customized an avatar to represent anxiety within themselves (i.e., an anxiety avatar). Customization significantly reduced state anxiety compared to a control group, supporting the proposed discrepancy-reduction mechanism. Study 2 ( = 122) employed a 2 (customization: yes, no) × 2 (destruction: yes, no) between-subjects design, with participants either destroying or observing an anxiety avatar. Destruction of customized anxiety avatars resulted in the largest reduction in anxiety among all conditions, supporting the proposed discrepancy-enlargement mechanism. Theoretical and practical implications for the use of avatar-based e-mental health interventions are discussed.
角色定制是数字游戏中的一个突出特征，它使用户能够调整自己的虚拟自我形象（化身），以匹配他们实际或理想自我的某些方面，从而影响心理健康。角色定制对心理健康的影响可以部分地用自我差异理论来解释，该理论认为，与自己的化身达成一致可以减少认知失调。然而，尽管心理健康问题等不良自我概念是个人身份的一部分，但在这种背景下，它们的作用在很大程度上被忽视了。从理论上讲，定制代表不良自我概念的化身会产生一个自我调节的悖论：个人既希望减少与自我形象的差异，又希望扩大与不喜欢的自我的差异。为了调和这一点，两项实验探讨了赋予化身不良自我概念的心理影响。在研究1（N = 90）中，参与者定制了一个化身来代表自己内心的焦虑（即焦虑化身）。与对照组相比，定制显著降低了状态焦虑，支持了所提出的差异减少机制。研究2（N = 122）采用了一个2（定制：是，否）×2（破坏：是，否）的组间设计，参与者要么破坏要么观察一个焦虑化身。在所有条件下，破坏定制的焦虑化身导致焦虑降低幅度最大，支持了所提出的差异扩大机制。本文还讨论了基于化身的电子心理健康干预措施的理论和实践意义。
