Identification With Video Game Characters as Automatic Shift of Self-Perceptions |
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| Authors: | Christoph Klimmt Dorothée Hefner Peter Vorderer Christian Roth Christopher Blake |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Journalism and Communication Research , Hanover University of Music, Drama, and Media , Hanover, Germany;2. Department of Media and Communication Studies , University of Mannheim , Mannheim, Germany;3. Center for Advanced Media Research, VU University Amsterdam , Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | Two experiments tested the prediction that video game players identify with the character or role they are assigned, which leads to automatic shifts in implicit self-perceptions. Video game identification, thus, is considered as a kind of altered self-experience. In Study 1 (N = 61), participants either played a first-person shooter game or a racing game. Subsequently, they performed an Implicit Association Test (IAT) designed to detect cognitive associations between character-related concepts and players' self. Findings indicate a stronger automatic association of military-related concepts to shooter players' self and a stronger association of racing-related concepts to racing game players' self. Study 2 (N = 48) replicated the IAT result from Study 1 and demonstrated the stability of the identification pattern. Implications for identification as an element of the video game experience and future research directions are discussed. |
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