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Abstract:
Two studies examined whether participant attitudes would change
toward positions advocated by an ingroup member even if the
latter was known to be an embodied agent; that is, a human-
like representation of a computer algorithm. While immersed in
a virtual environment, participants listened to a persuasive com-
munication from a digital representation of another student. The
latter was actually an embodied agent (a computer-controlled dig-
ital representation of a human). Study 1 examined the extent to
which gender of the virtual human, participant gender, and the
agent’s behavior affected attitude change. Results revealed gender-
based ingroup favoritism in the form of greater attitude change
for same gender virtual humans. Study 2 examined behavioral
realism and agency beliefs; that is, whether participants believed
the other to be an agent or an avatar (an online representation
of an actual person). Results supported Blascovich and colleague’s
model of social influence within immersive virtual environments.
Specifically, the prediction that virtual humans high in behavioral
realism would be more influential than those low in behavioral
realism was supported, but this effect was moderated by the gender
of the virtual human and the research participant. Implications
of these findings for the model are discussed.
