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Projecting The Self Into A Virtual World: Merging Identities With A Video Game Character, Kevin S. Smith
Projecting The Self Into A Virtual World: Merging Identities With A Video Game Character, Kevin S. Smith
Kevin S Smith
The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of perspective-taking instructions (PTI) on (a) the tendency to project aspects of the self onto a video game character and (b) the degree of “telepresence” within a virtual world. Perspective taking instructions encourage subjects to imagine themselves as a story character. It has been found in the past that PTI may cause an individual to merge identities with a story character in written stories1 and films2. This study replicated these findings using a video game. Male video game players were asked to play a video game and completed character …