A virtual "room" with a cue: Detecting personality through spatial customization in a city simulation game

Donghee Yvette Wohn; Rick Wash

doi:10.1016/j.chb.2012.07.029

A virtual "room" with a cue: Detecting personality through spatial customization in a city simulation game

Donghee Yvette Wohn, Rick Wash

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

Online simulation games provide an opportunity for people to express their personality through the design of their in-game virtual environment in a manner visible to third-party observers. We found that zero-acquaintance observers of these games can identify personality traits by simply looking at screenshots of the created virtual environment, and that the observed personality is closer to the self-reported "real" personality than "ideal" personality of the creator. These results contradict studies on avatar customization and personality, suggesting that spatial customization is more reflective of unintentional behavioral residue than conscious selective self-presentation.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	155-159
Number of pages	5
Journal	Computers in Human Behavior
Volume	29
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.07.029
State	Published - Jan 2013
Externally published	Yes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
Human-Computer Interaction
General Psychology

Keywords

Behavioral residue
Personality
Simulation game
Spatial customization
Virtual environment

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10.1016/j.chb.2012.07.029

Cite this

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title = "A virtual {"}room{"} with a cue: Detecting personality through spatial customization in a city simulation game",

abstract = "Online simulation games provide an opportunity for people to express their personality through the design of their in-game virtual environment in a manner visible to third-party observers. We found that zero-acquaintance observers of these games can identify personality traits by simply looking at screenshots of the created virtual environment, and that the observed personality is closer to the self-reported {"}real{"} personality than {"}ideal{"} personality of the creator. These results contradict studies on avatar customization and personality, suggesting that spatial customization is more reflective of unintentional behavioral residue than conscious selective self-presentation.",

keywords = "Behavioral residue, Personality, Simulation game, Spatial customization, Virtual environment",

author = "Wohn, {Donghee Yvette} and Rick Wash",

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AU - Wash, Rick

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PY - 2013/1

Y1 - 2013/1

N2 - Online simulation games provide an opportunity for people to express their personality through the design of their in-game virtual environment in a manner visible to third-party observers. We found that zero-acquaintance observers of these games can identify personality traits by simply looking at screenshots of the created virtual environment, and that the observed personality is closer to the self-reported "real" personality than "ideal" personality of the creator. These results contradict studies on avatar customization and personality, suggesting that spatial customization is more reflective of unintentional behavioral residue than conscious selective self-presentation.

AB - Online simulation games provide an opportunity for people to express their personality through the design of their in-game virtual environment in a manner visible to third-party observers. We found that zero-acquaintance observers of these games can identify personality traits by simply looking at screenshots of the created virtual environment, and that the observed personality is closer to the self-reported "real" personality than "ideal" personality of the creator. These results contradict studies on avatar customization and personality, suggesting that spatial customization is more reflective of unintentional behavioral residue than conscious selective self-presentation.

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KW - Spatial customization

KW - Virtual environment

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A virtual "room" with a cue: Detecting personality through spatial customization in a city simulation game

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Keywords

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