Do Female Avatars Encourage Mental Health Support · My avatar and me - Gender and personality...
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Study Design In-lab study Excludes: Non-male identifying, mental health service workers, under 18, non- English speakers Recruitment: Posters on UW Campus Slides in classrooms of agreeing instructors Reimbursement: $15 CDN Problem for P2P CBT • Online CBT and P2P are effective, accessible, and affordable options for non-severe mood disorders • Dr. Robert Morris combined the two effectively in- lab, but there were problems of low engagement when commercialized [4] References 1. Yee, N., Ducheneaut, N., Yao, M., & Nelson, L. (2011). Do Men Heal More When in Drag? Conflicting Identity Cues Between User and Avatar. CHI. 2. Ratan, R., & Sah, Y. (2015). Leveling up on stereotype threat: The role of avatar customization and avatar embodiment. Computers in Human Behavior, 50. 3. Dunn, R. A., & Guadagno, R. E. (2012). My avatar and me - Gender and personality predictors of avatar-self discrepancy. Computers in Human Behavior , 28(1), 97–106 4. Morris, R. (2015). Crowdsourcing Mental Health and Emotional Well-Being. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 5. Tallner, A., Pfeifer, K., & Mäurer, M. (2016). Web-based interventions in multiple sclerosis: the potential of tele-rehabilitation. Therapeutic advances in neurological disorders , 9(4), 327-35. Do Female Avatars Encourage Mental Health Support in Gamified Peer to Peer (P2P) Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)? Tina Chan MSc candidate [email protected] James Wallace PhD (supervisor) [email protected] Sprites by Caciumtrice A study to understand if the Proteus Effect can persuade helpfulness in a gamified P2P CBT platform when female avatars with stereotypical supportive qualities are used by men. Condition A Condition B Female “Helpful” Healer Male “Unhelpful” Monster Gameplay Single-player role-playing computer game 1. Customize a premade character and navigate a fantasy themed narrative. 2. Respond to NPCs’ negative thoughts using a CBT template to advance game. NPCs have real concerns sourced from user posts from Reddit, a public online forum. 3. Activity rewarded with more narrative and cosmetic rewards to character. Gamification as a Solution • Shown effective for encouraging health behaviours such as drug adherence, pain management, and fitness [5] • Avatars and narratives provide persuasive experiences in effective gamification Documented stereotypes of characters in the traditional fantasy genre were used as design templates for the avatars used in the proposed study. CBT: Short term psychotherapy with meta-analyses supporting its effectiveness for a wide range of mental health disorders P2P support: Support received from others with shared experiences based on empathy Gamification: The use of traditional game elements to encourage engagement Avatars: Visual self- representations in digital spaces The Proteus Effect • Phenomenon where players adopt stereotypical traits of their avatars • Documented improvement in confidence (ie. negotiation skills) after using confident avatars [1] • Few studies on supportive traits (ie. collaboration) influenced by using supportive avatars • Avatar identification strengthens effect, improved with avatar customizations and player-avatar similarities [2] Avatar Gender • Influences helpfulness, where men playing as women are more likely to offer help to teammates [1] • Not shown to influence interactions with non player characters (NPCs) [3] Expected Contributions • Evaluation of the Proteus Effect for motivating attitude change towards helping others using gendered stereotypes in fantasy narratives • Identification of opportunities provided by avatars to encourage engagement in P2P CBT • A preliminary design on improving engagement in P2P CBT platforms with gamification Limitation: Due to ethical limitations and limited resources, true P2P testing cannot be done at this point for the safety of our participants. Research Questions RQ1: Would using “helpful” avatars in a CBT P2P serious game motivate higher engagement than one using “unhelpful” avatars among men? RQ2: Would using “helpful” avatars in a CBT P2P serious game facilitate attitude change towards helping more strongly than one using “unhelpful” avatars among men? RQ3: Would engagement levels and avatar identification be mediators and confounders to attitude change? Randomiz e Introductory Questionnaire Exit Questionnaire Play game with “monster” Semi-Structured Interview Males (n=20) “Helpful” Avatar Group “Unhelpfu l” Avatar Group Play game with “healer” Identification for the Proteus Effect (Exit) ▪ Narrative Transportability Scale Short Form ▪ Avatar Similarity Questions ▪ Semi-Structured Interview Engagement (Passively Tracked) ▪ Average length of words per submission ▪ Progress in game ▪ Time spent per log-in Attitude change towards prosocial behaviour (Intro and Exit) ▪ Change in Helping Attitudes Scale score Player characteristics (Intro) ▪ Big Five Inventory Short Form ▪ Initial Helping Attitudes Scale score Engagement (RQ1) Mediators and confounders (RQ3) Attitude change (RQ2) Study Procedure Operationalization of Metrics
Transcript of Do Female Avatars Encourage Mental Health Support · My avatar and me - Gender and personality...
Study DesignIn-lab study
Excludes:
Non-male identifying, mental health service workers, under 18, non-English speakers
Recruitment:Posters on UW CampusSlides in classrooms of agreeing instructors
Reimbursement:$15 CDN
Problem for P2P CBT• Online CBT and P2P are effective, accessible, and
affordable options for non-severe mood disorders • Dr. Robert Morris combined the two effectively in-
lab, but there were problems of low engagement when commercialized [4]
References
1. Yee, N., Ducheneaut, N., Yao, M., & Nelson, L. (2011). Do Men Heal More When in Drag? Conflicting Identity Cues Between User and Avatar. CHI.
2. Ratan, R., & Sah, Y. (2015). Leveling up on stereotype threat: The role of avatar customization and avatar embodiment. Computers in Human Behavior, 50.
3. Dunn, R. A., & Guadagno, R. E. (2012). My avatar and me - Gender and personality predictors of avatar-self discrepancy. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(1), 97–106
4. Morris, R. (2015). Crowdsourcing Mental Health and Emotional Well-Being. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
5. Tallner, A., Pfeifer, K., & Mäurer, M. (2016). Web-based interventions in multiple sclerosis: the potential of tele-rehabilitation. Therapeutic advances in neurological disorders, 9(4),
327-35.
Do Female Avatars Encourage Mental Health Supportin Gamified Peer to Peer (P2P) Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)?
Tina Chan MSc candidate [email protected] Wallace PhD (supervisor) [email protected]
Sprites by Caciumtrice
A study to understand if the Proteus Effect can
persuade helpfulness in a gamified P2P CBT
platform when female avatars with stereotypical
supportive qualities are used by men.Condition A Condition B
Female “Helpful” Healer Male “Unhelpful” Monster
GameplaySingle-player role-playing computer game
1. Customize a premade character and navigate a fantasy themed narrative.2. Respond to NPCs’ negative thoughts using a CBT template to advance game. NPCs have
real concerns sourced from user posts from Reddit, a public online forum.3. Activity rewarded with more narrative and cosmetic rewards to character.
Gamification as a Solution• Shown effective for encouraging health behaviours
such as drug adherence, pain management, and fitness [5]
• Avatars and narratives provide persuasive
experiences in effective gamification
Documented stereotypes
of characters in the traditional fantasy genre were used as design templates for the avatars used in the proposed
study.
CBT: Short term psychotherapy with meta-analyses supporting its
effectiveness for a wide range of
mental health disorders
P2P support: Support received
from others with shared experiences based on empathy
Gamification: The use of traditional game elements to
encourage engagement
Avatars: Visual self-
representations in digital spaces
The Proteus Effect• Phenomenon where players adopt
stereotypical traits of their avatars• Documented improvement in
confidence (ie. negotiation skills)
after using confident avatars [1]• Few studies on supportive traits
(ie. collaboration) influenced by using supportive avatars
• Avatar identification strengthens effect, improved with avatar
customizations and player-avatar similarities [2]
Avatar Gender
• Influences helpfulness, where
men playing as women are more likely to offer help to teammates [1]
• Not shown to influence interactions with non player
characters (NPCs) [3]
Expected Contributions• Evaluation of the Proteus Effect for motivating
attitude change towards helping others using gendered stereotypes in fantasy narratives
• Identification of opportunities provided by avatars to encourage engagement in P2P CBT
• A preliminary design on improving engagement in P2P CBT platforms with gamification
Limitation: Due to ethical limitations and limited resources, true P2P testing cannot be done at this
point for the safety of our participants.
Research QuestionsRQ1: Would using “helpful” avatars in a CBT P2P serious game motivate higher engagement than one using “unhelpful” avatars among men?RQ2: Would using “helpful” avatars in a CBT P2P serious game facilitate attitude change towards
helping more strongly than one using “unhelpful” avatars among men?RQ3: Would engagement levels and avatar identification be mediators and confounders to attitude change?
Randomiz
e
Introductory Questionnaire
Exit Questionnaire
Play game
with
“monster”
Semi-Structured Interview
Males
(n=20)
“Helpful”
Avatar
Group
“Unhelpfu
l” Avatar
Group
Play game
with
“healer”
Identification for the Proteus Effect (Exit)
▪ Narrative Transportability Scale Short Form
▪ Avatar Similarity Questions
▪ Semi-Structured Interview
Engagement (Passively Tracked)
▪ Average length of words per submission
▪ Progress in game
▪ Time spent per log-in
Attitude change towards prosocial
behaviour (Intro and Exit)
▪ Change in Helping Attitudes Scale score
Player characteristics (Intro)
▪ Big Five Inventory Short Form
▪ Initial Helping Attitudes Scale score
Engagement (RQ1)
Mediators and confounders (RQ3)
Attitude change (RQ2)
Study Procedure Operationalization of Metrics
