Player-avatar bonds and gaming benefits and risks: Assessing self-discrepancy theory against a broader range of character and play experiences
How players relate to their avatars in digital and analog gaming predicts both positive and negative gaming experiences. For example, a perceived discrepancy between one’s actual and avatar self is associated with both gaming benefits and risks. However, such self-discrepancy approaches treat avatar...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Masaryk University
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace |
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| Online Access: | https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/38471 |
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| author | Jeffrey G. Snodgrass Seth I. Sagstetter Julia R. Branstrator Alessandro Giardina Michael G. Lacy Aaunterria Treil Bollinger-Deters Chaz L. Callendar Katya Xinyi Zhao H.J. François Dengah II Joël Billieux |
| author_facet | Jeffrey G. Snodgrass Seth I. Sagstetter Julia R. Branstrator Alessandro Giardina Michael G. Lacy Aaunterria Treil Bollinger-Deters Chaz L. Callendar Katya Xinyi Zhao H.J. François Dengah II Joël Billieux |
| author_sort | Jeffrey G. Snodgrass |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | How players relate to their avatars in digital and analog gaming predicts both positive and negative gaming experiences. For example, a perceived discrepancy between one’s actual and avatar self is associated with both gaming benefits and risks. However, such self-discrepancy approaches treat avatars narrowly as self-substitutes that allow players to project idealized identities in a virtual environment. Yet, those approaches have not examined how other kinds of player-avatar bonds—such as avatars experienced as distinct other persons or as impersonal objects used to accomplish gaming goals—might differentially predict gaming benefits and risk of harm. Nor has self-discrepancy research explored how avatar experiences might function in forms of play with positive and negative aspects, e.g., in situations where challenge, suffering, and repeated failure are preconditions for eventual feelings of accomplishment. In the current study, we use ethnographically informed survey responses from North American gamers (N = 149) to examine how a range of player-avatar relationships shape diverse gaming experiences. We find that relating to avatars as self-substitutes, including in situations where players’ experience discrepancies between their actual and avatar selves, does predict gaming benefits and risks, but so do other kinds of player-avatar bonds. Our research thus confirms the importance of self-discrepancy theory in assessments of gaming experience but nonetheless suggests the need for caution if claiming distinctive benefits or risks associated with particular kinds of player-avatar bonds.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d11e1f3b863344b4bdd2d143ee73a12a |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1802-7962 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Masaryk University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace |
| spelling | doaj-art-d11e1f3b863344b4bdd2d143ee73a12a2025-08-20T02:38:45ZengMasaryk UniversityCyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace1802-79622025-06-01193Player-avatar bonds and gaming benefits and risks: Assessing self-discrepancy theory against a broader range of character and play experiencesJeffrey G. Snodgrass0Seth I. Sagstetter1Julia R. Branstrator2Alessandro Giardina3Michael G. Lacy4Aaunterria Treil Bollinger-Deters5Chaz L. Callendar6Katya Xinyi Zhao7H.J. François Dengah II8Joël Billieux9Department of Anthropology and Geography, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, ColoradoDepartment of Anthropology and Geography, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, ColoradoDepartment of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, ColoradoInstitute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, LausanneDepartment of Sociology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, ColoradoDepartment of Journalism and Media Communication, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado and Department of Race, Gender, and Ethnic Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, ColoradoDepartment of Journalism and Media Communication, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Coloradortment of Anthropology and Geography, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, ColoradoDepartment of Anthropology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FloridaInstitute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, LausanneHow players relate to their avatars in digital and analog gaming predicts both positive and negative gaming experiences. For example, a perceived discrepancy between one’s actual and avatar self is associated with both gaming benefits and risks. However, such self-discrepancy approaches treat avatars narrowly as self-substitutes that allow players to project idealized identities in a virtual environment. Yet, those approaches have not examined how other kinds of player-avatar bonds—such as avatars experienced as distinct other persons or as impersonal objects used to accomplish gaming goals—might differentially predict gaming benefits and risk of harm. Nor has self-discrepancy research explored how avatar experiences might function in forms of play with positive and negative aspects, e.g., in situations where challenge, suffering, and repeated failure are preconditions for eventual feelings of accomplishment. In the current study, we use ethnographically informed survey responses from North American gamers (N = 149) to examine how a range of player-avatar relationships shape diverse gaming experiences. We find that relating to avatars as self-substitutes, including in situations where players’ experience discrepancies between their actual and avatar selves, does predict gaming benefits and risks, but so do other kinds of player-avatar bonds. Our research thus confirms the importance of self-discrepancy theory in assessments of gaming experience but nonetheless suggests the need for caution if claiming distinctive benefits or risks associated with particular kinds of player-avatar bonds. https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/38471self-discrepancy theorygamingroleplaying gamesavatarsgaming disorderidentity |
| spellingShingle | Jeffrey G. Snodgrass Seth I. Sagstetter Julia R. Branstrator Alessandro Giardina Michael G. Lacy Aaunterria Treil Bollinger-Deters Chaz L. Callendar Katya Xinyi Zhao H.J. François Dengah II Joël Billieux Player-avatar bonds and gaming benefits and risks: Assessing self-discrepancy theory against a broader range of character and play experiences Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace self-discrepancy theory gaming roleplaying games avatars gaming disorder identity |
| title | Player-avatar bonds and gaming benefits and risks: Assessing self-discrepancy theory against a broader range of character and play experiences |
| title_full | Player-avatar bonds and gaming benefits and risks: Assessing self-discrepancy theory against a broader range of character and play experiences |
| title_fullStr | Player-avatar bonds and gaming benefits and risks: Assessing self-discrepancy theory against a broader range of character and play experiences |
| title_full_unstemmed | Player-avatar bonds and gaming benefits and risks: Assessing self-discrepancy theory against a broader range of character and play experiences |
| title_short | Player-avatar bonds and gaming benefits and risks: Assessing self-discrepancy theory against a broader range of character and play experiences |
| title_sort | player avatar bonds and gaming benefits and risks assessing self discrepancy theory against a broader range of character and play experiences |
| topic | self-discrepancy theory gaming roleplaying games avatars gaming disorder identity |
| url | https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/38471 |
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