Avatar Identification, Violent Video Games, and Emotions
Media, Interface, and Network Design Lab, Syracuse University | M.I.N.D. Labs site
The M.I.N.D. Lab blends the fields of psychology and communications through the study of human-computer interactions (HCI) and computer-mediated communications. Joining the research team early in the process, I assisted with both the literature review and the establishment of experimental stimuli and procedures, allowing me to familiarize myself with the practical tools and techniques for research design. Here, I also gained valuable experience with physiological equipment and software from the beginning of the process to the end, including data collection, post-processing to remove artifacts, and analysis. After my first semester working at the lab, I was given the responsibility of teaching, coordinating, and supporting three to five other undergraduate research assistants. This role, as both a student researcher and a peer mentor, fueled my passion for psychology, moving me to inspire the same appetite for knowledge and enthusiasm for research in others that my mentors instilled in me. The M.I.N.D. Lab is also where I gained my first scholarly writing opportunity as second author of a juried conference paper (Kim, Searls, Costa, Shin, & Biocca, 2013). Yet, while my time here piqued my interest in psychology research, the lab’s more cognitive-grounded approach did not fully satisfy my increasingly socially oriented interests, sparking my curiosity about other ways I could approach these topics.
The Effects of Avatar Realism on Heart Rate Variability, Feelings, Thoughts, and Behaviors
Video games have become increasingly popular, with first-person shooter game franchises like Call of Duty, Halo, and Mass Effect leading the pack. These video games have raised some serious concerns about the welfare of children who play them, as research has shown that they increase aggressive thoughts and behaviors. This study focuses on how avatar customization and identification can reduce these adverse effects of violent video games while maintaining high levels of enjoyment. Results from both self-report and psychophysiological response (heart rate variability) indicate that individuals who are able to customize or create self-resembling avatars experience less aggressive thoughts and behaviors and more positive emotions and behaviors, like enjoyment, presence, and prosocial behaviors. Thus, avatar customization was shown to have a positive effect on users’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Implications of this study are discussed, addressing impacts on future design both in violent video games and public health in other digital media.
Just-World Beliefs + Perspective-Taking → Victim Blaming
Social Perception, Action, & Motivation Lab, New York University | SPAM Lab site
The primary focus of my work at the SPAM Lab at New York University, where I worked during the summer of 2013, was the contributing factors of victim blame, namely perspective-taking and just-world beliefs (Searls & Mulford, 2013). Here, I honed my skills as a researcher and acquired a number of helpful tools to employ throughout the research process. My time at this lab helped me further focus my research interests by taking some of the social concepts that were addressed in my more cognitive-based work at the M.I.N.D. Lab and allowing me to approach them through more traditional social psychology methods.
The Perfect Storm of Threat: Just-World Beliefs, Self-Perspective, and Victim Blame
This article examines why innocent victims, generally expected to garner sympathy and compassion, are often blamed for their plights. Research has shown that just-world beliefs (JWB) strongly influence victim blame, but little has been shown on the compounded impact of concerns for the self. When both an individual’s worldview and self are threatened, he/she is expected to blame more as a way to reduce the perceived threat. Participants were primed with a just or unjust worldview and instructed to read a story either objectively or personally. Following this, they indicated the level of blame and responsibility for the victim. Study 1 illustrated the relationship between JWB, SP, and threat, such that threat was highest when both just-world and self concerns were present. To concretize the relationship between threat and blame, Study 2 manipulated threat using a misattribution of arousal paradigm. The findings of the current research imply that threat could be most volatile when left unattributed or unexpressed, compelling people to blame to assuage the uneasiness this threat produces.
Manuscripts are available upon request. You can reach me at rasearls@gmail.com or use the Contact page.