Chapter 6: Psychological Processes Associated With Avatar Choice in Virtual Reality Gaming

VR offers users the opportunity to experience different worlds through a new perspective that they can create themselves – the personalised avatar. In VR, users can choose or design avatars to represent themselves as they interact with virtual environments. Avatar choice allows users to reinvent themselves, explore new possibilities and move beyond fixed real-world identities. This chapter explores how avatar choice reflects psychological processes such as identity exploration and the navigation of interpersonal relationships and how these choices may influence real-world psychological functioning and behaviour. Avatar choice in a virtual environment may reflect users' identity beliefs or exploration. Users, especially those with lower psychological well-being, may design avatars as reflections of their ideal selves, incorporating desired physical attributes, higher intelligence or greater achievement. Relationships between avatars in virtual environments can also reflect explorations not possible in the real world. For instance, individuals can choose to raise ‘child’ avatars, forming emotional connections that may reflect their own childhood or parenting experiences. Users may find virtual relationships as emotionally significant as real-world ones, with losses in the virtual environment often distressing. This chapter examines these themes, highlighting the psychological implications of avatar choice in virtual environments. Understanding these dynamics is integral for the continued development of VR technology and its impact on psychological functioning inside and outside virtual settings. Ultimately, avatar selection in VR games is more meaningful than it may appear, reflecting deeper individual psychological processes that deserve careful consideration.