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Virtual Worlds and Identity Exploration for Marginalised People

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Reinventing Ourselves: Contemporary Concepts of Identity in Virtual Worlds

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Immersive Environments ((SSIE))

Abstract

The recent rise in the use of virtual worlds as alternative spaces for social gatherings has increased people’s access to identity role-play and redevelopment options. By being able to explore repressed facets of their identities in virtual safe harbours such as Second LifeTM, marginalised people may be able to benefit from positive experiences that can be transferable to their physical world lives. Social construction approaches and the broaden and build theory of positive emotions are used to support the claim that marginalised people, using virtual world interactions, are able to reformulate how they perceive and are perceived by others, leading to positive psychological effects. Online behaviours, such as deindividuation and disinhibition, coupled with anonymity, replace missing sensory informational cues in virtual world environments. Social evaluation theory and social identity theory aid in explaining how people relate to each other in these spaces and the effects on identity development.

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  1. Walden University, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Jon Cabiria

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    Anna Peachey

  2. Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry, CV1 5FB, United Kingdom

    Mark Childs

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Cabiria, J. (2011). Virtual Worlds and Identity Exploration for Marginalised People. In: Peachey, A., Childs, M. (eds) Reinventing Ourselves: Contemporary Concepts of Identity in Virtual Worlds. Springer Series in Immersive Environments. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-361-9_15

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