The Role of Avatar Creation: Depersonalization as a Moderator of Social Anxiety and Symptoms of Internet Gaming Disorder
Abstract
Video games provide immersive virtual experiences that help individuals cope with anxiety through safe social engagement. Players of video games can also spend many hours engaged with their avatars, a figure representing a game player. However, when problematic, gaming behaviors can lead to Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD). This study examined whether depersonalization moderates the relation between social anxiety and IGD symptoms across categories of avatar involvement: no avatar creation, any avatar creation, and fully integrated avatars. The participants were (n=510) college students, Mage=19.5, 63.9% female. Participants completed measures of IGD symptoms, social anxiety, and depersonalization. Moderation analyses used PROCESS in SPSS, with IGD as the dependent variable and social anxiety as the primary predictor. Among participants who did not create avatars, the model accounted for 21% of the variance in IGD, and depersonalization significantly moderated the social anxiety–IGD link (p < .001). The direction of the effect differed between high and low depersonalization groups. In contrast, those reporting any level of avatar creation showed a stronger overall model fit (r2 = .50) with depersonalization moderating the social anxiety–IGD relation (p = .005) such that high depersonalization intensified this effect. Finally, the subset of participants who reported fully integrated avatars demonstrated the strongest effect (73% of variance in IGD). High depersonalization significantly amplified the impact of social anxiety on IGD (p= .003). It seems that as avatar development progresses, depersonalization evolves from being a protective factor, attenuating the relation between social anxiety and IGD, to being a risk factor (i.e., strengthening the relation). The type of depersonalization instigated by avatar development may increase the risk of a gamer’s social anxiety leading to gaming disorder. Future research in a longitudinal sample is needed to further clarify how virtual identities and depersonalization intersect with social anxiety to influence problematic gaming behaviors.
Start Time
16-4-2025 1:30 PM
End Time
16-4-2025 4:00 PM
Presentation Type
Poster
Presentation Category
Social Sciences
Student Type
Undergraduate Student
Faculty Mentor
Meredith Ginley
Faculty Department
Psychology
The Role of Avatar Creation: Depersonalization as a Moderator of Social Anxiety and Symptoms of Internet Gaming Disorder
Video games provide immersive virtual experiences that help individuals cope with anxiety through safe social engagement. Players of video games can also spend many hours engaged with their avatars, a figure representing a game player. However, when problematic, gaming behaviors can lead to Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD). This study examined whether depersonalization moderates the relation between social anxiety and IGD symptoms across categories of avatar involvement: no avatar creation, any avatar creation, and fully integrated avatars. The participants were (n=510) college students, Mage=19.5, 63.9% female. Participants completed measures of IGD symptoms, social anxiety, and depersonalization. Moderation analyses used PROCESS in SPSS, with IGD as the dependent variable and social anxiety as the primary predictor. Among participants who did not create avatars, the model accounted for 21% of the variance in IGD, and depersonalization significantly moderated the social anxiety–IGD link (p < .001). The direction of the effect differed between high and low depersonalization groups. In contrast, those reporting any level of avatar creation showed a stronger overall model fit (r2 = .50) with depersonalization moderating the social anxiety–IGD relation (p = .005) such that high depersonalization intensified this effect. Finally, the subset of participants who reported fully integrated avatars demonstrated the strongest effect (73% of variance in IGD). High depersonalization significantly amplified the impact of social anxiety on IGD (p= .003). It seems that as avatar development progresses, depersonalization evolves from being a protective factor, attenuating the relation between social anxiety and IGD, to being a risk factor (i.e., strengthening the relation). The type of depersonalization instigated by avatar development may increase the risk of a gamer’s social anxiety leading to gaming disorder. Future research in a longitudinal sample is needed to further clarify how virtual identities and depersonalization intersect with social anxiety to influence problematic gaming behaviors.