Wearing Many Avatars: How Users Express, Shift and Perceive Identity Across Contexts in Social VR

In Social Virtual Reality (VR), people use avatars to express identity. But how different social contexts influence the weighting of identity aspects people attribute to avatars, and the potential impact on avatar switching to their perception of identity consistency, remains unclear. To address this gap, our study employed a questionnaire-based survey with 100 participants. We found that people place greater emphasis on expressing their age, aesthetics and culture through avatars, relative to other identity aspects. Whereas attributes, such as one’s physical disabilities and mental health, are consistently hidden. Education and social status are context-dependent. Beyond adjusting these components, users also employed complete avatar switching as a strategy to meet social expectations and protect privacy. Furthermore, although people perceived a change in identity when switching avatars, their core identity was considered stable. This study advances knowledge of identity practices in digital spaces and offers insights for designing inclusive Social VR platforms that support multi-context identity expression.