The Impact of Avatar Clothing on the Proteus Effect and Stereotype Threat

Body-swap illusions investigating the Proteus effect have often investigated major identity changes such as gender, race, or age. However, the impact of an avatar’s clothing on the Proteus effect is often overlooked. In this work, we investigate if simple avatar clothing-swaps combined with a minor environment change to match the clothing are able to induce a Proteus effect. Specifically, we investigate the impact of a woman avatar wearing business or science attire during a stereotype threatening situation. Our results support that clothing-swaps can induce a Proteus effect. Participants in a successful woman business avatar experienced gender stereotype threat while participants in a successful woman science avatar were instead buffered from gender stereotype threat. Further, subjective embodiment was a significant predictor of response measures such that participants with higher subjective embodiment scores had better cognitive performance. This work demonstrates the potential of the Proteus effect to promote and support traditionally marginalized groups.