Reading Personality: Avatar vs. Human Faces

Studies have suggested that facial appearance leads to judgment of a person´s character, e.g. wide-faced males are considered aggressive and untrustworthy, large eyes make a person appear honest and non-dominant, and short ears and nose give impressions of warmth and honesty. In this study we investigate whether we make similar judgment with an avatar´s face. Using Second Life avatars as stimuli, we employ Paired-Comparison Tests to determine the implications of certain facial features. Our results suggest that people judge an avatar by its look, and such judgment is sensitive to eeriness and baby facedness of the avatar.