Psychological Benefits of Participation in Three-dimensional Virtual Worlds for Individuals with Real-world Disabilities

Abstract

One hundred and ninety-six individuals with real-world disabilities were administered a battery of psychological adjustment measures soon after joining the three-dimensional virtual world of Second Life^®. After three months, 61 participants who continued to be actively involved in Second Life were re-administered the adjustment measures and completed a survey about their virtual and real-life experiences during the interval between assessments. Participants’ scores significantly improved on measures of affective states (depression, anxiety, positive emotion, life satisfaction, and feelings of loneliness) and self-evaluation (self-esteem). An index of overall change was associated with the number of virtual friends and group affiliations in Second Life, as well as feelings about the self as a result of involvement in the virtual world. The current study provides initial empirical support that three-dimensional virtual worlds can serve as a psychologically beneficial context for individuals with real-life disabilities.

Keywords:

• cyberpsychology
• developmental disabilities
• disabilities
• learning disabilities
• mental disabilities
• physical disabilities
• Second Life
• virtual worlds

Acknowledgements

There was no research funding for this study, and no restrictions have been imposed on free access to, or publication of, the research data.

Notes

1. See www.secondlife.com.

2. See http://virtualability.org.

3. See http://ict.usc.edu.

4. This amount of financial incentive has served as a robust inducement for research participation in several prior studies conducted in the micro economy of Second Life (for example, Gilbert, Gonzalez, & Murphy, 2011; Gilbert, Murphy, & Ávalos, 2011).

5. We also compared the pre-test-only (N = 135) and post-test (N = 61) samples on the nine dependent measures. There were no significant differences on the Time 1 dependent measure scores between the non-post-test and post-test samples, with one exception. The post-test sample was significantly (albeit slightly) more lonely (M = 27.77, SD = 6.49) than the non-post-test sample (M = 25.53, SD = 7.54), t(194) = –2.00, p < 0.05, d = –0.29.

6. The difference scores for positive affect, self-esteem, and satisfaction with life were multiplied by –1 so that positive difference scores would reflect improvement over time.

7. A friend in Second Life is any avatar that is added to a friend list, similar to a friend on Facebook. Thus, the concept of friend in the virtual world does not necessarily signal the same depth of knowledge or involvement as in the physical world.