The Honest Virtual Self? Effects of Avatar Personalization and Motor Control on Physiological Responses to Deceptive Behaviours

With the advent of social virtual reality (VR), understanding how avatar personalization impacts users' social behaviour and physiological responses in VR is increasingly important. Deceptive behaviour is particularly relevant, as users can often hide their identity behind generic avatars, which can facilitate deception. We investigated whether avatar personalization and motor control impacted physiological reactions in a Detection-of-Deception task. Twenty participants performed the task with different levels of avatar personalization and motor control over the avatar. While personalization did not impact skin conductance responses, it led to a significant decrease in heart rate, which is an established physiological response associated with deceptive behaviour. This effect was exclusive to personalized avatars and not observed in generic avatars. Personalization and motor control led to increased embodiment, body ownership, agency and presence ratings. Overall, personalized avatars can preserve users’ physiological reactions to key social events, and thus enhance the realism of VR simulations.