http://www.newscientisttech.com/arti...ess-trust.html
Kristine Nowak and Christian Rauh of the University of Connecticut created a variety of computer-drawn images to act as avatars, ranging from a blond girl with pigtails to a person neither clearly male nor female, and a ketchup bottle with a face.
They then assigned these characters randomly to a group of volunteers and got them to chat in pairs via a computer. Each volunteer could see their partner's avatar but not their own.
They were asked to chat for 20 minutes and then rate their partners on how credible, or trustworthy, and also how androgynous they seemed.
The people represented by more androgynous avatars seemed less trustworthy to people, according to the new study, which will appear in a forthcoming edition of the journal Computers in Human Behavior.
Curiously, the ketchup bottle character came second from last when rated on trustworthiness. Last was an avatar based on an intimidating lizard.
They then assigned these characters randomly to a group of volunteers and got them to chat in pairs via a computer. Each volunteer could see their partner's avatar but not their own.
They were asked to chat for 20 minutes and then rate their partners on how credible, or trustworthy, and also how androgynous they seemed.
The people represented by more androgynous avatars seemed less trustworthy to people, according to the new study, which will appear in a forthcoming edition of the journal Computers in Human Behavior.
Curiously, the ketchup bottle character came second from last when rated on trustworthiness. Last was an avatar based on an intimidating lizard.
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