Podcast 40: Player Avatar Relationships (Patreon)

Among different kinds of media, video games are unique in how they allow us to interact with and develop something approaching real interpersonal relationships with characters. So it's an interesting question for those in the realms of psychology and communications research to ask how exactly this works. What determines what kind of relationship you will have with your avatar? What characterizes those relationships? And what effects do they have on our enjoyment of the games or other outcomes?

These are the kinds of questions that I will tackle with the help of Dr. Jaime Banks, my guest expert on this episode of the podcast.