Publications

Beyea, D., Ratan, R., Yiming, L., Hales, G., & Lim, C., (in press) A new meta-analysis of the Proteus effect: Studies in VR find stronger effect sizes. PRESENCE: Virtual and Augmented Reality. 

• A new meta-analysis of the Proteus effect comprised of 56 quantitative experimental studies. Results suggest that studies that utilized virtual reality technology, such as head-mounted displays, elicited stronger effect sizes than those that utilized flat screens. The observed effect size (r=23) was found to be a non-significant difference from the effect size found in previous Proteus effect meta-analysis. 

Beyea, D., Van Der Heide, B., Ewoldsen, D., Eden, A., & Meng, J., (2021). Avatar-based self-influence in a traditional CMC environment. Journal of Media Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000309

• An experimental study that examines the Proteus effect in a text-based digital environment (i.e., social media). Results found evidence that the Proteus effect can occur when individuals are embodied by their social media profile photo, and presents a method of inducing embodiment in a text-based environment. 

Foxman, M., Beyea, D., Leith, A., Ratan, R., Chen, V.H.H., & Klebig, B. (2021) Beyond genre: Classifying virtual reality experiences. IEEE Transactions on Games. https://doi.org/10.1109/TG.2021.3119521  

• An exploratory comparative analysis of video games across three platform types: VR only, VR supported, and non-VR. Results identified the most common content classifications (e.g., Action and Shooter within VR only applications), general platform popularity (e.g., VR only received less positive ratings than VR supported and non-VR), and which content classifications were associated with higher user ratings across platforms (e.g., Action and Music/Rhythm are most positively rated in VR only). The findings provide a snapshot of the state of VR applications and lay the foundations for future theoretical constructions of classification systems. 

Ratan, R., Beyea, D., Li, B. J., & Graciano, L. (2020). Avatar characteristics induce users’ behavioral conformity with small-to-medium effect sizes: A meta-analysis of the Proteus effect. Journal of Media Psychology, 23(5), 651-675. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2019.1623698

• A meta-analysis of the Proteus effect, comprised of 46 quantitative experimental studies. Results suggest that the Proteus effect is a reliable phenomenon, with a small-but-approaching-medium effect size (r=.24 ). The effect size is relatively large compared to other digital media effects examined in previous meta-analyses.

Shin, S. Y., Dai, Y., Beyea, D., Prchal, B., Makki, T., Schlafhauser, K., & Van Der Heide, B. (2020). Curbing negativity: Influence of providing justifications about control over user-generated comments on social media. Communication Research, 47(6), 838-859. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650218794853 

• An experimental study that examines the warranting theory within the frame of an organization justifying censorship of information. Results suggest that when an organization offers a legitimate justification for deleting social media comments, it mitigates negative evaluations of the organization.

Lee, J., Eden, A., Ewoldsen, D. R., Beyea, D., & Lee, S. (2019). Seeing possibilities for action: Orienting and exploratory behaviors in VR. Computers in Human Behavior, 98, 158-165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.03.040

•  A content analysis that examined affordances (Gibson, 1979) in the context of virtual reality. Results indicate that individuals tend to orient to virtual objects when they display novel or unusual information. 

Shin, S. Y., Van Der Heide, B., Beyea, D., Dai, Y. N., & Prchal, B. (2017). Investigating moderating roles of goals, reviewer similarity, and self-disclosure on the effect of argument quality of online consumer reviews on attitude formation. Computers in Human Behavior, 76, 218-226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.07.024

• A study examining how goals, reviewer similarity, and self-disclosure interacted with review quality in the formation of an attitude about a product and intended purchase of the product. An interaction was observed between reviewer similarity and review quality, suggesting that better quality reviews were expected from in-group members, than out-group members. 

Eden, A., Ewoldsen, D., Lee, J., & Beyea, D. (2018). Behavioral demand as behavioral affordances in video games. In N.D. Bowmen (Ed.), Video games: A medium that demands our attention. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351235266-6

• A book chapter that explores behavioral demands of video games in terms of affordances.