Seeing Through the Avatar’s Eyes: Effects of Point

This study examines the mediating role of identification in the relationship between gameplay point-of-view, gender-swapping, and enjoyment of the gaming experience, taking a multidimensional perspective of identification. In a 2？×？2 factorial experiment, we manipulated avatar point-of-view and gamer-avatar gender match and measured the influence on physical similarity, homophily, customization, perspective-taking, wishful identification, and liking. In addition, we tested both how the independent variables influence enjoyment and how each identification dimension may predict enjoyment. Results provided initial support for a multidimensional view of gaming identification. In addition, some of the identification dimensions were found to mediate the relationship between game point-of-view and enjoyment, but the nature of these relationships depended on gender match. Implications for conceptualizations of identification and video game experiences, as well as the theoretical implications for understanding awareness, are discussed