Physical Appearance Still Triumphs Competence.

I’ve never played the MMORPG’s that Lam and Riedl evaluate in their study, but “Expressing My Inner Gnome” still raises interesting psychological questions in a rapidly evolving world that uses technology as a major means of communication and social interaction. Do people take on the essence of their character they choose to be in a MMORPG? I’ve had plenty of friends that play these games to assume that they do. I don’t think they so much become the character they play as they do base the player they choose off their own personality traits. For example, I had a roommate that would play these games often and he would always choose the healer. In both real life and the game my roommate liked to heal (or fix) any and everything that seemed damaged around him. In my opinion, he even based his taste in women off his constant need to fix something. If he doesn’t feel like there is room to help a girl grow in her life then he doesn’t take interest in her. If he gets in a disagreement with someone, he doesn’t like to let it go unsettled; he tries to resolve the issue and lighten the mood. His desire to fix damaged relationships and situations is prevalent in his consistent decision to be the healer in any MMORPG he chooses to play. He likes to be the team healer to help teams reach their goal whereas I would find that boring and want to be the offensive aggressor in a MMORPG. This is a reflection of my tendency to be an out-going leader in team situations. This desire stems from the experience I’ve gained in management. I’m used to people relying on and looking to me for answers and it’s a position I now feel most comfortable in. But even a confident demeanor and passion to heal won’t get you past the psychological connection between our physical appearance and social status. Not even the virtual world is free of judgment based off physical appearance.; here too, pretty people are more successful. I hope both the real and virtual world move away from how you look and toward what you’re capable of.