The Proteus Effect on Human Pain Perception: Effects of Muscular Avatar Use and Gender Factors

The Proteus Effect on Human Pain Perception: Effects of Muscular Avatar Use and Gender Factors | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article The Proteus Effect on Human Pain Perception: Effects of Muscular Avatar Use and Gender Factors Youchan Yim, Zongheng Xia, Yuki Kubota, Fumihide Tanaka This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3905832/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The Proteus Effect, which occurs when using an avatar in virtual reality, influences user behavior, changes attitudes, and improves physical performance. Here, we show that human pain perception can be alleviated by the Proteus effect. Experimental results show that participants reported significantly lower pain scores (15.982% reduction), as measured by the Pain Assessment Scale (PAS), when using a muscular avatar than when using a normal avatar. The experiments also revealed several significant gender factors. For example, participants reported significantly lower pain scores when using a gender-congruent avatar. In addition, the use of a muscular avatar was particularly effective for male participants. In contrast, female participants consistently reported lower pain scores when using the avatar regardless of its body type (muscular/normal). To further our understanding, we also measured participants' gender-related pain stereotypes using the Gender Role Expectations of Pain (GREP) questionnaire, as well as participants' sense of embodiment. The results of these questionnaires are consistent with the results of the PAS, suggesting possible relationships between stereotypes and the Proteus effect on pain perception, and between the degree of immersion in an avatar and the user's perception of pain. Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing/Information technology Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing/Computer science Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files supplementary.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 14 Mar, 2024 Reviews received at journal 25 Feb, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Feb, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Feb, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 07 Feb, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 07 Feb, 2024 Editor invited by journal 07 Feb, 2024 Submission checks completed at journal 07 Feb, 2024 First submitted to journal 28 Jan, 2024 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3905832","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":271644533,"identity":"8c617a66-cebb-4013-99f2-4a1ddf7a3dbf","order_by":0,"name":"Youchan Yim","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Tsukuba","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Youchan","middleName":"","lastName":"Yim","suffix":""},{"id":271644534,"identity":"703bdc42-ffe4-4849-9cc7-64411f516b95","order_by":1,"name":"Zongheng Xia","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Tsukuba","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zongheng","middleName":"","lastName":"Xia","suffix":""},{"id":271644535,"identity":"e7083c4a-6a09-4b81-a066-52a693c7d411","order_by":2,"name":"Yuki Kubota","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Tsukuba","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yuki","middleName":"","lastName":"Kubota","suffix":""},{"id":271644536,"identity":"38f9874a-471d-4350-9d71-1b82a32b77c2","order_by":3,"name":"Fumihide Tanaka","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABBElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBAC9gYGhsMMBsxQ7gEGOTD1AI8WngMwLWwQLcZgKoGAFmYwgmpJbADReLVIZCceLiiwlmOQb3724McZu/T5YYcfAm2xk9NtwKUld8PhGQbpxgxsbOaGPTeSczfeTjMAakk2NjuAXYs9SAuPweHEBjYGMwmeD8y5G2cngLQcSNyGQwsPVEt9Axv7N8k/H+rTDWenfyBKSwIDG4+ZNM+Nwwny0jkEbOF5C9KSbtjGllMmLXPmuOEG6ZyCAwkGuP3Cw567+TPPH2t5fubj2yTfHKuWl5+dvvnDhwo7OVxa4IANxjAAqzQgoBwFyDeQonoUjIJRMApGAgAAI9xfkAxmzE4AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"University of Tsukuba","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fumihide","middleName":"","lastName":"Tanaka","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-01-28 13:14:12","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3905832/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3905832/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":50850007,"identity":"c243f157-61bc-4b99-83f0-b38083082bd4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-02-08 10:39:47","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":4014421,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3905832/v1_covered_01ee2ca8-16e6-4bfc-9bec-a1da8a1d943f.pdf"},{"id":50849522,"identity":"d8bc8ec8-42b2-4ac8-94aa-6f0d2f3ae940","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-02-08 10:31:42","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":973188,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"supplementary.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3905832/v1/282ccb0e20278216d5272301.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"The Proteus Effect on Human Pain Perception: Effects of Muscular Avatar Use and Gender Factors","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3905832/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3905832/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The Proteus Effect, which occurs when using an avatar in virtual reality, influences user behavior, changes attitudes, and improves physical performance. 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