With the rapid advance of technology, human interactions with virtual avatars in simulated social environments are becoming increasingly common. The aim of the current study was to examine users' perception of social traits and emotions of "neutral," expressionless avatars using an open-source collection. These avatars represented different ethnicities, genders, and occupations via visual features including skin tone, facial structure, and apparel. We hypothesized that the social evaluation of "neutral" avatars would be influenced by these visual features. In two online studies, we asked survey participants (N = 225) to identify and rate the social traits and determine the expressed emotion of avatars. Female avatars were rated more attractive, trustworthy, friendly, and less aggressive than male avatars. Black avatars were rated more attractive, friendly, and trustworthy in comparison to White avatars. Avatars in martial uniforms were rated as more aggressive and less friendly than avatars in non-martial uniforms. In turn, non-martial uniformed avatars were rated higher in trustworthiness and intelligence than avatars in martial uniforms and avatars without uniforms. These results suggest that users attribute social traits and emotions to "neutral" avatars. These findings have implications for the design of tasks and products that rely on the selection of avatars in virtual reality.
Keywords: avatars; emotion; social traits; virtual reality.