User:Jsercar/sandbox

Theoretical background
Three psychological concepts that led to the development of the Proteus effect are behavioral confirmation, Self-perception theory, and deindividuation.

Behavioral confirmation refers to the effects that a perceiver's actions can have on the resulting behavior of an individual. Specifically, this concept proposes that interacting with individuals who hold preexisting stereotypes will lead the target of those stereotypes to engage in behaviors that will confirm the perceiver's expectations. The Proteus effect differs from behavioral confirmation in that it does not consider the actions of a perceiver as it's goal is to explain how the individual's own stereotypes and expectations drives the change in behavior independent of any social interactions that take place.

Self-perception theory (SPT) states that individuals determine their attitudes and emotions by making observations about both their own behavior and the circumstances that led to those behaviors. For example studies haveIn relation to the Proteus effect, SPT is believed to come into play when individuals make observations about their avatar that later inform the behavior of the individual.