How user personality and social value orientation influence avatar-mediated friendship

Purpose: We study avatar-mediated friendships in a novel virtual environment where users are unaware of each others' real identity. In particular we examine the number of friendships made, the number of attempts to make friends and the number of times a user was selected for friendship. Design/methodology/approach: In a field experiment, 179 participants interact inside a new virtual world designed to capture behavioral data automatically. Findings: Findings suggest that personality and values influence the number of friends and friendship invitations made but not the number of friendship invitations received. Only the personality trait conscientiousness exhibits homophily. Research limitations/implications: We discuss how users might perceive other users' characteristics and find evidence of differences in avatar chat, appearance and movement across personality traits and values. Our paper contributes to a growing body of work on questions regarding the origin and evolution of social network structures. Originality/value: This is the first time that virtual world friendship, user personality and values have been studied together in this way.