The role of stereotypical beliefs in gender-based activation of the Proteus effect

•Investigates the role of belief in stereotypes for the Proteus effect.•Proteus effect, which assumes people act like avatars look, was not found.•People with male (female) avatars acted more feminine (masculine).•Beliefs in stereotypes did not moderate expected Proteus effect.

Informed by the Proteus effect, the current study examined the moderating effect of belief in stereotypes on the relationship between avatar appearance and user behavior, via an interactive fiction. The results of a one-factor (avatar gender: male vs. female), between-subjects experiment revealed that female avatars elicited more frequent masculine behaviors (particularly among individuals high in feminine gender stereotypes) and that male avatars elicited more frequent feminine behaviors. Conversely, self-reported gender led to stereotypic behaviors as expected. A moderating effect of awareness of the avatar’s influence on stereotypically gender-based decisions on frequency of gender-typed behavior was not found, suggesting individuals are not aware of the influence of avatars on their subsequent decisions.