In many digital environments, users are allowed to choose how they are represented visually online. Does how people are represented online affect online behavior? This question was examined by the authors of the paper "The Proteus Effect: The Effect of Transformed Self-Representation on Behavior."?Participants were randomly assigned either an attractive avatar (a graphical image that represents a person) to represent them or an unattractive avatar.

(a)The researchers concluded that when interacting with a person of the opposite gender in an online virtual environment, those assigned an attractive avatar moved significantly closer to the other person than those who had been assigned an unattractive avatar. This difference was attributed to the attractiveness of the avatar. Explain why the researchers would not have been able to reach this conclusion if participants had been allowed to choose one of the two avatars(attractive, unattractive)to represent them online.

a. Men are more likely to choose a female avatar, which will encourage other participants to stand closer, skewing the results.

b. People are more likely to choose an attractive avatar than an unattractive avatar, skewing the results.

c. People prefer to choose an avatar that looks like them, so they will hang out with their friends who they are more comfortable with and this will d.skew the results.

e. People with a lot of self-confidence are more likely to choose the attractive avatar, which would introduce some bias.

(b)Construct a diagram to represent the underlying structure of this experiment.

Measure Measure Unattractive closeness Unattractive closeness avatar for avatar for attractive unattractive Compare Compare closeness for Participants closeness for Participants two avatars two avatars Measure Measure Attractive Attractive closeness closeness avatar avatar for unattractive for attractive O Measure Unattractive closeness participants for attractive Compare closeness for Participants two avatars Measure Attractive closeness participants for unattractive i O Measure Unattractive closeness participants for unattractive Compare closeness for Participants two avatars Measure Attractive closeness participants for attractive