RL in virtual parlance typically means “Real Life.” Nothing surprising about that.
Thing is, we carry a persistent assumption that real life is more “real” than virtual or pretend. Here’s an experiment that calls this into question on a biochemical basis: Effects of gendered behavior on testosterone in women and men (PNAS abstract). (Randy Dotinga’s summary from full article here.)
The study appears in the Oct. 26 2015 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Van Anders et al noted: The varying differences between average male testosterone levels in men versus average levels of testosterone levels in women got me interested in whether there was some social influence on the variability.
In the new study, 41 trained actors (male and female) performed monologues in which they wielded power by firing a subordinate. On one occasion, they were told to do so in a stereotypically male way (more dominating). On another day, they were instructed to do the firing in a stereotypically feminine way (“trying to be nice,” van Anders said, “and feeling unsure about what you’re doing”).
Testosterone levels were measured before and after the performances using saliva samples.
Both kinds of strategies boosted testosterone levels in men and women — the boost in testosterone levels was more pronounced in the women. But for both sexes, performing in stereotypical male or female ways didn’t seem to matter. What did seem to matter was performing the monologues acting in a manner wielding power.
Interesting:
One might have guessed that pretending to fire a subordinate in a typical male fashion might have had a larger effect on testosterone than firing the subordinate in a typical female fashion. In which case the lack of significant difference in testosterone levels is interesting. But that is not what caught my eye.
What I find even more interesting:
For me the truly interesting part of the study was the “performance” aspect. These were actors pretending to fire a subordinate. Reading a monologue. Yes reading a monologue. There wasn’t even another actor on stage acting as the pretend target of this firing.
This pretending was real enough to cause a biochemical change in the level of testosterone.
This opens the possibility of very interesting lines of research into therapeutic application of acting.
As far as the body was concerned the monologue was not pretend. It was real and the body responded as such.