Virtual reality has been found to be a useful tool for positively influencing relevant psychological variables in order to increase physical activity (PA), especially in the overweight population. This study investigates the use of avatars and their physical variations to extend the effectiveness of existing interventions to promote PA. The main objective is to analyze the influence of the avatars’ body dimensions on the efficacy of an Internet intervention to increase PA levels and improve other relevant variables (motivation toward PA, enjoyment, anxiety, self-efficacy, and PA goals). A total of 42 overweight women received a brief online intervention, and they were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: the “Ideal avatar” (IAC: participants are represented by avatars with ideal body dimensions); the “Real avatar” (RAC: participants are represented by avatars with participants’ current body dimensions); and the “Non avatar” (NAC: participants are not represented by avatars). Results showed that the online intervention was effective in increasing PA practice and self-efficacy expectations. However, manipulating the body dimensions of avatars did not improve this intervention, although ideal avatars helped to reduce the anxiety experienced during PA in this population.

中文翻译：

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在虚拟世界中操纵自我头像的身体尺寸，以补充互联网提供的干预措施，以增加超重妇女的身体活动。

人们发现虚拟现实是积极影响相关心理变量以增加身体活动（PA）的有用工具，尤其是在超重人群中。这项研究调查了化身的使用及其物理变化，以扩展现有干预措施对促进PA的有效性。主要目的是分析化身的身材尺寸对互联网干预以提高PA水平和改善其他相关变量（促进PA的动力，享受，焦虑，自我效能和PA目标）的功效的影响。共有42名超重女性接受了简短的在线干预，她们被随机分配到以下三种情况之一：“理想化身”（IAC：参与者以具有理想身材的化身代表）；“真实头像”（RAC：参与者以化身代表参与者的当前身体尺寸）；和“非化身”（NAC：参与者不由化身代表）。结果表明，在线干预有效地提高了PA的实践和自我效能感的期望。然而，尽管理想的化身有助于减少该人群在PA期间经历的焦虑，但是操纵化身的身体尺寸并不能改善这种干预。