Abstract
Sensory information can temporarily affect mental body representations. For example, in Virtual Reality (VR), visually swapping into a body with another sex can temporarily alter perceived gender identity. Outside of VR, real-time auditory changes to walkers’ footstep sounds can affect perceived body weight and masculinity/femininity. Here, we investigate whether altered footstep sounds also impact gender identity and relation to gender groups. In two experiments, cisgender participants (26 females, 26 males) walked with headphones which played altered versions of their own footstep sounds that sounded more typically male or female. Baseline and post-intervention measures quantified gender identity [Implicit Association Test (IAT)], relation to gender groups [Inclusion of the Other-in-the-Self (IOS)], and perceived masculinity/femininity. Results show that females felt more feminine and closer to the group of women (IOS) directly after walking with feminine sounding footsteps. Similarly, males felt more feminine after walking with feminine sounding footsteps and associated themselves relatively stronger with “female” (IAT). The findings suggest that gender identity is temporarily malleable through auditory-induced own body illusions. Furthermore, they provide evidence for a connection between body perception and an abstract representation of the Self, supporting the theory that bodily illusions affect social cognition through changes in the self-concept.
Highlights
The brain has a mental representation of the body which is continuously updated through multimodal sensory information from body-environment interactions (Tsakiris, 2010; Ehrsson, 2012)
We studied the link between body perception and the selfconcept through real-time alteration of footstep sounds
The observed changes in implicit selfgender association (IAT) (H2) are consistent with the recent work from Tacikowski et al (2020a) who showed that experiencing a body swap illusion with an avatar of a different sex causes temporary changes in the gender identity of the participants. We extend these findings by showing that subtle illusions of one’s own actual body induced through auditory feedback can cause such changes in one’s gender identity as well
Summary
The brain has a mental representation of the body (e.g., its size, shape, configuration) which is continuously updated through multimodal sensory information from body-environment interactions (Tsakiris, 2010; Ehrsson, 2012). By experimentally altering such sensory information, the mental body representation can be temporarily changed (Botvinick and Cohen, 1998). A suitable method for inducing own body illusions, during which the body is perceived differently from its physical state, is altering auditory information from body-environment interactions. The embodiment of an avatar with physical features of an outgroup relative to the participant (i.e., different ethnicity, gender, age) has been shown to affect implicit attitudes toward the embodied outgroup (Fini et al, 2013; Peck et al, 2013; Farmer et al, 2014)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
