Honors Students' Abstracts
A Developmental Perspective on 3D Virtual Marriage: From Courtship and Honeymoon to Companionship and Potential Dissolution
Caitlin Bryson
The purpose of this research is to examine the growing trend of online marriages, specifically those between two user-controlled avatars in an online environment. For the purposes of the study, I am examining marriage between avatars in Second Life, a 3D immersive environment. I am conducting a number of online, in-world interviews with subjects who are currently or have previously been married in Second Life. These interviews include in-depth discussions of dating/courtship rituals, engagement, marriage, and divorce (where applicable). The information gathered during these interviews will be organized and coded for analysis. The major focus of analysis will be the comparison of the “timeline” of online marriages (milestones and important events as well as duration) with that of traditional, real-world marriages.