A study, published in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology recently looked into how that effect relates to weight loss--but used virtual people in place of real ones.
In the small study, women who watched virtual behaviors of themselves ended up exercising more in real-life, too.
It sounds pretty unbelievable, but the study suggests that watching virtual people work out could help you lose weight.
In psychology, there's a term "social cognitive theory." Part of that theory illustrates that when good things happen to people who behaved a certain way, observers are more likely to imitate that behavior, especially if the observer and the observed look alike. Seeing your twin sister drawing? Probably helpful. Watching movie stars do it? Maybe not so much.
The team of researchers made an avatar that looked like each woman in a group of eight. After that, the researchers had the women make a weekly clinic visit, where they watched a video of their avatar making healthy choices. One week the women saw the virtual person choosing the right portion size; another week the well-disciplined virtual person walked at an appropriate speed across a treadmill. After four weeks, the eight women lost a modest average of 3.5 pounds, which is about what you'd expect when adhering to standard dieting practices. 3.5 pounds might not sound that much, but the process could lead to more weight loss, larger studies have shown.
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