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Fear in Virtual Reality (VR): Fear elements, coping reactions, immediate and next-day fright responses toward a survival horror zombie virtual reality game
Abstract
This study explores players’ fright reactions and coping strategies in an immersive virtual reality (VR) horror game. Based on Slater’s theory of virtual reality, two dimensions of fear elements in the VR game−the fear of place illusion (PI) and the plausibility illusion (PSI) −were identified by playing a virtual reality survival horror game with a sample of 145 students. Participants reported greater fear toward PSI elements than toward PI elements. Fear of PSI elements positively and strongly predicted disengagement coping strategies and overall fear. Among coping strategies, players mainly adopted approach strategies, followed by avoidance (disengagement and denial), and self-help strategies. A “self-talk” strategy, newly identified in this study, has been reported as an effective means to cope with mediated threat in VR games. Regarding individual differences, sensation seeking and neuroticism influenced participants’ coping strategies and fear. Additionally, males and females employed different coping strategies. Very few students experienced next-day fright, which consists mostly of cognitive reactions and VR-related reactions, such as the Tetris effect and the fear of being attacked from the back. Theoretical frameworks regarding fear elements and coping reactions are proposed to aid future research. Implications for academia, fear conditioning for training, and marketing campaigns are discussed.
... Digital natives are not always competent in using new technologies, especially in educational settings (Margaryan et al., 2011). This conclusion underscores the significance of the ability to navigate technology, a factor that significantly influences the learning process (Tammy Lin, 2017). There are also known limitations to using these technologies for younger children: they are still developing hand-eye coordination and balance, and too early exposure to visual electronic stimuli can even harm them (Yamada-Rice et al., 2017). ...
... There are also known limitations to using these technologies for younger children: they are still developing hand-eye coordination and balance, and too early exposure to visual electronic stimuli can even harm them (Yamada-Rice et al., 2017). Finally, we cannot forget about cultural limitations; the respondents in the research projects executed so far are usually people from one cultural environment, which may be determinant (Tammy Lin, 2017), especially in terms of the language of VR experience (Fassbender et al., 2012). ...
... In such situations, respondents often sought help from the researchers supervising the experiment, necessitating their intervention. Moreover, the lack of prior acquaintance with VR could negatively impact the respondents' acquisition of knowledge (Margaryan et al., 2011;Tammy Lin, 2017). Instead of focussing on the lesson, they directed their attention to familiarizing themselves with the functions of the controllers and headset or adapting to the virtual environment. ...
Purpose
The aim of the article was to compare the learning outcomes of the same content in the form of a traditional analogue lesson and in the form of a virtual reality (VR) lesson with the use of head-mounted display (HMD).
Design/methodology/approach
The study included one biology lesson conducted in 4 groups of a dozen people and one biology lesson in VR carried out individually on 75 people. The respondents completed the knowledge test, a questionnaire before and after the class regarding the attitude to new technologies, and feelings after the lesson. The researchers used detailed observation sheets (subjects' behaviour and the dynamics of the lesson). The obtained results were analysed statistically through lesson type (traditional/VR), respondent type (technology enthusiast/non-enthusiast) and question type. The Mann–Whitney U test, t-student and chi-squared (?²) test were used.
Findings
The average of the overall results in the knowledge test was similar in both groups (16 points; ±SD 2.13), slightly better for the analogue group and for the non-enthusiast group. It was found that VR hinders the acquisition of knowledge by tech enthusiasts, who perceive it primarily in the play paradigm. However, it encourages the learning of technology sceptics, who quickly discover a passion for exploring the virtual world. It was clearly indicated, quantitatively and qualitatively, how the technology modalities directly influenced the learning outcomes.
Originality/value
The article offers fresh insights into how students' perceptions of the educational process can be transformed through the integration of VR. The compelling findings and nuanced analysis provide a robust foundation for exploring new frontiers in educational technology.
... The game additionally reacted to the player's physiology by narrowing their field of view when the measured physiological state of the player was not indicative of relaxation. This game format was selected since similar gaming formats involving zombies coming at the player from all sides have proven to be a reliable way to induce stress and a feeling of threat (Lin, 2017;Reichenberger et al., 2017). Additionally, non-living targets alleviated ethical considerations around the risk of de-sensitization of police officers through repeated shoot/don't shoot decisions in a realistic police training (Hinte, 1971; Williams & Clarke, 2019). ...
... In terms of design goals, the VR game had to: (1) create an engaging experience, (2) elicit psychophysiological stress, (3) provide an active decision-making context that feels relevant for police officers and (4) have an imbedded mechanic to provide feedback on the participant HRV. As explained in the previous paragraph, the choice of a VR game-based intervention solved naturally the first two requirements of the game, namely the engagement problem (Allcoat & von Mühlenen, 2018) and General Introduction the stress induction reliability problem (Lin, 2017;Riva et al., 2019). Additionally, using a game-based environment facilitates the third requirement as a game allows the introduction of scientific paradigms in the game mechanic to provide relevant decision-making opportunities in game (e.g., shooting zombies can become a Go/ No-go task). ...
... By systematically varying the moment of BF introduction, we further provided evidence that the increases in HRV were causally linked to our in-game BF presentation.Furthermore, the game produced substantial increases in self-reported physiological awareness and was rated a useful, efficacious and engaging training tool by a large majority of the police trainers assessed.Our contextualization of the biofeedback with an arousing action game format contrasts with other (VR) biofeedback approaches that have typically trained stress resilience in calming virtual environments (Blum et al., 2019; Lüddecke & Felnhofer, 2022; Weibel et al., 2023). DUST induced substantial HR increases during gameplay,in the same order of magnitude as found in established stress-induction protocols(Boesch et al., 2014;Vogel et al., 2015) and fear induction in VR(Lin, 2017). The Preparing the Heart for Duty use of real-time in-game biofeedback allowed players to recognize stress-induced reductions in HRV and at the same time motivated them to upregulate their HRV.Namely the biofeedback blurred their vision, impacting their action performance.Upregulation of HRV in this active action-decision context is more challenging than in typical HRV-BF trainings at rest, when participants are not concurrently engaged in action. ...
Adequate control over evolutionary engrained bodily stress reactions is essential to avoid23 disproportionate responses during highly arousing situations in police. This regulation can be trained24 via heart rate variability (HRV)-biofeedback, a widely used intervention aiming to improve stress25 regulation, but typically conducted under passive, low arousing conditions. We integrated closed26 loop HRV-biofeedback in a newly designed engaging Virtual Reality (VR) action game containing the27 behavioral elements typically compromised under stress. Specifically, we aimed to train in-action28 physiological self-control under high arousal to allow improved transfer to real-life. A pre-registered29 (https://osf.io/cdsbx) quasi-randomized controlled trial in 109 Dutch police trainers demonstrated30 highly significant increases in HRV (32% average), through the engaging and gamified closed loop31 biofeedback. This ability to voluntarily upregulate in-action HRV transferred to game sessions32 without biofeedback (near transfer). Critically, we could additionally demonstrate transfer to a33 professional shooting performance assessment outside VR (far transfer). These results suggest that34 real time-biofeedback in stressful and active action contexts can help train professionals such as35 police in real-life stress regulation
... Horror games rely on horror fiction and are usually designed to scare players [3]. Besides first-person shooter and survival genres, horror games are very popular in the VR community [37]. However, in research, horror games received less attention so far [37,40]. ...
... Besides first-person shooter and survival genres, horror games are very popular in the VR community [37]. However, in research, horror games received less attention so far [37,40]. Even though, they offer a good opportunity to investigate frightening experiences in VR, which could be interesting for further fields, like VR therapy of various types of phobia [50]. ...
... Furthermore, the feeling of presence is highly correlated with the experience of emotions [17]. Lin [37] investigated which elements can cause anxiety and fear in a VR survival horror game. Their results showed that darkness, disfigured humans, zombies, the unknown, and surprise were the most frightening elements, followed by abstract threats, blood and avatar/non-player character death, violence, fantasy, and manifested realism. ...
The presence of virtual characters in digital games influences play-ers' experiences; however, the specific impact of various emotional states exhibited by these characters remains unclear. Theories like Emotional Contagion and Emotional Similarity seek to elucidate how the emotions of others affect our own: We might let the emotional state of others infect us, or our emotions may be intensified when others exhibit similar feelings. In the gaming context, we pondered: What impact does playing a horror game alongside a confident virtual character, compared to an anxious one, have on players' emotional states and experiences? We conducted a lab study with 69 participants and compared a VR horror game played with either a confident or anxious virtual character or alone. Horror games were chosen for their ability to evoke intense emotions, like fear. Our results show that participants could accurately recognize the emotional states portrayed by the virtual character. The horror game significantly increased fear and positive affect, according to the nature of this genre. Not in line with expectations, there was no significant difference between groups regarding player experience and emotional state. We discuss these findings and explore implications for emotional virtual characters within and beyond gaming contexts. CCS CONCEPTS • Human-centered computing → Empirical studies in HCI.
... The second is the plausibility illusion (PSI), an illusion that the events being portrayed are actually happening [44]. VR makes users believe they are in the environment of the game (PI) experiencing the scene as it is happening (PSI) [45]. With advances in VR technology, this illusionary mechanism is achieved primarily through headmounted displays combined with precise motion tracking systems, allowing the user to experience an interactive 3D virtual environment [46]. ...
... A survey by Lynch and Martins on video games [28] revealed that the stimuli that participants most often reported triggering their fears in games were darkness, disfigured humans, zombies and the unknown. Lin's proposed theoretical framework [45] for how players react to horror content in VR contains three strategies. 1) Approach (monitoring) strategies. ...
... 3) Avoidance strategies. The first of two avoidance strategies is physical and mental disengagement, where players usually turn their heads, close their eyes, remove their headphones or crouch down to avoid the sounds or images that frighten them, and the second is denial, where they tell themselves the experience is not real [45], [60]. ...
Virtual Reality (VR) has the capacity to offer unparalleled immersive experiences, particularly in the domain of horror gaming. However, creating both practical and enjoyable VR applications necessitates a nuanced understanding of user emotions and behaviors. To fill this gap, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 25 participants who engaged in VR horror games, specifically exploring their emotional responses to fear-inducing stimuli and their coping strategies. The results revealed the motivations behind users' behaviors in response to different types of fear, highlighting the need to understand and manage negative emotions in VR environments, and provides insights into user needs and design methodologies in VR horror games.
... The second is the plausibility illusion (PSI), an illusion that the events being portrayed are actually happening [76]. VR makes users believe they are in the environment of the game (PI) experiencing the scene as it is happening (PSI) [50]. With advances in VR technology, this illusionary mechanism is achieved primarily through head-mounted displays combined with precise motion tracking systems, allowing the user to experience an interactive 3D virtual environment [17]. ...
... A survey by Lynch and Martins on video games [52] revealed that the stimuli that participants most often reported triggering their fears in games were darkness, disfigured humans, zombies and the unknown. Lin's proposed theoretical framework [50] for how players react to horror content in VR contains three strategies. 1) Approach (monitoring) strategies. ...
... 3) Avoidance strategies. The first of two avoidance strategies is physical and mental disengagement, where players usually turn their heads, close their eyes, remove their headphones or crouch down to avoid the sounds or images that frighten them, and the second is denial, where they tell themselves the experience is not real [50,103]. The findings in these past studies provided references for game selection and data annotation. ...
Understanding and recognizing emotions are important and challenging issues in the metaverse era. Understanding, identifying, and predicting fear, which is one of the fundamental human emotions , in virtual reality (VR) environments plays an essential role in immersive game development, scene development, and next-generation virtual human-computer interaction applications. In this article, we used VR horror games as a medium to analyze fear emotions by collecting multi-modal data (posture, audio, and physiological signals) from 23 players. We used an LSTM-based model to predict fear with accuracies of 65.31% and 90.47% under 6-level classification (no fear and five different levels of fear) and 2-level classification (no fear and fear), respectively. We constructed a multi-modal natural behavior dataset of immersive human fear responses (VRMN-bD) and compared it with existing relevant advanced datasets. The results show that our dataset has fewer limitations in terms of collection method, data scale and audience scope. We are unique and advanced in targeting multi-modal datasets of fear and behavior in VR stand-up interactive environments. Moreover , we discussed the implications of this work for communities and applications. The dataset and pre-trained model are available at https://github.com/KindOPSTAR/VRMN-bD.
... Due to its immersive capabilities, virtual reality is able to induce strong emotional responses in players that are comparable to those that occur in real scenarios [5,6,7]. Such a characteristic is useful for the treatment of phobias and anxiety disorders in serious applications [8,9], but can also be used to maximize the sense of fear in horror games [10]. ...
... In the last decade, several studies have explored the analysis of fear in games. In the context of immersive virtual reality horror games, Lin [9] analyses the fright reactions of players according to Slater's theory of virtual reality [58] and its two dimensions of fear elements: (1) the fear of place illusion (PI); and (2) the plausibility illusion (PSI). Slater's theory states that the PI is the sense of being in a real place, and PSI is the illusion that an actual scenario is happening [58]. ...
... Slater's theory states that the PI is the sense of being in a real place, and PSI is the illusion that an actual scenario is happening [58]. Lin's research revealed that the fear of PSI elements has a stronger effect in the overall fear [9]. Furthermore, the study presents a self-help strategy, that consists in a monologue that is stated as an effective method to deal with emergent dangers or fear situations in virtual reality games. ...
Fear is a basic human emotion that can be triggered by different situations, which vary from person to person. However, game developers usually design horror games based on a general knowledge about what most players fear, which does not guarantee a satisfying horror experience for everyone. When a horror game aims at intensifying the fear evoked in individual players, having useful information about the fears of the current player is vital to promote more frightening experiences. This work presents a new method to create adaptive virtual reality horror games, which combines player modeling techniques and an adaptive agent-based system that can identify what individual players fear and adapt the content of the game to intensify the fear evoked in players. The main contributions of this work are: (1) a new method to identify individual player’s fears using only gameplay data and machine learning techniques; and (2) a new agent-based adaptive game system that can track the horror intensity experienced by players and moderate the use of the horror elements feared by individual players in the game. The results show that the proposed method is capable of correctly identifying players’ fears (average accuracy of 79.4% for new players). In addition, results of a user study and statistical significance tests (ANOVA and post-hoc analyses) suggest that our method can intensify the fear evoked in players and positively improve immersion and flow.
... In addition, fear and intentionality/deliberation are prominent subordinate components of courage. Therefore, subjective fear ratings and the decision to continue or retreat are behavioral indicators of courage that emphasize fear ratings 18,28 and choices [29][30][31] when people encounter risk situations that might be detrimental to their physical fitness. On the one hand, fear is an adaptive emotion that allows human beings to remain alert to danger; nevertheless, overwhelming terror is thought to have maladaptive functions in terms of both cognitive and behavioral responses. ...
... 41,68 Consequently, given the requirements for VR, the utility of virtual systems for courage meets or exceeds the specified standard requirements, which establishes a foundation for their application in simulating high-risk operations and improving courage paradigms. 30 The PCWS represented trait-oriented stability. 3 Correlation analysis confirmed that people with high-level predispositions to physical courage have inverse activations of heart rate and skin conductance. ...
... 69 In terms of physiological indicators, the participants' heart rate and skin conductance in the virtual courage scenarios were both higher than those at baseline, indicating that physiological fear reactions were significantly activated by the simulation. 30,70 The simulating effect of the virtual courage scenarios may occur through three possible psychological paths. First, individuals learned how to endure and confront fear. ...
Background
Employees in high-risk occupations are exposed to tremendous work stress that hinders organizational effectiveness and personal mental health. Based on positive psychology, courage can be considered a protective factor that buffers the adverse effect of high-risk surroundings on employees. However, little is known about the way courage is simulated or evaluated in response to safety concerns. Virtual reality (VR) is an accessible tool for courage simulation due to its immersive qualities, presence and interactive features and may provide a promising pathway to achieve a scientific, accurate and ecologically valid evaluation of high-risk employees.
Methods
The sample consisted of 51 high-risk employees who were recruited voluntarily. Before and after experiencing the VR courage scenarios, the participants completed the VR features questionnaire, the Physical Courage at Work Scale (PCWS), the Courage Measure (CM), and the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). During the process of watching the VR courage scenarios, the participants’ heart rate and skin conductance at resting-state baseline and during virtual courage scenarios were recorded through HTC VIVE Pro Eye and BioGraph Infiniti 8.
Results
The results support the hypothesis and reveal that the interaction, immersion and presence scores of the scenarios were all significantly higher than the median 4 points. The score for the CM in the posttest was significantly higher than that in the pretest. The scared and afraid scores for the posttest were significantly higher than those for the pretest. The heart rate and skin conductance of each scenario showed an increase compared with the baseline. The Pearson’s correlation between physiological indicators and the score of the PCWS was 0.28~0.54.
Conclusion
This study developed virtual courage for high-risk occupations based on well-established theory and VR technology. Experimental data revealed that the paradigm conformed to the requirements of VR features and was able to activate fear and evoke the quality of courage. Thus, the virtual courage paradigms have good validity in simulating scenarios for high-risk employees, which might accelerate organizational effectiveness while buffering working stress.
... Virtual Reality (VR) is a computer-aided design that provides an interactable virtual three-dimensional environment [81], [82]. VR has been used as a medium for games [22], [83], entertainment [60], [84], [85], education [82], [86], physical and cognitive training [87], [88], rehabilitation and therapy [20], [60], [89], [90], [91], and surgery [92], as VR promotes user connectivity and naturalness. Recent studies have revealed that there is a significant increase in interest in human emotional behavioural studies using VR to effectively evoke emotions in the data collection procedure. ...
... Compared to the VR and desktop/2D environments, a higher level of happiness [134], surprise [134], pleasantness [98], relief and positive influence [135], presence [136], skin conductivity [134], and HR [134] and was revealed. Interested readers can refer to following literature for more details, that have investigated discrete representation of emotions using VR [20], [21], [22], [26], [27], [58], [60], [69], [71], [73], [79], [80], [83], [84], [98], [99], [100], [101], [103], [105], [110], [112], [115], [127], [129], [130], [132], [133], [134], [135], [136], [137], [138], [139], [140], [141], [142], [143], [144], [145], [146], [147], [148], [149], [150], [151], [152], [153], [154], [155], [156], [157], [158], [159], [160], [161], [162], [163], [164], [165], [166], [167], [168], [169], [170], [171], [172], [173], [174], [175], [176], [177], [178], [179]. ...
... Although there are similarities between the content of the games and the audio-visual stimuli (please refer to section 4.1, 4.2, 4.6), there is a significant difference in the participants' level of interaction [83]; while games engage with players actively, audio-visuals engage with the audience passively. For example, while watching a video, audience cannot alter the story and characters and they need to follow the storyline. ...
Emotions are multifaceted phenomena that affect our behaviour, perception, and cognition. Increasing evidence indicates that induction mechanisms play a crucial role in triggering emotions by simulating the sensations required for an experimental design. Over the years, many reviews have evaluated a passive elicitation mechanism where the user is an observer, ignoring the importance of self-relevance in emotional experience. So, in response to the gap in the literature, this study intends to explore the possibility of using Virtual Reality (VR) as an active mechanism for emotion induction. VR can simulate controlled environments with high immersion, presence, and interaction to induce intense emotions. Therefore, researchers can evaluate emotional experiences in a realistic context. For the success and quality of research settings, VR must select the appropriate material to effectively evoke emotions. Therefore, in the present review, we evaluated to what extent VR virtual environments, videos, games, tasks, avatar, images, and 360-degree panoramas can elicit emotions. Further, we present public datasets, discuss challenges and recommendations, and review emotion-sensing interfaces related to VR research. The conclusions reveal the VR’s potential to evoke emotions effectively and naturally by generating motivational and empathy mechanisms, which makes it an ecologically valid paradigm to study emotions.
... VR games, particularly horror games, have proven to be effective in eliciting fear responses from players, owing to the immersive and realistic experiences they offer [4,8,19,20,24,30]. Various game design techniques, including architectural spaces, movement restrictions, sound effects, and jump scares, are employed to induce fear [14,25]. ...
... When fear is evoked, individuals employ various coping strategies, such as self-help strategies, approach (monitoring) strategies, and avoidance strategies [20,21]. Physiological responses, including changes in heart rate, facial expressions, and specific action tendencies, are common indicators of fear [16]. ...
This preliminary study investigated user experiences in VR horror games, highlighting fear-triggering and gender-based differences in perception. By utilizing a scientifically validated and specially designed questionnaire, we successfully collected questionnaire data from 23 subjects for an early empirical study of fear induction in a virtual reality gaming environment. The early findings suggest that visual restrictions and ambient sound-enhanced realism may be more effective in intensifying the fear experience. Participants exhibited a tendency to avoid playing alone or during nighttime, underscoring the significant psychological impact of VR horror games. The study also revealed a distinct gender difference in fear perception, with female participants exhibiting a higher sensitivity to fear stimuli. However, the preference for different types of horror games was not solely dominated by males; it varied depending on factors such as the game’s pace, its objectives, and the nature of the fear stimulant.
... This holds not only true for observable behavior but also for sympathetic responses such as enhanced skin conductivity (Gromer et al., 2019), heart rate (Gorini et al., 2010;Chittaro et al., 2017;Peterson et al., 2018;Kisker et al., 2021a), or any other way intense emotional responses might manifest [e.g., Kisker et al., 2021c, for review on emotion elicitation using VR, see Bernardo et al. (2021)]. Although behavior and psychophysical reactions observed under immersive VR conditions had been interpreted as resembling real behavior (Blascovich et al., 2002;Slater, 2009;Bohil et al., 2011;Lin, 2017;Kothgassner and Felnhofer, 2020;Kisker et al., 2021a), scientific certainty can only be reached when the behavioral and physiological reactions to a virtual scene are directly compared to those markers observed in the real environment that the scene mimics. ...
... Denying the authenticity of an experience or an emotion is a well-known way to regulate, e.g., fear (Cantor, 2006) and it would be a possible strategy in the VR condition by discarding VR as being unreal. A feeling is only denoted as imagination or fiction to alleviate it (e.g., cognitive avoidance, Lin, 2017). Given the premise that the obtained theta signal in our study possesses sufficient discriminatory power for regulatory processes, the data imply that this demotion to the imagination is not applied to our experiment. ...
Virtual reality (VR) has become a popular tool for investigating human behavior and brain functions. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether VR constitutes an actual form of reality or is more like an advanced simulation. Determining the nature of VR has been mostly achieved by self-reported presence measurements, defined as the feeling of being submerged in the experience. However, subjective measurements might be prone to bias and, most importantly, do not allow for a comparison with real-life experiences. Here, we show that real-life and VR height exposures using 3D-360 • videos are mostly indistinguishable on a psychophysiological level (EEG and HRV), while both differ from a conventional 2D laboratory setting. Using a fire truck, three groups of participants experienced a real-life (N = 25), a virtual (N = 24), or a 2D laboratory (N = 25) height exposure. Behavioral and psychophysiological results suggest that identical exogenous and endogenous cognitive as well as emotional mechanisms are deployed to process the real-life and virtual experience. Specifically, alpha-and theta-band oscillations in line with heart rate variability, indexing vigilance, and anxiety were barely indistinguishable between those two conditions, while they differed significantly from the laboratory setup. Sensory processing, as reflected by beta-band oscillations, exhibits a different pattern for all conditions, indicating further room for improving VR on a haptic level. In conclusion, the study shows that contemporary photorealistic VR setups are technologically capable of mimicking reality, thus paving the way for the investigation of real-world cognitive and emotional processes under controlled laboratory conditions. For a video summary, see https://youtu.be/fPIrIajpfiA.
... Besides the fear of height [53], there are also other types of fear that have been used in entertainment (e.g., horror games [45]). Indeed, VR horror games have been highly anticipated also to promote movies such as Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension or The Conjuring 2 [33]. ...
... In VR, most studies rely on subjective methods such as questionnaires to measure participants' psychological states and experiences [52]. To measure fear and distress, past VR studies used the Subjective Units of Discomfort Scale (SUDS) [35,53,64] or custom Likert scale questionnaires to prompt participants about their experienced fear [33]. Frustration has been assessed using emotions questionnaires such as the PAD or the Self-Assessment Manikin [6,14]. ...
Physiological sensing often complements studies of human behavior in virtual reality (VR) to detect users' affective and cognitive states. Some psychological states, such as fear and frustration, can be particularly hard to differentiate from a physiological perspective as they are close in the arousal and valence emotional space. Moreover, it is largely unclear how users' physiological reactions are expressed in response to
transient psychological states
such as fear, frustration, and insight—especially since these are rich indicators for characterizing users' responses to dynamic systems but are hard to capture in highly interactive settings. We conducted a study (
N
= 24) to analyze participants' pulmonary, electrodermal, cardiac, and pupillary responses to moments of fear, frustration, and insight in immersive settings. Participants interacted in five VR environments, throughout which we measured their physiological reactions and analyzed the patterns we observed. We also measured subjective fear and frustration using questionnaires. We found differences between fear and frustration pupillary, respiratory, and electrodermal responses, as well as between the pupillary changes that followed fear in a horror game and those that followed fear in a vertigo experiment. We present the relationships between fear levels, frustration levels, and their physiological responses. To detect these affective events and states, we introduce user-independent binary classification models that achieved an average micro
F
1
score of 71% for detecting fear in a horror game, 75% for fear of vertigo, 76% for frustration, and 75% for insight, showing the promise for detecting these states from passive and objective signals.
... Kim and Ko (2019) reported that the higher levels of realism and interactivity of immersive VR increase presence, which, in turn, increases the flow state. Using VR games, Lin (2017) revealed that in addition to the presence (e.g., illusion of Table 4 Main research streams in service and retail applications of immersive VR. ...
... Entertainment Sports (Kim and Ko, 2019); video games (Lin, 2017); gambling (Dickinson et al., 2020) ; exposure therapy (Bush, 2008;Miloff et al., 2020); horticultural therapy (Lin et al., 2020); cognitive behavioral therapy (Pot-Kolder et al., 2020). Addiction and disorder treatment Body image disorder (Riva, 1998); eating disorder (Clus et al., 2018;Matsangidou et al., 2020;Brown et al., 2020); smoking cessation (Goldenhersch et al., 2020) Well-being Mental fatigue (Chung et al. 2018;Mattila et al., 2020); mindfulness; (Crescentini et al., 2016;Seabrook et al., 2020); general wellbeing (Fernández et al., 2017;Dermody et al., 2020); mental health (Kip et al., 2019;Cheng et al., 2020); remote psychotherapy (Pedram et al., 2020); apathy (Saredakis et al., 2020) ...
Immersive virtual reality (VR) that utilizes head-mounted displays (HMD) is one of the key emerging technologies of the 21st century and has drawn keen attention from consumers, practitioners, and scholars in various disciplines. Nevertheless, the information systems (IS) discipline has neglected immersive VR, given that only a handful of studies have been published in mainstream IS journals. However, the recent advancements in immersive VR technology provide new opportunities for organizations and IS researchers. In light of these points, we reviewed the immersive VR literature to provide a holistic view of opportunities and challenges for organizations and future research directions for the IS field. By examining the technical capabilities of immersive VR and the previous literature, we identified five affordances: embodiment, interactivity, navigability, sense-ability, and create-ability. Our review of the 151 studies from the IS and related fields synthesized how these affordances were utilized in various research domains. Guided by the affordance-actualization theory, we also identified the strategic opportunities and challenges that come with implementing VR. The actualization of immersive VR affordances in organizations is indeed a fruitful area for IS scholars as there are various venues to move the IS field as well as the VR research in the organizational context forward.
... Although the sense of embodiment, defined as "the feeling of being embodied in one's avatar" (Kilteni et al., 2012), differs from the definition of presence, which is "the feeling of being in the virtual world" (Schuemie et al., 2001), these concepts are closely intertwined (Fribourg et al., 2018;Shin, 2018). Lin (2017) suggested that interactivity in VR games can enhance the plausibility of events, influencing users' willingness to believe in the occurrence of these events. In this sense, plausibility arises from prior experiences creating a SOF when events reoccur. ...
Introduction
Virtual reality (VR) games, propelled by advancements in VR and artificial intelligence technologies, offer a level of realism and interactivity that traditional games cannot match. However, despite their immersive potential, VR games have not yet reached the widespread popularity of their conventional counterparts. While VR can craft the illusion of a parallel reality, users often remain cognizant of the delineation between the virtual and the real.
Methods
In this paper, we employ a blend of qualitative and quantitative research methods to explore the impact of familiarity with virtual environments and interactive elements on users sense of embodiment, flow experience, and their intention to continue playing VR games. Additionally, we examine the moderating influence of perceived cost within this framework.
Results and discussions
Our analysis of 307 collected responses, facilitated by PLS-SEM, reveals that familiarity with interactivity is positively associated with both sense of embodiment and flow experience, whereas familiarity with the virtual scene primarily influences sense of embodiment. Interestingly, perceived cost exerts a positive moderating effect on the relationship between flow experience and the intention to persist with VR gaming, while it negatively moderates the impact of sense of embodiment on this intention. This study offers theoretical insights that can guide future research in the domain of VR gaming, as well as practical takeaways for companies in the VR game industry, shedding light on how to enhance user engagement and sustain long-term interest in VR gaming experiences.
... AR technology in retail is under investigation, with further research needed to understand consumer personality traits and how they influence shopping intentions in online environments (Butt et al., 2022). Cognitive innovativeness improves ARM attraction, but a comprehensive framework for the role of innovativeness, along with optimism is required to measure their integrative effects on purchase intentions (Faqih, 2022;Lin, 2017;Suh & Prophet, 2018). The study of consumer behavior can be further expanded by including other variables (for example, attitudes to AR). such as attitudes towards AR (Butt et al., 2022). ...
Augmented Reality is a type of immersive technology that provides the user with a high level of sensory input, whether in terms of quality or quantity. The study will observe and identify research concerns about the impact of optimism, innovativeness, discomfort, and insecurity on purchase intention, as well as the mediating role of personal opinions towards Augmented Reality (AR) user experience. This study seeks to evaluate the impact of consumer personality traits on purchasing behavior in the context of electronic equipment in Lahore, Pakistan, with a focus on generation Y. This study will use a deductive approach and will be based on the positivist research philosophy. Based on the Technology Readiness Model and the Theory of Planned Behavior. This research will use a quantitative survey method and cross-sectional research to collect data from a specific point in time. The study will collect data using convenience sampling, which is a non-probability sampling technique. The study will take an experience-based method, followed by a survey, in which participants will be exposed to AR environments and a structured questionnaire will be used to gage their responses. The data will be gathered from 370 respondents and analysis will be done using IBM SPSS Statistics 29 for descriptive statistics and SmartPLS 4.0 for route analysis to investigate indirect correlations.
... However, other studies [e.g., 25] revealed no variation in engagement levels across age groups, supporting the theory of individual differences' impact in user reaction to these technologies. Additionally, users with a low tendency to seek sensations in an immersive environment report a better sense of Presence than users with a high tendency to sensation-seeking (i.e., personality characteristic that describes people who actively seeks out new, intense, and thrilling events to satiate their craving for sensation), regardless of age [26]. ...
Digital tourism does not replace the real experience, yet it can be a resource that democratizes tourism, especially in critical situations such as pandemics or when the tourist is impaired. This research involved an experiential AQ1 activity enabling participants to virtually visit the Eiffel Tower and cycle through Parisian suburbs through 360º videos displayed in a VR headset. The experiment aimed to (i) assess the user experience, (ii) examine user adoption and motivation , (iii) evaluate social impact, (iv) analyze the feasibility of digital tourism, and (v) identify potential therapeutic benefits. This experiment involved two distinct groups, institutionalized adults and active ones, both from Portugal, totaling 114 participants. Results indicate that digital travel significantly contributes to active and healthy aging, and can possibly trigger positive social behaviors. The findings include the emergence of include strategic gaming approaches for navigating the virtual environment and the absence of motion sickness in the institutional-ized group. This research underscores the potential of digital tourism as a viable and beneficial alternative, offering insights into its multifaceted impacts on user experiences, health, and social dynamics.
... [64][65][66] Both eye closing and gaze away from points of interest may correlate to fear or avoidance behaviours. 67 Data management Participant information collected for this trial will be securely stored and treated as confidential. Participants' identifying information will be anonymised using unique codes: initially, a screening number and, later, a randomisation number. ...
Introduction
The non-intoxicating plant-derived cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD), has demonstrated therapeutic potential in a number of clinical conditions. Most successful clinical trials have used relatively high (≥300 mg) oral doses of CBD. Relatively few studies have investigated the efficacy of lower (<300 mg) oral doses, typical of those available in over-the-counter CBD products.
Methods
We present a protocol for a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group clinical trial investigating the effects of a low oral dose (150 mg) of CBD on acute psychosocial stress, situational anxiety, motion sickness and cybersickness in healthy individuals. Participants (n=74) will receive 150 mg of CBD or a matched placebo 90 min before completing three virtual reality (VR) challenges (tasks) designed to induce transient stress and motion sickness: (a) a 15 min ‘Public Speaking’ task; (b) a 5 min ‘Walk the Plank’ task (above a sheer drop); and (c) a 5 min ‘Rollercoaster Ride’ task. The primary outcomes will be self-reported stress and nausea measured on 100 mm Visual Analogue Scales. Secondary outcomes will include salivary cortisol concentrations, skin conductance, heart rate and vomiting episodes (if any). Statistical analyses will test the hypothesis that CBD reduces nausea and attenuates subjective, endocrine and physiological responses to stress compared with placebo. This study will indicate whether low-dose oral CBD has positive effects in reducing acute psychosocial stress, situational anxiety, motion sickness and cybersickness.
Ethics and dissemination
The University of Sydney Human Research Ethics Committee has granted approval (2023/307, version 1.6, 16 February 2024). Study findings will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal and at academic conferences.
Trial registration number
Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12623000872639).
... They also found that, one week later, participants in the immersive condition reported stronger environmental attitudes and behaviors. Similarly, Lin (2017) found that some participants playing a fear-inducing survival shooter game in VR reported illusions such as being attacked from the back and hearing zombie voices the next day. ...
... Although the sense of embodiment focus on "the feeling of being embodied in one's avatar" which is different from the de nition of presence that presents "the feeling of being in the virtual world" (Schuemie et al, 2001), they are closely related with each other (Fribourg et al, 2018;Shin, 2018). Lin (2017) indicated that interactivity in VR game represents levels of plausibility of the player affecting events or the levels of plausibility of events affecting players. In other words, plausibility of the events means we have experience the event before and feel sense of familiarity when the events appear again.Based on the experiment of Qureshi (2018), the participants will feel stronger body ownership when the rubber hand appear in the more familiar position, which shows the relationship between sense of familiarity and the body location. ...
Compared with traditional games, virtual reality (VR) games can provide the realistic scene and interactivity thanks to the developing technology of VR and artificial intelligence. However, VR game cannot achieve the same popularity as the traditional game until nowadays. Although it can create the illusion that users live in the virtual world, users can still identify the difference between the real world and virtual world. As few studies discussed the factors affecting continued intention to play VR game, this paper intended to present quantitative study investigating the effects of familiarity with virtual scene and interactivity on sense of embodiment(SOE), flow experience, and continued intention to play VR game. Meanwhile, this study also showed the moderating role of perceived cost in this model. The results reflected that familiarity with interactivity positively related to SOE and flow experience while familiarity with scene only positively affect SOE. Perceived cost was found to positively moderate the influence of flow experience and negatively moderating the influence of SOE on continued intention to play. This study draws theoretical implications for future VR game research as well as practical implications for VR game industry.
... Threats surrounding and conspiracies surging, players are also frightened by backward attack [11]. By strengthening the environment construction and surrounding atmosphere, high level of immersion is created to awaken the fear in the players and force them to actively solve puzzles and find ways to survive [12]. Research has proved that emotional impact of horror games in VR causes higher anxiety during the game and more ease after escape by recording the physiological indexes such as heart rate and skin conductance response [13]. ...
Virtual reality technology is one of the modern technologies that have been widely concerned in recent year. Its application in the game and film and television industry has produced many works with new experience, especially in immersion and interactivity. Generally, most available resource nowadays focuses on discuss the feasibility of VR application in innovation of traditional works but lack but there is a lack of discussion on VR games and VR movies from the perspective of creating immersion and interactive methods and effects. This essay will discuss the immersive and interactive effects in VR games and VR films separately. In the first part of VR games, it will elaborate how the effects are provided through the VR hardware. Then in the second part, it will discuss the different design techniques used in different styles of game including action games, horror games, exploration games and serious games. As for the discussion on VR films, this essay will take the two most extensive categories of VR movies, panoramic films and VR documentaries, as examples to discuss how VR films achieve the effect and how the performance is. The overview on the immersive and interactive effects in VR games and VR films can provide examples and problems to be solved for creators to produce higher quality work in the future.
... However, previous studies have explored emotional experiences in a dichotomic manner, focusing on either the positive or negative affect (e.g. Lin, 2017) which is an approach that limits our understanding of diverse human emotions and their combined effects on IT continuance. Few studies have comprehensively examined the extensive range of emotions that individuals may experience in the metaverse. ...
Purpose
Despite the increasing interest in the metaverse—immersive three-dimensional virtual worlds wherein personalized avatars interact with one another—little is known about how users cognitively appraise and emotionally experience it. To fill this gap, the present study explores the emotional, behavioral and social consequences of users' cognitive appraisals, while focusing on social virtual reality (VR) as a representative entry point to the metaverse.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on cognitive appraisal theory against the backdrop of a framework for classifying emotions, this study develops and tests a theoretical model to account for users' continuance intention and its consequences in the social VR context based on two-wave panel survey data collected from 216 users of social VR platforms, including AltspaceVR, VRChat, Bigscreen and Rec Room.
Findings
The results of the first survey showed that perceived opportunity was more strongly influenced by technological opportunity than social opportunity, whereas perceived threat was more strongly affected by social threat than technological threat. Integrating the data collected from the first survey with those of the second survey, we also found that users' continuance intention positively influenced both their behavioral engagement and social self-efficacy.
Originality/value
By adopting a longitudinal approach, this study provides insights that may be valuable to researchers and practitioners who seek to use social VR for business purposes. This study also contributes to the metaverse literature by conceptualizing and operationalizing the opportunity and threat factors of social VR and identifying salient emotions that users experience in this context. Finally, this study has practical implications for addressing the social and technological features that may cause adverse user experiences in social VR.
... Fear response therefore needs to be considered carefully when reviewing the ethics of research within VR. Developing on Slater's ideas of place and plausibility illusions, Lin (2017) examined player reaction to VR horror game The Brookhaven Experiment (Phosphor Games, 2016). Only a small minority of the 144 participants reported strongly negative responses to the experience. ...
... When engaging with non-immersive forms of media, emotions are experienced vicariously through one's avatar, putting physical and psychological distance between the self and avatar (Lin, 2017). However, sexual violence in the metaverse could be psychologically traumatising as users now directly experience these emotions using a first-person embodied perspective. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated people’s desire for more immersive ways to connect with others. With the creation of the metaverse, some companies (e.g. Google, Microsoft, Apple)have begun experimenting with immersive technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Haptic(i.e. touch) technology where users can navigate metaverse platforms as personalised avatars. Immersive technologies that integrate the physical world with digital or simulated reality enable a user to naturally interact with the blended reality. Against this backdrop, this brief (i) highlights how sexual violence in the metaverse occurs, (ii) examines the psychological impacts of sexual violence in the metaverse, and (iii) discusses implications for sexuality education, and the shared responsibility of digital developers, policymakers, VR headset owners, and society.
... Place illusion refers to the experience that audience is actually situated in the virtual experience, whereas plausibility illusion refers to the experience that the events are actually happening. Research has shown that particularly the plausibility illusion is a major determinant of fears evoked by digital media such as games 28 . When fully engaged, these illusions give the audience the experience of "being there" or actually living and experiencing the events seen in the movie or described in a book. ...
This review covers the neurobiological and psychological aspects of horror movies. Cinema audiences are not exposed to real threats, thus the movie should pass the brain’s “reality check” systems and emotion regulation to engage the fear responses. This can be achieved through vicarious simulation, felt proximity of threats, as well as unpredictability of the fearful events, particularly by using universal sources of fear such as illness or isolation. Acoustic features such as roughness are also threatening, and they can be used for unobtrusively activating the fear circuits. Paradoxical appeal of horror movies stems from universal curiosity towards morbid and threatening subjects, mixing of emotions of fear and excitement in the brain and the capability to learn about dangerous situations safely in the context of movies. These findings are summarized in a conceptual model for eliciting fear through cinema.
... VR could represent a tool to investigate more realistic cognitive and emotional underpinnings of anxiety-related behaviors as participants exhibit lifelike behaviors in an ecologically valid environment rather than responding to images (Schöne et al., 2021). Accordingly, participants in fear/anxiety-inducing VEs exhibited distinctly fear-related body language, such as moving more slowly and cautiously in the face of potential danger (Biedermann et al., 2017;Kisker et al., 2019a;Kisker, Gruber, & Schöne, 2021b;Kisker, Lange, et al., 2021a) or screaming, closing their eyes, and dodging (Lin, 2017). Thus, approach and avoidance in VR could be studied more reliably using behavioral and physiological parameters as used in standardized behavioral tests of animal models of anxiety research (Biedermann et al., 2017). ...
Approach–avoidance conflicts are a hallmark of anxiety-related behaviors. A gold standard for assessing anxiety-related behaviors in rodents is the elevated plus-maze (EPM), which was recently translated to humans using immersive virtual reality. Repeated behavioral testing is particularly interesting for clinical and pharmacological research in humans but could be limited by habituation effects. Here, we tested whether comparable strategies that are used in rodents (different environments and inter-trial interval of 28 days) are sufficient to avoid habituation or sensitization effects on the EPM, making it possible to perform repeated measurement of anxiety-related behavior in humans. Moreover, we developed two novel virtual environments for repeated testing to explore whether a scenario resembling the real world is superior to a video game-like EPM in terms of lifelike physiological, emotional, and behavioral responses. On a behavioral level, no significant differences but a high correlation between first and repeated exposure to the human EPM independent of EPM version were found. On a psychophysiological level, salivary alpha-amylase, skin-conductance, and respiratory frequency increased at first and second exposure independent of EPM version. However, at repeated exposure, skin-conductance and heart rate showed indicators for anticipatory anxiety and a small sensitization effect, while no effect of real-world resemblance on these physiological measures was found. This was also reflected in slightly higher subjective anxiety levels at second exposure, although subjective anxiety still correlated strongly between first and second exposure. In conclusion, the human EPM can be used for longitudinal assessments of human anxiety-related behavior when strategies to avoid habituation and sensitization are considered.
... They can tilt their head to look down, use their feet to step closer, and watch as their body nears the treacherous edge. Moving naturally within a realistically rendered, highly threatening environment can trigger an automatic and intense physiological response (Lin, 2017). ...
Alongside the development of VR technology, empirical research and theorizing on VR entertainment is also expanding. Currently missing is an integrative conceptual framework that identifies properties of VR that distinguish it from other currently available entertainment media. In the present chapter we attempt a step in this direction. After reviewing recent trends in VR entertainment, we identify key affordances and characteristics of the VR experience. Subsequently, we discuss how these elements may shape the entertainment experience and how existing entertainment theories may be elaborated or challenged by VR. We offer five guiding propositions for future research. We conclude with a brief discussion of the complexities of creating and studying VR entertainment.
... However, recreating a highly realistic virtual police environment in VR can also have negative consequences on subjects' experiences due to slight mismatches with reality (Wilson and Soranzo, 2015) and the challenges in recreating genuine verbal and tactile interactions (Michela et al., 2019). To remedy this, the use of game mechanics (a set of rules and events defining the game experience) inspired by commercial videogames offers the possibility to re-create a genuine feeling of threat and immersion, moderate enough for learning to take place while at the same time boosting engagement (Allcoat et al., 2015;Cummings and Bailenson, 2016;Lin, 2017;Slater, 2018;Schoneveld et al., 2019). Game mechanics also present another advantage over realistic environments in VR, which is the ease of emotional elicitation and repeatability of the experience (Lobel et al., 2016;Michela et al., 2019;Scholten and Granic, 2019). ...
... We did not observe any instances where the Tetris effect was applied inappropriately, such as to problems with perceiving depth in the real world. The Tetris effect has been observed in VR before (Lin, 2017), however this study reported on users' seeing the environment of a specific game when they closed their eyes, not aspects of the supporting technology while acting in real life, as was reported by our users. ...
Since the release of the Oculus Rift CV1 in 2016, millions of VR headsets have made their way into consumers’ homes. Since then, users have created large quantities of data about their experiences in VR through posts made to online discussion forums. We examine this data to gain insights on what sorts of “lingering effects” users report having experienced after VR, and on the progression of these effects over time. We found three major categories of lingering effects (besides simulator sickness) during our qualitative analysis: perceptual effects, behavioral effects, and changes in dreams. The perceptual and behavioral categories were further divided into sub-themes: disruption of body ownership and proprioception, loss of a sense of depth in the real world, visual aftereffects, the need to verify the reality of the real world through touch, hesitation when moving in the real world, and attempts to apply VR interaction metaphors to real life interactions. Users were nearly unanimous that these lingering effects only occurred after spending at least 1 h in VR, and that these effects completely disappeared several weeks after they first appeared (assuming the user continued to spend time in VR). There was less agreement about how long these effects lasted after exiting a specific VR session. The results of our analysis suggest that users feel that there are no long-term side effects to the use of VR. We pair this analysis with an analysis of interviews conducted with 20 novice users who were loaned Oculus Quest HMDs to use for 4 weeks. Semi-structured interviews with participants further substantiated the findings of our analysis of online discussions.
... Numerous studies have investigated affective responses to better understand user emotions elicited during various VR experiences. Affective responses in VR have been investigated through self-reported data (Felnhofer et al., 2015;Lin, 2017;Voigt-Antons et al., 2021) as well as physiological data (Kerous et al., 2020;Kisker et al., 2021;Schöne et al., 2021). Self-reported data often examines affect from the perspective of a dimensional model of affect (Poria et al., 2017). ...
Background: Numerous studies have investigated emotion in virtual reality (VR) experiences using self-reported data in order to understand valence and arousal dimensions of emotion. Objective physiological data concerning valence and arousal has been less explored. Electroencephalography (EEG) can be used to examine correlates of emotional responses such as valence and arousal in virtual reality environments. Used across varying fields of research, images are able to elicit a range of affective responses from viewers. In this study, we display image sequences with annotated valence and arousal values on a screen within a virtual reality theater environment. Understanding how brain activity responses are related to affective stimuli with known valence and arousal ratings may contribute to a better understanding of affective processing in virtual reality.
Methods: We investigated frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) responses to image sequences previously annotated with valence and arousal ratings. Twenty-four participants viewed image sequences in VR with known valence and arousal values while their brain activity was recorded. Participants wore the Oculus Quest VR headset and viewed image sequences while immersed in a virtual reality theater environment.
Results: Image sequences with higher valence ratings elicited greater FAA scores than image sequences with lower valence ratings ( F [1, 23] = 4.631, p = 0.042), while image sequences with higher arousal scores elicited lower FAA scores than image sequences with low arousal ( F [1, 23] = 7.143, p = 0.014). The effect of valence on alpha power did not reach statistical significance ( F [1, 23] = 4.170, p = 0.053). We determined that only the high valence, low arousal image sequence elicited FAA which was significantly higher than FAA recorded during baseline ( t [23] = −3.166, p = 0.002), suggesting that this image sequence was the most salient for participants.
Conclusion: Image sequences with higher valence, and lower arousal may lead to greater FAA responses in VR experiences. While findings suggest that FAA data may be useful in understanding associations between valence and arousal self-reported data and brain activity responses elicited from affective experiences in VR environments, additional research concerning individual differences in affective processing may be informative for the development of affective VR scenarios.
... In the same case, the SIFT algorithm has more special integration points than the Harris algorithm, as shown in Figure 6. e special points obtained by the SIFT feature extraction algorithm include dozens of error points from Harris corner. e extraction algorithm [23] also includes noncolor elements in the graph. ...
The purpose of this paper is to understand the digital 3D multimedia panoramic visual communication technology based on virtual reality. Firstly, the key concepts and characteristics of virtual reality are introduced, including the development and application of digital three-dimensional panorama technology. Then, according to the theoretical research, some basic knowledge of 3D panoramic image Mosaic is introduced, including camera image modeling, image sharing, and image exchange. Finally, with the development of the virtual tour at the College of Normal University, the hardware of panoramic technology and the demand of panoramic image search have been expanded in the application. The design of panoramic Mosaic, panoramic image generation, and virtual tour school construction considers real-world issues. The innovation of this paper lies in that will be used by SketchUp8.0 software builds the geometry of 3d virtual scene and by the cylindrical panoramic images based on image of building 3 d virtual scene organic unifies in together and makes a panoramic image can be as the change of seasons in the real scene and real-time change, enhance the sense of the reality of the system and user immersive.
Introduction
Pavlovian fear conditioning is an experimental paradigm used to study the acquisition and extinction of fear responses and the various aspects of fear and anxiety. We developed a virtual reality (VR) version of this paradigm to leverage the benefits of virtual reality, such as ecological validity, standardization, safety, and therapeutic applications. Our objective was to create an open-source and immersive environment for studying fear-related responses using Unity Engine 3D and the Oculus Rift device.
Methods
In this virtual environment, the participants encountered a monster screaming at 100 dB approaching them as the fear-inducing stimulus (unconditioned stimulus or US). Our protocol included three sessions: habituation, acquisition, and extinction, with two stimuli associated with different doors (blue vs. red). The blue door (CS+) was linked to the US, while the red door (CS−) was the control. We tested this VR paradigm on 84 young participants, recording their skin conductance response (SCRs) and fear stimulus ratings (FSRs) on a 10-point Likert scale.
Results
The findings showed significantly higher SCRs and FSRs for CS+ as compared to CS− during the acquisition phase and higher SCRs and FSRs for CS+ during the acquisition phase as compared to the habituation and extinction sessions.
Discussion and conclusions
These results supported the reliability of the protocol for studying fear and anxiety-related conditions.
Robots are being utilized in many different ways in today’s society. Teleoperated robots are robots that can be controlled from a distance. This is commonly done with remote controllers while observing the robot through a screen, but using virtual reality (VR) is also a possibility. VR teleoperation has many benefits, but if a robot is operating in a dangerous environment, as is one of the main applications for these types of robots, the feeling of immersion caused by VR may be problematic. If the operator feels they themselves are in danger, that may negatively impact their performance. The following paper introduces Applied Adaptive VR (AAVR) as a potential solution to this problem. AAVR is a combination of current VR technologies, such as fear modeling, that could be applied to real world teleoperation tasks. The purpose of AAVR is to have VR environments adapt during teleoperation to be less fear inducing, which is expected to improve performance. Relevant topics of interest, and methods and recommendations for developing such a system are discussed.
In the era of the burgeoning metaverse, integration of payment systems is becoming a key element to enable seamless and secure transactions in virtual environments. This paper focuses on an analysis of current payment solutions in the metaverse, as well as their challenges and future prospects. The first part of the paper discusses existing payment systems available in the metaverse, including cryptocurrencies, tokens and traditional payment methods, highlighting their impact on transaction dynamics and the perception of value in the virtual world. The main challenges of integrating these systems are then presented, such as data security, identity verification, complex processes for exchanging currencies (crypto and traditional), and interoperability issues between different virtual environments. In the final part of the paper we focus on the future of e-commerce in the metaverse, considering what technological innovations may affect the shape and nature of commerce in the virtual world, and what opportunities lie ahead for entrepreneurs and developers in terms of creating new business models. The conclusions of this publication highlight the importance of proper integration of payment systems in the metaverse for achieving sustainable and balanced e-commerce development in virtual environments, as well as underscoring the need for further research and innovation in this field to meet users’ growing expectations and provide them with secure and efficient payment methods.
Purpose
This study aims to offer a comprehensive exploration of the potential and challenges associated with sensor fusion-based virtual reality (VR) applications in the context of enhanced physical training. The main objective is to identify key advancements in sensor fusion technology, evaluate its application in VR systems and understand its impact on physical training.
Design/methodology/approach
The research initiates by providing context to the physical training environment in today’s technology-driven world, followed by an in-depth overview of VR. This overview includes a concise discussion on the advancements in sensor fusion technology and its application in VR systems for physical training. A systematic review of literature then follows, examining VR’s application in various facets of physical training: from exercise, skill development and technique enhancement to injury prevention, rehabilitation and psychological preparation.
Findings
Sensor fusion-based VR presents tangible advantages in the sphere of physical training, offering immersive experiences that could redefine traditional training methodologies. While the advantages are evident in domains such as exercise optimization, skill acquisition and mental preparation, challenges persist. The current research suggests there is a need for further studies to address these limitations to fully harness VR’s potential in physical training.
Originality/value
The integration of sensor fusion technology with VR in the domain of physical training remains a rapidly evolving field. Highlighting the advancements and challenges, this review makes a significant contribution by addressing gaps in knowledge and offering directions for future research.
With the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, technology plays a crucial role in the sustainability of businesses. The role of social media and virtual reality technology was discussed, as its capability to act as a business tool to improve business performance. Therefore, this study aims to examine the influence of environmental factors (i.e., pressure of suppliers, social influence, and competitive pressure) that affect social selling intentions via VR technology and subsequently lead to social selling performance in the Malaysian context. Despite the high level of social selling activity in Malaysia, limited studies have been conducted on the intentions when engaging in social selling. Also, no conclusive evidence has shown the relationship between environmental factors, self-efficacy, and social selling intention via virtual reality (VR) technology. This study seeks to fill these gaps by examining how environmental factors affect social selling intentions via VR technology and subsequently lead to social selling performance in the Malaysian context. A total of 497 cases were collected for analysis. The partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method was utilised by performing both measurement and structural analysis. The findings demonstrated that pressure from suppliers, social influence, and the mediating effect of self-efficacy impact social selling intention via VR technology. Interestingly, it was found that self-efficacy acted as a mediator between social influence and competitive pressure on social selling intention via VR technology. Social selling intention via VR technology was also found to affect social selling performance.
The present work synthesises the self-talk literature and constructs a transdisciplinary self-talk model to guide future research across all academic disciplines that engage with self-talk. A comprehensive research review was conducted, including 559 self-talk articles published between 1978 and 2020. These articles were divided into 6 research categories: (a) inner dialogue, (b) mixed spontaneous and goal-directed organic self-talk, (c) goal-directed self-talk, (d) spontaneous self-talk, (e) educational self-talk interventions, and (f) strategic self-talk interventions. Following this, critical details were extracted from a subsample of 100 articles to create an interdisciplinary synthesis of the self-talk literature. Based on the synthesis, a self-talk model was created that places spontaneous and goal-directed organic self-talk as well as educational and strategic self-talk interventions in relation to variables within their nomological network, including external factors (e.g. task difficulty), descriptive states and traits (e.g. emotions), behaviour and performance, metacognition, and psychological skills (e.g. concentration).
Background
The emotion of fear bears a survival significance enabling animals to be highly vigilant in contexts of uncertainty. Expectedly, not all information available in the environment can be processed. Given that a major goal is to get rid of the source of fear in a fearful situation, the current study therefore hypothesized that information relating to the fear source would be better attended to and recalled than contextual information, which was validated by comparing participants’ recall of different types of information presented in a fearful VR gaming context.
Methodology
Fifty-four participants were divided into two groups and finished a specific segment of a VR game with different fear levels.
Results
No significant difference in recall performance on the questions about the appearance of the fear source and the questions about the interaction with the source was observed between the fear and less-fear groups. Yet, contextual information was better recalled than information related to the fear source in both groups. Regardless of whether the contextual information was provided beforehand or not, participants still tended to focus primarily on the environment in the gameplay. Also, the immersiveness of the gameplay was positively related to participants’ fear level.
Discussion
The tendency of attending to contextual information was speculated to be unconditional, in line with the risk calculation observed in prey when situated in less familiar contexts. It was suggested to further validate the present primarily findings by adopting VR headset with eye-tracking function in future studies. Lastly, an understanding of fear’s effect on memorization might also provide some information for developing future survival horror games.
This study conducted a two-condition between-subjects laboratory experiment (N = 147) to examine the effects of textual disaster news combined with a 360° video in different modes (virtual reality [VR] vs. two dimensional screen) on cognitive/affective empathy and fear. Additionally, the mediating role of presence (social and spatial presence) was considered. Results indicated that the news article presented through an immersive VR mode directly led to greater levels of presence and cognitive empathy but not affective empathy and fear. The effects on social presence further resulted in greater cognitive and affective empathy, not fear. Meanwhile, spatial presence enhanced by VR led to greater levels of emotions (affective empathy and fear) but not cognitive empathy. These findings suggest the dynamic mechanisms of how an immersive VR modality can function as a complementary tool for traditional news to improve audience engagement, which centers on emotion-related outcomes in tandem with cognitive responses.
Horror is a popular video game genre, which has the ability to induce strong emotions such as fear and anxiety. Horror game sound partly derives from movie soundtracking, but the interactive and immersive nature of video games and game music challenges the traditional beliefs concerning the meaning and importance of sound design and soundtracking. In this review article, we discuss the relationship between the sonic design of horror games and experienced anxiety. We combine musicological and ludological viewpoints with clinical and neuropsychological ones to create a multidisciplinary overview of the subject. We will also discuss the paradox of how we can enjoy fear and anxiety inducing media, despite those emotions having a very negative association. Finally we will discuss the possible advantages of combining music and video games for the study of emotions in music, video games and psychology.
Introducción: La Realidad Virtual (RV) se sitúa como una de las herramientas más prometedoras para la evaluación psicológica. No obstante, su utilización en la práctica todavía presenta resultados poco concluyentes. Objetivos: Analizar la literatura científica existente sobre la aplicación de la RV en el campo de la evaluación psicológica, publicada entre los años 2011 y 2021. Se propone describir las tendencias actuales del uso de RV en este campo y los posibles beneficios que brindan estas tecnologías. Metodología: La muestra estuvo compuesta por 44 artículos científicos. Resultados:Se evidencia un constante interés en la temática a lo largo de los últimos años, el cual alcanza su pico en 2018; además, se identificó a España como uno de los países que lideran este campo de investigación. Se observan tendencias al desarrollo y diseño de herramientas de RV en las áreas de Neuropsicología y Psicología Clínica. Conclusión: El papel de la RV en la evaluación psicológica está cada vez más consolidado, debido a que permite generar experiencias inmersivas y controladas, adecuadas al estudio de distintos procesos psicológicos. Finalmente, se proponen algunas líneas de investigaciones futuras que permitan expandir los conocimientos y progresos expuestos en la revisión.
A játékokkal kapcsolatos pszichológiai kutatások középpontjában többek között az érzelmi folyamatok feltérképezése áll, amelyek egyrészt a játékok irányításával függenek össze (gameplay érzelmek), másrészt pedig az avatárral való azonosulásból fakadnak, azaz a játékvilágban megvalósuló cselekvésekhez kapcsolódnak (diegetikus érzelmek). Jelen tanulmányban ezeknek az érzelmi folyamatoknak az egymásra hatását vizsgáljuk a túlélő-horror játékok műfajában, amelyek játékdizájnja speciálisan a félelemválaszok kiváltását célozza. Érvelésünk szerint a túlélő-horror játékokban a félelem kiváltásának hatékony eszközei a játékélmény és irányítás különböző módszerekkel történő befolyásolása, illetve az avatár cselekvési és érzékelési lehetőségeinek korlátozása. Jelen írásban amellett érvelünk, hogy ezen paraméterek módosítása, legalábbis kognitív pszichológiai megközelítésben, nem csökkenti radikálisan és szükségszerű módon a játékos cselekvőképességét.
Purpose
Today, contactless businesses are becoming part of the “new normal” in daily life. Augmented reality-based services (ARBS) thus provide a mechanism for contactless commerce, offering customers access to sensory experiences, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, privacy can be a key concern when consumers decide whether to continue using ARBS. Thus, drawing on the Appraisal Tendency Framework (ATF), the study aims to examine how augmentation quality (Aug-Q), discrete emotions (joy and frustration) and privacy perceptions influence users' ARBS continuing use intention.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey methodology with a well-designed online questionnaire was used for data collection. The data were analyzed using a structural equation model with Amos v. 22.0 software.
Findings
This study demonstrated that Aug-Q had a significant positive impact on joy and a significant negative impact on frustration. Additionally, joy was positively associated with the perception of privacy benefits and ARBS continuing use intention, while frustration was negatively associated with the perception of privacy benefits and ARBS continuing use intention. The results also indicate that (perceived privacy risks) PPR–benefits predict the likelihood of ARBS continuing use intention.
Originality/value
This study enhances understanding of users' ARBS continuing use intention from an integrative perspective based on the ATF, thus identifying the Aug-Q-induced emotions that subsequently influence privacy trade-offs and predict users' ARBS continuing use intention. The results provide evidence that privacy and emotions can be key determinants when consumers decide whether to continue using ARBS. The findings of this research may be beneficial for commercial companies in preventing the loss of ARBS users.
Approach and avoidance behaviors-the primary responses to the environmental stimuli of danger, novelty and reward-are associated with the brain structures that mediate cognitive functionality, reward sensitivity and emotional expression. Individual differences in approach and avoidance behaviors are modulated by the functioning of amygdaloid-hypothalamic-striatal and striatal-cerebellar networks implicated in action and reaction to salient stimuli. The nodes of these networks are strongly interconnected and by acting on them the endocannabinoid and dopaminergic systems increase the intensity of appetitive or defensive motivation. This review analyzes the approach and avoidance behaviors in humans and rodents, addresses neurobiological and neurochemical aspects of these behaviors, and proposes a possible synaptic plasticity mechanism, related to endocannabinoid-dependent long-term potentiation (LTP) and depression that allows responding to salient positive and negative stimuli.
This study examined the effects of interactivity in violent video games on aggression and tested identification as the moderated mediating mechanism. A total of 169 male undergraduate students participated in a 2 media interactivity (enactive mediation vs. observational mediation) × 2 violence (violent vs. nonviolent) experiment. Results supported a moderated mediation model in which the effect of media interactivity on aggressive affect through identification was moderated by violence. When violence was present, interactive play resulted in higher short-term aggressive affect through higher character identification than when violence was not present. Additionally, an interaction effect between media interactivity and violence was found for automatic self-concept in which players associated themselves more with the game character's traits than video viewers.
Virtual reality (VR) creates a sensory and psychological experience for users as an alternative to reality. More than just one technology, VR is an ever-growing set of tools and techniques that can be used to create the psychological sensation of being in an alternate space. Underpinning the techniques used to create compelling virtual environments is the basic observation that information is fated for processing by a human sensory and perceptual system that has evolved to interact with regularities occurring in the physical world (Gibson, 1966, 1979). The more one can provide the system with sensory inputs that simulate and effectively mimic those encountered in nature, the more convincing the resulting perceptual and cognitive experience will be for the user. The ultimate goal of designers and users of VR environments is a computer-generated simulation that is indistinguishable to the user from its real-world equivalent. Reaching toward this goal has already enabled us to realize some of VR's potential for use in training, engineering, scientific research, and for providing uniquely gratifying entertainment experiences (Biocca, 1996; Hawkins, 1995). Illusions for the senses The hardware and software used to create a VR system are designed to replicate the information available to the sensory/perceptual system in the physical world. In other words, a computer and its peripheral devices produce outputs that impinge upon the body's various senses, resulting in convincing illusions for each of these senses and thus a rich, interactive multimedia facsimile of real life. There are system components that create such illusions for each of the senses, in particular for vision, hearing, and touch (Burdea & Coiffet, 2003).
This study investigated whether media interactivity would influence the short-term effects of violent content on audience aggression. The general aggression model, social cognitive theory, and character identification offered the theoretical framework. A random sample of 102 male college students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: video game playing, recorded game-play watching, or movie watching. The results indicated that video game players (mediated enactive experience) experienced greater increases in aggressive affect, aggressive cognition, and physiological arousal than participants who watched recorded game play or comparable movie scenes (mediated observational experience). The study indicated that media interactivity in video game exacerbated the violent effect on short-term, aggressive responses. Character identification did not mediate the effect of media interactivity on aggression. Future studies should incorporate more comprehensive measures of character identification to investigate inconsistent findings regarding media interactivity and identification.
This experiment assesses the impact of two control strategies on children's reactions to a frightening movie scene. Children from two grade levels (K–1 vs. 3–5) watched the program under one of three conditions: cover eyes, turn off TV, no strategy. The cover eyes strategy decreased emotional reactions and threatening interpretations among younger children, whereas the strategy increased such responses in older children. Unexpectedly, the turn off TV strategy had no effect on either age group.
This study was conducted to examine enduring fright reactions to mass media via recollective self-reports of a sample of undergraduates (average age 20.6 years) from two universities. Ninety percent (138 of 153) of the participants reported such a reaction. Most experiences occurred in childhood or adolescence, with 26.1% of the participants still experiencing residual anxiety at the time of measurement. More than half of the sample reported subsequent disturbances in sleeping or eating patterns, and a substantial proportion reported avoiding or dreading the situation depicted in the program or movie and mental preoccupation with the stimulus. Stimulus types were coded according to the jive categories of stimuli related to phobic reactions—animal, environmental, situational, blood/injection/injury, and "other" (disturbing sounds and distorted images)—described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Almost all of the films or movies reported contained stimuli from at least one of these categories. Developmental differences were observed in both the types of stimuli that provoked fright responses and the coping strategies used by viewers.
A random telephone survey of parents of children between the ages of 3 and 18 was conducted the night after The Day After was aired on television. Based on theories and research indicating a developmental shift from perceptual to conceptual information, it was expected that the level of emotional upset to the movie would increase with age. This prediction was confirmed, despite the fact that the movie was not very upsetting overall. Other findings revealed that children's postviewing behaviors were significantly related to both age and degree of upset. Nonpermissive parents (those who had prevented a child from viewing the movie) were more likely than permissive parents to have been upset by the movie. Parents reported mass media to be more influential than schools, in their decisions regarding whether or not to let a child view the movie; schools, in turn, were more influential than both religious and political organizations. The influence of advice from schools was stronger among nonpermissive than among permissive parents.
We used meta-analysis to examine recent studies of sex differences in coping. Women were more likely than men to engage in most coping strategies. The strongest effects showed that women were more likely to use strategies that involved verbal expressions to others or the self—to seek emotional support, ruminate about problems, and use positive self-talk. These sex differences were consistent across studies, supporting a dispositional level hypothesis. Other sex differences were dependent on the nature of the stressor, supporting role constraint theory. We also examined whether stressor appraisal (i.e., women's tendencies to appraise stressors as more severe) accountedfor sex differences in coping. We found some support for this idea. To circumvent this issue, we provide some data on relative coping. These data demonstrate that sex differences in relative coping are more in line with our intuitions about the differences in the ways men and women cope with distress.
In this meta-analysis, we synthesized data from published journal articles that investigated viewers' enjoyment of fright and violence. Given the limited research on this topic, this analysis was primarily a way of summarizing the current state of knowledge and developing directions for future research. The studies selected (a) examined frightening or violent media content; (b) used self-report measures of enjoyment or preference for such content (the dependent variable); and (c) included independent variables that were given theoretical consideration in the literature. The independent variables examined were negative affect and arousal during viewing, empathy, sensation seeking, aggressiveness, and the respondents' gender and age. The analysis confirmed that male viewers, individuals lower in empathy, and those higher in sensation seeking and aggressiveness reported more enjoyment of fright and violence. Some support emerged for Zillmann's (1980, 1996) model of suspense enjoyment. Overall, the results demonstrate the importance of considering how viewers interpret or appraise their reactions to fright and violence. However, the studies were so diverse in design and measurement methods that it was difficult to identify the underlying processes. Suggestions are proposed for future research that will move toward the integration of separate lines of inquiry in a unified approach to understanding entertainment.
Investigated the factors related to the choice of 2 coping strategies, distancing/avoidance and planful problem-solving, in the context of marital relationships. The role of cognitive appraisals of marital difficulties, and personality traits of neuroticism and openness, in the choice of coping strategies used to solve marital difficulties was investigated with a sample of 200 couples (women aged 18-60 yrs; men aged 19-69 yrs). Results of standard multiple regression analyses showed for both genders that neuroticism was positively associated with distancing/avoidance, whereas openness was positively associated with planful problem-solving. In addition, results indicated that an individual who appraised his or her marital difficulties as threatening, compared to his or her resources, was more likely to use distancing/avoidance as coping strategy. Implications of these findings for coping theories are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Two studies of coping among community-dwelling adults (N= 255,151) were used to examine the influence of personality on coping responses, the perceived effectiveness of coping mechanisms, and the effects of coping and personality on well-being In both studies a wide range of potential stressors was examined, categorized as losses, threats, or challenges The personality dimensions of neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience, as measured by both self-reports and spouse- and peer-ratings, were systematically related to coping mechanisms in both studies There was general agreement across types of stressors on the use and perceived effectiveness of the 27 coping mechanisms, and individuals who used more effective ways of coping generally reported higher subsequent happiness and life satisfaction However, personality variables are also known to be determinants of well-being, and the associations between coping and well-being were reduced when personality measures were partialled out Some implications for the design and interpretation of coping effectiveness studies are discussed
The Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) and tolerance are both widely used measures of the degree of multi-collinearity of the
ith independent variable with the other independent variables in a regression model. Unfortunately, several rules of thumb
– most commonly the rule of 10 – associated with VIF are regarded by many practitioners as a sign of severe or serious multi-collinearity
(this rule appears in both scholarly articles and advanced statistical textbooks). When VIF reaches these threshold values
researchers often attempt to reduce the collinearity by eliminating one or more variables from their analysis; using Ridge
Regression to analyze their data; or combining two or more independent variables into a single index. These techniques for
curing problems associated with multi-collinearity can create problems more serious than those they solve. Because of this,
we examine these rules of thumb and find that threshold values of the VIF (and tolerance) need to be evaluated in the context
of several other factors that influence the variance of regression coefficients. Values of the VIF of 10, 20, 40, or even
higher do not, by themselves, discount the results of regression analyses, call for the elimination of one or more independent
variables from the analysis, suggest the use of ridge regression, or require combining of independent variable into a single
index.
Social phobia is one of the most frequent mental disorders and is accessible to two forms of scientifically validated treatments: anti-depressant drugs and cognitive behavior therapies (CBT). In this last case, graded exposure to feared social situations is one of the fundamental therapeutic ingredients. Virtual reality technologies are an interesting alternative to the standard exposure in social phobia, especially since studies have shown its usefulness for the fear of public speaking. This paper reports a preliminary study in which a virtual reality therapy (VRT), based on exposure to virtual environments, was used to treat social phobia. The sample consisted of 36 participants diagnosed with social phobia assigned to either VRT or a group-CBT (control condition). The virtual environments used in the treatment recreate four situations dealing with social anxiety: performance, intimacy, scrutiny, and assertiveness. With the help of the therapist, the patient learns adapted cognitions and behaviors in order to reduce anxiety in the corresponding real situations. Both treatments lasted 12 weeks, and sessions were delivered according to a treatment manual. Results showed statistically and clinically significant improvement in both conditions. The effect-sizes comparing the efficacy of VRT to the control traditional group-CBT revealed that the differences between the two treatments are trivial.
The Eight State Questionnaire (8SQ), and the Motivation Analysis Test (MAT) were administered to 58 college students before and after viewing a five-minute film segment, portraying graphic documentary scenes of automobile accident victims, and part of a pathologist's autopsy of a road victim. Presentation of this high-threat stimulus induced an intense elevation in several emotional and motivational states. Most changes implied a generalised psychological disorientation and concomitant diminution in motor skills. In accord with previous evidence, the present findings suggested that fear appeals are probably ineffective in augmenting safer driving behaviors.
This paper introduces the concept and discusses the implications of immersive journalism, which is the production of news in a form in which people can gain first-person experiences of the events or situation described in news stories. The fundamental idea of immersive journalism is to allow the participant, typically represented as a digital avatar, to actually enter a virtually recreated scenario representing the news story. The sense of presence obtained through an immersive system (whether a Cave or head-tracked head-mounted displays [HMD] and online virtual worlds, such as video games and online virtual worlds) affords the participant unprecedented access to the sights and sounds, and possibly feelings and emotions, that accompany the news. This paper surveys current approaches to immersive journalism and the theoretical background supporting claims regarding avatar experience in immersive systems. We also provide a specific demonstration: giving participants the experience of being in an interrogation room in an offshore prison. By both describing current approaches and demonstrating an immersive journalism experience, we open a new avenue for research into how presence can be utilized in the field of news and nonfiction.
Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is a complex, multi-step process. The goal of this paper is to collect, in one article, information that will allow researchers and practitioners to understand the various choices available through popular software packages, and to make decisions about "best practices" in exploratory factor analysis. In particular, this paper provides practical information on making decisions regarding (a) extraction, (b) rotation
In this paper, I address the question as to why participants tend to respond realistically to situations and events portrayed within an immersive virtual reality system. The idea is put forward, based on the experience of a large number of experimental studies, that there are two orthogonal components that contribute to this realistic response. The first is 'being there', often called 'presence', the qualia of having a sensation of being in a real place. We call this place illusion (PI). Second, plausibility illusion (Psi) refers to the illusion that the scenario being depicted is actually occurring. In the case of both PI and Psi the participant knows for sure that they are not 'there' and that the events are not occurring. PI is constrained by the sensorimotor contingencies afforded by the virtual reality system. Psi is determined by the extent to which the system can produce events that directly relate to the participant, the overall credibility of the scenario being depicted in comparison with expectations. We argue that when both PI and Psi occur, participants will respond realistically to the virtual reality.
Abstract Based on Social Cognitive Theory, this study proposes a new concept-mediated enactive experience to understand game playing effects on self-efficacy in the context of a health promotion role-playing game. An experiment demonstrated that a mediated enactive experience afforded by game playing was more effective than a mediated observational experience provided by game watching in influencing self-efficacy. It was found that identification with the game character partially mediated the relationship between experience mode and self-efficacy.
The potential stress-buffering effects of sensation seeking were assessed in a prospective study involving high school athletes. A significant positive relation between major negative sport-specific life events and subsequent injury time-loss occurred only for athletes low in sensation seeking. No evidence was obtained for a competing hypothesis that high sensation seeking would constitute an injury vulnerability factor by increasing risk-taking behaviors. Although low sensation seekers reported poorer stress management coping skills, there was no evidence that differences in coping efficacy mediated the injury vulnerability difference. Results indicate that sensation seeking is a stress-resiliency factor and suggest the utility of assessing relations between life stressors and outcomes that occur within the same environmental context.
The relationship between worry about cancer and judged cancer risk was examined among 54 expatients who had been cured of breast cancer and 81 women with no history of cancer. Worry required both a perception of substantial risk and the presence of concrete perceptual cues. Worry promoters include visits to a physician and concrete, noncancerlike symptoms (e.g., fever, pain). Supporting analyses indicate that the symptom effects are not due to self-report biases or attributions of symptoms to cancer but are the result of a reminder process whereby vulnerability beliefs are aroused by somatic cues. Judged cancer risk was unrelated to affective cues, suggesting that across-time variation in worry about cancer reflects the onset and offset of symptom episodes rather than a shift in risk appraisals. Expatients were more worried overall than nonpatient controls. The results have implications for controlling disease worry and initiating preventive behaviors.
Subjects were divided into information seekers (high monitors)/information avoiders (low monitors) and distractors (high blunters)/nondistractors (low blunters) on the basis of their scores on a self-report scale to measure coping styles, the Miller Behavioral Style Scale (MBSS). In Experiment 1, subjects were faced with a physically aversive event (the prospect of electric shock). High monitors and low blunters chose to seek out information about its nature and onset whereas low monitors and high blunters chose to distract themselves. This effect was strongest with the blunting dimension. High monitoring and low blunting were also accompanied by sustained high anxiety and arousal. In contrast, low monitors and high blunters were able to relax themselves over time. In Experiment 2, subjects worked on a series of tests that presumably predicted success in college. They could attend as often as they wished to a light that signaled how well they were performing. Results showed that coping-style scores accurately predicted informational strategy, particularly with the monitoring dimension: High monitors tended to look at the light whereas low monitors tended to ignore it. Thus the MBSS measure of coping styles appears to be a valid instrument for predicting behavioral strategies in response to both physical and psychological stressors. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
H. J. Eysenck This book is not an introduction to personality research, it is not a textbook, and above all it is not a model of personality. The title, A Modelfor Personality, was chosen on purpose to indicate that we are here concerned with a discussion of how models in this field ought to be constructed, what their functions were, and whether such models or paradigms could with advantage be produced at this stage of development. One particular aspect of personality, extraversion introversion (E), has been chosen to exemplify the desiderata which emerge from such a discussion. It is not suggested that personality and E are synonymous - merely that this particular dimension is perhaps better known than any other, has had more experimental work done on it than any other and has acquired a better theoretical substructure, and more links with genetics and physiology, than any other. Hence it seems most likely to serve as an example of how a satisfactory model of personality might ultimately be constructed, i. e. by analogy with E. Other dimensions of personality, such as neuroticism-stability or psycho tic ism-superego functioning, are mentioned in the discussion, but only when they overlap or interrelate with E. The book uses E as an example to illustrate the way in which a model of personality can be constructed, but it is in no way a summary of all that is known about E.
Fear research faces a dilemma as typical methods of induction elicit passive or indirect fear, rather than authentic or direct fear. The present study investigated and compared the effects of interactivity, or agency, on the physiological responses of participants as measures of direct fear as they either played or watched a horror-themed video game. Assuming agency allows for greater immersion, the former group would exhibit greater physiological responses, possibly indicating greater fear reaction. Change scores were calculated from subtracting baseline mean values from exposure mean values for every participant in measures of electrodermal activity (EDA), respiratory rate (RR), and heart rate (HR). Self-reported fear data was also gathered for every participant. Players had a significantly greater increase than watchers in EDA, RR, and HR change scores. Players and watchers did not differ significantly in self-reported fear. Change score t tests for specific events that occur in the video game are also reported. These results suggest that the variable of agency may have had the effect of inducing a greater fear response and that it provides utility for researchers seeking to ethically induce direct fear.
This study presents the results of a survey of 269 undergraduate students conducted to examine fright experiences caused by video games. Over half of the participants reported game-induced fear. Sex, sensation-seeking, and empathy all emerged as important individual differences in terms of enjoyment of frightening content, consumption of frightening content, and frequency of fright experience. Interactivity and presentations of realism also predicted fear. This work identifies titles, stimuli, and features that caused fright experience.
An experiment tested memory and approach‐avoidance ratings for television news images that induce anger, fear, and disgust. Participants rated the ¡mages by moving a computer paddle toward or away from the screen during the stimulus presentation. Anger images received the rating closest to the screen, followed by images inducing fear, and images inducing disgust. Images that induce anger were found to be the most memorable on a latency‐to‐response measure, followed by images that induce fear, and images that induce disgust. Both retroactive and proactive memory effects were detected. Results are discussed in terms of comprehension of television news.
While being exposed to a sequence from a television program depicting a visual transformation of character (The Incredible Hulk), children aged 3 to 5 years experienced more fear after the transformation than before it, whereas 9 to 11‐year‐olds experienced more fear before the transformation than during and after it. The different patterns of fear had been predicted on the basis of differences in cognitive development, that is, on younger subjects’ greater perceptual boundedness and their failure to understand transformations.
Investigated locus of control and coping processes in relation to specific stressful episodes reported by 171 female student nurses. Scores of each of 3 measures (General Coping, Direct Coping, and Suppression) that were derived from the Ways of Coping Questionnaire were analyzed to examine the role of appraisal (in terms of the extent to which the situation was perceived as amenable to control) and the perceived importance of the episode as mediators of the relation between locus of control and coping. Ss were also administered Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, the Defensiveness scale of the Adjective Check List, and the Lie scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Results show significant interactions between locus of control and appraisal for each of the measures. Further examination of the interactions showed that the patterns of coping reported by internals were potentially more adaptive in relation to types of appraisal than those of externals. The perceived importance of the episode was significantly related, negatively, to suppression, but the interaction with locus of control was not significant. (59 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1984 American Psychological Association.
Each of us has felt afraid, and we can all recognize fear in many animal species. Yet there is no consensus in the scientific study of fear. Some argue that 'fear' is a psychological construct rather than something discoverable through scientific investigation. Others argue that the term 'fear' cannot properly be applied to animals because we cannot know whether they feel afraid. Studies in rodents show that there are highly specific brain circuits for fear, whereas findings from human neuroimaging seem to make the opposite claim. Here, I review the field and urge three approaches that could reconcile the debates. For one, we need a broadly comparative approach that would identify core components of fear conserved across phylogeny. This also pushes us towards the second point of emphasis: an ecological theory of fear that is essentially functional. Finally, we should aim even to incorporate the conscious experience of being afraid, reinvigorating the study of feelings across species.
An abstract is not available.
This study examines the implication of both sensation seeking and the subjective appraisal of captivity in the long-term adjustment of ex-prisoners of war (ex-POWs). 164 Israeli ex-POWs and 184 comparable controls were studied, 18 years after their participation in the Yom Kippur War. The findings indicate that high-sensation seekers adjusted better than low-sensation seekers to the stresses of captivity. Low-sensation-seeking ex-POWs reported more PTSD symptoms, more severe psychiatric symptomatology, and more intense intrusive and avoidance tendencies. High- and low-sensation-seeking POWs differed also in feelings when taken prisoner, subjective assessment of suffering in prison, ways of coping with prison, and emotional states during captivity. The present study supports the postulation that sensation seeking is an important stress-buffering personal resource. The role of coping styles in long-term adjustment following war captivity is discussed.
An experiment examined the influence of happy outcome information and coping style on children's emotional responses to a frightening film sequence. Fourth and fifth graders viewed a program that included a threatening scene and a happy resolution. Before viewing, they heard an audiotaped introduction that either described the happy outcome or did not. Children's preferred coping style was classified as blunting or monitoring, using Miller's Child Behavioral Style Scale. Hypotheses were derived from theory and research on emotion, responses to suspense, and self-regulation processes. Consistent with expectations, prior knowledge of the happy outcome reduced self-reported fear and worry for Hunters but not for monitors. Regardless of coping style, outcome information reduced children's facial expressions of fear and increased positive affect during the conclusion of the show. Interpretations of the findings, as well as implications for understanding emotional responses to mass media, are discussed.
This article introduces an explication of video game players' identification with a game character or role that is based on social-psychological models of self-perception. Contrasting with conventional ("dyadic" ) notions of media user-character relationships (e.g., parasocial interaction or affective disposition theory), ("monadic" ) video game identification is defined as a temporal shift of players' self-perception through adoption of valued properties of the game character. Implications for media enjoyment, the measurement of identification, and media effects are discussed.
In a random survey of parents of kindergarten, second, fourth, and sixth grade children, 37% of the children were reported to have been frightened or upset by a news story on television. The percentage of children being frightened by news increased from kindergarten to the elementary school years, whereas the tendency to be frightened by fantastic, unreal content showed a decreasing trend. The top categories of stories producing fear were violence between strangers, foreign wars and famines, and natural disasters. me tendency to respond with fright to violence between strangers increased with age, and the tendency to be upset by natural disasters decreased with age. Proposed explanations for the observed age differences were based on developmental differences in children's understanding of the fantasy-reality distinction and in their responsiveness to perceptually salient stimuli.
The sources of stress (academics, financial, family, social, and daily hassles) and coping strategies (self-help, approach,
accommodation, avoidance, and self-punishment) of 166 college students were examined. The relationship between sex, specific
sources of stress, and coping strategies was also investigated. Students completed a stress assessment inventory and a stress
coping inventory based on a 5-factor revised COPE model (Zuckerman and Gagne Journal of Research in Personality, 37:169–204,
2003). Results found that college women reported a higher overall level of stress and greater use of emotion-focused coping
strategies than college men. College men and women also reported different coping strategies for different stressors; however
the use of emotion-focused coping strategies dominated over problem-solving strategies for both men and women. These results
have implications for designing stress reduction workshops that build on the existing adaptive emotion-focused strategies
of college students.
The COPE (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989), an inventory of coping strategies, was revised by modifying one of its subscales and adding seven new ones. Factor analysis of the new questionnaire revealed five dimensions: self-help, approach, accommodation, avoidance, and self-punishment. To measure these dimensions, we constructed a 5-subscale, 40-item revised COPE (R-COPE). In subsequent studies, the 5 R-COPE subscales were predicted prospectively from one situational variable (perceived control) and one dispositional construct (autonomy versus control orientation). In additional studies, the 5 subscales served as prospective predictors of several adjustment and well being indices. These studies along with correlations between the five subscales and other variables demonstrated both convergent and discriminant validity of the R-COPE. Theoretical implications of the 5-factor solution and the case for using the R-COPE in future coping research are discussed.
We developed a self-report measure of sensation seeking, a dispositional risk factor for various problem behaviors. In two studies, we administered the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS) to more than 7000 adolescents. Study 1 participants completed a paper-and-pencil form of the BSSS in mass-testing sessions. Psychometric analyses of the resultant data revealed suitable item characteristics and internal consistency of responses to the items across age (13–17 years), sex, and ethnic categories. Study 2 participants, who completed the BSSS individually in an interview format, also provided data on their perceptions of and experiences with licit and illicit drugs as well as a series of additional risk and protective factors. Scores on the full BSSS correlated inversely with negative attitudes toward drug use and positively with drug use; sensation seeking as measured by the BSSS was a particularly strong predictor of the intention to try marijuana in the future. BSSS scores were reliably and predictably associated with other risk and protective factors.
Examination of Saucier (1994) big-five Mini-Markers using a multinational sample (N = 491) found its psychometric properties suboptimal. Using further multinational samples, through a qualitative study (N = 23) appraising items and then a series of quantitative development and validation studies (total N = 3,068), a revised marker set was derived. This new International English Mini-Markers (a) produced better factor structures, higher scale internal consistency reliabilities, and greater orthogonality than the original set of items, (b) prove to have temporal stability, and (c) acceptable convergent validity.
This study compares the predictive validity of single-item and multiple item measures of attitude toward the ad (AAd) and attitude toward the brand (ABrand), which are two of the most widely measured constructs in marketing. The authors assess the ability of AAd to predict ABrand in copy tests of four print advertisements for diverse new products. There is no difference in the predictive validity of the multiple-item and single-item measures. The authors conclude that for the many constructs in marketing that consist of a concrete singular object and a concrete attribute, such as AAd or ABrand, single-item measures should be used.
