Social, Spatial, and Self-Presence as Predictors of Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction in Social VR

Paper Title

Social, Spatial, and Self-Presence as Predictors of Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction in Social VR

Publication Info

• Topic area: Psychological need satisfaction in social VR environments through the lens of presence dimensions.
• Keywords: Social VR, presence, Self-Determination Theory, autonomy, competence, relatedness, gender differences, age differences, Structural Equation Modeling.

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Existing research lacks a systematic understanding of how different dimensions of presence (social, spatial, self) in VR environments map onto the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
• Significance: Understanding these relationships is critical for designing VR environments that promote user motivation, well-being, and sustained engagement.
• Motivation and related work: Prior studies have explored presence and psychological needs separately but have not integrated these constructs in social VR contexts. Additionally, the role of demographic factors (e.g., gender, age) in shaping these relationships remains underexplored.

Solution

• Proposed approach: The study investigates how social, spatial, and self-presence predict autonomy, competence, and relatedness in social VR, using Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as a framework.
• Novelty:
  1. Establishes links between presence dimensions and psychological needs, framing presence as a motivational construct.
  2. Demonstrates that gender and age moderate the relationships between presence and need satisfaction.
  3. Provides actionable insights for designing inclusive and need-supportive VR environments.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  • Conducted a survey of 301 social VR users.
  • Used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to analyze direct and moderating effects of presence dimensions on psychological needs.
  • Examined gender and age as moderators using multi-group SEM.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • Social presence consistently predicts all three psychological needs (autonomy: β = 0.49, competence: β = 0.30, relatedness: β = 0.40).
  • Self-presence predicts competence (β = 0.30) and relatedness (β = 0.41) but not autonomy.
  • Spatial presence does not significantly predict any psychological needs or moderate other presence dimensions.
• Advantage over baselines: Demonstrates that presence dimensions have distinct motivational roles, with social presence being the strongest predictor of need satisfaction. Highlights demographic differences in how presence impacts psychological needs.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Participants: 301 social VR users recruited via Prolific.
  • Measures: Adapted scales for presence and psychological needs, validated through Confirmatory and Exploratory Factor Analyses.
  • Analysis: SEM for main effects, multi-group SEM for moderation by gender and age.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Did not examine other potential moderators like personality traits or cultural background.
  • Relied on self-reported data, which may be influenced by memory biases.
  • Future research should adopt longitudinal designs, explore additional outcomes (e.g., emotion regulation), and compare specific VR platforms or features.

Summary

This study investigates how social, spatial, and self-presence in social VR environments predict the satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, using Self-Determination Theory. Social presence emerged as the strongest predictor of all three needs, while self-presence selectively supported competence and relatedness. Spatial presence played a limited role, functioning as a perceptual backdrop. Gender and age moderated these relationships, with women benefiting more from social presence and younger users deriving greater autonomy from self-presence. These findings highlight the need for tailored VR designs that address diverse user needs and motivations, advancing both theoretical and practical understanding of presence in immersive environments.