A Virtual Character’s Agency Affects Social Responses in Immersive Virtual Reality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Social responses to virtual humans in immersive Virtual Reality (VR) may depend on whether users perceive them to be controlled by a person (avatar) or by the computer (agent). As related evidence is growing, this meta-analysis set out to synthesize corresponding findings. Specifically, we analyzed whether the perceived agency of a virtual human affects (1) social presence, (2) the evaluation of the virtual entity, and (3) behaviors toward it differently. Additionally, we controlled for task type, the virtual entity’s appearance, the type of interaction, and agency manipulation. A literature search yielded 20 studies examining 911 participants (agent condition: 460, avatar condition: 451). Differences between perceived avatars and agents in social responses were calculated using Hedges’ g. Results showed differences for social presence (g = 0.65, p = .001) and evaluation (g = 0.30, p = .024) in favor of avatars over agents. No effects emerged for behavioral outcomes. Meta-regressions revealed larger agency-differences in social presence for neutral than for negative tasks, and differences in evaluation for positive compared to mixed and neutral tasks. Overall, our findings suggest that while deliberate social responses like social presence and evaluation depend on perceived agency, automatic behaviors do not. For future research, particularly consistent conceptualizations of key variables are necessitated.

Keywords:

• Agency
• immersive virtual reality
• agents
• avatars
• social responses
• social presence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data is available upon request from the corresponding author (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/YT4HQ).

Additional information

Funding

No funds, grants, or other support was received for conducting this research.

Notes on contributors

Anna Felnhofer

Anna Felnhofer is a research associate (post-doc) and clinical psychologist at the Department of Pediatrics at the Medical University of Vienna. She is the founding director of the PedVR-Lab and the co-editor-in-chief of the journal Digital Psychology. Her research expertise is in Virtual Reality (VR) applications for children and adolescents.

Thiemo Knaust

Thiemo Knaust is a PhD candidate at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf and works as a Medical Service Officer at the Bundeswehr Hospital in Hamburg. His research focuses on examining data-driven, cost-effective, innovative treatments for stress-related mental disorders in a military context.

Lisa Weiss

Lisa Weiss is a tutor and research assistant at the Department of Pediatrics at the Medical University of Vienna. She is a psychology master's student at the University of Vienna and a medical student at the Medical University of Vienna.

Katharina Goinska

Katharina Goinska is a research assistant in the Department of Pediatrics at the Medical University of Vienna and a medical student at the Medical University of Vienna.

Anna Mayer

Anna Mayer is a student research assistant at the Medical University of Vienna. Her primary interest lies in stress-associated disorders, which she researches at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Additionally, Anna Mayer is pursuing a master’s degree in psychology at the University of Vienna.

Oswald D. Kothgassner

Oswald D. Kothgassner is a postdoctoral researcher and licensed clinical psychologist at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Medical University of Vienna. He is head of the Stress in Childhood and Adolescence Research Group and works in the field of stress-associated disorders, therapeutic interventions, and digital health.