Abstract
The present study was designed to examine the correlation between five personality traits (empathy, imagination, immersive tendencies, dissociation tendencies and locus of control) and presence. Moreover, this study aimed to identify an optimal virtual reality user’s profile. Eighty-four students (66 women, 18 men) completed personality questionnaires, experienced exposure in a virtual environment and completed a presence questionnaire. Twenty-three women, among them 13 non-Jewish women and no men, neglected to look out the virtual window, and reported lower levels of presence. Presence correlated with immersive tendencies and empathy. However, empathy and internal locus of control were the best predictors for the sense of presence. A correlation between imagination and presence was only found in the group that avoided viewing the virtual window. This study revealed the importance of empathy and internal locus of control in the sense of presence. In addition, our findings suggest that the subject’s imagination has an important role when the virtual environment is restricted and that we must attend to cultural and gender-related factors when investigating therapy using virtual reality technology.
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Notes
It should be noted that this number differs from the one in table 2 because we've transformed our data so that it will be compatible with Davis's scaling.
It should be noted that this number differs from the one in table 2 because we've transformed our data so that it will be compatible with Jacquith et al.'s scaling.
References
Banos R, Botella C, Garcia-Palacious A, Villa H, Perpina C, Gallardo M (1999) Psychological variables and reality judgement in virtual environments: the role of absorption and dissociation. Cyberpsychol Behav 2:135–142
Banos R, Botella C, Alcaniz M, Liano V, Guerrero B, Rey B (2004) Immersion and emotion: the impact on the sense of presence. Cyberpsychol Behav 7:734–741
Barber TX, Wilson SC (1979) The Barber suggestibility scale and the creative imagination scale: experimental and clinical applications. Am J Clin Hypn 21:84–108
Bernstein EM, Putnam FW (1986) Development, reliability, and validity of a dissociation scale. J Nerv Ment Dis 174:727–735
Bernstein CE, Putnam FW (1993) An update on the dissociative experiences scale. Dissociation 6:16–27
Biocca F, Kim J, Choi Y (2001) Visual touch in virtual environments: an exploratory study of presence, multimodal interfaces, and cross-modal sensory illusions. Presence Teleop Virt 10:247–265
Davis MH (1980) A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy. JSAS (Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology) 10:85–105
Davis MH (1994) Empathy: a social psychological approach. Westview Press, Oxford
Frankle Y (1968) Hebrew translation of the locus of control scale by Rotter. Unpublished, Psychology Department, Bar-llan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
Hair M, Renaud KV, Ramsay J (2007) The influence of self-esteem and locus of control on perceived email-related stress. Comput Hum Behav 23:2791–2803
Hecht D, Reiner M (2007) Field dependency and the sense of object-presence in haptic virtual environments. Cyberpsychol Behav 10:243–251
Hersch PD, Scheibe KE (1967) Reliability and validity of internal-external control as a personality dimension. J Consult Psychol 31:609–613
Jacobson D (2001) Presence revisited: Imagination, competence, and activity in text-based virtual worlds. Cyberpsychol Behav 4:653–673
Jacobson D (2002) On theorizing presence. J Virt Environ 6:1–11
Jacquith L, Rhue JW, Lynn SJ, Seevaratnam J (1996) Cross-cultural aspects of hypnotizability and imagination. Contemp Hypn 13:94–99
Johns CL, Nunez D, Daya M, Sellars D, Casaneuva JS, Blake EH (2000) The interaction between individuals’ immersive tendencies and the sensation of presence in a virtual environment. In: Mulder JD, van Liere R (eds) Virtual environments 2000: Proceedings of the Eurographics Workshop, Springer, London
Jurnet IA, Beciu C, Maldonado J (2005) Individual differences in the sense of presence. In: Slater M (ed) Proceedings of the 8th International Workshop on Presence (“Presence 2005”). University College, London
Kaber DB, Draper JV, Usher JM (2002) Influence of individual differences on application design for individual and collaborative immersive virtual environments. In: Stanney KM (ed) Handbook of virtual environments: design, implementation, and applications. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, New Jersey, pp 379–402
Kizony R (2006) Task performance in virtual reality and its feasibility for rehabilitation of individuals following stroke and spinal cord injury. Dissertation submitted to the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
Laarni J, Ravaja N, Saari T, Hartmann T (2004) Personality-related differences in presence. In: Raya MA, Solaz BR (eds) Proceedings of the Seventh Annual International Workshop PRESENCE 2004. Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Valencia, pp 88–95
Laidlaw TM, Large RG (1997) Harvard group scale of hypnotic susceptibility and the creative imagination scale: defining two separate but correlated abilities. Contemp Hypn 14:26–36
Lee KM (2004) Presence, explicated. Commun Theor 14:27–50
Lefcourt HM (1982) Locus of control: current trends in theory and research. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale
Murray CD, Fox J, Pettifer S (2007) Absorption, dissociation, locus of control and presence in virtual reality. Comput Hum Behav 23:1347–1354
Myers IB, McCaulley MH (1998) Manual: a guide to the development and use of the MBTI. Consulting Psychologist Press, Palo Alto
Newman K (2005) Albert in Africa: online role-playing and lessons from improvisational theatre. Comput Entertain 3:4–4
Nicovich SG, Boller GW, Cornwell TB (2005) Experienced presence within computer-mediated communications: initial explorations on the effects of gender with respect to empathy and immersion. J Comput-Mediat Commun 10:1–17
Pham MT, Meyvis T, Zhou R (2001) Beyond the obvious: chronic vividness of imagery and the use of information in decision-making. Organ Behav Hum Decis 84:226–253
Ravaja N, Saari T, Salminen M, Laarni J, Holopainen J, Jarvinen A (2004) Emotional response patterns and sense of presence during video games: potential criterion variables for game design. In: Hyrskykari A (ed) Proceedings of the NordiCHI 2004. ACM Press, New York, pp 339–347
Robillard G, Bouchard S, Fournier T, Renaud P (2003) Anxiety and presence during VR immersion: a comparative study of the reactions of phobic and non-phobic participants in therapeutic virtual environments derived from computer games. Cyberpsychol Behav 6:467–476
Rothbaum BO, Anderson P, Zimand E, Hodges LF, Lang D, Wilson J (2006) Virtual reality exposure therapy and standard (in vivo) exposure therapy in the treatment of fear of flying. Behav Ther 37:80–90
Rotter J (1966) Generalized expectations for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychol Monogr 80:1–28
Sacau A, Laarni J, Ravaja N, Hartmann T (2005) The impact of personality factors on the experience of spatial presence. In: Slater M (ed) Proceedings of the 8th International Workshop on Presence (“Presence 2005”), University College, London, pp 143–152
Sacau A, Laarni J, Hartmann T (2008) Influence of individual factors on presence. Comput Hum Behav 24:2255–2273
Sack AT, van de Ven V, Etschenberg S, Schatz D, Linden DEJ (2005) Enhanced vividness of mental imagery as a trait marker of schizophrenia? Schizophr Bull 31:97–104
Sas C, O’Hare GMP (2003) Presence equation: an investigation into cognitive factors underlying presence. Presence Teleop Virt 12:523–537
Sas C, O’Hare GMP, Reilly R (2004) Presence and task performance: an approach in the light of cognitive style. Cognit Tech Work 6:53–56
Schubert T, Friedmann F, Regenbrecht H (2001) The experience of presence: factor analytic insights. Presence Teleop Virt 10:266–281
Schweitzer Y (1976) Imagination productivity as a function of environmental stimulation. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
Shamay-Tsoory SG, Tomer R, Berger BD, Aharon-Peretz J (2003) Characterization of empathy deficits following prefrontal brain damage: the role of the right ventromedial prefrontal cortex. J Cognit Neurosci 15:324–337
Sheehan PW (1967) A shortened form of Betts’ questionnaire upon mental imagery. J Clin Psychol 23:386–389
Sherer P, Sherer M (2008) Exploring reciprocity in dating violence among Jewish and Arab youths in Israel. Int J Intercult Relat 32:17–33
Singer MJ, Witmer BG (1996) Presence measures for virtual environments: background and development. Draft Research Note: United States Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences
Slater M (1999) Measuring presence: a response to the Witmer and Singer presence questionnaire. Presence Teleop Virt 8:560–566
Somer E, Avni R (2003) Dissociative phenomena among recovering heroin users and their relationship to duration of abstinence. J Soc Work Pract Addict 3:25–38
Somer E, Dolgin M, Saadon M (2001) Validation of the Hebrew version of the dissociative experiences scale (H-DES) in Israel. J Trauma Dissociation 2:53–66
Steuer JS (1992) Defining virtual reality: dimensions determining telepresence. J Commun 42:73–93
Sun J (2005) User readiness to interact with information systems: a human activity perspective. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of A & M, Texas
Taylor CM, Schepers JM, Crous F (2006) Locus of control in relation to flow. J Ind Psychol 32:63–71
Thomas NJT (1999) Are theories of imagery theories of imagination? An active perception approach to conscious mental content. Cognit Sci 23:207–245
Valecha GK, Ostrom TM (1974) An abbreviated measure of internal-external locus of control. J Pers Assess 38:369–376
Webster J, Martocchio JJ (1992) Microcomputer playfulness: development of a measure with workplace implications. MIS Quart 16:201–226
Wickramasekera IEII, Szlyk JP (2003) Could empathy be a predictor of hypnotic ability? Int J Clin Exp Hypn 51:390–399
Wirth W, Hartmann T, Bocking S, Vorderer P, Klimmt C, Schramm H et al (2007) A process model of the formation of spatial presence experiences. Media Psychol 9:493–525
Witmer BG, Singer MJ (1998) Measuring presence in virtual environments: a presence questionnaire. Presence Teleop Virt 7:225–240
Yu CK-C (2005) Suggestibility of the Chinese as revealed by the creative imagination scale. Contemp Hypn 22:77–83
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wallach, H.S., Safir, M.P. & Samana, R. Personality variables and presence. Virtual Reality 14, 3–13 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-009-0124-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-009-0124-3