Shape of You: Implications of Social Context and Avatar Body Shape on Relatedness, Emotions, and Performance in a Virtual Reality Workout

TL;DR

This study investigates how social context and avatar body shape in virtual reality workouts influence users' relatedness, emotions, and performance, highlighting the importance of emotional factors in motivation and engagement.

Contribution

It explores the effects of avatar body shape and social context on emotional responses and performance in VR workouts, providing new insights into virtual embodiment and motivation.

Findings

Avatar body shape affects user emotions and relatedness.

Social context influences workout performance and emotional engagement.

Emotional responses are key to motivation in VR environments.

Abstract

It is obvious that emotions are causal variables of motivation, as they elicit states, forces and energies that trigger and guide labor behavior. Thus, a motivational tension that is not informed by needs alone, but also by emotions, intention, goals and means to achieve them is therefore generated within the mental, emotional and physical plane. Based on Montserrat's opinion (2004: 131), that "to motivate means, above all, to move and to transmit an emotion", we will undertake to identify the mutual influences between emotions and motivation. The main objectives of this article are to display a summary of the theories and definitions about emotions and to explore the links between emotions and motivation. Although interconnected, emotions and motivation can be contemplated from a double perspective: (1) emotions influence motivation and (2) motivation influences emotions. Moreover, we will consider motivation from three dimensions: (1) cognitive, (2) affective and (3) volitional. The ultimate purpose of this article is to issue a warning as to the importance of the emotional side of motivation. An important part in implementing such insight is to be played by managers (and by employees, also), who should develop the skills and know-how needed to keep a well-balanced emotional climate that effectively favors the maximization of individual and group motivation at the workplace.