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

TL;DR

This study investigates how different types of presence in social virtual reality influence users' basic psychological needs, revealing that social presence enhances all needs, with demographic factors moderating these effects, informing better VR design.

Contribution

It provides a systematic analysis of how social, spatial, and self-presence relate to psychological needs in social VR, highlighting the moderating role of gender and age.

Findings

Social presence predicts all three basic needs.

Self-presence predicts competence and relatedness.

Spatial presence shows no significant effects.

Abstract

Extensive research has examined presence and basic psychological needs (drawing on Self-Determination Theory) in digital media. While prior work offers hints of potential connections, we lack a systematic account of whether and how distinct presence dimensions map onto the basic needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. We surveyed 301 social VR users and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. Results show that social presence predicts all three needs, while self-presence predicts competence and relatedness, and spatial presence shows no direct or moderating effects. Gender and age moderated these relationships: women benefited more from social presence for autonomy and relatedness, men from self- and spatial presence for competence and autonomy, and younger users showed stronger associations between social presence and relatedness, and between self-presence and autonomy. These findings position presence as a motivational mechanism shaped by demographic factors. The results offer theoretical insights and practical implications for designing inclusive, need-supportive multiuser VR environments.