Feelings of presence and perceived social support in social virtual reality platforms

Abstract

Social virtual reality (social VR) platforms are gaining popularity among users. Previous qualitative research suggests that feelings of presence can make these platforms an attractive environment to obtain social support from others. Building on these exploratory insights, we carried out a quantitative study to illuminate how different types of presence in social VR platforms facilitate social support. The results of a large survey conducted among users (N = 1231) show that feelings of social presence and self-presence are predictors of perceived social support and that this perception of social support is positively associated with users' subjective well-being. Perceived social support is greater for women than for men, and it differs across platforms, although with small effect sizes. These results underline the role of presence in the perception of computer-mediated social support, suggesting that the affordances of social VR make it a particularly well-suited medium for facilitating beneficial interactions among users.