Willingness to Interact: Social Resources Facilitate Pulling Actions toward Social Avatars in Virtual Reality

Jaejoon Jeong, Hwaryung Lee, Ji-Eun Shin, Daeun Kim, Sei Kang, Gun A. Lee, Soo-Hyung Kim, Hyung-Jeong Yang, Seungwon Kim

Abstract: This study examined whether individuals with richer real-world social resources exhibit a greater willingness to interact with social avatars in Virtual Environment (VE). Employing a psychological approach, we assessed willingness to interact by measuring response times for pulling or pushing avatars. The results revealed that participants with richer social resources performed faster pulling actions toward social avatars, indicating a heightened willingness to engage. Notably, these effects were specific to social targets (i.e., avatars) and were not observed with non-social targets (i.e., a flag).