Psychological Variables and Reality Judgment in Virtual Environments: The Roles of Absorption and Dissociation

Literature on virtual reality (VR) and psychology has focused on the influence that some basic psychological processes have on VR. Although psychological processes may be defined as common to all humans, there are individual differences that might make it difficult to provide the same VR experience for everyone. Of the several personality and psychological variables that might be relevant to the VR field, this study focuses on two: absorption and dissociation. Both psychological dimensions are deeply interrelated and might play an important role in the immersion of subjects in virtual environments and in the reality attributions they make. Thus, the purpose of this study was to ascertain personality correlates on differences regarding the VR experience. The subjects were 39 psychology undergraduate students who were immersed in a VR environment for 15 minutes. Our data suggest that both absorption and dissociation influenced central issues regarding reality judgment in VR.