Virtual Perspectives: Effects of Spatial Presence and Agency on Affective and Cognitive Virtual Reality Perspective-Taking

Perspective-taking supports empathy, bias reduction, and social cognition, and virtual reality (VR) promises to facilitate it by immersing users into simulated perspectives. Yet, how VR qualities, such as spatial presence and agency, influence – and potentially enhance – perspective-taking remains unclear. We conducted two controlled experiments (N=23 and N=25) using a VR paradigm that manipulated spatial presence (2D vs. 3D) and avatar agency (synchronous vs. delayed motion, and with vs. without a task). We measured cognitive perspective-taking using an anchoring task and self-avatar overlap as an indicator of affective perspective-taking. Results show that increased spatial presence and agency both significantly enhanced affective perspective-taking. However, neither significantly affected cognitive perspective-taking. These findings suggest that while VR qualities can enhance how close a person feels to an avatar, they may not strongly affect cognitive perspective-taking. By studying the influence of two VR qualities, we offer guidance on building more effective perspective-taking experiences in immersive environments.