Publication
The presence of fear: how subjective fear, not physiological arousal, shapes the experience of presence
Publisher:
Center for Open Science
Date:
16-05-2023
DOI:
10.31219/OSF.IO/2DX7N
Abstract: When we become engrossed in novels, films, games, or even our own wandering thoughts, we can feel present in a reality distinct from the real world. Although this subjective sense of presence is, presumably, a ubiquitous aspect of everyday conscious experience, the mechanisms that produce it are not known. Correlational studies conducted in virtual reality have shown that we feel more present when we are afraid, motivating claims that physiological arousal contributes to presence however, such causal claims have yet to be evaluated. Here, we report two experiments that test the causal role of subjective and physiological components of fear in generating presence. In Study 1, we validated a virtual reality simulation capable of inducing fear. We asked participants to rate their emotions while they walked across a wooden plank that appeared to be suspended high above a city street at the same time, we recorded heart rate and skin conductance levels. Height exposure increased ratings of both fear and presence, and also increased physiological arousal. Although presence and fear ratings were positively correlated during height exposure, presence and physiological measures were unrelated. In Study 2, we manipulated whether the plank appeared to be at height, or on the ground. Using a mediational approach, we found that the relationship between height exposure and presence on the plank was fully mediated by self-reported fear, and not by physiological arousal. Findings point to the importance of subjective emotional experience in informing the feeling that we are physically situated within a reality.