Research on physical-world environments has shown that the spatial properties of built worlds are consequential for shaping psychological states and social behavior. However, it has been difficult to empirically test this in natural settings in the physical world. This study uses immersive virtual reality (VR) environments, which have shown to have comparable effects to physical-world environments, to investigate the influence of two spatial dimensions (ceiling height and floor area) on individuals' attitudes and nonverbal behaviors during social interactions. In the present study, groups of three to four physically remote participants wore VR headsets ( = 110) and took part in discussions every week for four weeks in one of four virtual environments that varied in their spatial dimensions (low or high ceilings, small or large floor areas). Results showed that, when in a virtual environment with a high ceiling, participants reported feeling greater perceived restorativeness, awe, and momentary affective well-being, compared to when they were in virtual environments with low ceilings. Participants also paid more social attention (i.e., looked at other group members), when they were in virtual environments with high ceilings. When in a virtual environment with a large floor area, participants reported having a greater sense of awe, compared to environments with small floor areas. Furthermore, when in a large environment with a high ceiling, participants physically moved their heads more slowly and virtually stood further apart from their group members, compared to the other three conditions. We discuss implications for theoretical work on context and behaviors as well as design of social VR environments.

中文翻译：

---

虚拟环境的空间维度对社交互动中态度和非语言行为的影响

对物理世界环境的研究表明，建筑世界的空间属性对于塑造心理状态和社会行为具有重要意义。然而，很难在物理世界的自然环境中对此进行实证检验。本研究使用沉浸式虚拟现实（VR）环境来研究两个空间维度（天花板高度和地板面积）对社交互动过程中个人态度和非语言行为的影响，该环境已被证明与物理世界环境具有可比性。在本研究中，由三到四名物理远程参与者组成的小组佩戴 VR 耳机 (= 110)，并每周在四个空间维度各不相同（天花板低或高、天花板小或高）的虚拟环境之一中参加讨论，持续四个星期。占地面积大）。结果表明，与在天花板较低的虚拟环境中相比，在天花板较高的虚拟环境中，参与者表示感受到更大的恢复力、敬畏感和瞬间的情感幸福感。当参与者处于天花板很高的虚拟环境中时，他们也会更加关注社会（即观察其他小组成员）。与地面面积较小的环境相比，在地面面积较大的虚拟环境中，参与者表示有更大的敬畏感。此外，与其他三种情况相比，当在天花板较高的大环境中时，参与者的头部移动速度更慢，并且实际上与小组成员的距离更远。我们讨论了对情境和行为以及社交 VR 环境设计的理论工作的影响。