title: Virtual and live social facilitation while exergaming: competitiveness moderates exercise intensity.
abstract: Grounded in social facilitation theory, this study compared the impact on exercise intensity of a virtual versus a live competitor, when riding a virtual reality-enhanced stationary bike ("cybercycle"). It was hypothesized that competitiveness would moderate effects. Twenty-three female college students were exposed to three conditions on a cybercycle: solo training, virtual competitor, and live competitor. After training without a competitor (solo condition for familiarization with equipment), participants competed against a virtual avatar or live rider (random order of presentation). A repeated-measures analysis revealed a significant condition (virtual/live) by competitiveness (high/low) interaction for exercise intensity (watts). More competitive participants exhibited significantly greater exercise intensity when competing against a live versus virtual competitor. The implication is that live competitors can have an added social facilitation effect and influence exercise intensity, although competitiveness moderates this effect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Union College, Schenectady, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Amanda L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Snyder
authors.forename: Cay
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anderson-Hanley
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Arciero
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001642:Bicycling / Q000523:psychology; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D005082:Physical Exertion; D012932:Social Facilitation; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D055815:Young Adult