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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 22, 2026

Exergaming in Older People Living with HIV Improves Balance, Mobility and Ameliorates Some Aspects of Frailty

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Published on: October 6, 2016

Virtual and live social facilitation while exergaming: competitiveness moderates exercise intensity.

Amanda L Snyder¹, Cay Anderson-Hanley, Paul J Arciero

¹Department of Psychology, Union College, Schenectady, NY, USA.

Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology

|May 19, 2012

Summary

Live competitors boost exercise intensity more than virtual ones, especially for highly competitive individuals. This highlights the social facilitation effect in virtual reality exercise settings.

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Published on: July 3, 2021

Area of Science:

Sports Science
Psychology
Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

Social facilitation theory suggests the presence of others can enhance performance.
Virtual reality (VR) technology offers new avenues for studying social dynamics in exercise.
The cybercycle integrates VR with stationary biking to create immersive training environments.

Purpose of the Study:

To compare the effects of virtual versus live competitors on exercise intensity.
To investigate if competitiveness moderates the impact of competitors on exercise intensity.
To explore social facilitation in a VR-enhanced exercise context.

Main Methods:

Twenty-three female college students participated in a repeated-measures study.
Participants used a virtual reality-enhanced stationary bike (cybercycle) under three conditions: solo, virtual competitor, and live competitor.
Exercise intensity (watts) and competitiveness levels were measured.

Main Results:

A significant interaction was found between competitor type (virtual/live) and competitiveness (high/low) on exercise intensity.
Highly competitive participants showed greater exercise intensity against a live competitor compared to a virtual competitor.
Less competitive participants did not show a significant difference in intensity between live and virtual competitors.

Conclusions:

Live competitors can elicit a stronger social facilitation effect, leading to higher exercise intensity than virtual competitors.
Individual competitiveness is a key factor moderating the influence of social presence on exercise performance in VR.
Findings suggest leveraging social dynamics in VR exercise can enhance training outcomes, particularly for competitive individuals.