Sense of agency during group control

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Sense of agency (SoA) research traditionally focused on dyads.
• Limited understanding of SoA with increasing follower numbers.
• Unclear if commanding social agents differs from physical events.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate how SoA changes with an increasing number of followers.
• Examine differences in SoA when commanding social agents versus inanimate objects.
• Determine factors influencing SoA in group dynamics.

Main Methods:

• Four experiments using virtual agents and streetlamp stimuli.
• Participants commanded virtual agents to clap or streetlamps to turn on.
• Measured explicit agency judgments in relation to follower count and group size.

Main Results:

• A linear increase in explicit agency judgments with follower count was observed.
• The effect of group size on SoA was mediated by the perceived proportion of responders.
• Commanding human-like avatars amplified the SoA effect compared to inanimate objects.

Conclusions:

• SoA increases with follower count, particularly with human-like agents.
• Perceived response proportion, not absolute group size, is key to this SoA increase.
• Group dynamics and social presence significantly influence the sense of agency.