Trust games in virtual reality

Last registered on August 28, 2024
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Trust games in virtual reality
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013935
Initial registration date
August 26, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
August 28, 2024, 3:29 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
China
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Hao LING
Affiliation
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-08-28
End date
2024-10-30
Keywords
Behavior
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We study interpersonal trust and trustworthiness in the context of virtual reality (VR) by adapting the canonical trust game to VR. We first replicate the classic trust game paradigm in a VR environment, aiming to assess the generalizability of trust game findings from traditional lab conditions to high-immersive virtual environments (like Metaverse).

Additionally, we also explore the influences of incongruity between real entities (humans) and avatars on trust and trustworthiness. Incongruity refers to the mismatch between an individual's self-perception and their representation in a virtual environment, such as the appearance or voice of their avatar. The findings from this research will contribute to a deeper understanding of how trust and trustworthiness are influenced by the (in)congruity between one's real identity and virtual representation, which is particularly relevant for prosocial behaviors and economic transactions in virtual environments.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
LING, Hao. 2024. "Trust games in virtual reality." AEA RCT Registry. August 28. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13935-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2024-08-28
Intervention End Date
2024-10-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Trust and trustworthiness in virtual reality.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Trust and trustworthiness are measured by the sender's and receiver's decisions in the trust game.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
1. Simulator Sickness
2. VR Presence Experience
3. Experience and perceptions in VR (Perception of avatar: similarity and embodiment, Perception of social presence)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
We adopt the following questionnaires to measure those secondary outcomes:
1. Simulator Sickness Questionnaire, SSQ
2. Igroup Presence Questionnaire, IPQ
3. Questionnaire of Litvinova et al. (2023)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study will involve male and female participants, 18 years of age or older who are university students, to explore the nuances of trust and trustworthiness in a virtual reality (VR) environment. We implement a five-treatment between-subject design randomized at the session level. Every experimental session consists of two participants. Each participant will be assigned an avatar at the beginning of the VR experiment. There are only two avatars, a female one and a male one.

The first treatment simply replicates the standard trust game, with one participant taking on the role of a trustor (sender) and the other a trustee (receiver). The trustor chooses how many tokens to send to the trustee, who receives three times the amount sent and then decides how many if any to return to the trustor. All participants' avatars are consistent with actual gender. Before their trust game interactions, they see each other's avatars but there is no verbal communication between them.

To investigate the impact of incongruity, we modify the replication treatment by introducing a critical aspect that the gender of one's avatar may not align with his/her actual gender. To make such incongruity noticed by one's counterpart, we add an audio testing process before the game begins, where both participants read a given text to each other through a voice changer. This voice changer unifies all participants' voices within their own gender group, thus allowing their gender to be detectable by their counterparts while retaining anonymity. No further communication is allowed. For half of the sessions, the trustor(trustee)'s avatar will be incongruent with his/her actual gender. Based on (in)congruity, we have four more treatments: both the sender and the receiver are gender-avatar congruent (SCRC), only the sender is gender-avatar congruent (SCRI), only the receiver is (SIRC), and neither is (SIRI).
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Sessions.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A.
Sample size: planned number of observations
200-400 students in a university.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
40-80 students per treatment.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou)
IRB Approval Date
2024-06-25
IRB Approval Number
HKUST(GZ)-HSP-2024-0044
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials