The Effect of Spacious Virtual Nature and Personal Storytelling on Social Connectedness in Young Adults

This study was designed to explore how spacious virtual nature (VN) and personal storytelling can work together to promote social connectedness in young adults as spacious VN was found to stimulate social aspirations in individuals whereas personal storytelling was observed to be an essential component of personal meaning-making and feelings of belonging. 135 students between 18 and 30 were recruited and a 2 (Virtual Nature: Spacious versus non-spacious) x 2 (Storytelling: Personal vs Neutral) between-subjects experimental study design was applied, with social connectedness as a within-subjects variable. No significant main effects or interaction effects of spacious VN and personal storytelling on social connectedness were found. A limitation of the study seems to be the VN stimulus as participants commented that the VN was difficult to immerse in. In future studies, the immersion in VN should be improved by adding more multisensory levels to the VN by designing a virtual reality with scent and somatosensory experience for example. Nevertheless, participants created long extensive stories in the personal storytelling condition. Hence, prospectively, a qualitative study design could be applied to examine the content of the stories. Overall, a longitudinal design should be used to examine VN and storytelling and their effects on social connectedness over time.