The Factor Structure of the Presence Questionnaire

Abstract

Constructing a valid measure of presence and discovering the factors that contribute to presence have been much sought after goals of presence researchers and at times have generated controversy among them. This paper describes the results of principal-components analyses of Presence Questionnaire (PQ) data from 325 participants following exposure to immersive virtual environments. The analyses suggest that a 4-factor model provides the best fit to our data. The factors are Involvement, Adaptation/Immersion, Sensory Fidelity, and Interface Quality. Except for the Adaptation/Immersion factor, these factors corresponded to those identified in a cluster analysis of data from an earlier version of the questionnaire. The existence of an Adaptation/Immersion factor leads us to postulate that immersion is greater for those individuals who rapidly and easily adapt to the virtual environment. The magnitudes of the correlations among the factors indicate moderately strong relationships among the 4 factors. Within these relationships, Sensory Fidelity items seem to be more closely related to Involvement, whereas Interface Quality items appear to be more closely related to Adaptation/Immersion, even though there is a moderately strong relationship between the Involvement and Adaptation/Immersion factors.

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