Immersive affordances and problematic consumption in virtual reality erotic content use: extending a Cognitive-Behavioral Model

Abstract

Abstract Existing cognitive-behavioral accounts of problematic technology use were developed for screen-based media and do not incorporate the distinctive immersive affordances of virtual reality (VR). Drawing on the Cognitive-Behavioral Model, this study tests an extended model in which four distal antecedents, sensual curiosity (SC), hedonic motivation (HM), sensation seeking (SS), and VR self-efficacy (VSE), predict problematic immersive consumption tendency (PICT) via two VR-specific proximal mechanisms: VR sense of presence (VRP) and VR cognitive satisfaction (VCS). Habit (Hbt) is theorized as a boundary condition. PICT is operationalized using an expanded six-item measure grounded in Griffiths (2005) components model, advancing prior three-item instruments. Structural equation modelling on survey data from 380 active VR-EPC consumers, with bootstrapped mediation (5000 resamples) and hierarchical moderation regression, yields the following results: HM is the strongest predictor of VRP (β = 0.318) and VCS (β = 0.481); VCS is the stronger proximal predictor of PICT (β = 0.291) relative to VRP (β = 0.228); all eight indirect mediation paths are significant; habit is associated with a small but statistically significant amplification of the VRP-PICT relationship (β = 0.116, ΔR 2 = 0.018) but not VCS-PICT (β = 0.031). Discriminant validity is confirmed via Fornell–Larcker and HTMT (Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio of correlations) criteria (all HTMT < 0.58). These findings suggest that VR presence and VCS are distinct proximal pathways linking motivational predispositions to problematic immersive consumption in VR-EPC use, offering preliminary evidence consistent with an immersive extension of CBM and carrying implications for platform design, clinical intervention, and policy. All findings should be interpreted with the cross-sectional design in mind.