Psychometric properties of the embodiment scale for the rubber hand illusion and its relation with individual differences
Abstract The Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI) opened the investigation of the sense of body ownership in healthy people. By putting in slight contrast vision touch and proprioception, healthy people embody a fake hand in one's body representation. The easiness of the procedure, typically measured wit...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84595-x |
| _version_ | 1818345426142625792 |
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| author | Daniele Romano Angelo Maravita Marco Perugini |
| author_facet | Daniele Romano Angelo Maravita Marco Perugini |
| author_sort | Daniele Romano |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI) opened the investigation of the sense of body ownership in healthy people. By putting in slight contrast vision touch and proprioception, healthy people embody a fake hand in one's body representation. The easiness of the procedure, typically measured with a set of questions that capture the subjective experience, favoured its blooming. However, validation studies of embodiment questionnaires are lacking, and the individual differences that contribute to the embodiment received little attention. In our study, 298 participants underwent an RHI procedure following both synchronous and asynchronous (control) visuo-tactile stimulations. The study had multiple aims: (a) to explore the psychometric structure of a 27-items questionnaire largely used in the literature; (b) to build a psychometrically efficient scale to measure embodiment-related phenomena; (c) to explore whether and how individual differences (empathy, self-esteem and mindfulness) are associated with the experience of illusion. We found a relatively simple structure consisting of three components: embodiment of the rubber hand, disembodiment of the biological hand, physical sensations experienced during the procedure. The scales designed were psychometrically reliable and theoretically meaningful, encompassing 18 of the original items. Finally, by adopting a network analysis approach, we found that the embodiment is directly related to empathy and self-esteem, while disembodiment and physical sensation are unrelated to individual personality traits. The study provides substantial evidence to use the embodiment scale as a standard questionnaire for future RHI studies. Additionally, the correlations with personality traits suggest that the embodiment induced by the RHI deeply integrates with the complexity of the individuals and their differences. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T17:02:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4a8f47619fcc4c38832e4a431a18e584 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T17:02:11Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-4a8f47619fcc4c38832e4a431a18e5842022-12-21T23:37:47ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222021-03-0111111610.1038/s41598-021-84595-xPsychometric properties of the embodiment scale for the rubber hand illusion and its relation with individual differencesDaniele Romano0Angelo Maravita1Marco Perugini2Psychology Department, University of Milano-BicoccaPsychology Department, University of Milano-BicoccaPsychology Department, University of Milano-BicoccaAbstract The Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI) opened the investigation of the sense of body ownership in healthy people. By putting in slight contrast vision touch and proprioception, healthy people embody a fake hand in one's body representation. The easiness of the procedure, typically measured with a set of questions that capture the subjective experience, favoured its blooming. However, validation studies of embodiment questionnaires are lacking, and the individual differences that contribute to the embodiment received little attention. In our study, 298 participants underwent an RHI procedure following both synchronous and asynchronous (control) visuo-tactile stimulations. The study had multiple aims: (a) to explore the psychometric structure of a 27-items questionnaire largely used in the literature; (b) to build a psychometrically efficient scale to measure embodiment-related phenomena; (c) to explore whether and how individual differences (empathy, self-esteem and mindfulness) are associated with the experience of illusion. We found a relatively simple structure consisting of three components: embodiment of the rubber hand, disembodiment of the biological hand, physical sensations experienced during the procedure. The scales designed were psychometrically reliable and theoretically meaningful, encompassing 18 of the original items. Finally, by adopting a network analysis approach, we found that the embodiment is directly related to empathy and self-esteem, while disembodiment and physical sensation are unrelated to individual personality traits. The study provides substantial evidence to use the embodiment scale as a standard questionnaire for future RHI studies. Additionally, the correlations with personality traits suggest that the embodiment induced by the RHI deeply integrates with the complexity of the individuals and their differences.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84595-x |
| spellingShingle | Daniele Romano Angelo Maravita Marco Perugini Psychometric properties of the embodiment scale for the rubber hand illusion and its relation with individual differences Scientific Reports |
| title | Psychometric properties of the embodiment scale for the rubber hand illusion and its relation with individual differences |
| title_full | Psychometric properties of the embodiment scale for the rubber hand illusion and its relation with individual differences |
| title_fullStr | Psychometric properties of the embodiment scale for the rubber hand illusion and its relation with individual differences |
| title_full_unstemmed | Psychometric properties of the embodiment scale for the rubber hand illusion and its relation with individual differences |
| title_short | Psychometric properties of the embodiment scale for the rubber hand illusion and its relation with individual differences |
| title_sort | psychometric properties of the embodiment scale for the rubber hand illusion and its relation with individual differences |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84595-x |
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