Quan-Hoang Vuong, Fatemeh Kianfar, Thi Mai Anh Tran, Ni Putu Wulan Purnama Sari, Cresensia Dina Candra Kumaladewi, Viet-Phuong La, Minh-Hoang Nguyen
As digital worlds become increasingly immersive and ecologically sophisticated, they provide novel contexts for examining how human value systems, specifically human exceptionalism, are formed and transformed. This study investigates how virtual environment-modification behaviors and players’ sense of immersiveness jointly predict exceptionalism. Using Granular Interaction Thinking Theoryand the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework, we analyze five key activities—tree planting, flower planting, flower crossbreeding, terraforming, and creating conditions for bug respawn—based on a dataset of 640 Animal Crossing: New Horizons players from 29 countries. Results reveal two behavioral clusters distinguished by controllability. High-controllability behaviors (i.e., flower planting and terraforming) predict higher exceptionalism, whereas the flower-planting effect reverses among highly immersed players. Low-controllability behaviors (i.e., flower crossbreeding and manipulating bug spawning) predict lower exceptionalism, but these associations weaken or reverse under high immersiveness, respectively. These findings suggest leveraging virtual worlds to cultivate Nature Quotient (NQ), mitigate exceptionalist tendencies, and foster eco-surplus culture. © 2026 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Centre for Interdisciplinary Social Research, Phenikaa University, Hanoi, Viet Nam; University College, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea; Faculty of Humanities, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran; College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, United States; Faculty of Nursing, Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic University, Surabaya, Indonesia; Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic University, Surabaya, Indonesia