Dynamics of perceptions of psychological momentum in achievement situations in virtual actors

Taking a dynamic systems approach, our research aimed to examine changes in perceptions of psychological momentum (PM) during virtual achievement situations. Participants were asked to watch a video of a table tennis game and to empathize with a player who was experiencing either an ascending (i.e., positive momentum) or descending (i.e., negative momentum) scoring sequence. The momentum sequences used included the same events, but presented in a reverse order depending on the momentum sequence. Following each exchange, participants responded to randomly ordered PM perception items. PM perceptions displayed an abrupt change followed by stabilization, displaying a pattern of negative hysteresis, as already observed by Gernigon et al. (2010). This work prompts us to further examine the dynamics of PM.