A Phenomenological study on Adolescent’s relationship experience in Metaverse

Objectives The purposes of this study were to understand their experiences of relating in the Metaverse and provide a basis for exploring the direction of future Metaverse counseling services for adolescents. Methods For this purpose, 9 adolescents who have used Metaverse were interviewed in depth and the data from these interviews. The data collected were analyzed according to the stages of qualitative analysis based on Giorgi's phenomenological method.. While reading repeatedly the contents of the interviews, I drawn the meaning units and components of lived-experiences. Results The data collected were analyzed according to the stages of qualitative analysis based on Giorgi's phenomenological method, which has resultingly drawn four components of experiences that adolescents with relationship experience in Metaverse had along with 17 sub-coponents. The components are <Meet the Metaverse: Find fun when bored, Meet various people comfortably and easily, Do things they couldn’t do in real life, Feel a sense of accomplishment, maintain real life relationships>, <Meet avatar friends: Feel comfortable communicating with people without restrictions, Share intimacy, Build empathy, Share the purpose of using the Metaverse, Make friends>, <Meet as a person: Share information about each other, Share concerns and comfort, Feel like a person, Feel connected>, <Cross the real world and the Metaverse: Stay real life, Recognising the nature of metaverse relationships, not recognising the boundaries of relationships>. Conclusions The study results may provide that metaverse spaces through avatars can be easily and conveniently accessed without the constraints of space and time, as well as freer, broader, more intentional, and sometimes deeper relationships in real life, which can lead to feelings of belonging, intimacy, pleasure, and competence in relationships, thus confirming their applicability to counseling.