Relationship between client laughter and session outcomes in metaverse counseling

Considering the growing interest in VR psychotherapy, this study investigated the relationship between client laughter and session outcomes in metaverse counseling. To investigate the relationships between types of client laughter and session outcomes in metaverse counseling, we employed a multilevel analysis by separating the variables into two levels: session-level (between-sessions) and client-level (between-clients). The dataset included 159 sessions nested among 26 clients. This study found that clients' cheerful and nervous laughter positively impacted session outcomes at the session level (within individual clients). However, when considering client-level laughter events (between-client), nervous laughter at the session level was not significantly related to session outcomes. Polite, reflective, and contemptuous laughter showed no significant relationship with the session outcomes. None of the laughter events were related to session outcomes at the client level (between clients). However, there was a significant within-level interaction effect between session and cheerful laughter on session outcomes. The implications of the effects of client laughter are discussed in metaverse counseling by comparing them with those of in-person counseling.