Appraisal–Choice Mismatch in Public-Space Entrance Transitions: Multimodal Evidence from Virtual-Reality Simulation

Public-space entrances are often assessed through ratings, although correspondence between favorable appraisal and entry choice remains unclear. We examined this relationship in an immersive virtual-reality experiment involving 72 adults and 24 scenes (1728 trials). A within-participant design varied entrance type, transition depth, pausing support, and natural-surveillance legibility. Participants made controller-based entry choices during each scene and rated safety, legibility, control, and retreatability afterward; gaze and electrodermal activity were recorded concurrently. The primary mismatch index compared standardized appraisal with entry rate, while latency was analyzed separately. Medium pausing support with high surveillance legibility (MH) combined favorable safety and legibility ratings with the lowest reported entry rate (9.95%) and longest mean latency (4.39 s). MH had the largest mismatch under eight of ten appraisal-weight specifications. High pausing support with high legibility combined favorable appraisal and frequent entry. These findings support evaluating entrances through both subjective experience and behavioral uptake, and assessing readable interior information alongside opportunities to pause and orient. Causal mechanisms and transfer to physical entrances require further verification.