Test of independence model between body ownership and agency in a virtual reality environment

Body ownership refers to the feeling that one’s body belongs to that person. Agency is the sense of being able to control one’s own body parts. Three major hypothetical models describe the relationship between body ownership and agency. In this study, we examined whether one of the three models—the independent model—was accurate in describing the aforementioned relationship. We prepared for two conditions using an immersive virtual reality setting. In one condition, both body ownership and agency were evoked. In the other condition, only agency was evoked. We compared the effects of motion delays between these two conditions. The effect of delay on agency did not depend on ownership intensity, supporting the independence of body ownership and agency. However, the higher the reported body ownership was, the higher the reported agency could be, negating their independence. Holistically, the results are not in favor of the independence model.