From virtual sparks to reality: How virtual reality exposure influences skill learning intentions.

Emerging technologies such as virtual reality (VR) transform how individuals engage with learning, skill development, and career exploration by offering immersive and interactive learning experiences.Despite VR's growing adoption, its role in fostering intentions for vocational learning and skill development remains underexplored.This study examined how exposure to VR influences individuals' intentions for future learning and skill development, focusing on affective responses and behavioral intentions.Using a VR welding simulation among 366 undergraduate students, we drew upon social cognitive career theory (Lent et al., 1994) and the classic mere exposure effect (Zajonc, 1968) informed by the salience theory (salience theory of mere exposure; Mrkva & Van Boven, 2020) to investigate whether VR immersion and training reactions positively influence skill learning intentions while accounting for gender, interests, and self-efficacy.Path analysis supported a dual path: (a) self-efficacy predicted intentions through interests and (b) VR immersion predicted intentions through pleasant affective reactions, with the overall model showing good model fit: root-mean-square error of approximation = .08,standardized root-mean-squared residual = .06,comparative fit index = .95,and Tucker-Lewis index = .90.Post hoc analyses revealed similar pathways across gender, with descriptively stronger associations between pleasant reactions and learning intentions among women ( = .53)than men ( = .43).Together, these findings highlight how VR experience can increase people's intentions for further learning and skill training through salience, with important implications for VR-based interventions.