Personality trait modulated panic emotional arousal and physiological responses in underground spaces: A virtual reality and multimodal measurement study.

Collective panic is an important factor influencing emergency responses in underground environments; however, most existing studies assume homogeneous individuals and lack objective physiological validation. This study proposes a personality-modulated panic dynamics framework based on immersive virtual reality evacuation experiments conducted in a subway environment, integrating multimodal physiological measurements. Participants performed virtual reality emergency response tasks under panic emotional arousal and non-arousal conditions, during which skin conductance level (SCL) and electroencephalography (EEG) signals were recorded. Relative power changes in the θ, α, and β frequency bands were extracted, and personality traits were quantified using the OCEAN model. A Panic Composite Index (PCI) was constructed using principal component analysis (PCA) to quantify individual panic intensity. Based on this index, a dynamic panic evolution model incorporating external hazard stimuli and personality-modulated feedback regulation mechanisms was established and calibrated using regression analysis. Results indicate that extraversion significantly influences autonomic arousal, while conscientiousness and neuroticism modulate EEG responses in the θ and β bands, reflecting differences in cognitive control and stress responses during panic emotional arousal. Simulation results demonstrate that, under continuous external stimulation, individual panic states exhibit a rapid-response and gradual-stabilization pattern. Meanwhile, individuals with different personality traits display distinct panic-state evolution trajectories. Sensitivity analysis further confirms the robustness and stability of the proposed model. The proposed framework integrates physiological evidence with dynamic modeling, providing a quantitative approach for characterizing heterogeneous emotional arousal responses and offering theoretical insights into risk perception and emergency safety management in underground spaces.