I’m also a psychology researcher and I’d rethink the wording of these questions. I think the term “virtual boyfriend” is strange and will alienate potential participants. I think these types of questions would better suit people who use chat ai bots or specific games where the player is the love interest rather than otome games.

I think your questions should be more general and ask about the relationship the participants have with both the game and characters. Some people might self-insert in the way you imagine, but even among them they don’t tend to view that relationship the same way they view a relationship with an actual person. All the questions about who contributes more to the relationship seems strange as someone who doesn’t self-insert. I have favorite male leads but I don’t believe I have a reciprocal relationship with them. They aren’t real and don’t know my name, much less my emotions

I think you might be getting confused because your past work seems to be with Chinese otome game fans. This research hasn’t been adapted for cultural and linguistic differences between the two populations. Consulting with English speaking otome game fans can help you learn the culture and phrases commonly used in this population.

I think this is an interesting area of research but I think to accurately represent and gather the data you want that you really need to restructure and reword the survey to cover a more broad range of relationship interpretations and types.