Building long-term empathy: A large-scale comparison of traditional and virtual reality perspective-taking.

ABSTRACT: Virtual Reality (VR) has been increasingly referred to as the "ultimate empathy machine" since it allows users to experience any situation from any point of view. However, empirical evidence supporting the claim that VR is a more effective method of eliciting empathy than traditional perspective-taking is limited. Two experiments were conducted in order to compare the short and long-term effects of a traditional perspective-taking task and a VR perspective-taking task (Study 1), and to explore the role of technological immersion when it comes to different types of mediated perspective-taking tasks (Study 2). Results of Study 1 show that over the course of eight weeks participants in both conditions reported feeling empathetic and connected to the homeless at similar rates, however, partici

SUBMITTER: Herrera F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6192572 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature