The impact of virtual reality on social interaction and empathy.

Introduction

Virtual reality (VR) has been increasingly explored as a tool to enhance social interaction and empathy. Researchers have investigated its potential to evoke emotional and cognitive empathy, improve social connectedness, and influence prosocial behaviors such as charitable giving. This synthesis aims to present the key insights from multiple studies on the impact of VR on social interaction and empathy.

Key Insights

Enhanced Emotional Empathy:
- VR experiences can significantly increase emotional empathy, making users feel more compassionate and caring towards others .
Increased Engagement and Social Presence:
- VR enhances user engagement and the feeling of social presence, which in turn boosts empathic responses and facial synchrony with the target .
Perspective-Taking and Cognitive Empathy:
- VR can improve perspective-taking, a facet of cognitive empathy, especially when users take the perspective of a specific individual in the VR experience . However, the effect on cognitive empathy is less consistent and often weaker compared to emotional empathy .
Influence on Prosocial Behavior:
- VR experiences can increase the intention to donate money and volunteer time, driven by heightened feelings of empathy and social responsibility. However, these effects may not always translate into actual charitable donations.
Intergroup Contact and Empathy:
- Positive intergroup contact in VR can enhance empathy towards outgroup members, although the direct effects on empathy are sometimes limited and may depend on the quality of the VR experience.
Physiological Synchrony and Empathy:
- VR with biofeedback can enhance physiological synchrony between users and increase perceived empathy, particularly when both visual and physiological feedback are provided.
Limitations and Boundary Conditions:
- The effectiveness of VR in promoting empathy can be limited by factors such as the type of VR experience, the level of immersion, and the duration of the empathic effects .

Conclusion

The research indicates that VR has a notable potential to enhance emotional empathy and social presence, making users feel more connected and compassionate towards others. While VR can also improve perspective-taking, its impact on cognitive empathy is less consistent. Additionally, VR experiences can drive prosocial behaviors like volunteering and donating, although these effects may not always be sustained. Overall, VR shows promise as a tool for fostering empathy and social interaction, but its effectiveness can vary based on the design and implementation of the VR experience.

The impact of virtual reality on social interaction and empathy.

Summary

Introduction

Key Insights

Conclusion

Sources and full results

Facilitating empathy through virtual reality

Virtual reality experiences can increase empathy for refugees, as they engage participants more and connect them to their experiences.

Exposure to social suffering in virtual reality boosts compassion and facial synchrony

Virtual reality (VR) enhances empathy and facial synchrony in viewers, with social presence playing a key role in promoting caring motivations.

Virtual Reality as a Medium to Elicit Empathy: A Meta-Analysis

Virtual reality (VR) shows significant positive changes in perspective-taking outcomes but not empathy, with a low number of studies included in this meta-analysis.

The effects of Virtual Reality (VR) on charitable giving: The role of empathy, guilt, responsibility, and social exclusion

Virtual Reality (VR) increases empathy, responsibility, and charitable giving intentions, particularly for socially excluded individuals.

Virtual reality perspective-taking increases cognitive empathy for specific others

Virtual reality perspective-taking experiences increase cognitive empathy for specific others, but do not affect behavior in real-stakes behavioral games.

The Limited Benefits of Using Virtual Reality 360° Videos to Promote Empathy and Charitable Giving

360° videos can increase emotional empathy but do not significantly improve cognitive empathy or influence charitable donations.

Investigating the Influence of Intergroup Contact in Virtual Reality on Empathy: An Exploratory Study Using AltspaceVR

Intergroup contact in virtual reality with an outgroup avatar can increase empathic interest, but has no significant direct effect on empathy.

Virtual Empathy

Virtual reality (VR) may not enhance empathy, as it may worsen political fragmentation and social polarization by reducing otherness in its alterity.

Evoking Physiological Synchrony and Empathy Using Social VR With Biofeedback

Shared biofeedback on EEG frontal asymmetry and respiratory activation in social VR settings enhances perceived empathy towards the other user during a compassion meditation exercise.

Virtual reality improves emotional but not cognitive empathy: A meta-analysis.

Virtual reality improves emotional empathy, but not cognitive empathy, and less advanced VR experiences are no more effective than less expensive cardboard headsets.

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