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A Stanford-developed virtual reality experience, called “Becoming Homeless,” helps expand research on how this latest immersive technology affects people’s level of empathy.
Fernanda Herrera, left, watches as fellow student Hannah Mieczkowski navigates through the VR experience that begins with an eviction notice. (Image credit: L.A. Cicero)
According to latest Stanford research, individuals who saw in virtual reality, also often called VR, what it will be wish to lose their jobs and houses developed longer-lasting compassion toward the homeless in comparison with those that explored other media versions of the VR scenario, like text. These findings are set to publish Oct. 17 in PLOS ONE.
“Experiences are what define us as humans, so it’s not surprising that an intense experience in VR is more impactful than imagining something,” said Jeremy Bailenson, a professor of communication and a co-author of the paper.
Emerging research, nascent technology
Many enthusiasts of virtual reality view the immersive technology as “the last word empathy machine” that may help people relate to one another higher than novels, TV shows or movies can.
But there’s little research examining how exactly this emerging technology can alter people’s attitudes.
“About 10 million headsets have been sold within the U.S. over the past two years. So, many individuals now have access to VR experiences. But we still don’t know much about how VR affects people,” said Fernanda Herrera, a graduate student within the Department of Communication and the lead writer of the research paper. “This research is a very important step in determining how much of an effect this technology can have on people’s level of empathy in the long run.”
“Empathy isn’t only a trait. It’s something you may work on and switch up or down in several situations.”
—Jamil Zaki
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Past research on VR and empathy has shown mixed results and used small sample sizes composed mostly of faculty students, Herrera said. In addition, previous studies haven’t examined the long-term effect of VR on empathy beyond one week.
As a part of the research, Herrera, together with Stanford psychology scholar Jamil Zaki, Bailenson and psychology graduate student Erika Weisz, conducted two 2-month-long studies with greater than 560 participants, age 15 to 88 and representing at the least eight ethnic backgrounds. Researcher Elise Ogle was also a co-author on the paper.
During the research, some participants were shown “Becoming Homeless,” a 7-minute VR experience developed by Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab.
In “Becoming Homeless,” a narrator guides participants through several interactive VR scenarios that might occur in the event that they lost their jobs. In one scene, the participant has to go searching an apartment to pick out items to sell to be able to pay the rent. In one other scene, the participant finds shelter on a public bus and has to guard belongings from being stolen by a stranger.
Go to the website to view the video.
A trailer of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab’s “Becoming Homeless.”
The researchers found that participants who underwent “Becoming Homeless” were more more likely to have enduring positive attitudes toward the homeless than individuals who did other tasks, corresponding to reading a narrative or interacting with a two-dimensional version of the scenario on a desktop computer. The same people were also more more likely to sign a petition in support of reasonably priced housing, in line with the research.
“Taking the attitude of others in VR produces more empathy and prosocial behaviors in people immediately after going through the experience and over time compared to only imagining what it will be wish to be in another person’s shoes,” Herrera said. “And that’s an exciting finding.”
Measuring empathy over time
Empathy, the flexibility to share and understand another person’s emotions, is a critical a part of meaningful social interactions, in line with scholars. It has been shown to extend people’s understanding of each other and to motivate positive social behaviors, corresponding to donating, volunteering or cooperating with others.
“We tend to think about empathy as something you either have or don’t have,” said Zaki, an assistant professor of psychology and a co-author of the paper. “But plenty of studies have demonstrated that empathy isn’t only a trait. It’s something you may work on and switch up or down in several situations.”
The studies’ results showed that participants within the “Becoming Homeless” condition were significantly more more likely to agree with statements like “Our society doesn’t do enough to assist homeless people.” They were also more more likely to say that they personally cared “very much” concerning the plight of homeless people. The research also showed that their empathetic attitudes toward the homeless endured.
In addition, in line with the primary study, 82 percent of participants within the VR condition signed a petition supporting reasonably priced housing versus 67 percent of the individuals who read a narrative that asked them to assume becoming homeless.
In the second study, 85 percent within the VR condition signed the petition compared to 63 percent who read the narrative. Of participants who went through the two-dimensional version of the VR experience, 66 percent signed the petition.
“What’s special about this research is that it gives us longitudinal evidence that VR changes attitudes and behaviors of individuals in a positive way,” Bailenson said.
More research ahead
Not all empathy exercises that introduce perspectives of various groups produce positive effects, the researchers said. For example, previous research has shown that when individuals are asked to take the attitude of their competitors, they turn into less empathetic toward them.
Similarly, the format of a VR experience also matters when considering how it would alter people’s attitudes, Herrera said.
Herrera, Bailenson and other researchers are working on other studies to work out the nuances of VR’s effects on people.
But for now, Herrera and her team are excited concerning the evidence that they’ve gathered of their latest study.
“Long after our studies were complete, some research participants emailed me to reflect on how they began becoming more involved in the problem afterward. One of them befriended a homeless person of their community and wrote me again once that person found a house,” Herrera said. “It was really inspiring to see that positive, lasting impact.”
The research was supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
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