Walk A Mile in Digital Shoes : The Impact of Embodied Perspective-Taking on The Reduction of Negative Stereotyping in Immersive Virtual Environments

In social psychology, perspective-taking has been shown to be a reliable method in reducing negative social stereotyping. These exercises have until now only relied on asking a person to imagine themselves in the mindset of another person. We argue that immersive virtual environments provide the unique opportunity to allow individuals to directly take the perspective of another person and thus may lead to a greater reduction in negative stereotypes. In the current work, we report on an initial experimental investigation into the benefits of embodied perspective-taking in immersive virtual environments. It was found that negative stereotyping of the elderly was significantly reduced when participants were placed in avatars of old people compared with those participants placed in avatars of young people. We discuss the implications of these results on theories of social interaction and on copresence.

[1]  J. Bailenson,et al.  The Proteus Effect: The Effect of Transformed Self-Representation on Behavior , 2007 .

[2]  Jeremy N. Bailenson,et al.  Transformed Social Interaction: Decoupling Representation from Behavior and Form in Collaborative Virtual Environments , 2004, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[3]  Crystal L. Hoyt,et al.  Immersive Virtual Environment Technology as a Methodological Tool for Social Psychology , 2002 .

[4]  Ralph Schroeder.  The Social Life of Avatars , 2002, Computer Supported Cooperative Work.

[5]  Ralph Schroeder,et al.  Small-Group Behavior in a Virtual and Real Environment: A Comparative Study , 2000, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[6]  A. Galinsky,et al.  Perspective-taking: decreasing stereotype expression, stereotype accessibility, and in-group favoritism. , 2000, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[7]  Steve Benford,et al.  The COVEN Project: Exploring Applicative, Technical, and Usage Dimensions of Collaborative Virtual Environments , 1999, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[8]  Brenda K. Wiederhold,et al.  Clinical Observations During Virtual Reality Therapy for Specific Phobias , 1999, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[9]  G. Riva,et al.  Virtual Environments in Clinical Psychology and Neuroscience: Methods and Techniques in Advanced Patient-Therapist Interaction , 1998 .

[10]  A. Greenwald,et al.  Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: the implicit association test. , 1998, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[11]  Matthew Lombard,et al.  At the Heart of It All: The Concept of Presence , 2006 .

[12]  Max M. North,et al.  Virtual Reality Therapy: An Innovative Paradigm , 1996 .

[13]  Mark H. Davis,et al.  Effect of perspective taking on the cognitive representation of persons: a merging of self and other. , 1996, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[14]  G. Clore,et al.  Social Psychology: Handbook of Basic Principles , 1996 .

[15]  B. Levy.  Improving memory in old age through implicit self-stereotyping. , 1996, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[16]  C. Steele,et al.  Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans. , 1995, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[17]  C. N. Macrae,et al.  Out of mind but back in sight: Stereotypes on the rebound , 1994 .

[18]  E. Langer,et al.  Aging free from negative stereotypes: successful memory in China and among the American deaf. , 1994, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[19]  Mel Slater,et al.  Depth of Presence in Virtual Environments , 1994, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[20]  M. Gurtman,et al.  Evidence for the automaticity of ageism , 1990 .

[21]  P. Devine.  Stereotypes and prejudice: Their automatic and controlled components. , 1989 .

[22]  E. Palmore,et al.  The Facts On Aging Quiz: A Handbook Of Uses And Results , 1988 .

[23]  D M Wegner,et al.  Paradoxical effects of thought suppression. , 1987, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[24]  D. T. Regan,et al.  Empathy and attribution: turning observers into actors. , 1975, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[25]  M. D. Storms,et al.  Videotape and the attribution process: reversing actors' and observers' points of view. , 1973, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[26]  E. E. Jones,et al.  The actor and the observer: Divergent perceptions of the causes of behavior. , 1972 .

[27]  H. Tajfel,et al.  Social categorization and intergroup behaviour , 1971 .

[28]  J Tudor-Hart,et al.  On the nature of prejudice. , 1961, The Eugenics review.