Immersive virtual reality can be used to visually substitute a person’s real body by a life-sized virtual body (VB) that is seen from first person perspective. Using real-time motion capture the VB can be programmed to move synchronously with the real body (visuomotor synchrony), and also virtual objects seen to strike the VB can be felt through corresponding vibrotactile stimulation on the actual body (visuotactile synchrony). This setup typically gives rise to a strong perceptual illusion of ownership over the VB. When the viewpoint is lifted up and out of the VB so that it is seen below this may result in an out-of-body experience (OBE). In a two-factor between-groups experiment with 16 female participants per group we tested how fear of death might be influenced by two different methods for producing an OBE. In an initial embodiment phase where both groups experienced the same multisensory stimuli there was a strong feeling of body ownership. Then the viewpoint was lifted up and behind the VB. In the experimental group once the viewpoint was out of the VB there was no further connection with it (no visuomotor or visuotactile synchrony). In a control condition, although the viewpoint was in the identical place as in the experimental group, visuomotor and visuotactile synchrony continued. While both groups reported high scores on a question about their OBE illusion, the experimental group had a greater feeling of disownership towards the VB below compared to the control group, in line with previous findings. Fear of death in the experimental group was found to be lower than in the control group. This is in line with previous reports that naturally occurring OBEs are often associated with enhanced belief in life after death.

Group pressure can often result in people carrying out harmful actions towards others that they would not normally carry out by themselves. However, few studies have manipulated factors that might overcome this. Here male participants (n = 60) were in a virtual reality (VR) scenario of sexual harassment (SH) of a lone woman by a group of males in a bar. Participants were either only embodied as one of the males (Group, n = 20), or also as the woman (Woman, n = 20). A control group (n = 20) only experienced the empty bar, not the SH. one week later they were the teacher in a VR version of Milgram's obedience experiment where they were encouraged to give shocks to a female Learner by a group of 3 virtual males. Those who had been in the Woman condition gave about half the number of shocks of those in the Group condition, with the controls between these two. We explain the results through embodiment promoting identification with the woman or the group, and delegitimization of the group for those in the Woman condition. The experiment raised important ethical issues, showing that a VR study with positive ethical intentions can sometimes produce unexpected and non-beneficent results.Group pressure and the need to conform can result in significant distortions of an individual's judgment and decision making -a well-known case by Asch 1 being misjudgement of geometric shapes under peer pressure. However, Stanley Milgram argued for the distinction between signal conformity and action conformity 2,3 . In Asch's experiment people only verbally signalled conformity with the group but this had no further consequences (signal conformity). In contrast, in one experiment described by Milgram, participants were influenced to (apparently) administer electric shocks of greater and increasing voltage to a stranger at the behest of two confederates who demanded this, supposedly as a learning experiment. This is an example of action conformity since the behaviour of the subject would cause pain to another person. When there were no confederates, participants tended to choose the lowest shocks possible. Taking this out of the lab to real situations, conformity to group pressure can result in people engaging in evil acts that they would not normally do themselves individually, such as in the Stanford Prison Experiments 4 -even to the extent of taking part in mass killings -e.g., Stammers 5 , Chapter 18.The most salient finding of the obedience experiments has been that a surprisingly high proportion of people will administer apparently lethal shocks to a stranger at the behest of an authority figure. This was originally interpreted by Milgram as caused by their obedience to authority. However, alternative explanations have gained currency. Haslam, et al. 6 carried out an analysis of the results of all of Milgram's experiments, comprising 21 different conditions, and found an overall obedience level of 44%. A meta-analysis of the results of all the experiments open Scientific RepoRtS | (2020) 10:6207 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-...

Evidence suggests that the sense of the position of our body parts can be surreptitiously deceived, for instance through illusory visual inputs. However, whether altered visual feedback during limb movement can induce substantial unconscious motor and muscular adjustments is not known. To address this question, we covertly manipulated virtual body movements in immersive virtual reality. Participants were instructed to flex their elbow to 90° while tensing an elastic band, as their virtual arm reproduced the same, a reduced (75°), or an amplified (105°) movement. We recorded muscle activity using electromyography, and assessed body ownership, agency and proprioception of the arm. Our results not only show that participants compensated for the avatar’s manipulated arm movement while being completely unaware of it, but also that it is possible to induce unconscious motor adaptations requiring significant changes in muscular activity. Altered visual feedback through body ownership illusions can influence motor performance in a process that bypasses awareness.