Virtual Superheroes: Using Superpowers in Virtual Reality to Encourage Prosocial Behavior

Abstract

BackgroundRecent studies have shown that playing prosocial video games leads to greater subsequent prosocial behavior in the real world. However, immersive virtual reality allows people to occupy avatars that are different from them in a perceptually realistic manner. We examine how occupying an avatar with the superhero ability to fly increases helping behavior.Principal FindingsUsing a two-by-two design, participants were either given the power of flight (their arm movements were tracked to control their flight akin to Superman’s flying ability) or rode as a passenger in a helicopter, and were assigned one of two tasks, either to help find a missing diabetic child in need of insulin or to tour a virtual city. Participants in the “super-flight” conditions helped the experimenter pick up spilled pens after their virtual experience significantly more than those who were virtual passengers in a helicopter.ConclusionThe results indicate that having the “superpower” of flight leads to greater helping behavior in the real world, regardless of how participants used that power. A possible mechanism for this result is that having the power of flight primed concepts and prototypes associated with superheroes (e.g., Superman). This research illustrates the potential of using experiences in virtual reality technology to increase prosocial behavior in the physical world.

Putting Ourselves in Another’s Skin: Using the Plasticity of Self-Perception to Enhance Empathy and Decrease Prejudice

“…Similarly, having an obese avatar has been shown to lead men to expend less exercise during a computer based sports game (Peña, Khan, & Alexopoulos, 2016) and controlling an avatar dressed as a member of the Ku Klux Klan lead people to create more aggressive and less affiliative narratives than controlling an avatar dressed as a doctor (Peña, Hancock, & Merola, 2009). Other studies have shown that the Proteus effect also applies to fully embodied VR; Freeman et al (2014) showed that embodying a short avatar led to more negative self-evaluation and greater feelings or paranoia, while Rosenberg, Baughman, and Bailenson (2013) showed that, after embodying an avatar with the superhero-like power of flight, participants displayed greater pro-social behaviour. Interestingly, although the Proteus effect was designed to explain the effects of using virtual avatars in computer games, there is evidence that any cognitive processing that activates stereotypes about others can lead to stereotypes about the other being transferred onto the self (DeMarree, Wheeler, & Petty, 2005;Kawakami et al, 2012;Wheeler, Demarree, & Petty, 2007).…”

Recommendations for Good Scientific Practice and the Consumers of VR-Technology

“…Hershfield et al (2011) found that subjects embodying avatars that look like aged versions of themselves show a tendency to allocate more money for their retirement after leaving the virtual environment. Rosenberg et al (2013) had subjects perform tasks in a virtual city. Subjects were allowed to fly through the city either using a helicopter or by their own body movements, like Superman.…”

Body-Borne Computers as Extensions of Self

“…Cognitive science studies further demonstrate changes in perception and behavior of users as a result of giving users VR avatars with different traits, such as gender [36], body shape [37], or character [38]. Despite the evidence, current interaction or interface designs rely heavily on the innate skills users possess, or their natural body image, meaning that they regard the user as a time-invariant parameter.…”

“…In fact, cognitive science researchers are already pushing the boundaries, focusing not only on sociological factors [36][37][38] or neural phenomena [20][21][22], but also on parameters that are essential to designing an interaction system. For instance, the discussion by Aymerich-Franch and Ganesh [23] addresses the effect of (the body's) functionality in self-attribution.…”