Parasocial intergroup contact in virtual reality: The importance of presence in 360-degree videos for reducing prejudice
Virtual reality (VR) has been hailed as the “ultimate empathy machine” (TED, 2015), with immersive storytelling demonstrating remarkable capabilities in eliciting empathetic responses. However, the question remains: Can VR truly change opinions and, if so, what mechanisms drive this change? This study investigated the effects of parasocial intergroup contact on empathy and attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people by comparing 2D video and 360-degree 3D VR experiences. I examined the mechanisms that play a role in mediating these effects, focusing on presence, immersion, and evaluation of the content.
Intergroup contact: how does meeting the “other” affect intergroup relationships?
Intergroup contact refers to interactions between individuals from different social groups (racial, ethnic, religious, etc.) (Allport, 1954). Over the past seven decades, hundreds of studies have positioned intergroup contact as a foundational theory in social psychology and intergroup relations; it is widely acknowledged as an important intervention in promoting social change and reducing intergroup hostility, prejudice, and stigma against minorities and social groups (Dovidio et al., 2017; Hodson et al., 2018; McKeown & Dixon, 2017).
Inspired by advancements in communication technology and practice, new, mediated, and diverse forms of intergroup contact have been developed to respond to limitations in setting up physical contact sessions. Parasocial contact is one form of mediated contact in which one observes a member of an outgroup in the media, such as a television show (Schiappa et al., 2005) or YouTube video (Waggoner, 2022). Research examining the effect of video-based parasocial contact has found that such contact reduces negative emotions and increases the perception of outgroup trustworthiness (Steinfeld & Shaked, 2021). The parasocial contact effect is usually limited compared to physical, in-person contact, but it enables interactions between groups that otherwise would not interact at all.
Understanding the power of immersion
Previous research has shown that empathy can lead to changes in opinions (Newman et al., 2015; Sirin et al., 2017; Borah et al., 2024). However, empathy can also be produced by watching a regular, 2-dimensional video. This begs the question: what unique affordances of VR contribute to changing opinions?
Owing to their potential to produce and encourage empathetic responses, several recent initiatives utilize 3D 360-degree video technology for parasocial contact. Often, this technology has been examined in comparison with other forms of parasocial contact. Participants in one study watched a video (flat or in a 3D format) of an actor playing the role of a young man diagnosed with schizophrenia. Participants in the 3D condition showed less desirable results (more anxiety, less social proximity, and less empathy towards people with schizophrenia) than participants in the flat, 2-dimensional condition. However, when accounting for the evaluation of the speaker, among participants who liked the speaker more than the average, the VR condition led to less anxiety and more social proximity compared with the 2-dimensional group (Stelzmann et al., 2021).
In another study (Kuuluvainen et al., 2021), Finnish students participated in an experiment in which they watched an interactive video (flat or 3D) of a Middle Eastern immigrant and his six-year-old daughter. The results showed that the experience led to a decrease in intergroup anxiety in both conditions, and the decrease in the case of participants in the immersive condition was mediated by a sense of social presence (feeling that they were in the room with the speaker) and an increased level of homophily (feeling that the character is similar to them).
Study design and methodology
To explore what unique affordances of VR contribute to changing opinions towards outgroups, I developed a narrative-based VR methodology.
Eli, a religious orthodox homosexual man, was recruited for the study.
In the case of the LGBTQ+ community, there seems to be visible progress in terms of acceptance and recognition, mainly because most people are aware of the prevalence of LGBTQ+ people in society and testify to personally knowing LGBTQ+ people (Wickersham & Vajner, 2020). However, stigma, avoidance, and bias are still common in a variety of contexts, and support for same-sex marriage and parenting among conservatives remains relatively low (Feinberg et al., 2020). When combined with religiosity, acceptance becomes even more complicated. Religiosity plays an important role in fueling prejudice and hate towards LGBTQ+ people as most religions tend to classify behaviors related to homosexuality as unnatural, contradicting God’s will, and obscene (Yip, 2005). The challenges of bridging religious beliefs and homosexuality may increase in the case of religious LGBTQ+ individuals. There is much resentment towards sexual minorities who are religious, even from close family members and friends in the community (Dahl & Galliher, 2012).
Eli was given a 360-degree video camera and instructed to document his daily life, capturing his routine, with emphasis on talks related to his journey as a religious homosexual, his religious family’s reactions to his homosexuality, and challenges he faces as a homosexual man (e.g., his dream of becoming a father while Israeli law prohibits surrogacy for same-sex couples). He recorded talks with friends, his spouse, father, and sister, and, following instructions, recorded himself talking directly to the camera and to future viewers.
The recordings by Eli were edited into a 13-minutes video. Other than cutting and joining the scenes into a single video, no editing was done (no music, narration, or subtitles were added).
The video was edited into two formats.
- 360-degree 3D immersive video (VR)
- 2-dimensional flat video
56 participants, aged 21–54 years were randomly divided into two groups:
- VR group (n = 29): Viewed the 3D immersive experience using a headset
- 2D group (n = 27): Watched the video on a computer screen
The participants were all Israeli Jews, geographically spread across the center and south of Israel, but special attention was given to recruiting more conservative participants (by e.g., focusing on residents of religious villages in Israel). As a result, 46% of the participants defined themselves as secular, 18% as traditional (holding religious beliefs but not orthodox), and 36% as orthodox religious. On a political orientation scale of 1 to 7, where 1 is extreme left-leaning and 7 is extreme right-leaning, the mean political orientation was 4.64 (SD = 1.39). Participants completed pre- and post-session questionnaires measuring their attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people, empathy, sense of presence, and willingness for future contact with LGBTQ+ individuals.
Novel Approach to Intergroup Contact
This study breaks new ground by:
- Utilizing 3D immersive 360-degree video for parasocial narrative-based intergroup contact
- Examining various VR affordances as mediators of intergroup attitude change
Key Findings
The results revealed significant changes in attitudes among the VR participants compared to the 2D group.
- Support for LGBTQ+ family rights increased in the VR group, but slightly decreased in the 2D group.
- Support for the view that gay people can also be religious increased in the VR group and decreased in the 2D group (although this difference was not statistically significant).
Interestingly, empathy towards the protagonist was not a significant mediator. Instead, the sense of presence in the room with Eli, which was stronger among VR participants, significantly mediated the relationship between content format and increased support for the view that gay people can also be religious.
In other words, those who participated in the VR experience adopted the narrative of the protagonist and increased their support in the view that there is not necessarily a conflict in being gay and identifying as an orthodox religious man. This change in perspective was influenced by their extended sense of real social presence with the protagonist while watching the video.
Conclusion and Future Directions
In a recent piece on CAVRN, Ponzanesi (2024) recommends moving forward from the vision of the “empathy machine” and toward a “reorientation of positionality,” as well as greater focus on VR experiences of everyday life. The goal should be to promote social justice, rather than pity or compassion. This project takes this direction by inviting participants to experience the daily life of an outgroup member, in close proximity, and confront their possible biases.
“This study demonstrates VR’s potential to influence views and increase support for minority rights. Additionally, it highlights that the mechanism driving this change may not be empathy alone, but rather the sense of social presence”
This study demonstrates VR’s potential to influence views and increase support for minority rights. Additionally, it highlights that the mechanism driving this change may not be empathy alone, but rather the sense of social presence— of “being there” with the protagonist—a mediator that generally receives much less research attention.
The results serve as a basis for future directions in VR, which can integrate theories on the effect of social presence on behavior and opinions with designing and researching social VR experiences. Considering Irom’s (2024) recent note on the need to preserve “proper distance,” this study suggests that it is rather the closeness to the protagonist, at least in the current context, which is key to achieving change of views (but not empathy) in the VR experience.
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Recommended citation
Steinfeld, N. (September, 2024). Parasocial intergroup contact in virtual reality: The importance of presence in 360-degree videos for reducing prejudice. Critical Augmented and Virtual Reality Researchers Network (CAVRN). https://cavrn.org/parasocial-intergroup-contact-in-virtual-reality-the-importance-of-presence-in-360-degree-videos-for-reducing-prejudice/
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