The Effect of Embodied Experiences on Self-Other Merging, Attitude, and Helping Behaviour
The paper starts off by explaining that Immersive virtual environment technology (IVET) provides participants with sensory information that allows them to embody experiences in virtual reality. The paper explores three experiments that use IVET to entice self-other merging, favourable attitudes, and helping towards others (Bailenson)
In the paper they describe an “embodied experience” as one that we enter as space to see, hear and feel. They explain that this is the closet simulation of an experience in another persons point of view (physically). They define two experiences; embodied experience and perspective taking. They explain that perspective taking requires imagination where the individual might feel strained and unwilling to motivate this engagement. They explain that there are many benefits of embodied experience in coming the closest to a realisation of another persons mind and body.
In the paper they explain how many scholars have argued that humans have an instinctive need to help others, this is explained by our physical make up; having large brains similar to orang-utans and dolphins. They explain in the paper that often humans take apart in perspective taking. They explain this by the example that many people when encountering strangers tend to use self-relevant traits to describe the other, quickly making connections to the other.
In the paper they describe embodied experience. They explain that with the IVET individuals can wear the headset and experience vivid sensory information. They explain that by “digitally recreating and extending the human sensory capabilities, virtual stimuli lead the mind to temporarily accept the illusion of sufficiently realistic experiences”.
“Real experiences in the physical world become associated and stood with existing memories and these memories are later activated and recalled when the individual encounters or thinks about similar stimuli” - see reference (Barsalou, 2009)
“Earlier IVET studies have investigated the effect of embodying only the physical traits of another person and found that it modifies behavior (Yee & Bailenson, 2007). Termed the ‘‘Proteus Effect,’’ results demonstrated that spending several minutes in a virtual world embodying a tall virtual self- representation (i.e., an avatar) led participants to choose more aggressive strategies in a negotiation task compared to participants who were given short avatars. Similarly, participants given attractive avatars were more con- fident in interacting with a stranger compared to those given unattractive avatars (Yee & Bailenson, 2009; Yee, Bailenson, & Ducheneaut, 2009). “
Ahn, Sun Joo (Grace), Amanda Minh Tran Le, and Jeremy Bailenson. “The Effect of Embodied Experiences on Self-Other Merging, Attitude, and Helping Behavior.” Media Psychology16, no. 1 (January 2013): 7–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2012.755877.
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