scholarly journals The Effect of VR Avatar Embodiment on Improving Attitudes and Closeness Toward Immigrants

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivian Hsueh Hua Chen ◽  
Gabrielle C. Ibasco ◽  
Vetra Jing Xuan Leow ◽  
Juline Yun Yee Lew

Past research has discussed how the embodiment of an outgroup avatar in virtual reality (VR) can reduce intergroup bias. However, little is known about the mechanisms and boundary conditions that shape this effect. This study examines how the embodiment of both outgroup and ingroup VR avatars in different orders influences attitudes and perceived closeness toward a co-ethnic immigrant outgroup in Singapore. It also investigates the role of empathy and social identity orientation (SIO) in this relationship. An experiment with four avatar embodiment conditions (ingroup-then-outgroup, outgroup-then-ingroup, ingroup-only, and outgroup-only) was carried out with 171 participants from a public university in Singapore. Results showed that embodying an outgroup avatar alone, compared to embodying an ingroup avatar alone, significantly improves both attitudes and closeness toward an immigrant outgroup. The order of embodiment matters to an extent, suggesting the greater effectiveness of outgroup-first over ingroup-first embodiment in reducing bias. Empathy mediates the effect of all three outgroup embodiment conditions on improved attitudes and closeness toward immigrants. It was also found that the stronger one’s SIO is, the more effective embodiment is in improving perceived closeness with the outgroup via empathy. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodolphe Durand ◽  
Mukti Khaire

This paper reviews several streams of research on market category formation. Most past research has largely focused on established category systems and the antecedents and consequences of categorical positioning (i.e., categorical purity vs. spanning; combination vs. replacement) but relatively ignored the formative processes leading to new categories. In this review, we address this lacuna to posit that scholarship would benefit from clearly disentangling category emergence from category creation. We analytically describe the differences between the two and elaborate the boundary conditions that guide and define which process is more likely to occur in a given market. Our review contributes to illuminating the role of organizational agency and strategic actions in market categories and their formation, which deserve greater attention as a result of their theoretical and practical implications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-182
Author(s):  
Kayleigh A. Cousar ◽  
Nate C. Carnes ◽  
Sasha Y. Kimel

Past research finds contradictory evidence suggesting that religion both reduces and increases violent conflict. We argue that morality is an important hub mechanism that can help us understand this disputed relationship. Moreover, to reconcile this, as well as the factors underlying religion's impact on increased violence (i.e., belief versus practice), we draw on Virtuous Violence Theory and newly synthesize it with research on both moral cognition and social identity. We suggest that the combined effect of moral cognition and social identity may substantially increase violence beyond what either facilitates alone. We test our claims using multilevel analysis of data from the World Values Survey and find a nuanced effect of religion on people's beliefs about violence. Specifically, religious individuals were less likely to condone violence while religious countries were more likely to. This combination of theoretical and empirical work helps disentangle the interwoven nature of morality, religion, and violence.


Author(s):  
Rena Bayramova ◽  
Irene Valori ◽  
Phoebe E. McKenna-Plumley ◽  
Claudio Zandonella Callegher ◽  
Teresa Farroni

AbstractPast research on the advantages of multisensory input for remembering spatial information has mainly focused on memory for objects or surrounding environments. Less is known about the role of cue combination in memory for own body location in space. In a previous study, we investigated participants’ accuracy in reproducing a rotation angle in a self-rotation task. Here, we focus on the memory aspect of the task. Participants had to rotate themselves back to a specified starting position in three different sensory conditions: a blind condition, a condition with disrupted proprioception, and a condition where both vision and proprioception were reliably available. To investigate the difference between encoding and storage phases of remembering proprioceptive information, rotation amplitude and recall delay were manipulated. The task was completed in a real testing room and in immersive virtual reality (IVR) simulations of the same environment. We found that proprioceptive accuracy is lower when vision is not available and that performance is generally less accurate in IVR. In reality conditions, the degree of rotation affected accuracy only in the blind condition, whereas in IVR, it caused more errors in both the blind condition and to a lesser degree when proprioception was disrupted. These results indicate an improvement in encoding own body location when vision and proprioception are optimally integrated. No reliable effect of delay was found.


2004 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred W. Mast ◽  
Charles M. Oman

The role of top-down processing on the horizontal-vertical line length illusion was examined by means of an ambiguous room with dual visual verticals. In one of the test conditions, the subjects were cued to one of the two verticals and were instructed to cognitively reassign the apparent vertical to the cued orientation. When they have mentally adjusted their perception, two lines in a plus sign configuration appeared and the subjects had to evaluate which line was longer. The results showed that the line length appeared longer when it was aligned with the direction of the vertical currently perceived by the subject. This study provides a demonstration that top-down processing influences lower level visual processing mechanisms. In another test condition, the subjects had all perceptual cues available and the influence was even stronger.


Sains Insani ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-14
Author(s):  
Ira Meilita Ibrahim ◽  
Taufik A. Latif ◽  
Afi Roshezry Abu Bakar ◽  
Muthualagan Thangavelu

The advancement of European dress to the rest of the world was linked to the definition of civilization as “a stage of social development considered to be more advanced” and “polite and good-mannered”. The widespread of their fashion style in the 19th and 20th centuries influenced the way the rest of the world attire. The fashion trend and dressing style thus change the purpose of dressing through time. The dressing style in campuses especially in private institutions of higher learning is under particular scrutiny, as it is often said to be inappropriate for a learning environment. This study looked at the importance of moral education, and its role in implementing the dress code for students among university students especially between two types of university i.e. public university and private university. It looked on the dressing style of students, both male and female, and the factors that lead to their dressing pattern which is common among students. This study also advocated the students’ understanding of the content of dress codes in their learning institution and the role played by moral education in regard to dress code. The overall study highlighted students’ perception towards the implementation of the dress code and punishment in their learning institution. The methodologies used to carry out this study are questionnaires and interviews. This study will therefore ascertain the important of dress code among students at higher learning institution and the role of moral education in cultivating values in order to dress properly or decently. Key Words: moral education, dress code, higher learning institution, civilization.


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