VR and Empathy Research Study
VR and Empathy – NSSR Research Study
In Spring 2020, the Innovation Center collaborated with researchers from The New School for Social Research and The Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility to investigate whether virtual reality experiences can increase empathy and charitable giving toward child refugees.
Ph.D. psychology students Alison Martingano and Evan Henritze worked with Maya Georgieva, Director of the Innovation Center, to design and develop a series of immersive research stimuli using 360-degree video experiences. The project explored how immersive storytelling in VR might influence emotional engagement, compassion, and prosocial behavior.
The study was conducted in the Innovation Center’s XR Lab in early Spring 2020 using a controlled experimental design involving 155 participants. Participants experienced one of four conditions: Classic VR, Enhanced VR, Audiobook, or Control.
The VR conditions featured “The Displaced,” a 360-degree documentary produced by The New York Times that follows the lives of children displaced by war. Participants in the Enhanced VR condition were additionally prompted to actively focus on the emotions and perspectives of the children featured in the experience.
To better understand the role of immersion and storytelling, the research team developed multiple control conditions. Audiobook participants listened to and read a similar narrative without VR immersion, while Control participants remained in a neutral virtual waiting room. These comparisons helped researchers isolate whether empathy outcomes were driven by narrative content, immersive presence, or the unique combination of both within virtual reality.
Participants completed a range of behavioral and psychological measures designed to assess empathy, compassion, and emotional response. At the conclusion of the study, participants were given compensation and offered the opportunity to donate a portion of their payment to UNICEF.
The project was accepted to the Association for Psychological Science conference, and the research contributed to broader conversations around immersive media, affective computing, empathy research, and the social impact potential of virtual reality technologies.
