Alchin, Carolyn (2019) SLR: Feel, Think, Be: Eliciting Empathy through Immersive Virtual Reality. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Empathy is a visceral, emotional, and cognitive other-person-oriented response state which activates an internal inclination toward prosocial behaviour. Empathy is declining in some populations but is a precursor for prosocial interactions and supporting people in need. While traditional empathy training programs are generally effective, immersive virtual reality (IVR) may provide an alternative delivery medium that can be efficiently distributed to, and accessed by, global audiences. This systematic literature review aimed to primarily determine whether IVR interventions aimed at eliciting empathy are effective, including in comparison to other interventions. Other goals were to summarise how empathy had been defined and measured in this field of research; and, identify what core experiences had been targeted in IVR to elicit empathy. Results revealed IVR interventions are generally effective at eliciting empathy and usually more effective at eliciting empathy than other interventions. The most prominent elements of empathy that were defined and measured in studies in this review were emotional, cognitive, visceral, and a concern for or disposition to help other people. No studies specifically assessed empathy for positive emotions. Core immersive experiences included psychological (hallucinations, paranoia, dementia, bullying, and parenting approaches), social (refugee experiences and interpersonal interaction), and physiological (pain and vision impairment) dimensions. No studies included a clinical sample and most studies primarily recruited university students in Western and European countries, so further research in specific populations is required before findings can be generalised in support of areas of clinical and social need.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Tanya Machin; Neil Martin |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 18 Aug 2025 01:24 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Aug 2025 01:24 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | empathy, immersive virtual reality, prosocial, emotion, cognitive |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52103 |
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