ABSTRACT
The proliferation of Virtual Reality (VR) over the past decades has introduced a tool to research that holds the promise of providing a means to overcoming drawbacks of traditional experimental and assessment methods in social sciences. By stimulating multiple sensory channels and displaying dynamic contexts, it fosters responses comparable to real-life responses whilst maintaining experimental rigor and standardization. This paper discusses advantages of VR over traditional paradigms and debunks the underlying mechanisms which account for true-to-life reactions to virtual environments In contrast to virtual environments devoid of social cues, implementing social interactions in experiments, poses a demanding challenge. Therefore, we introduce a novel process model as an explanation for participants’ different reactions to virtual entities depending on their agency.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare that the paper was written in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.