Can perspective taking in virtual worlds reduce negative attitudes towards the elderly?

Ageism is a form of intergroup bias towards the elderly. It is a pressing issue in ageing societies like Singapore. Perspective taking has been identified as an effective strategy for reducing intergroup bias towards stereotyped groups. It involves the mental process of imagining the world from another person's perspective so that the overlap between mental representations of the self and the target person is increased and the social bonds between two identities are strengthened.

However, existing perspective taking methods mainly rely on mental simulation where participants are asked to look at a picture of a target person, and imagine as if they were the target person. This method requires participants to be engaged in a mental process with high cognitive load, and participants may be easily distracted during the simulation process. To address these problems, we will use a 3D online virtual world called Second Life to facilitate perspective taking and reduce prejudice against the elderly.

Past research has shown that virtual worlds can provide immersive experiences and deep engagement to let users naturally feel like to be “in someone else’ shoes.” We will recruit participants and conduct an experiment with four conditions to compare the effects between using Second Life and mental simulation for perspective taking. We will further measure both short-term and long-term effects, and use explicit and implicit measures to assess participants’ attitude towards the elderly after perspective taking.

Results from our research will improve our understanding of how novel technologies may be used to improve intergenerational relationships and how to create effective methods to reduce ageism.