The future of prejudice reduction research: A critical review of the role of virtual reality (VR)

With the exponential growth of new technology, it is timely that social psychologists continue to develop new and effective solutions to old but existing problems, including prejudice. One such solution is virtual reality (VR). This critical review examines VR as a promising new media tool to reduce prejudice and improve intergroup relations. Unlike traditional prejudice reduction strategies, VR provides researchers with a high degree of experimental control and flexibility. However, VR prejudice reduction research is in its infancy, and a myriad of challenges have emerged, including the: i) difficulty of cross-study comparisons and navigation of existing literature due to lack of standardized VR methodologies; ii) limitations of adapting traditional prejudice reduction strategies into VR; and iii) the lack of measurement of behaviors. This paper critically evaluates each of these limitations and, in doing so, proposes a new working framework incorporating two dimensions, the: i) VR input device, and ii) level of interactivity and mobility in the VR environment. This framework attempts to address the lack of standardization of immersion and presence in current VR research by helping guide future VR researchers to better identify the type of research they are conducting, evaluate existing research findings, and thus make cross-comparisons in VR prejudice reduction findings more meaningful.