At ERA-VR, our research delves into the complex dynamics of social identity and inequality within the immersive environments of Virtual Reality. We employ a comprehensive array of methods, including quantitative surveys and experimental designs. Our studies span multiple cultural contexts, as we strive for representativeness and rigor in our research. Central to our project is the use of cutting edge VR technologies, enabling us to craft compelling virtual environments that serve both our scientific and artistic goals. By blending innovative tool with robust research methodologies, we seek to uncover how VR can be a catalyst for social identity transformation and collective action against inequality.
Our research at ERA-VR employs a robust and multifaceted methodological framework to delve into the complexities of social identity and inequality in virtual environments. We integrate quantitative approaches, such as self-report surveys and experimental designs, encompassing explicit, implicit, and behavioural measures. This mixed-methods approach allows us to capture both the broad patterns of identity transformation and the lived experiences of participants. By conducting cross-cultural studies, we extend the scope of our research, comparing social identity dynamics across diverse cultural contexts. This comprehensive methodology enables us to address our research questions from multiple angles, ensuring a thorough investigation into how social identities persist or change within immersive virtual realities. We remain flexible and adaptive in our methodological choices, continuously refining our approaches to align with emerging trends in both social science and technology.
Virtual Reality in our research serves as a tool that opens up unprecedented avenues for advancing social psychology research. VR allows us to recreate traditional laboratory experiments and everyday social interactions with a level of precision and control that was previously unattainable. Moreover, it enables us to simulate complex and challenging situations which would be difficult or impossible to study in real-world settings. However, VR is not merely a method for simulating social interactions; it is an environment that actively shapes and generates social processes that are distinct from those in face-to-face interactions. In VR, participants can experience phenomena such as body ownership, where individuals perceive virtual bodies as their own, and varying degrees of social presence, or the sense of being with others in a shared virtual space.
Our research uses head-mounted displays to immerse participants in both fully interactive computer-simulated environments and 360-degree videos, providing a versatile platform for studying a wide range of social behaviors. Additionally, we incorporate social VR platforms into our research—virtual environments where users can interact with others in real-time using avatars. These platforms are particularly valuable for studying social dynamics in settings that mirror real-world social networks, allowing us to explore how identities, hierarchies, and group behaviors evolve in these unique contexts. By integrating these various VR technologies, our research not only replicates traditional social interactions but also uncovers new dimensions of social processes that are specific to the virtual realm, offering fresh insights into the complexities of social identity.
At ERA-VR, we are deeply committed to upholding the highest standards of research ethics and good practices throughout our work. We prioritize inclusiveness, ensuring that our research designs and practices are respectful and considerate of diverse social identities and experiences. Acknowledging the importance of constraints on generality, we carefully consider the limitations of our research and explicitly state these in our publications, ensuring that our conclusions are appropriately contextualized. We also embrace the principles of open research, making our data, methodologies, and findings accessible to the wider academic community and the public, fostering transparency and collaboration.