4 ms·

Using Superpowers in Virtual Reality to Encourage Prosocial Behavior (2013) [pdf]

21 points by jcr 11y ago

lux 11y ago
This is very cool. There's a lot of talk in VR about the importance and power of creating empathy for characters, so this really gives the sense that VR can be a great tool for improving how people relate to and treat each other.
oxryly1 11y ago
Very cool. After the stigma of the antisocial impact of game have followed them for decades, I'm glad to see some potential prosocial* impact of games. *: I hadn't even heard or read that word before now. Excellent concept.
- jcr 11y ago
  For the record, "prosocial" is not a real word in the English language [1], but the phrase "prosocial behavior" [2] is a defined term (albeit somewhat contrived) in behavioral psychology, sociology and related fields. You'd probably want to compare "Prosocial Behavior" to general "Social Behavior" [3], as well as "Antisocial Behavior" [4] and "Asocial Behavior" [5]. To keep things simple, I consider "Prosocial Behavior" to be a combination of empathy, consideration, and kindness being shown towards others. [1] http://dictionary.reference.com/misspelling?term=prosocial http://dictionary.reference.com/misspelling?term=prosocial [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosocial_behavior https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosocial_behavior [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_behavior https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_behavior [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-social_behavior https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-social_behavior [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asociality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asociality
foogered 11y ago
I love the extended abstract at the top that includes the principle findings and conclusion. More academic papers should use this format.
wcummings 11y ago
>Recent studies have shown that playing prosocial video games leads to greater subsequent prosocial behavior in the real world. What about the opposite? Does anti-social activity in games lead to anti-social activity in the real world?
wcummings 11y ago
>Recent studies have shown that playing prosocial video games leads to greater subsequent prosocial behavior in the real world. What about the opposite? Does anti-social activity in games lead to anti-social activity in the real world?
wcummings 11y ago
>Recent studies have shown that playing prosocial video games leads to greater subsequent prosocial behavior in the real world. What about the opposite? Does anti-social activity in games lead to anti-social activity in the real world?

21 points by jcr 11y ago

lux 11y ago

This is very cool. There's a lot of talk in VR about the importance and power of creating empathy for characters, so this really gives the sense that VR can be a great tool for improving how people relate to and treat each other.

oxryly1 11y ago

Very cool. After the stigma of the antisocial impact of game have followed them for decades, I'm glad to see some potential prosocial* impact of games. *: I hadn't even heard or read that word before now. Excellent concept.

jcr 11y ago
For the record, "prosocial" is not a real word in the English language [1], but the phrase "prosocial behavior" [2] is a defined term (albeit somewhat contrived) in behavioral psychology, sociology and related fields. You'd probably want to compare "Prosocial Behavior" to general "Social Behavior" [3], as well as "Antisocial Behavior" [4] and "Asocial Behavior" [5]. To keep things simple, I consider "Prosocial Behavior" to be a combination of empathy, consideration, and kindness being shown towards others. [1] http://dictionary.reference.com/misspelling?term=prosocial http://dictionary.reference.com/misspelling?term=prosocial [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosocial_behavior https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosocial_behavior [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_behavior https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_behavior [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-social_behavior https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-social_behavior [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asociality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asociality

foogered 11y ago

I love the extended abstract at the top that includes the principle findings and conclusion. More academic papers should use this format.

wcummings 11y ago

>Recent studies have shown that playing prosocial video games leads to greater subsequent prosocial behavior in the real world. What about the opposite? Does anti-social activity in games lead to anti-social activity in the real world?

wcummings 11y ago