VR Induced Awe Effects on Ingroup/Outgroup Charity Giving

Psychology

Nayan, Dominic

Mulcahy, Kristen

Barreras, Luis

Kassner, Matthew (Mentor)

English

Awe is an emotional response that requires two factors: perceptual vastness and the need for accommodation (Keltner & Haidt, 2003). Previous literature on awe has been complex due to it being considered both positively (e.g. rapture in the presence of a beautiful sunset) and negatively (e.g. fear in the presence of a hurricane) valanced. Kassner et al. (2018) supports that awe is predominantly a positive emotion, indicating it can increase prosocial behavior and strengthen social groups (Piff et al., 2015, Keltner & Haidt, 2003). This may due to awe increasing a sense of “oneness” within an individual, influencing the individual to think more of the group rather than self.
However, Social Identity Theory (Tajfel, 1974), suggests this can have negative implications: strengthening identification within social groups can stimulate both ingroup favoritism and outgroup derogation (Jonas et al., 2002).
The purpose of this study is to examine whether awe, induced through virtual reality, ge