Game perspective-taking effects on willingness to help immigrants: A replication study with a Spanish sample

Abstract

This study replicated an experiment examining video game character perspective-taking effects on socio-political opinions with a sample of Spanish participants. Random assignment to play a game as an immigration inspector decreased intention and attitudes toward helping immigrants relative to baseline scores. These effects were observed while controlling for social dominance orientation or preference for inequality among social groups. The intention and attitudes of participants randomly assigned to play a control group game featuring the role of a newspaper editor remained unchanged. Overall, this study expanded perspective-taking research by replicating theoretical predictions with a different sample. We discuss future directions and findings that deviated from the original study.