Feeling the Pain of Others in Need: Studying the Effect of VR on Donation Behavior Using EEG

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) enables people to engage in experiences that reach far beyond physical reality. This has inspired humanitarian organizations (among others the United Nations) to use VR technology to raise the awareness of humanitarian crises by virtually transporting people to the regions affected. As a consequence, these immersive experiences may lead to a change in the readiness to donate. As scientific evidence for this effect is still rare we propose an experimental design which aims at investigating how immersion affects donation behavior. In particular, neurophysiological measurement (EEG) shall shed light on the influence of immersion on emotional and motivational processes. First results from a convenient sample of young men indicate that donation behavior is linked to the dynamics of frontal alpha asymmetry changes.