Psychology

Bullying and gender-based violence are widespread public health and safety problems that can have serious long-term health consequences. Reducing bullying continues to be a public health priority (UNICEF, 2019) given its long-term impact on the physical, psychosocial, and academic adjustment of children and adolescents (UNESCO, 2019). On the other hand, ending gender-based violence, challenging gender stereotypes, and closing gender gaps are some of the goals of the European Union’s Strategy for Gender Equality 2020-2025. For decades, research on these issues has been conducted using questionnaires and retrospective methodologies. Currently, there is a need for new and theoretically informed programming. The emergence of immersive technologies has revolutionized the way we experience the physical world by creating a virtual and interactive environment. In the psychological field, this technology has immense potential to provide a safe and controlled environment. The sense of immersion, involvement, presence, first-person view and emotional characteristics of Virtual reality (VR) environments are very suitable for the study of interpersonal interaction. Moreover, the use of immersive VR can solve the problems of experiential control, repeatability and ecological validity. Immersive VR offers an opportunity to study bullying and gender-based violence in a safe and controlled environment, while providing a strong experience for participants and allowing researchers to choose a scenario that best suits individuals with different levels of prior experience. In a powerful and unique way, the participant can take a first-person perspective within the virtual environment. Participants are fully immersed, but they are also able to interrupt the experience if they feel distressed. Immersive reality has the power to immerse a person in a situation such that it evokes psychological and physiological responses that enable a safe study of social problems such as bullying and gender-based violence.