From My Vantage Point: Exploring The Effect of First-Person and Third-Person Perspectives on Social Acceptance in VR Roleplaying Games

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) roleplaying games designed to promote perspective taking typically involve players assuming the perspective of others from different backgrounds and experiencing a simulated scenario from their everyday life, with the goal of facilitating and enhancing empathy and social acceptance toward marginalized groups. One key question pertains to the extent to which players’ perspective during VR roleplaying games affects their social acceptance of the other. To address this question, we examined the effect of first-person vs. third-person perspective on presence, co-presence, and social acceptance during a VR roleplaying game. Two groups of participants played the same VR roleplaying game from either a first-person perspective or a third-person perspective. Results showed that compared to third-person perspective, first-person perspective led to greater co-presence during the game and engendered higher levels of social acceptance toward the character whose role participants played. These results highlight the importance of using first-person perspective in VR roleplaying games focusing on facilitating and enhancing social acceptance.