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Study of men who embodied a young woman in VR finds they felt disgust & anger when catcalled
(lemmy.blahaj.zone)
this post was submitted on 30 Dec 2025
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Interesting experiment.
The article on Phys.org
The paper on Nature.com
Some very condensed info:
Women disproportionately experience gender based violence and aggression in the wild. Researchers wanted to see if the experience of men being harassed and catcalled in a woman's avatar could promote empathy and understanding. This experiment on 36 male students (average age of 23) was based on other studies that found similar results, including a study on male offenders of gender based violence โ to test if first-person VR experiences as women could increase pro-social behaviors.
The students had "no prior experience" with interpersonal aggression or catcalling as victims or perpetrators, measured on a scale with a maximum threshold.
The scene began in a bedroom, where participants were able to move and see themselves as their avatar in a mirror.
In a control group, the participants were asked innocuous questions instead of being catcalled.
Edit: For anyone asking: Why didn't they study why men don't feel safe? You can look up and post those studies. Nothing is stopping you. This is about the prosocial effects of this VR scenario. Need more support? !mensliberation@lemmy.ca and !mensmentalhealth@lemmy.world are two great communities to discuss men's issues.