Between the Suns: Reducing Anxiety Through a Virtual Reality Experience Inducing Awe
Description
The experience of awe has desirable psychological effects, however practical application is challenging, due to limitations bringing typically extreme awe-inspiring stimuli into mundane environments (Bai et al., 2017; Keltner & Haidt, 2003; Shiota et al., 2011). Virtual reality (VR) offers a promising domain for studying and applying awe for positive psychology benefits. Present research examined effects of a novel VR awe intervention on self-report and physiological indicators of anxiety in two studies (combined n = 93). The intervention reduced negative affect across both studies (t(40) = 4.02, p < .001; t(48) = 3.97, p holm = .001). However, while study 1 showed a predicted decrease in anxiety (t(40) = 4.30, p < .001, d = 0.67), study two showed that the awe intervention significantly increased anxiety (t(48) = 5.52, p holm < .001). Theoretical account’s of awe’s and virtual reality’s positive and negative effects are discussed. bts1 is the data for study 1 bts2 is the data for study 2 codebook explaining variables and script for reported analyses in R is provided