The evolution of the media shapes and transforms our experiences, and emotions are the forge of this transformation. With the emergence of phygital reality, cyberemotions will mark the transformation of subjective experience, influencing our behaviors in new, and still partly unpredictable ways.
Andrea Gaggioli, Full Professor of General Psychology Department of Psychology at the Catholic University, Milan campus and director of the Study and Research Center of Communication Psychology (PsiCom), and Professor Alice Chirico (PsiCom), are convinced of this, who published an editorial in the journal Cyberpsychology , Behavior and Social Networking, issue.
“Thanks to the growing integration of virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence in the fabric of our existence – explain Gaggioli and Riva -, we could experience new forms of emotions that we had never experienced before”.
The “virtual nature” makes us more inclined to defend the planet
These new emotional experiences that emerge from interaction with phygital worlds could then develop new ways of expressing, communicating and understanding the emotions of others.
For example, if we experience nature, even in a virtual way, and experience a sense of profound wonder in front of it, we become more inclined to defend the planet.
The study then examined the ecological impact of two natural virtual reality scenarios (a forest and a barren park), a scenario not related to nature but able to induce wonder (the view of the Earth from space), and a emotionally neutral, depicting a room.
“To measure the effects of virtual experiences we examined two behaviors”, explain the researchers: signing or not a real petition against the production of plastic packaging or taking flyers related to the petition to then share with other people.
The profound “wonder” and social involvement
Results showed that while all simulated natural environments promote pro-environmental behavior, only the one that induces profound wonder leads people to take more leaflets against plastic production.
“These results reconfirm the key role of exposure to natural environments in virtual reality in promoting ecological behaviors – says Chirico, as reported by beraking latest news -, underlining the added value of a natural environment capable of arousing profound wonder in supporting greater social involvement towards environmental protection”.
Cyberemotions help to better understand human affective states
“Cyberemotions, i.e. the emotions generated and experienced in virtual environments such as virtual reality, offer unique opportunities to better understand the functioning of human affective states and to develop new therapeutic, educational and awareness-raising approaches – comment Riva and Gaggioli -. The future of the study of virtual emotions looks promising and full of exciting discoveries, which could have a significant impact on our understanding of human emotions and on the quality of our lives”.