YOUR BEST VIRTUAL SELF-IMPROVEMENT. THE USE OF VIRTUAL REALITY IN STRESS MANAGEMENT TRAINING

Abstract

Virtual reality can be used as a tool for enhancing psychological interventions in organizations, increasing their efficacy and efficiency, thus making psychology more compelling and competitive. Stress management is a fundamental skill for managers, forced to deal on a daily basis with complex, fast and demanding environments and tasks. Managers are not only entitled to increase company revenues; their psychological well-being and ability to cope with stress reflects directly on workers’ psychological health. Organizational psychology developed many techniques in order to help managers deal with stress, especially through specific training activities. The aim of the present study is to explore the effects of a specific training on stress management, conducted on managers with the aid of a virtual reality device. A sample of managers was trained in imagining their best possible self, and in using this thought to increase positive future expectancies. This training was conducted in three consequent virtual reality environments. The first environment, a relaxing open space of choice (e.g. a lake side), was used in the opening part of the training, in order to help managers find a relaxed state of mind for thinking about their possible self. The second environment, a happy place (a real place relevant in the manager’s life), was used in order to help managers imagine their stress-management skills and understand how to use them in difficult situations. The third environment, a place not yet visited but desired, was used in the closing part of the training for linking the training to a desirable future. Interviews and questionnaires on the managers’ environment and stressors in their job, estimated stress-management skills, and self-efficacy were carried out before and after the training. A follow up interview on the same topics was conducted three weeks after the training. Satisfaction for the training was also investigated. The data obtained were examined through both qualitative and quantitative analyses. The managers reported a high level of satisfaction for the training, specifically related with the use of virtual environments. The training was perceived as effective in increasing stress-management skills, both just after its completion and after three weeks. The managers felt a higher degree of self-efficacy regarding their ability to cope with stress in complex situations. Virtual reality is an effective tool not just for improving psychological intervention, but also for making it more appealing. Therefore, it is a technology that should be further studied and introduced in professional practice.