Reconnecting in immersive media environments: How 360° virtual reality helps to overcome episodes of social exclusion

IF 4.6 1区文学 Q1 COMMUNICATION

New Media & Society Pub Date : 2026-06-29 DOI:10.1177/14614448261457439

Sarah Lutz, Daniel Pietschmann, Jan-Philipp Stein

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Social exclusion threatens fundamental needs (i.e. belonging, self-esteem, meaningful existence, and control) and impairs emotional well-being. Previous research on media as a tool to mitigate these detrimental effects has predominantly focused on traditional devices, leaving the role of immersive technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), underexplored. Our preregistered laboratory experiment ( N = 114) investigates whether VR-based coping facilitates need restoration and emotion regulation compared to conventional 2D media. After inducing ostracism via Cyberball, participants watched a short video of a social interaction on either a VR headset or a 2D screen. Whereas both coping conditions yielded comparable increases in emotional well-being, VR exposure led to significantly higher need restoration than the same video presented in 2D. Mediation analyses indicated indirect effects of VR exposure on both need restoration and emotion regulation via spatial presence, but not via social presence or self-presence. These findings underscore VR’s potential as an effective coping tool following social exclusion.

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在沉浸式媒体环境中重新连接：360°虚拟现实如何帮助克服社会排斥事件

社会排斥威胁到基本需求（即归属感、自尊、有意义的存在和控制）并损害情感健康。之前关于媒体作为缓解这些有害影响的工具的研究主要集中在传统设备上，而虚拟现实（VR）等沉浸式技术的作用尚未得到充分探索。我们的预注册实验室实验（N = 114）调查了与传统2D媒体相比，基于vr的应对是否有助于需求恢复和情绪调节。在通过赛博球引起排斥之后，参与者在VR头盔或2D屏幕上观看了一段简短的社交互动视频。尽管两种应对条件都产生了相当程度的情绪幸福感增加，但VR暴露导致的需求恢复明显高于2D呈现的相同视频。中介分析表明，虚拟现实暴露通过空间在场间接影响需求恢复和情绪调节，但不通过社会在场或自我在场。这些发现强调了虚拟现实作为社会排斥后有效应对工具的潜力。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

New Media & Society COMMUNICATION-

CiteScore

12.70

自引率

8.00%

发文量

274

期刊介绍： New Media & Society engages in critical discussions of the key issues arising from the scale and speed of new media development, drawing on a wide range of disciplinary perspectives and on both theoretical and empirical research. The journal includes contributions on: -the individual and the social, the cultural and the political dimensions of new media -the global and local dimensions of the relationship between media and social change -contemporary as well as historical developments -the implications and impacts of, as well as the determinants and obstacles to, media change the relationship between theory, policy and practice.