This study aims to investigate how media content consumed through immersive technology may evoke changes in human rights attitudes. It has been proposed that our inability to empathize with others could be overcome by stepping into another's shoes. “Immersive journalism” has been postulated as being able to place us into the shoes of those whose feelings and experiences are distant to us. While virtual reality (VR) and 360-degree news videos have become widely available, it remains unclear how the consumption of content through immersive journalism affects users' attitudes.,Utilizing a between-subject laboratory-controlled experiment (N = 87) this study examined participant scores on the Human Rights Questionnaire before and after consuming 360-degree video immersive journalism content via VR (n = 31), 2D (n = 29), and Article (n = 27) formats. Collected data were analysed using statistical inference.,Results indicate that immersive journalism can elicit a positive attitudinal change in users, unlike an Article, with mobile VR having a more prominent effect than a 2D screen. Furthermore, this change is more strongly affected by users' higher Involvement in the content.,These findings are relevant for grasping the distinct effects novel and recently popularized technologies and media have on attitudinal change, as well as inform the current debate on the value of VR as “empathy machines”.

中文翻译：

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“移情机器”：虚拟现实如何影响人权态度

本研究旨在调查通过沉浸式技术消费的媒体内容如何引起人权态度的变化。有人提出，我们可以通过换位思考来克服我们无法与他人产生共鸣。“沉浸式新闻”被假定为能够让我们站在那些感觉和经历与我们相距甚远的人的立场上。虽然虚拟现实 (VR) 和 360 度新闻视频已经广泛可用，但尚不清楚通过沉浸式新闻对内容的消费如何影响用户的态度。,利用受试者间实验室控制实验 (N = 87) 本研究检查参与者在通过 VR (n = 31)、2D (n = 29) 消费 360 度视频沉浸式新闻内容之前和之后的人权问卷分数，和文章 (n = 27) 格式。使用统计推断分析收集的数据。结果表明，与文章不同，沉浸式新闻可以引发用户的积极态度变化，移动 VR 比 2D 屏幕具有更突出的效果。此外，这种变化受到用户对内容更高参与度的影响更大。,这些发现与掌握新的和最近流行的技术和媒体对态度变化的不同影响有关，并为当前关于价值的争论提供信息VR 作为“移情机器”。