Virtual Reality and Implicit Bias: Examining Racial Prejudice through the Representation of Black and White Asylum Seekers

The present study explores the potential of Virtual Reality (VR) to address implicit racial prejudice by immersing participants in an asylum interview scenario. A sample of 160 Italians, who embodied either a Burkinabé (Black) or a Ukrainian (White) asylum seeker, completed the Implicit Association Test before and after the VR experience. Results showed no significant change in bias after embodying the Burkinabé avatar, but a significant increase in racial prejudice after embodying the Ukrainian avatar. Findings suggest that VR-based perspective-taking may, under certain conditions, reinforce intergroup biases, especially in contexts marked by symbolic hierarchies of deservingness, legitimacy, and racialized inclusion.