Intergroup Contact in Virtual Reality: Comparative Effects of Two Contact Strategies on Reducing Prejudice and Increasing Trust Between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland

Project description

Virtually connecting Catholics and Protestants

Virtual reality (VR) was originally designed to make video games more immersive, but the technology has spread out to a range of other industries and sectors. From the workplace to the classroom, VR may soon find a new calling in reducing intergroup conflict. It’s based on the contact hypothesis, which suggests that intergroup contact effectively reduces prejudice between majority and minority group members. The EU-funded contactVIRT project will test this hypothesis using VR technology in Northern Ireland. As Catholics and Protestants have relatively scarce contact with members outside their own group, the project will test if VR-contact promotes trust between the two groups.

Fields of science

• natural sciences › computer and information sciences › software › application software › virtual reality

Programme(s)

• H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility

Topic(s)

• MSCA-IF-2018 - Individual Fellowships

Call for proposal

H2020-MSCA-IF-2018
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF

Coordinator

THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST

Address

University Road Lanyon Building
BT7 1NN Belfast
United Kingdom

Activity type

Higher or Secondary Education Establishments

EU contribution

€ 224 933,76