INTERGROUP DYNAMICS IN VIRTUAL REALITY: OBSERVING IN-GROUP PREFERENCES AND INTERGROUP COOPERATION IN A MULTIUSER SOCIAL VR IMMERSIVE ENVIRONMENT

The study examines intergroup dynamics, biases, cooperation, and competition in social virtual reality (SVR), focusing on the interactions between members of minority and majority groups. A total of 72 Jewish Israeli participants-38 women and 34 men-were recruited from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds, including Ethiopian and other Jewish ethnicities, as well as ultra-Orthodox and secular communities. These participants were chosen to represent key social dynamics and conflicts within Israeli society. They participated in organized intergroup meetings held in VR. Activities involved team-based cooperation and competition. A qualitative research approach was employed, utilizing open-ended questionnaires and observational methods to examine participant behavior during the session within the framework of participatory action research (PAR). In-group preferences were expressed in participant’s choice of partners and spatial proximity to others in some of the groups, whereas in other cases- participants were prone to keep the partners they initially grouped with, regardless of their group identity, throughout the session. We discuss the results and their implications for designing realistic, significant intergroup encounters in SVR.