Virtual reality can inoculate people against the allure of alternative romantic partners, study finds - PsyPost

Many radical initiate monogamous relationships successful the anticipation of maintaining intersexual exclusivity and reaping the benefits of specified relationships. However, successful a satellite of seemingly limitless alternatives, staying faithful to a existent spouse whitethorn beryllium challenging. In our latest research, we utilized virtual world to analyse 1 condition that mightiness assistance radical who are progressive successful committed relationships to override the temptation of alternate partners.

In doing so, we relied connected inoculation theorizing, which proposes that vulnerability to a weakened menace tin beforehand self-control by allowing radical to contemplate absorption to temptation. Take, for example, being connected a diet. The beingness of a anemic nutrient temptation, specified arsenic a forgotten adust cookie, whitethorn summation your consciousness of your semipermanent priorities of weight-watching. This consciousness tin prepare you to rise your guard much rapidly upon facing your favourite fresh-baked cookies, which airs a much superior menace to your weigh-watching goals.

Is it imaginable to inoculate radical against the allure of alternate partners?

In 3 studies, we examined whether vulnerability to a anemic narration threat—flirtation with a virtual human—would inoculate radical against the enticement of real-world alternatives. Unlike large threats (such arsenic real-world progressive courting attempts) that undermine committed people’s antiaircraft ability, vulnerability to a weakened menace is apt to punctual them of their semipermanent commitments portion making them amended acceptable to support their narration successful the look a much threatening temptation. Accordingly, we predicted that flirtatious virtual brushwood would pb radical to tendency their existent spouse much and devalue the attractiveness of alternate partners.

To trial this prediction, successful each studies, participants conversed with a virtual bartender of the aforesaid sex arsenic their spouse who either flirted with them oregon behaved neutrally. Then, participants interacted with a existent quality of the aforesaid sex arsenic their spouse and rated their perceptions of and attraction to some targets.

The seductiveness of the bartender was manipulated crossed 3 modalities: (a) the contented of the conversation. We pre-recorded a fixed publication for each information that was either flirtatious (“Wow! You look truly excited! Is it due to the fact that you bask your large oregon due to the fact that of me?”) oregon not; (b) oculus contact; and (c) nonverbal gestures (see an illustration video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIDXmpFlIG4; The YouTube video fails to show the immersiveness of the virtual interaction).

In the archetypal study, an charismatic interviewer interviewed the participants close aft the virtual encounter, utilizing a fixed interrogation script, successful which participants were asked to stock their thoughts connected respective interpersonal topics (For example, “Should radical play ‘hard-to-get’ astatine the onset of a relationship?”). The interviewers were unsighted to the experimental information and were trained to grounds behaviors that conveyed warmth, specified arsenic adjacent carnal proximity and predominant oculus contact. At the extremity of the interview, the participants rated the attractiveness of the interviewer. We recovered that pursuing the flirtatious virtual encounter, participants perceived the interviewer arsenic little charismatic (than pursuing the neutral virtual encounter).

In the 2nd study, we examined whether a flirtatious virtual brushwood affected not lone perceptions of real-world alternate partners but besides existent interactions with them. For this purpose, pursuing the virtual encounter, participants interacted with an charismatic alien who ostensibly sought their help. We focused connected the inclination to assistance an charismatic alien successful need, due to the fact that proviso of assistance is simply a little risky transmission for expressing involvement successful alternate partners than overt flirting.

Specifically, participants were led to judge that they and different participant would usage integrative vino cups to independently physique a five-floor pyramid (each of them had to physique a antithetic pyramid). In reality, each participants were assigned the aforesaid charismatic insider—a subordinate of the probe team. When the insiders had finished gathering the 3rd floor, they knocked down their ain pyramid, ostensibly by mistake. The insiders past turned to the subordinate and asked for assistance successful re-building the pyramid, uttering, “I’m truthful clumsy! Could you delight assistance maine successful rebuilding my pyramid?” The insiders hid a stopwatch successful the pouch and assessed the existent clip the participants spent successful helping rebuilding the pyramids. A longer duration of assistance indicated greater involvement successful the insider.

We recovered that pursuing the flirtatious virtual encounter, participants invested little clip successful helping an charismatic alien successful request (than pursuing the neutral virtual encounter). A flirtatious virtual brushwood truthful not lone leads to perceiving real-world alternate partners arsenic little attractive, but besides to minimizing the clip of really interacting with them.

In the 3rd study, some members of romanticist couples were invited to the lab. Partners were led to antithetic rooms. One spouse interacted with a virtual bartender who behaved either seductively oregon neutrally, arsenic successful the archetypal 2 studies. During this time, the different spouse watched a neutral video. Partners were past reunited, seated successful 2 chairs facing each other, and asked to sermon satisfying and unsatisfying aspects of their enactment lives. Following the discussion, participants rated their intersexual tendency for their spouse and their tendency for enactment with idiosyncratic different than their partner. We recovered that pursuing the flirtatious virtual encounter, participants desired their existent spouse much portion experiencing little intersexual tendency for different radical (than pursuing the neutral virtual encounter).

Together, our findings suggest that a flirtatious virtual brushwood (versus a non-flirtatious interaction) tin inoculate romantically progressive individuals against the entreaty of existent alternate partners.

Overall, this probe is the archetypal to amusement that interacting with a virtual cause promotes real-world relationships. A virtual narration threat—one that by explanation could not beryllium acted on— allows radical to contemplate resistance to existent charismatic alternatives. The resulting protective absorption whitethorn assistance them support satisfying and unchangeable relationships successful the look of tempting alternatives.

The study, “Biting the forbidden fruit: The effect of flirting with a virtual cause connected attraction to existent alternate and existing partners“, was authored by Gurit E. Birnbaum, Yael R. Chen, Kobi Zholtack, Jonathan Giron, and Doron Friedman