Traveling While Black Lab Study

This research examines the impact of anti-racist storytelling/informational virtual reality (VR) simulations depicting historical and social issues regarding race, restrictive movement, and nationalism (relative to VR simulations without such content) on viewers' emotions, racial attitudes, and policy support. Data will be collected in two sessions: a pre-VR survey, a post-VR survey. In Session 1, participants will report demographics, emotions, racial attitudes, and policy support. In Session 2, participants will view one of three VR simulations whose themes vary in race-related content and valence (positive/negative). In the anti-racist experimental condition, participants view Roger Ross Williams’s 20-minute VR experience, Traveling While Black, while seated in a virtual replica of the historic Ben’s Chili Bowl diner in Washington, DC. This VR experience consists of immersive 360° footage of anti-Black racism in the US in the 20th and 21st centuries, including Black people’s discussions and reflections on experiences and footage of segregation practices, racial discrimination, and police violence. In the negative, minority-related condition, participants watch "Surviving 9/11" in VR. In this simulation, participants follow the story of a Latina woman working in the twin towers at the World Trade Center when they were attacked on 9/11. In the control condition, the “Archaeology of Light” simulation, participants will watch a 20-minute VR experience (e.g., astronomy) where they tour the universe. Then, participants will again be asked to report their emotions, racial attitudes, and policy support. The aim is to understand whether anti-racist-focused VR storytelling/information improves people’s empathy, racial attitudes, and support for policies designed to increase racial equity and investigate potential long-term improvements.