ITMI: The use of Immersive Technologies to promote Moral Intuitions

The Advanced Human-Technology Interaction Laboratory at the Milan headquarters of Pegaso University, Italy, is engaged in a research project (ITMI) focused on designing and testing new technologies for promoting moral intuition. Specifically, the project has two aims: (a) to research the psychological mechanisms and experiences that influence the development of morality features and behavior and which could be conveyed by immersive technologies, and (b) to propose guidelines for designing interventions to promote specific components of morality through new technologies. To this end, as a first step, a scoping review was conducted with the aim of mapping all interventions in the past decade in which technology has been used for the purpose of enhancing various components of morality, such as moral cognition, moral behavior, and/or moral attitudes. The review found that digital technologies offer significant opportunities to enhance moral development through the presentation of various moral materials and dilemmas, simulating the possibility of making choices and reflecting on the consequences of those choices. Consistent with the literature, the most effective interventions have been found to be those that go beyond simply conveying information about moral rules or value systems. In other words, interventions using video games, serious games, or virtual environments in which the subject can actively experience moral situations appear to be particularly effective. It also emerged that technologies could be used as a means of eliciting “transformative emotions” to promote moral behavior. Their positive results support the idea that experiencing certain emotions can facilitate access to moral insights and, consequently, influence prosocial behavior.