No country for old men: Reducing age bias through virtual reality embodiment

Ageism is a negative attitude toward aging and elderly people. Many studies have investigated the effects of ageist attitudes and age stereotypes, but little is known about their ability to be modified. By making young adult participants embody arms of older individuals, we attempted to induce the illusion of ownership for the virtual body part and therefore reduce the negative implicit bias towards elderly people. They were assessed for explicit (Fraboni Ageism questionnaire) and implicit (Age-IAT) attitudes toward the elderly. Then, through videos of arms touched in virtual reality and a synchronous real tactile stimulation, we elicited an illusion of body ownership. Participants looked at their “virtual” arm while they were touched by the same wooden stick seen in the video, every second for two minutes. After each condition Age-IAT was re-administered. The results suggest a decrease in negative attitudes toward elderly people in the adult population.