Paper Title
Effects of VR Role-play on Bystander Empathy, Behavior, and Attitude in Bullying Situations

Abstract
The present study investigates the impact of the experience of VR role playing a bullying victim on empathic responsiveness toward victims and attitudes toward bullying. The purpose of the present study is to explore whether the roleplay experience can change one’s attitude in the bullying situation. That is, make the outsiders willing to help the bullying victims and become defenders. Subjects with high or low affective empathy first wear VR glasses and roleplayed as the victims in stage one by viewing a bullying video. In stage two they entered a SecondLife bullying situation to roleplay bystanders. Those subjects in the control group only participated in stage two. The results show that subjects who roleplay as victims in VR are found to be more willing to help victims compared to people who do not roleplay as victims in VR. It indicates that people’s virtual experience through role-playing as bullying victims can influence their attitudes toward bullying and empathic responsiveness toward bullying victims, no matter their original levels of affective empathy. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed. Keywords - Bullying, Role-play, Empathy, Attitude, Virtual Reality, Virtual Environment.