Exploring the Impact of Immersive Media on Prosociality: A Comprehensive Meta-Analytic Review

Ten years after the popular claim that virtual reality is the “ultimate empathy machine,” this article examines the body of research exploring that relationship. By broadening the analytical scope to include additional influencing factors, we ask whether immersive media might instead be considered the “ultimate prosocial machine”. Accordingly, the study aims to understand how—and under what conditions—the consumption of immersive media may enhance prosociality. To this end, we conducted a comprehensive meta-analytic review, synthesizing and updating findings from six prior meta-analyses. Incorporating 85 studies, including 19 recent additions published up to 2024, and performing 68 separate meta-analyses, we examined the extent to which immersive media delivered through virtual reality (VR) headsets influences prosocial responses—namely empathy, attitudes, intentions, and prosocial behaviours—toward outgroup members vulnerable to exclusion, discrimination, or stigmatization. The studies were organized into five distinct sets of meta-analyses to examine potential moderating variables: (1) participant gender, background, and age; (2) the target groups and topics addressed by the immersive productions; (3) the type of prosocial response measured; (4) the type of immersive technology used and the type of immersive experience created; and (5) the modality of experimental design. We found a small-to-moderate statistically significant overall effect, aligning with prior meta-analyses in both effect size and heterogeneity. Given ongoing debates, particular attention was given to the interaction between the type of immersive experience and the specific dimension of empathy evaluated. Our findings suggest that emotional empathy is more responsive to immersive experiences than cognitive empathy, which appears to require more extended and embodied engagement.