Virtual reality aggression assessment with social interaction: early evidence for validity from two pilot studies

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Computer Science
• Virtual Reality

Background:

• Assessing aggression is crucial for clinical practice and research.
• Traditional methods like self-report and observation have limitations.
• Virtual Reality (VR) offers a promising alternative for aggression assessment due to its ecological validity and experimental control.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate a VR scenario for assessing aggression.
• To compare aggression levels in aggressive patients and students within a VR environment.
• To explore the validity of VR-based aggression assessment.

Main Methods:

• An explorative study with aggressive patients (n=12) and students (n=12).
• A VR scenario with neutral, instructional, and two provocative scenes involving avatars.
• Assessment using a VR-customized Social Aggression and Dysfunction Questionnaire and lifetime aggression self-report scales.

Main Results:

• Both patients and students exhibited higher aggression in provocative VR scenes compared to neutral/instructional scenes.
• Patients showed increased aggression in the second provocation, unlike students.
• Patients displayed more aggression than students in the second provocation scene.

Conclusions:

• The VR aggression assessment scenario can effectively evoke and measure aggressive behavior.
• The VR scenario demonstrates construct, known-group, and concurrent validity.
• VR may bridge the gap between behavioral tasks and trait questionnaires in aggression assessment.