Restorativeness mediates the effect of a brief virtual reality mindfulness exposure with a multi-ethnic group in a natural environment on global identity salience: a pilot study with adolescents.

Summary

A surprising finding suggests that a brief virtual reality experience can enhance young people's connection to humanity. Research explored if exposure to a virtual natural environment featuring multi-ethnic youth practicing mindfulness, compared to playing volleyball, could boost global identity in adolescence. It was found that the mindfulness virtual reality session significantly increased feelings of restorativeness, which in turn positively impacted a sense of global identity. This highlights how virtual experiences can positively shape self-concept during adolescence.

Abstract

Adolescents are increasingly exposed to global challenges, making it important to promote a sense of global identity-defined as a psychological connection with humanity as a whole. While scholars have highlighted the role of mindfulness and restorativeness in promoting global identity per se, there is a lack of studies hypothesizing their involvement in a unique framework and adopting virtual reality (VR) as a tool. This study aimed to verify, in a sample of adolescents, the indirect effect of the exposure to a VR video of a group of multi-ethnic youths practicing a brief mindfulness session - compared to a VR video of a group of multi-ethnic youths involved in a volleyball play - on global identity through restorativeness. A quasi-experimental between-subjects design was adopted, involving 94 Italian adolescents randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (i) a 360-degree VR video showing a group of multi-ethnic youths practicing mindfulness in a natural environment or (ii) a 360-degree VR video showing a group of multi-ethnic youths playing volleyball in the same environment. We hypothesized that the VR exposure to the group of multi-ethnic youths practicing a brief mindfulness session - compared to the VR exposure to the group of multi-ethnic youths involved in a volleyball play - could enhance restorativeness, which in turn is expected to increase global identity salience. The results of the mediation analysis supported our hypothesis, showing that participants exposed to the mindfulness condition - compared to the participants exposed to the volleyball play condition - reported significantly higher restorativeness, which in turn led to an increase in global identity salience [point estimate = 0.12, SE = 0.08, 95% CI = (0.004, 0.317)]. Findings shed light on the underlying processes involved in the exposure to a brief mindfulness session within a multi-ethnic group played in a virtual natural environment on global identity salience, emphasizing the mediating role of restorativeness. These results provide significant insights into the self-concept construction, which is critical in adolescence. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.

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