A VR Intervention for Prosocial Behavior and Well-being Among Adolescents

Experimental: Prosocial VR Intervention

Participants in the VR intervention group will engage in a five-week gamified prosocial VR intervention program. The intervention will consist of five weekly sessions, each lasting between 10 to 15 minutes. Each session will depict a different daily life scenario, including a home, school, street, park, and shopping mall.

Behavioral: Prosocial VR intervention

A five-week gamified prosocial VR intervention program based on literature review and relevance to the local contexts will be developed for the proposed project. The intervention will be expanded to include five weekly sessions, each lasting between 10 to 15 minutes. Each session will depict a different daily life scenario-home, school, street, park, and shopping mall, respectively. During each session, participants will engage in a series of tasks that incorporate elements of prosocial behavior or helping actions within the scene. These tasks are designed to be more comprehensive and interactive, ensuring that participants are fully immersed in the experience for the entire duration of the session.

No Intervention: Waitlist control group

Participants in the waitlist condition will not receive VR intervention during the study.

Prosocial attitudes

Three items assessing prosocial attitudes will be revised from the Prosocial Orientation Questionnaire. Participants will rate each item on a 6-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). Higher scores on the scale indicate a greater presence of positive prosocial attitudes.

Prosocial identity

The Internalization subscale of the Self Importance of Moral Identity Scale (SIMIS) will be used to measure the construct of prosocial identity. Participants will rate each item on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Elevated scores on the scale indicate a greater degree of prosocial identity.

Prosocial intention

The Prosocial Behavioral Intentions Scale (PBIS) will be employed to evaluate individuals' future intentions to engage in prosocial behavior. Participants will rate each item on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (Definitely would not do this) to 7 (Definitely would do this). Increased scores on the scale indicate a greater inclination towards prosocial intentions.

Attitudes toward helping others

The Attitudes toward Helping Others Scale (AHO) will be employed to assess individuals' attitudes towards helping others. Each item will be rated on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Elevated scores on the scale indicate a greater presence of positive attitudes towards helping others.

Altruism

Two items from the Preference Survey Module (PSM) will be modified to measure altruism. One example item is as follows: "Imagine the following scenario: you have won 1,000 Euros in a lottery. Considering your present circumstances, how much of the prize would you donate to a charitable cause? (Values between 0 and 1000 are permissible)." Higher scores on this item indicate a higher level of altruistic behavior or tendencies.

Empathy

The Single Item Trait Empathy Scale (SITES) will be utilized to assess levels of empathy. Participants will rate this item on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), with higher scores indicating a greater degree of empathy.

Life satisfaction

The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) will be employed to evaluate levels of life satisfaction. Participants will rate each item on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree." Elevated scores on the scale indicate greater levels of life satisfaction.

Subjective happiness

The Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) will be utilized to assess participants' subjective happiness. Each item will be rated on a 7-point Likert scale. Elevated scores on the scale indicate a greater level of subjective happiness.

Affect

The Emmons Mood Indicator will be employed to measure affect, encompassing two dimensions: Positive Affect and Negative Affect. Each item will be rated on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (not at all) to 7 (extremely). Elevated scores on the scale indicate a higher level of affect.

Gratitude

One item from the Gratitude Adjective Checklist (GAC) will be used to measure participants' gratitude. This item will be rated on a 7-point Likert scale. A higher score indicate a higher level of gratitude.

Subjective vitality

Three items from the Subjective Vitality Scale (SVS) will be used to measure participants' subjective vitality. Each item will be rated on a 7-point Likert scale. Higher scores indicate a higher level of subjective vitality.

Self-esteem

The Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSE) will be used to measure self-esteem. Each item will be rated on a 4-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 4(strongly disagree). Higher scores indicate higher levels of self esteem.

Daily well-being

Daily well-being will be assessed using a single item ("How do you feel right now?") adapted from the Well-Being Manifestations Measure Scale (WBMMS) using a sliding scale ranging from 0 (not good at all) to 100 (very good). A higher score indicates a higher level of daily well-being.

Daily prosocial act

Daily prosocial act will be measured by one item: "How many acts have you engaged today that involve helping someone else or doing something for a good cause?" Participants will indicate the number of prosocial acts from a drop-down menu ranging from 0 to 10+. The response of "0" will be classified as "no prosocial engagement," and responses of "1" or more will be classified as "having engaged in prosocial acts."

Daily subjective happiness

Daily subjective happiness will be measured using a condensed 2-item adaptation of the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS). The first item will assess their self-perceived general happiness today on a scale from 1 (not at all happy) to 7 (very happy). The second item will gauge their comparative happiness to their peers during the same timeframe, ranging from 1 (less happy) to 7 (more happy). Higher scores indicate a higher level of daily subjective happiness.

Daily subjective vitality

Daily subjective vitality will be assessed using 3 representative items from the 7-item Subjective Vitality Scale (SVS). All items will be rated on a 7-point scale (1 = not at all true to 7 = very true). Higher scores indicate a higher level of daily subjective vitality.

Daily affect

Daily affect will be evaluated using the 9-item Emmons Mood Indicator. Participants will be instructed to rate the extent to which they experienced each emotion today using a 7-point scale (ranging from 1 = not at all to 7 = extremely). Elevated scores on the scale indicate a higher level of daily affect.

Daily gratitude

Daily gratitude will be measured using one item from the Gratitude Adjective Checklist (GAC). This item will be rated on a 7-point Likert scale. A higher score indicates a higher level of daily gratitude.

Daily psychological needs

Daily psychological needs will be assessed using a 9-item Basic Psychological Needs Scale (BPNS). Each subscale, namely competence, autonomy, and relatedness, consists of 3 items rated on a 7-point scale (ranging from 1 = not at all true to 7 = very true). Higher scores indicate a higher level of daily psychological needs.

Daily self-esteem

Daily self-esteem will be evaluated using 2 items from the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965). Ratings will be evaluated on a 4-point scale (1 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree). Higher scores indicate a higher level of daily self-esteem.

Feelings in the VR

Two items will be uesd to measure the sense of reality. Items are "I feel that the maze seemed very much like the one in the real world" and "The game scene made me feel like I was truly there".

Levels of difficulty

Two items will be used to measure the levels of difficulty. Items are "The game is very difficult" and "The game is too difficult to operate".

Levels of interest

Two items will be used to measure the levels of difficulty. Items are "This game is very interesting" and "I like this game".

Intervention satisfaction

Intervention satisfaction will be assessed using the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 (CSQ-8). Participants will rate each item on a 4-point Likert scale, with "1" indicating the lowest degree of satisfaction and "4" representing the highest. Elevated scores on the scale reflect greater levels of intervention satisfaction.

Socio-demographic variables

The study will collect socio-demographic variables including gender, age, level of education, and family income.