Virtual Reality to Combat Weight-Based Implicit Bias: BWH Pilot Study

NCT07283523 | Enrolling By Invitation

• 1 other identifier: 2022P001287
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 52
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this pilot implementation study is to evaluate the impact of a virtual reality (VR) intervention on implicit bias for resident physicians. The main question it aims to answer are: Does watching VR experience of two clinical encounters reduce implicit bias association test scores? Is the VR experience an acceptable intervention tool for reducing implicit bias? Researchers will compare weight-based VR experiences consisting of two observed clinical encounters to a neutral education VR encounter to see if our intervention significantly impacts implicit bias association scores. Participants will be asked

1. 1.Complete Implicit Association test for weight-based bias pre-intervention and post-intervention (immediately, at one week, and one month after the intervention) to assess their implicit bias
2. 2.Watch either experimental clinical encounter videos or neutral education video using a VR headset
3. 3.Participants will also complete an abbreviated IAT related to views on compliance

Conditions

Implicit Bias; Implicit Association Test

Keywords

Reality, Virtual; Virtual Reality, Educational; Implicit Association Test; Weight-based Implicit Bias

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Implicit Association Test

  Participants in both experimental and control arms will take four implicit association tests: one pre-VR to assess baseline, immediately post-VR, one-week, and one-month. Impact of VR experimental experience will be assessed for significant changes in IAT scores between the pre-VR test and the post-VR tests.

  From enrollment to one-month post-intervention

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Resident Impression of Virtual Reality Implicit Bias Project

  One-month post-VR

Study Arms (2)

Clinical Encounters VR Videos

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: 360 Video on a Virtual Reality Headset

Control Neutral VR Video

OTHER

Behavioral: 360-Control Video

Interventions

360 Video on a Virtual Reality Headset BEHAVIORAL

Two 360- videos watched via a VR headset where the study subject will witness a positive physician encounter with a compliant obese patient and a negative encounter with a non-compliant non-obese patient

Clinical Encounters VR Videos

360-Control Video BEHAVIORAL

A neutral education video from the New England Journal of Medicine watched in a 360-theatre setting via a VR headset

Control Neutral VR Video

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Resident physicians associated with Brigham and Women's Hospital
• Resident physicians providing informed consent to participate

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Brigham and Women's Hospital: lead

Study Sites (1)

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, United States

Location

Related Publications (10)

• Marini M, Waterman PD, Breedlove E, Chen JT, Testa C, Reisner SL, Pardee DJ, Mayer KH, Krieger N. The target/perpetrator brief-implicit association test (B-IAT): an implicit instrument for efficiently measuring discrimination based on race/ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, weight, and age. BMC Public Health. 2021 Jan 19;21(1):158. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10171-7.

  PMID: 33468085 BACKGROUND

• Gonzalez-Liencres C, Zapata LE, Iruretagoyena G, Seinfeld S, Perez-Mendez L, Arroyo-Palacios J, Borland D, Slater M, Sanchez-Vives MV. Being the Victim of Intimate Partner Violence in Virtual Reality: First- Versus Third-Person Perspective. Front Psychol. 2020 May 8;11:820. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00820. eCollection 2020.

  PMID: 32457681 BACKGROUND

• Banakou D, Slater M. Body ownership causes illusory self-attribution of speaking and influences subsequent real speaking. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Dec 9;111(49):17678-83. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1414936111. Epub 2014 Nov 24.

  PMID: 25422444 BACKGROUND

• Salmanowitz N. The impact of virtual reality on implicit racial bias and mock legal decisions. J Law Biosci. 2018 Apr 19;5(1):174-203. doi: 10.1093/jlb/lsy005. eCollection 2018 May.

  PMID: 29707220 BACKGROUND

• Banakou D, Kishore S, Slater M. Virtually Being Einstein Results in an Improvement in Cognitive Task Performance and a Decrease in Age Bias. Front Psychol. 2018 Jun 11;9:917. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00917. eCollection 2018.

  PMID: 29942270 BACKGROUND

• Peck TC, Seinfeld S, Aglioti SM, Slater M. Putting yourself in the skin of a black avatar reduces implicit racial bias. Conscious Cogn. 2013 Sep;22(3):779-87. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2013.04.016. Epub 2013 May 28.

  PMID: 23727712 BACKGROUND

• Bertrand P, Guegan J, Robieux L, McCall CA, Zenasni F. Learning Empathy Through Virtual Reality: Multiple Strategies for Training Empathy-Related Abilities Using Body Ownership Illusions in Embodied Virtual Reality. Front Robot AI. 2018 Mar 22;5:26. doi: 10.3389/frobt.2018.00026. eCollection 2018.

  PMID: 33500913 BACKGROUND

• Marini M, Rubichi S, Sartori G. The role of self-involvement in shifting IAT effects. Exp Psychol. 2012;59(6):348-54. doi: 10.1027/1618-3169/a000163.

  PMID: 22750742 BACKGROUND

• Lai CK, Marini M, Lehr SA, Cerruti C, Shin JE, Joy-Gaba JA, Ho AK, Teachman BA, Wojcik SP, Koleva SP, Frazier RS, Heiphetz L, Chen EE, Turner RN, Haidt J, Kesebir S, Hawkins CB, Schaefer HS, Rubichi S, Sartori G, Dial CM, Sriram N, Banaji MR, Nosek BA. Reducing implicit racial preferences: I. A comparative investigation of 17 interventions. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2014 Aug;143(4):1765-85. doi: 10.1037/a0036260. Epub 2014 Mar 24.

  PMID: 24661055 BACKGROUND

• Tappolet C, Teroni, F, Ziv, AK. Shadows of the Soul: Philosophical Perspectives on Negative Emotions. 2018

  BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Bias, Implicit

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Prejudice; Social Behavior; Behavior

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 4, 2025
• First Posted: December 16, 2025
• Study Start: November 19, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2026
• Last Updated: December 16, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-12

Locations

US (1)