Wu Linfeng, Chen Karen B
Department of Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX, USA.
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
IISE Trans Occup Ergon Hum Factors. 2025 Apr-Jun;13(2):79-91. doi: 10.1080/24725838.2024.2419130. Epub 2024 Oct 29.
OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONSWe explored the potential impacts of a virtual gender swap on perceptions toward sexual harassment, which is a harmful behavior that lacks respect and inclusivity. Given that perceptions of harassing behaviors can vary, and that gender may influence one's interpretation of such behaviors, we implemented gender swap in virtual reality (VR) to examine changes in sensitivity to harassment across genders. Participants reported harassing behaviors as more inappropriate when embodying female avatars, regardless of their own gender. Our results suggest that gender swap in VR may raise awareness and narrow the gender gap in harassment perceptions, showing potential of VR-based interventions for immersive workplace training to effectively address biases and promote inclusivity among diversity, equity, and inclusion training. Our study also shows the potential of VR to simulate diverse scenarios and perspectives for tailored training experiences that cater to the specific needs and challenges of different occupational settings.
职业应用
我们探讨了虚拟性别转换对性骚扰认知的潜在影响，性骚扰是一种缺乏尊重和包容性的有害行为。鉴于对骚扰行为的认知可能存在差异，且性别可能会影响人们对这类行为的解读，我们在虚拟现实（VR）中进行了性别转换，以研究不同性别对骚扰行为敏感度的变化。无论参与者自身性别如何，当他们以女性虚拟形象出现时，都会报告骚扰行为更不合适。我们的研究结果表明，VR中的性别转换可能会提高人们的意识，并缩小在骚扰认知方面的性别差距，这显示了基于VR的沉浸式职场培训干预措施在有效解决偏见、促进多元化、公平和包容培训中的包容性方面的潜力。我们的研究还表明，VR有潜力模拟各种场景和视角，以提供满足不同职业环境特定需求和挑战的定制化培训体验。
