Can Embodiment Reduce Racial and Gender Biases in the Perception of Other’s Pain? at University of Greenwich

Pain is one of the most common health issues reported with chronic pain alone affecting between one third and half of the UK population making fair and equal access to pain treatment a vital part of ensuring an equitable healthcare system. This PhD project, funded by the University of Greenwich’s Vice Chancellor Scholarship, investigates whether interventions based on virtual reality (VR) induced embodiment can reduce racial and gender biases in the perception of other’s pain, and with this health inequities.

One of the most exciting potentials of virtual reality is the ability to give users the experience of “embodying” an avatar from a different social group e.g. a different gender or ethnicity which has been shown to reduce bias in attitudes and behaviours. Experiencing ownership over an outgroup avatar leads to a reduction in bias in users’ attitudes and behaviours towards members of the embodied group. Recent research has suggested that in addition to these changes, embodiment of a member of a different social group can also alter sensorimotor responses when observing pain in that group.

This PhD project will build upon existing research by investigating the social, cognitive, and neural mechanisms underlying these effects of embodiment on pain perception and how any findings could inform interventions in the healthcare context. This PhD will use a range of methodologies including virtual reality, psychophysiological measures, and neuroimaging approaches such as functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) and electroencephalography (EEG).

This PhD includes a Bursary available (subject to satisfactory performance): 

From 01 October for the 2023-24 academic year this amount will be Year 1: £17,668 (FT) or pro-rata (PT) Year 2: In line with UKRI rate Year 3: In line with UKRI rate

In addition, the successful candidate will receive a contribution to tuition fees equivalent to the university’s Home rate, currently £4,596 (FT) or pro-rata (PT), for the duration of their scholarship.  International applicants will need to pay the remainder tuition fee for the duration of their scholarship. This fee is subject to an annual increase.