Reconnecting in immersive media environments: How 360° virtual reality helps to overcome episodes of social exclusion

Social exclusion threatens fundamental needs (i.e. belonging, self-esteem, meaningful existence, and control) and impairs emotional well-being. Previous research on media as a tool to mitigate these detrimental effects has predominantly focused on traditional devices, leaving the role of immersive technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), underexplored. Our preregistered laboratory experiment (N = 114) investigates whether VR-based coping facilitates need restoration and emotion regulation compared to conventional 2D media. After inducing ostracism via Cyberball, participants watched a short video of a social interaction on either a VR headset or a 2D screen. Whereas both coping conditions yielded comparable increases in emotional well-being, VR exposure led to significantly higher need restoration than the same video presented in 2D. Mediation analyses indicated indirect effects of VR exposure on both need restoration and emotion regulation via spatial presence, but not via social presence or self-presence. These findings underscore VR’s potential as an effective coping tool following social exclusion.