Choosing under financial pressure: a VR experience

There are many stereotypes surrounding people living in poverty or debt. They are often perceived as unmotivated, unintelligent, or lazy. In reality, situational factors – such as illness, divorce, or the loss of a loved one – often play a major role in creating financial vulnerability. These kinds of stereotypes can also be present among professionals, such as policymakers. This is particularly problematic, as they are responsible for designing policies, systems, and procedures intended to support people in these vulnerable situations. A realistic and nuanced understanding of this group is therefore essential.

For people who have never experienced financial difficulties themselves, it can be hard to imagine the impact that financial stress has on everyday life. Numbers, texts, and reports are important, but they do not always reveal how financial worries can influence the choices people make and the pressure under which these decisions are taken. In this project, we explore whether a VR experience can contribute to addressing this gap.

The VR experience is not intended to fully simulate life under financial stress. Instead, it offers participants the opportunity to become familiar with situations and dilemmas that can arise when financial problems accumulate. Within a recognizable family setting, participants are confronted with decisions made under increasing pressure. We investigate whether the VR experience can be an effective tool for increasing insight into the impact of financial stress, and thereby contribute to a more nuanced understanding of people who are affected by it.

What do we do?

We created this VR experience in collaboration with Nibud and individuals with lived experience of poverty and financial hardship. The VR experience is developed as an educational tool intended to stimulate insight and reflection on financial stress and its impact on decision-making. We study to what extent this type of experience can contribute to learning and awareness among professionals. As this project is part of the ELSA Lab, we continuously integrate Ethical (E), Legal (L), and Societal (S) aspects into the development of the VR. In addition, we critically examine both the possibilities and limitations of VR as a medium for making complex societal issues more tangible. These studies are part of Stefan Bos’ PhD research.