Virtual Reality Lab - Universitat de Barcelona

Many studies have shown the impact of bodily experiences on our mind, breaking with the mind-body duality. Body differences imply different mental representations, which is on what the body specificity hypothesis is based on. This approach along with the assumptions of the embodied cognition theory and cognitive theory of metaphor serves as a basis and leads this investigation to study the influence of lateral dominance on visual preference and emotional valence regarding one's own body image, which is an area that has not yet been explored. To investigate this topic a group of 21 participants with right principal dominance (DPD) is compared with another composed of 19 people with left principal dominance (DPI) in different variables: eye-tracking measures (CFT and NF) towards each area of interest (AOI) and the judgement of metaphor “good is right”. This evaluation occurs while the participants are in a virtual reality environment, in which an avatar is presented in first person and has the same physical characteristics as the person, and its moves are synchronized with the real body to create body-ownership illusion. The results show a strong association between principal laterality and the side designated as “good”. When it comes to the body itself, the dominant side is preferred and considered good. Differences have also been found between those who are DPI, and those who are DPD, regardless of the group, looked for a longer time (CFT) and more times (NF) to their non-dominant side. That side with greater attention is the one labeled as “bad”, there are also significant differences between the two groups. The results show the implications that lateral dominance may have in our preferences regarding our own body: where you look and which side you like most.

Embodied Cognition Theory · Cognitive Theory of Metaphor · Lateral Dominance · Visual Preferences · Body Image · Body-specificity hypothesis · Virtual Reality · Eye-tracking · Body Ownership Illusion