Virtual Reality Lab - Universitat de Barcelona

Previous studies have set a relation between attentional bias and body image. However, few of them have used Virtual Reality software, and even less eye tracking systems. This study aims to explore the relation between attentional bias and body fat obsession level in men, combining VR and ET technologies, understanding that they are as innovative as useful to study this phenomenon. 40 men (24 with high and 16 with low obsession) were exposed to a virtual avatar that had their own measures (height, weight, and BMI). Based on PASTAS questionnaire, the different body areas were defined to analyze the visual attention properly and check for how long and how many times the participants looked at a certain area. The independent samples T-test showed marginally significant differences in the number of fixations between groups (p=.074), but not for fixation time. The paired samples T-test showed significant differences in both variables in the low obsession group (p>.05), but no differences for the high obsession group (p>.05). Men with low obsession aim their gaze to non-weight related areas more times and for longer, while no differences were found in the high obsession group.