title: Height, social comparison, and paranoia: an immersive virtual reality experimental study.
abstract: Mistrust of others may build upon perceptions of the self as vulnerable, consistent with an association of paranoia with perceived lower social rank. Height is a marker of social status and authority. Therefore we tested the effect of manipulating height, as a proxy for social rank, on paranoia. Height was manipulated within an immersive virtual reality simulation. Sixty females who reported paranoia experienced a virtual reality train ride twice: at their normal and reduced height. Paranoia and social comparison were assessed. Reducing a person's height resulted in more negative views of the self in comparison with other people and increased levels of paranoia. The increase in paranoia was fully mediated by changes in social comparison. The study provides the first demonstration that reducing height in a social situation increases the occurrence of paranoia. The findings indicate that negative social comparison is a cause of mistrust.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, UK. Electronic address: daniel.freeman@psych.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lister
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, UK; Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, UK.
authors.forename: Angus
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Antley
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biostatistics, Institute of Population Health, University of Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science, University College London, UK; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), University of Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Mel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Slater
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001827:Body Height; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003702:Delusions / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010259:Paranoid Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics; D012649:Self Concept; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D016387:Women's Health; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Height; Paranoia; Social rank; Virtual reality