COORDINATOR
Virginia Sánchez Jiménez is a Full Professor of Developmental Psychology in the Department of Developmental Psychology and Education at the University of Seville and a member of the IASED research group.
She has an extensive background in studying interpersonal relationships in childhood and adolescence, with a focus on analysing and addressing phenomena such as bullying, adolescent dating violence, and sexual harassment, both face-to-face and online.
She has designed, implemented, and evaluated violence prevention programmes targeting adolescent dating violence and bullying, such as the Dat-e Adolescence Programme and the Prevent Programme.
Her current research focuses on studying and preventing sexual harassment and other forms of violence in adolescence, with particular emphasis on analysing the peer group as agents of change.
Her research integrates Virtual Reality as a tool for assessing and intervening in bystander behaviour, aiming to promote active bystander responses in the face of violence.
She has led several national and international research projects on these topics.
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in incorporating new technological tools, such as Virtual Reality, for analysis and intervention in various fields of Psychology. Virtual Reality can be understood as the creation of a simulated digital environment. It provides an immersive experience where individuals can interact directly with the environment or objects, reducing the gap between the character and the viewer of the simulated experience. This feature makes it an excellent tool for enhancing self-awareness and empathy and a valuable platform for developing social competence.
In the field of interpersonal violence, its use has significantly increased in recent years, with studies integrating it as a powerful tool for assessing and analysing aggressive behaviour, victimisation, or peer dynamics, as well as a technology for universal, selective, or indicated interventions.
This symposium highlights some of these research lines through four international studies showcasing how Virtual Reality is being integrated into the evaluation of different dimensions of aggressive behaviour and used for universal and selective intervention in various populations. Specifically, its application will be discussed in analysing aggressive behaviour in children with psychopathic traits, its potential for evaluating moral decision-making in adolescents witnessing sexual harassment, and its role as an intervention tool against bullying and sexual harassment.
The innovative nature of the presented studies, along with the diverse study populations and approaches employed, will provide an opportunity to discuss and reflect on the feasibility of using this type of technology for psychoeducational intervention in these phenomena in childhood and adolescence.