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Virtual reality could help men understand the impacts of catcalling

Men who were embodying female avatars via virtual reality felt anger and disgust when catcalled, which could change the behaviour of some perpetrators

By Elizabeth Hlavinka

28 April 2025

An experiment on catcalling involved men embodying a female avatar who is getting ready for a party

Chiara Lucifora and Aldo Gangemi et al. 2025

Men who embodied female avatars via virtual reality didn’t respond well to being catcalled, raising hopes that this approach could make perpetrators more aware of the effects of such harassment.

Chiara Lucifora at the University of Bologna in Italy and her colleagues wanted to know how men would react to experiencing catcalling, so they had 36 men, average age 23, embody a female avatar getting ready to go to a party, before entering an…

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