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To better understand how the relationship between VR and empathy is communicated and defined, we performed qualitative and quantitative thematic analyses on popular ( N\u2009=\u2009640) and academic articles ( N\u2009=\u200953) that included both terms. Findings revealed empathy is an aspirational term for journalists and researchers to showcase the potential of immersive media for prosocial change. Writers in both corpora suggested that empathetic experiences could lead to prosocial action through VR, but do not consistently define or measure empathy, given the inherent complexities surrounding the term. Drawing on seminal research in the field, we conclude with a definition of empathy related to immersive media.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444821993120","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,21]],"date-time":"2021-08-21T06:08:17Z","timestamp":1629526097000},"page":"2167-2188","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":28,"title":["Defining empathy: Interconnected discourses of virtual reality\u2019s prosocial impact"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"23","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6499-4372","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maxwell","family":"Foxman","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Oregon, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7159-7014","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"David M","family":"Markowitz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Oregon, USA"}]},{"given":"Donna Z","family":"Davis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Oregon, USA"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1461444821993120","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/15213269.2012.755877"},{"key":"bibr2-1461444821993120","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.schres.2011.09.011"},{"key":"bibr3-1461444821993120","unstructured":"Apodaca J (2016) Journalism + empathy & VR. Medium, 12 May. Available at: https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20170115065357\/https:\/\/medium.com\/@jocelynapodaca\/journalism-empathy-vr-29d1c3423013 (accessed 2 February 2021)."},{"key":"bibr4-1461444821993120","unstructured":"AppliedVR (2016) Virtual perspective taking: building empathy, better. Medium, 23 March. Available at: https:\/\/medium.com\/@AppliedVR\/virtual-perspective-taking-building-empathy-better-2cab21fbc7bd (accessed 13 February 2019)."},{"key":"bibr5-1461444821993120","unstructured":"Archer D, Finger K (2018) Walking in another\u2019s virtual shoes: do 360-degree video news stories generate empathy in viewers? The Tow Center for Digital Journalism, 15 March. 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