(1) Background: Several opportunities have appeared for the dissemination of culture and heritage thanks in part to the widespread use of information and communications technologies. Virtual museums have appeared as innovative technological products but often lack an evaluation of the impact that they have and their success in achieving their purpose. In this sense, this work seeks to evaluate the impact of a virtual museum on users’ attitudes toward cultural heritage. (2) Methods: We used a factorial design of 2 (direction of thoughts: positive vs. negative) × 2 (presence level: high vs. low) × 2 (virtual museum vs. interactive website). (3) Results: Attitudes toward heritage can change as a function of a multimedia experience, thought favorability, and presence. In a virtual museum, when general attitudes are evaluated, a sense of high psychological presence reduces the effect that thoughts (especially when negative) have on attitudes. However, in the case of visiting an interactive website, the effect of the direction of thoughts on attitudes occurred regardless of conditions of high or low presence. Similar tendencies are observed for specific attitudinal objects. (4) Conclusion: A virtual museum can have different effects depending on the interaction of important variables from the virtual reality literature and not only the classic main effects. Recommendations for interventions and future practical and theoretical work are presented.

La actitud punitiva es definida como la evaluación que tienen las personas hacia el endurecimiento de los castigos hacia el crimen. Aunque este concepto ha recibido considerable atención en los últimos años, sus formas de medición son objeto de críticas, ya que los instrumentos utilizados varían considerablemente en número de ítems, las temáticas que estos abordan son diversas y sus características de confiabilidad y validez no son reportadas usualmente. Este trabajo tuvo como objetivo evaluar la confiabilidad y entregar evidencias de validez de la escala de Actitudes Punitivas de Armborst (2017), tanto basadas en su estructura interna como en su relación con el autoritarismo. Mediante 2 estudios se evaluó la consistencia interna, y la validez, utilizando análisis factorial confirmatorio con modelos rivales. Los resultados indican que la escala unidimensional presenta niveles adecuados de consistencia interna y se ajusta convenientemente a los datos recogidos. Se propone una escala abreviada, que muestra evidencias de validez convergente con autoritarismo. Se discuten los resultados en relación con la utilidad de este instrumento y propuestas de mejora.

The Maule Region in Chile possesses a rich cultural heritage associated with petroglyphs created by ancient hunter-gatherer inhabitants. This rock art has suffered damage over time due to natural and anthropic causes. Fostering positive attitudes toward petroglyphs may influence behavioral intentions related to their preservation. This study evaluates an augmented reality card game developed to promote positive attitudes toward the rock art heritage of the Maule Region, examining its usability and the effects of incorporating augmented reality elements. The game achieved a System Usability Scale (SUS) score of 79.7 (SD = 14.2), corresponding to an A-grade on the Sauro-Lewis curved grading scale, indicating good usability.Participants in the game condition showed higher heritage attitudes than controls (M = 6.13, SD = 0.80, $t_{\left(24\right)}$ = −2.33, p = 0.028). Augmented reality enhanced attitudes at moderate levels of usability (B = −1.02, p = 0.043), but produced no detectable main effect in mean comparisons alone. The results indicate that the game constitutes a system with adequate usability, effective in fostering positive attitudes toward cultural heritage, and that augmented reality enhances attitudinal outcomes under conditions of moderate perceived usability.