25 research outputs found

    Affective reactions towards socially interactive agents and their computational modeling

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    Over the past 30 years, researchers have studied human reactions towards machines applying the Computers Are Social Actors paradigm, which contrasts reactions towards computers with reactions towards humans. The last 30 years have also seen improvements in technology that have led to tremendous changes in computer interfaces and the development of Socially Interactive Agents. This raises the question of how humans react to Socially Interactive Agents. To answer these questions, knowledge from several disciplines is required, which is why this interdisciplinary dissertation is positioned within psychology and computer science. It aims to investigate affective reactions to Socially Interactive Agents and how these can be modeled computationally. Therefore, after a general introduction and background, this thesis first provides an overview of the Socially Interactive Agent system used in this work. Second, it presents a study comparing a human and a virtual job interviewer, which shows that both interviewers induce shame in participants to the same extent. Thirdly, it reports on a study investigating obedience towards Socially Interactive Agents. The results indicate that participants obey human and virtual instructors in similar ways. Furthermore, both types of instructors evoke feelings of stress and shame to the same extent. Fourth, a stress management training using biofeedback with a Socially Interactive Agent is presented. The study shows that a virtual trainer can teach coping techniques for emotionally challenging social situations. Fifth, it introduces MARSSI, a computational model of user affect. The evaluation of the model shows that it is possible to relate sequences of social signals to affective reactions, taking into account emotion regulation processes. Finally, the Deep method is proposed as a starting point for deeper computational modeling of internal emotions. The method combines social signals, verbalized introspection information, context information, and theory-driven knowledge. An exemplary application to the emotion shame and a schematic dynamic Bayesian network for its modeling are illustrated. Overall, this thesis provides evidence that human reactions towards Socially Interactive Agents are very similar to those towards humans, and that it is possible to model these reactions computationally.In den letzten 30 Jahren haben Forschende menschliche Reaktionen auf Maschinen untersucht und dabei das “Computer sind soziale Akteure”-Paradigma genutzt, in dem Reaktionen auf Computer mit denen auf Menschen verglichen werden. In den letzten 30 Jahren hat sich ebenfalls die Technologie weiterentwickelt, was zu einer enormen VerĂ€nderung der Computerschnittstellen und der Entwicklung von sozial interaktiven Agenten gefĂŒhrt hat. Dies wirft Fragen zu menschlichen Reaktionen auf sozial interaktive Agenten auf. Um diese Fragen zu beantworten, ist Wissen aus mehreren Disziplinen erforderlich, weshalb diese interdisziplinĂ€re Dissertation innerhalb der Psychologie und Informatik angesiedelt ist. Sie zielt darauf ab, affektive Reaktionen auf sozial interaktive Agenten zu untersuchen und zu erforschen, wie diese computational modelliert werden können. Nach einer allgemeinen EinfĂŒhrung in das Thema gibt diese Arbeit daher, erstens, einen Überblick ĂŒber das Agentensystem, das in der Arbeit verwendet wird. Zweitens wird eine Studie vorgestellt, in der eine menschliche und eine virtuelle Jobinterviewerin miteinander verglichen werden, wobei sich zeigt, dass beide Interviewerinnen bei den Versuchsteilnehmenden SchamgefĂŒhle in gleichem Maße auslösen. Drittens wird eine Studie berichtet, in der Gehorsam gegenĂŒber sozial interaktiven Agenten untersucht wird. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass Versuchsteilnehmende sowohl menschlichen als auch virtuellen Anleiterinnen Ă€hnlich gehorchen. DarĂŒber hinaus werden durch beide Instruktorinnen gleiche Maße von Stress und Scham hervorgerufen. Viertens wird ein Biofeedback-Stressmanagementtraining mit einer sozial interaktiven Agentin vorgestellt. Die Studie zeigt, dass die virtuelle Trainerin Techniken zur BewĂ€ltigung von emotional herausfordernden sozialen Situationen vermitteln kann. FĂŒnftens wird MARSSI, ein computergestĂŒtztes Modell des Nutzeraffekts, vorgestellt. Die Evaluation des Modells zeigt, dass es möglich ist, Sequenzen von sozialen Signalen mit affektiven Reaktionen unter BerĂŒcksichtigung von Emotionsregulationsprozessen in Beziehung zu setzen. Als letztes wird die Deep-Methode als Ausgangspunkt fĂŒr eine tiefer gehende computergestĂŒtzte Modellierung von internen Emotionen vorgestellt. Die Methode kombiniert soziale Signale, verbalisierte Introspektion, Kontextinformationen und theoriegeleitetes Wissen. Eine beispielhafte Anwendung auf die Emotion Scham und ein schematisches dynamisches Bayes’sches Netz zu deren Modellierung werden dargestellt. Insgesamt liefert diese Arbeit Hinweise darauf, dass menschliche Reaktionen auf sozial interaktive Agenten den Reaktionen auf Menschen sehr Ă€hnlich sind und dass es möglich ist diese menschlichen Reaktion computational zu modellieren.Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaf

    Almost human, but not really

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    Technologies become increasingly present in people’s daily lives and oftentimes adopt the role of social counterparts. People have conversations with their smart voice assistants and social robots assist with the household or even look after their users’ mental and physical health. Thus, the human-technology relationship often resembles interpersonal relationships in several ways. While research has implied that the human-technology relationship can adopt a social character, it needs to be clarified in what ways and regarding which variables the human-technology relationship and interpersonal relationships are comparable. Moreover, the question arises to what extent interaction with technology can address users’ social needs similar to a human counterpart and therefore possibly even affect interpersonal interaction. In this, the role of technology anthropomorphism, that is, the attribution of humanlike qualities to non-human agents or objects needs to be specified. This thesis is dedicated to the relevance of the human-technology relationship for interpersonal relationships with a focus on social needs. In the frame of this overarching research aim, the studies included in this thesis focus on the dynamics of the human-technology relationship and their comparability to interpersonal relationships (RQ1), the potential of human-technology interaction to address users’ social needs or substitute their fulfillment through interpersonal interaction (RQ2) as well as the role of technology anthropomorphism regarding these relationships (RQ3). First, focusing on trust, which is integral for the relationship with a technology that is experienced as a counterpart, two consecutive experimental studies (study 1.1/1.2) were conducted. Based on a human-robot interaction, they explored trust development in the human-technology relationship as well as to what extent determinants known to affect interpersonal trust development are transferable. Moreover, they focused on the role of technology anthropomorphism in this relationship. In this, a positive effect of technology competence, that is, its ability to achieve intended goals (study 1.1), as well as technology warmth, that is, its adherence to the same intentions and interests as the trustor (study 1.2), on trust in the technology emerged. Thus, relevant determinants for trust development in the human-technology relationship were highlighted, also implying a transferability of essential dynamics of trust development from interpersonal relationships. Furthermore, perceived technology anthropomorphism appeared to affect the positive interrelation of perceived technology competence and trust in the technology (study 1.1) as well as the interrelation of perceived technology warmth and trust in the technology (study 1.2). These insights support a relevance of perceived technology anthropomorphism in trust dynamics within the human-technology relationship, but also in the transferability of corresponding dynamics from interpersonal relationships. Similarly, in another study (study 2) the transferability of dynamics was explored for the variable of social connectedness, also key for relationship development and potentially relevant for the effect of interaction with technology on users’ social needs. Therefore, a two-week human-technology interaction with a conversational chatbot was investigated. In this, possibly relevant characteristics of the technology, such as its perception as anthropomorphic or socially present, and the user, for example, the individual tendency to anthropomorphize or the individual need to belong, were focused. Moreover, a possible effect of social connectedness to the technology on the desire to socialize with other humans was explored. As findings showed that duration and intensity of participants' interaction with the technology throughout the two-week study-period positively predicted felt social connectedness to the technology, similarities to dynamics of interpersonal relationship development were highlighted. Furthermore, the relevance of technology anthropomorphism in the development of a human-technology relationship as well as its comparability to dynamics of interpersonal relationships was underlined. Namely, the more intense individuals interacted with the technology, the more anthropomorphic they perceived it, and therefore felt more socially connected to it. Similarly, the longer and more intense individuals interacted with the technology, the more socially present they perceived it, and in turn felt more socially connected to it. While contrary to expectations, no interrelation between the felt social connectedness to the technology and the desire to socialize with other humans emerged, this relationship was explored further within studies 3.1, 3.2 and 4. Two consecutive experimental studies (study 3.1/3.2) explored the potential of anthropomorphic technologies to fulfill social needs as well as how individually perceived anthropomorphism correlates to these needs. While in both studies social exclusion and technology anthropomorphism were manipulated, we applied a different manipulation of anthropomorphism for each study. Whereas in one study (study 3.1) participants answered anthropomorphic (vs. non-anthropomorphic) questions regarding their own smartphone, in the other study (study 3.2) they were confronted with smartphone designs with anthropomorphic (vs. non-anthropomorphic) design cues. In both studies, no effects of anthropomorphism and social exclusion on behavioral intention or willingness to socialize were found. Yet, study 3.1 showed a positive correlation between willingness to socialize and perceived technology anthropomorphism. Results of study 3.2 further supported this relationship and additionally showed that this relationship was particularly strong for individuals with a high tendency to anthropomorphize, when the technology came with anthropomorphic design cues regarding its appearance. Thus, findings imply a relationship between social needs and anthropomorphism and further hint at a relevance of individual and contextual strengthening factors. To complement these findings and foster a deeper understanding of the human-technology relationship as well as its potential to address users’ social needs, a qualitative interview study was conducted (study 4). Findings highlight a potential of anthropomorphic technologies to address users’ social needs in certain ways, but also underline essential differences between the quality of human-technology interaction and interpersonal interaction. Examples are the technology’s missing reactions in interaction with the user on a content, physical, and emotional level as well as the absence of satisfaction of users’ social needs through interaction with technology. Additionally, insights hint at a social desirability bias, as interaction with technology that resembles interpersonal interaction appears to often be subject to rather negative reactions by third parties. After an overview of the empirical studies included in this thesis and their brief summaries, their research contribution is discussed. This is followed by an elaboration of overall theoretical and practical implications of this thesis. Theoretical implications focus on how this work contributes to but also extends theoretical and empirical work in the frame of the “computers are social actors” paradigm and particularly highlights the role of technology anthropomorphism as a phenomenon in this regard. Beyond the exploration of a social character of the human-technology relationship, this thesis offers insights on the potential of the human-technology relationship to address users’ social needs to an extent that interpersonal relationships can be affected. Implications for practitioners involve insights on design examples to support the development of essential determinants of the human-technology relationship. They also offer a more abstract invitation to reflect on the design and application contexts of technologies to foster a responsible handling with technology in peoples’ daily lives. Finally, the thesis concludes with a discussion of general limitations and directions for future research.Technologien werden zunehmend prĂ€sent im Alltag der Menschen und nehmen hĂ€ufig die Rolle eines sozialen GegenĂŒbers ein. Menschen unterhalten sich mit ihren technischen Sprachassistenten und soziale Roboter unterstĂŒtzen im Haushalt und kĂŒmmern sich sogar um das psychische und physische Wohlbefinden ihrer Nutzer und Nutzerinnen. Entsprechend Ă€hnelt die Mensch-Technik Beziehung in verschiedenen Aspekten hĂ€ufig zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen. Im Einklang damit spricht bisherige Forschung dafĂŒr, dass die Mensch-Technik Beziehung einen sozialen Charakter annehmen kann. Es gilt jedoch zu erforschen, auf welche Art und Weise und in Bezug auf welche Variablen die Mensch-Technik Beziehung und zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen vergleichbar sind. DarĂŒber hinaus stellt sich die Frage, inwiefern durch Interaktion mit Technik soziale BedĂŒrfnisse der Nutzer und Nutzerinnen auf eine Ă€hnliche Art und Weise adressiert werden können wie durch die Interaktion mit einem anderen Menschen, und infolgedessen möglicherweise ein Effekt auf zwischenmenschliche Interaktion entstehen kann. Dabei gilt es zu spezifizieren, welche Rolle Anthropomorphismus, das heißt, die Zuschreibung menschenĂ€hnlicher QualitĂ€ten in Bezug auf nicht-menschliche Agenten oder Objekte, spielt. Die vorliegende Dissertation widmet sich der Relevanz der Mensch-Technik Beziehung fĂŒr zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen, mit einem Fokus auf soziale BedĂŒrfnisse. Im Rahmen dieses ĂŒbergreifenden Forschungsvorhabens erforschen die Studien dieser Arbeit die Dynamiken der Mensch-Technik Beziehung und deren Vergleichbarkeit mit zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen (Forschungsfrage 1), das Potential der Mensch-Technik Interaktion, soziale BedĂŒrfnisse der Nutzer und Nutzerinnen zu adressieren oder die Befriedigung dieser durch zwischenmenschliche Interaktion zu substituieren (Forschungsfrage 2) sowie die Rolle des Anthropomorphismus von Technik in Bezug auf diese ZusammenhĂ€nge (Forschungsfrage 3). In zwei konsekutiven, experimentellen Studien (Studie 1.1/1.2) wurde Vertrauen in der Mensch-Technik Beziehung als essentielle Grundlage einer Beziehung zu einer Technik, die als GegenĂŒber wahrgenommen wird, fokussiert. Mittels einer Mensch-Roboter Interaktion wurde die Entwicklung von Vertrauen in der Mensch-Technik Beziehung untersucht. Dabei wurde erforscht, inwiefern Determinanten, welche die Entwicklung von zwischenmenschlichem Vertrauen beeinflussen können, auf die Mensch-Technik Beziehung ĂŒbertragbar sind. DarĂŒber hinaus wurde die Rolle des Anthropomorphismus von Technik untersucht. Es zeigte sich ein positiver Effekt der Kompetenz der Technik, das heißt der FĂ€higkeit, beabsichtigte Ziele zu erreichen (Studie 1.1), und der WĂ€rme der Technik, das heißt des Verfolgens der gleichen Intentionen und Interessen wie jeweilige Nutzer und Nutzerinnen (Studie 1.2) auf das Vertrauen in die Technik. Entsprechend wurden relevante Determinanten der Vertrauensentwicklung in der Mensch-Technik Beziehung beleuchtet und eine Übertragbarkeit essentieller Dynamiken der Vertrauensentwicklung aus zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen aufgezeigt. Außerdem zeigte sich ein Effekt des wahrgenommenen Anthropomorphismus der Technik auf die positiven ZusammenhĂ€nge zwischen wahrgenommener Kompetenz und Vertrauen in die Technik (Studie 1.1) sowie wahrgenommener WĂ€rme und Vertrauen in die Technik (Studie 1.2). Diese Einsichten unterstĂŒtzen die Relevanz des wahrgenommenen Anthropomorphismus der Technik hinsichtlich der Vertrauensdynamiken in der Mensch-Technik Beziehung sowie der Übertragbarkeit entsprechender Dynamiken aus zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen. In einer weiteren Studie (Studie 2) wurde die Übertragbarkeit der Dynamiken von zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen auf die Mensch-Technik Beziehung in Bezug auf die Variable der sozialen Verbundenheit untersucht. Diese kann ebenso relevant fĂŒr die Beziehungsentwicklung und einen möglichen Effekt von Interaktion mit Technik auf soziale BedĂŒrfnisse der Nutzer und Nutzerinnen sein. HierfĂŒr wurde eine zweiwöchige Mensch-Technik Interaktion mit einem dialogfĂ€higen Chatbot exploriert. Dabei wurden potentiell relevante Charakteristika der Technik, beispielsweise, ihre Wahrnehmung als anthropomorph oder sozial prĂ€sent sowie der Nutzer und Nutzerinnen, beispielsweise, die individuelle Tendenz zu anthropomorphisieren sowie das individuelle BedĂŒrfnis nach Zugehörigkeit, fokussiert und ein möglicher Effekt der sozialen Verbundenheit zur Technik auf den Wunsch mit anderen Menschen zu sozialisieren untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass Interaktionsdauer und InteraktionsintensitĂ€t mit der Technik ĂŒber die zweiwöchige Studiendauer hinweg die empfundene soziale Verbundenheit zu dieser positiv voraussagten. Entsprechend wurden Ähnlichkeiten der Dynamiken der Beziehungsentwicklung zu zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen hervorgehoben. Des Weiteren wurde die Relevanz von Anthropomorphismus der Technik fĂŒr die Entwicklung einer Mensch-Technik Beziehung und die Vergleichbarkeit mit Dynamiken zwischenmenschlicher Beziehungen unterstrichen. Denn je intensiver Menschen mit der Technik interagierten, umso menschenĂ€hnlicher nahmen sie diese wahr und fĂŒhlten sich infolgedessen umso stĂ€rker sozial verbunden mit ihr. Ebenso, je lĂ€nger und intensiver Menschen mit der Technik interagierten, umso sozial prĂ€senter nahmen sie diese wahr und fĂŒhlten sich infolgedessen umso stĂ€rker sozial verbunden mit ihr. WĂ€hrend sich wider Erwarten kein Zusammenhang zwischen der sozialen Verbundenheit zur Technik und dem Wunsch, mit anderen Menschen zu sozialisieren, zeigte, wurde dieser Zusammenhang im Rahmen der Studien 3.1, 3.2 und 4 nĂ€her exploriert. Im Rahmen zweier konsekutiver, experimenteller Studien (Studie 3.1/3.2) wurde das Potential von anthropomorphen Technologien, soziale BedĂŒrfnisse zu erfĂŒllen untersucht sowie der Frage nachgegangen, inwiefern individuell wahrgenommener Anthropomorphismus mit sozialen BedĂŒrfnissen korreliert. In beiden Studien wurden soziale Exklusion und Anthropomorphismus der Technik manipuliert, Anthropomorphismus jedoch in den Studien jeweils unterschiedlich. In einer Studie (Studie 3.1) beantworteten Versuchspersonen anthropomorphe (vs. nicht anthropomorphe) Fragen ĂŒber ihr eigenes Smartphone. In der anderen Studie (Studie 3.2) wurden sie mit Smartphone-Designs mit anthropomorphen (vs. nicht anthropomorphen) Merkmalen konfrontiert. In beiden Studien zeigten sich keine Effekte von Anthropomorphismus und sozialer Exklusion auf die verhaltensbezogene Intention oder die Bereitschaft mit anderen zu sozialisieren. Jedoch zeigte sich in Studie 3.1 ĂŒbergreifend eine positive Korrelation zwischen der Bereitschaft mit anderen Menschen zu sozialisieren und dem wahrgenommenen Anthropomorphismus der Technik. Ergebnisse der Studie 3.2 unterstĂŒtzten diesen Befund und implizierten zusĂ€tzlich, dass dieser Zusammenhang fĂŒr Menschen, die eine hohe Tendenz zu anthropomorphisieren aufwiesen und gleichzeitig mit einer Technik mit anthropomorpher Gestaltung in Bezug auf deren Erscheinung konfrontiert waren, besonders ausgeprĂ€gt war. Insgesamt sprechen diese Einsichten fĂŒr einen Zusammenhang zwischen sozialen BedĂŒrfnissen und Anthropomorphismus und deuten auf eine Relevanz von individuellen und kontextuellen Faktoren hin, die verstĂ€rkend wirken können. Als ErgĂ€nzung der erlĂ€uterten Befunde sowie zur UnterstĂŒtzung eines tiefgrĂŒndigen VerstĂ€ndnisses der Mensch-Technik Beziehung und des Potentials dieser, soziale BedĂŒrfnisse der Nutzer und Nutzerinnen anzusprechen, wurde eine qualitative Interviewstudie durchgefĂŒhrt (Studie 4). Die gewonnenen Einsichten unterstĂŒtzen das Potential anthropomorpher Technik, soziale BedĂŒrfnisse der Nutzer und Nutzerinnen auf bestimmte Wege anzusprechen, aber zeigten auch essentielle Unterschiede in der QualitĂ€t der Mensch-Technik und zwischenmenschlichen Interaktion. Zu Beispielen gehören fehlende Reaktionen der Technik auf Nutzer und Nutzerinnen auf einer inhaltlichen, emotionalen und physischen Ebene sowie das Ausbleiben der Befriedigung sozialer BedĂŒrfnisse durch die Interaktion mit Technik. ZusĂ€tzlich weisen die Studieneinsichten auf einen Effekt sozialer ErwĂŒnschtheit diesbezĂŒglich hin, zumal die Interaktion mit Technik, die zwischenmenschlicher Interaktion Ă€hnelt, hĂ€ufig mit eher negativen Reaktionen Dritter assoziiert wurde. Im Anschluss an einen Überblick und die kurze Zusammenfassung der empirischen Studien dieser Dissertation wird deren Beitrag in Hinblick auf bisherige Forschung diskutiert. Darauf folgt eine ErlĂ€uterung ĂŒbergreifender theoretischer und praktischer Implikationen dieser Arbeit. Theoretische Implikationen fokussieren hauptsĂ€chlich wie die vorliegende Dissertation das VerstĂ€ndnis theoretischer und empirischer Arbeiten im Rahmen des „computers are social actors“ Paradigmas vertieft und zusĂ€tzlich erweitert. DarĂŒber hinaus wird die diesbezĂŒgliche Rolle von Anthropomorphismus der Technik als PhĂ€nomen beleuchtet. Über die Exploration des sozialen Charakters der Mensch-Technik Beziehung hinaus, liefert die vorliegende Arbeit Einsichten zum Potential der Mensch-Technik Beziehung soziale BedĂŒrfnisse der Nutzer und Nutzerinnen insofern zu adressieren, dass Konsequenzen fĂŒr zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen entstehen können. Implikationen fĂŒr die Praxis beziehen sich auf Einsichten in Hinblick auf Design-Beispiele, welche die Entwicklung von Faktoren, die zentral fĂŒr die Mensch-Technik Beziehung sein können, unterstĂŒtzen können. DarĂŒber hinaus laden die Implikationen ein, ĂŒber das Design und die Anwendungskontexte von Technologien zu reflektieren, um einen verantwortungsvollen Umgang mit Technologien im Alltag der Menschen zu fördern. Abschließend werden allgemeine Limitationen der vorliegenden Arbeit diskutiert und mögliche Richtungen fĂŒr zukĂŒnftige Forschung aufgezeigt

    The Impact of the COVID-19 Emergency on the Quality of Life of the General Population

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    COVID-19 is a pandemic that has forced many states to declare restrictive measures in order to prevent its wider spread. These measures are necessary to protect the health of adults, children, and people with disabilities. Long quarantine periods could cause an increase in anxiety crises, fear of contagion, and post-traumatic stress disorder (frustration, boredom, isolation, fear, insomnia, difficulty concentrating). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition that can develop in subjects who have been or have witnessed a traumatic, catastrophic, or violent event, or who have become aware of a traumatic experience that happened to a loved one. In fact, from current cases, it emerges that the prevalence of PTSD varies from 1% to 9% in the general population and can reach 50%–60% in subgroups of subjects exposed to traumas considered particularly serious. PTSD develops as a consequence of one or more physical or psychological traumatic events, such as exposure to natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis; wars, torture, death threats; road accidents, robbery, air accidents; diseases with unfavorable prognoses; complicated or traumatic mourning; physical and sexual abuse and abuse during childhood; victimization and discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity. It can also develop following changes in lifestyle habits caused by the COVID-19 epidemic

    The Social Context of Nonverbal Behaviour

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    Although nonverbal behaviour has long been a topic of research, it is often studied in isolation from social partners and the social environment. This work presents three empirical chapters that reintroduce the social environment to the investigation of nonverbal cue exchange, focusing on the value of social rewards and the perceptive and affiliative functions of nonverbal communication. Findings reported in Chapter 2 indicate that the subjective value of social rewards changes as a function of social media use saliency. Specifically, thinking about a recent social media post, but not a synchronous conversation, increases the value of social rewards, such that people are willing to forego monetary gain to see a genuine smile. In Chapter 3, I show that although the amount of nonverbal behaviour does not necessarily enhance interpersonal judgement accuracy, accuracy does increase with familiarity, suggesting that people retain and update models of specific social partners. In Chapter 4, I demonstrate that social interactions on video-chat platforms, compared to face-to-face settings, are characterized by reduced interpersonal coordination and increased self-coordination, both of which have negative downstream effects for interaction outcomes (e.g., lower liking and worse interaction quality). Together, these findings indicate that the functions of nonverbal social cues and the subsequent judgments receivers make are strongly affected by the presence of social partners and the interaction environment. Thus, because nonverbal communication contingencies change as a function of individuals, situations, and interaction modalities, investigations of nonverbal cues should prioritize diverse social contexts to foster a well-rounded understanding of nonverbal behaviour

    Virtual fashion influencers: towards a more sustainable consumer behaviour of generation Z?

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    Since the end of 2019, online platforms have flourished as offline activities were significantly reduced due to the epidemic. To survive in such a context, some fashion brands took advantage of the growing CGI(Computer-generated images) technology, allowing VIs and virtual models to be used as vehicles for fashion presentations. Gen Zers, who grew up in the digital generation, are very receptive to such VIs and are full of novelty. At the same time, Gen Z is the biggest consumer group in fashion, and the positive influence of Gen Z on fashion consumption can make the whole fashion consumer market develop in a more positive direction. It is necessary to explore the direction of VI design to guide GenZ to a more sustainable fashion consumption concept. Therefore, I set "what kind of design of virtual fashion influencers can lead the consumer behavior of Generation Z towards more sustainable attitudes and behaviors?" as the research question of this thesis and found the five categories of VI influence research proposed by Batista da Silva Oliveira & Chimenti and applied them to my research. Based on this five-category theory, the thesis discusses the factors of VI design success concerning the current VIs and how the five categories impact Gen Z's intention of sustainable fashion. I provided guidelines and principles for designing VI based on different aspects through three research methods: case studies, surveys, and semi-conducted interviews, and I answered the research questions. Through the case study analysis, I compared the current successful VI cases. I summarized the practices and principles and the operation methods of the team behind them to improve the impact of VIs. Also, I conducted a survey distributed among people interested in VIs and fashion and collected data for analysis. I inspected and verified that a higher index of the five categories would lead to a higher intention of Gen Z to consume sustainable fashion. To get more insights from these professionals and to represent the group's perspective as Gen Z, I interviewed people from the sustainable fashion industry and virtual human and digital art industry. This study summarized the key points that can be used to improve the impact of VIs and proofs that the attractiveness, authenticity, controllability, anthropomorphism, and scalability of VI will positively contribute to consumers' intention to support sustainable fashion. This thesis also concluded with design guides about physical appearance design, psychological character design, and the operation mode of Virtual influencers that promote sustainable fashion

    The Impact of the COVID-19 Emergency on the Quality of Life of the General Population

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    COVID-19 is a pandemic that has forced many states to declare restrictive measures in order to prevent its wider spread. These measures are necessary to protect the health of adults, children, and people with disabilities.Long quarantine periods could cause an increase in anxiety crises, fear of contagion, and post-traumatic stress disorder (frustration, boredom, isolation, fear, insomnia, and difficulty concentrating).Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition that can develop in subjects who have witnessed a traumatic, catastrophic, or violent event, or who have become aware of a traumatic experience that happened to a loved one.In fact, from current cases, it emerges that the prevalence of PTSD varies from 1% to 9% in the general population and can reach 50%–60% in subgroups of subjects exposed to traumas considered particularly serious. PTSD develops as a consequence of one or more physical or psychological traumatic events, such as exposure to natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis; wars, torture, death threats; road accidents, robbery, air accidents; diseases with unfavorable prognoses; complicated or traumatic mourning; physical and sexual abuse and abuse during childhood; or victimization and discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity. It can also develop following changes in lifestyle habits caused by the COVID-19 epidemic.Thank you for reading the manuscripts in this Special Issue, "The Impact of the COVID-19 Emergency on the Quality of Life of the General Population"

    Public Health

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    Public health can be thought of as a series of complex systems. Many things that individual living in high income countries take for granted like the control of infectious disease, clean, potable water, low infant mortality rates require a high functioning systems comprised of numerous actors, locations and interactions to work. Many people only notice public health when that system fails. This book explores several systems in public health including aspects of the food system, health care system and emerging issues including waste minimization in nanosilver. Several chapters address global health concerns including non-communicable disease prevention, poverty and health-longevity medicine. The book also presents several novel methodologies for better modeling and assessment of essential public health issues

    The hedgehog in the coal mine: Exploring hedgehog extinction accounting in the agrochemical sector

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    The ongoing 6th mass extinction has alerted the accounting community to the need to go beyond accounting for biodiversity. With over 1 million species currently threatened by extinction, the extinction accounting framework has been getting traction with the financial and investment sectors, alerting companies more than ever of the need to account for species as a double material risk. Following current literature in extinction accounting on bee extinction, the thesis focusing on the agrochemical industry in relation to hedgehogs extinction in the UK, the population of which has diminished in over 30% in urban areas and 50% in rural areas since 2000. To examine the implementation of the extinction accounting framework in the agrochemical sector and the hedgehog protection arena, the following research questions were posed: 1. Are the discourses identified in the texts working to ensure the survival of all living beings or is there a need to search for new stories? Which discourses are destructive, predominantly working against the ecosophy? Which discourses are ambivalent can beneficial discourses be found to resonate with the ecosophy? 2. How is the natural world represented and constructed by the agrochemical corporations via multimodal semiosis such as images and videos? 3. What discourses do other stakeholders and organisations such as NGOs, local authorities, hedgehog carers in the hedgehog arena use? 4. How can the extinction accounting framework improve agrochemical accountability in the UK context, in relation to disappearing hedgehogs? To answer the research questions, the methodology, anchored in social constructionism, theorises that agrochemical companies construct a shadow reality, using Beck’s (1992) application of Plato’s allegory of the cave. The methodology positions accounting practices and reporting as a social construct that is discursively constructed. Therefore, through applying an ecolinguistic analysis of textual, multimodal of two agrochemical corporations and spoken discourse of 32 interviewees spanning a wide range of stakeholders within the hedgehog and agrochemical arena, the thesis examines the discourses against the researcher’s ecosophy. A political theory of animals rights is applied as the ecosophy to argue that for disclosures to be truly emancipatory, they must be anchored in positive political rights awarded to animals. The findings from the four empirical chapters are compared and contrasted to reveal that agrochemical companies reject the adoption of the extinction accounting framework as they deny the 6th mass extinction and biodiversity loss and do not view hedgehog extinction, or any other species, as a material risk. The findings demonstrate that companies de-legitimise NGOs in the hedgehog and environmental arena. In turn, the findings suggest NGOs do not acknowledge hedgehog rescuers’ knowledge and expertise. In fact, beyond the economic and financial restricting factors faced by NGOs and local councils, their lack of coordination and accountability, coupled with pressures to appear ‘metric’ and ‘scientific’ presents an obstacle to halting hedgehog extinction. Finally, the thesis reveals that hedgehog rescuers, although disparate, are the ones who transmit the plight of hedgehogs

    Types of Social Relationships and Their Effects on Psychological Well-being

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    Research has already established the importance of social networks in developing and maintaining well-being. Furthermore, different types of social relationships have been found to influence individuals’ lives in unique ways. There is little understanding, however, of the manner in which relationship types compare in their effects on individuals’ psychological well-being. Using a correlational design, this study investigated the associations between relationship intimacy and psychological well-being. Relationship intimacy was measured for respondents’ parents, significant others, close friends, and pets. The surveys were distributed to 91 undergraduate students and combined the Miller Social Intimacy Scale (MSIS) and Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-being (SPWB) to assess respondents’ relationships and psychological well-being, respectively. The results of two regression analyses revealed that intimacy in relationships with one’s significant other and close friends were significant predictors of wellbeing, though specific mechanisms of influence could not be established. Further research opportunities include diversifying the study sample and investigating the creation of a standardized scale to more accurately measure intimacy across different relationship types
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