The research work package no. 2
Institute of psychology of the cas
Experimental Research on Technologies and Wellbeing
Leader assoc. prof. Martina Hřebíčková, DSc. (institute of psychology, czech academy of sciences)
works as leading senior researcher at the Institute of Psychology, Czech Academy of Sciences, where she leads Department of Personality and Social Psychology. She also works in the Presidium of the Czech Science Foundation. Her research interest is personality and social psychology, particularly the trait approach and the structure of personality traits within the so-called Five-factor model of personality (Big Five). She has also researched national stereotypes, acculturation and intergroup relations.
What do we do?
What do we study?
We study how digital technologies affect people’s lives in two contexts. The first involves research on the use of digital services and tools designed to support health and life satisfaction (eHealth and mHealth).
The second context concerns negative aspects of digital technologies — specifically, online content linked to prejudice toward social minorities and its impact on users’ wellbeing.
How can this research benefit society?
In our comprehensive examination of digital technologies supporting health, we consider individual user characteristics, the types of online content they encounter, and the technical features of selected services or platforms. We focus on understanding the factors and processes that either hinder or enhance successful adoption and use of these technologies (e.g., digital skills, trust in technology, or the type of information these services provide).
In research on prejudicial digital content, we explore how it affects the psychological wellbeing of people — not only those who are its targets but also those who spread such content online or witness it. We study how users of digital technologies are influenced by the behaviour of others in online environments (the normative context) and the role of individual characteristics.
Insights from research on digital health tools will help improve their design and increase their effectiveness for different user groups. Understanding the factors and mechanisms underlying the spread of socially harmful online content will enable us to develop interventions that reduce its negative societal impact.