Knowledge acquisition and information exchange is influenced through many social conditions. To what extent leaders and followers can effectively collaborate across great distances, if people change their attitudes in face of new information and engage in (online or direct) collective protest, or whether collaboration partners are willing to accept and use systems with Artificial Intelligence largely depends on social factors. More precisely, social relations between the parties (e.g., power differences), emotions (e.g., anger or fear), and the motivation of the parties involved (e.g., to succeed together or to signal one’s responsibility) play a central role. These factors can affect virtual collaboration because here, social cues are less obvious than in face-to-face collaboration. Therefore, existing social relationships (e.g., power differences) are even more important in virtual cooperation. Furthermore, much information about current topics (e.g., climate change or political developments) are communicated in digital contexts – a place where also much collective movements (e.g., collective protest) is organized. Accordingly, it is important to understand how communicating specific information shapes individual and collective responses.
The former Social Processes lab focused until 2023 on how these social factors help or hinder cooperation. One aim was to understand how social relationships that are mediated by motivational processes (i.e. self-regulation) promote or hinder cooperation in virtual contexts. Moreover, the lab examined how emotions (e.g., anger or fear) affect people’s attitudes towards relevant issues (e.g., research findings or climate change) and information processing. Finally, the group investigated the acceptance of new technologies, especially regarding Artificial Intelligence.