Social stress and performance in human-machine interactions
The project deals with the effects of social stress on people's performance and well-being. Social stress refers to unpleasant situations at work that are caused by other people (e.g. colleagues, superiors, customers). This project investigates different forms of social stress, such as social exclusion and negative performance feedback in assessment interviews.
Very little is known about the impact of social stressors on work performance. It is therefore planned to simulate these stressors in a laboratory, as this approach offers better possibilities to measure effects on work performance. It is also planned to investigate to what extent it makes a difference whether social stress is caused by a human being or a machine (e.g. robot). For example, a robot could cause the stressor "social exclusion" by ignoring a person from the work group and only communicating with the other group members. Finally, the project aims to achieve a better understanding of social stress, including the role of social support (e.g. by colleagues or friends).