This paper explores the association of anthropomorphism and cognitive load with respect to the influence of negative attitudes towards robots. The study consists in a cooperative pick-and-place task, where participants are required to repeatedly and alternatingly put a Lego brick onto one of two trays to be picked up and returned by a robot arm. The task is varied by whether or not participants had to remember an 8-digit number inducing extraneous cognitive load (within-subjects factor). Results show significant correlations of some dimensions of anthropomorphism and perceived cognitive load. However, dividing participants in groups with different negative attitudes towards robots, a significant difference of this association is found. This finding puts prior results on the dependency of anthropomorphism of robots and cognitive load into perspective and more research on the underlying cognitive processes is suggested.

This chapter addresses the ethical considerations essential for the responsible use of AI in healthcare, with a focus on marginalized populations such as ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and underserved communities. It highlights key dimensions including data equity, algorithmic fairness, explainability, participatory design, and governance for accountability. The chapter emphasizes that AI systems must be trained on diverse and representative data to avoid perpetuating biases that disproportionately harm marginalized groups. Algorithmic fairness requires ongoing bias detection and mitigation, combined with transparent and interpretable AI models that build trust. Inclusive development through community participation ensures AI tools reflect the needs and values of those they serve. Strong governance frameworks, aligned with regulatory standards like the EU AI Act, are necessary to enforce accountability and protect vulnerable populations. When ethically implemented, AI can improve access, personalize care, and support proactive health management for underserved groups. However, the chapter cautions that these benefits depend on continuous commitment to equity, collaboration among stakeholders, and ongoing dialogue with affected communities to prevent exacerbating existing health disparities.

Digital communication has played an increasingly important role in schools around the world, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. For professional communica tion and collaboration in particular, digital tools have provided teachers with the op portunity to collaborate location-independently and to easily exchange information and teaching materials. Hence, this study aimed to explore how teachers communi cate and collaborate digitally by examining differences in the use of instant messag ing and videoconferencing and the attitudes of teachers towards these technologies. Therefore, an online survey was conducted with primary and secondary school teachers from Germany (N = 250, 72.0% female). The analysis showed that mes sengers were used significantly more than videoconferences and that they differed in their usefulness for occasions of communication and collaboration. Structural equation modeling indicated that the self-assessed digital communication compe tence of teachers is both a significant predictor for the behavioral intention to use messengers as well as videoconferences, although the behavioral intention to use messengers in the future was significantly higher than for videoconferences. While a higher threshold to use videoconferences might be a reason for the differences that were identified in this study, further research into the communication and col laboration among teachers is still needed to understand the reasons for the differ ences in use.

AI-powered social robots are increasingly discussed as a way to improve the in-store customer experience, but the effects of similarity-based personalization remain unclear. This study examines whether language-based similarity features in a retail recommendation dialogue improve user comfort, trust, and intention to use. In a controlled laboratory experiment, participants interacted with the social robot Furhat either in a basic “good sales assistant” or in an adaptive, similarity-based variant (speech rate, volume, pitch and similarity statements). Questionnaire data and continuous electrodermal activity (EDA) were combined to capture both self-reported and physiological responses. Using robust mean comparisons (Yuen tests), structural equation modeling (SEM) and EDA analyses, no significant differences between conditions in terms of comfort, trust or intention to use were found. However, SEM revealed stable internal mechanisms: rapport strongly predicted comfort, usefulness strongly predicted trust and comfort predicted intention to use. These results suggest that general similarity matching in early social robot interactions in retail is not reliably beneficial. In retail sales consulting, it seems sensible to leave robot behavior unadjusted and to base it on a generally good sales consultant. Improvement through personalization is not generally advantageous but it depends heavily on the context.

Influencer-Marketing ist eine etablierte Strategie der digitalen Unternehmenskommunikation, die auf die Authentizität und Überzeugungskraft von Influencern setzt. Mit der zunehmenden Verbreitung von Künstlicher Intelligenz (KI) verändert sich dieser Bereich. Immer häufiger vermitteln KI-Influencer als virtuelle Persönlichkeiten Unternehmensbotschaften. Ein zentrales Merkmal von KI-Influencern ist ihre digitale Perfektion, die sich in einem idealisiert ästhetischen Erscheinungsbild äußert. Dieser Beitrag untersucht die Wirkung dieser digitalen Perfektion auf die Wahrnehmung von KI-Influencern. In einer experimentellen Studie (n = 100) wurden KI-Influencer in drei unterschiedlichen Perfektionsstufen (perfekt, moderat perfekt, unperfekt) präsentiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Konsumenten einen höheren digitalen Perfektionsgrad des KI-Influencers mit geringerer Kompetenz, Menschlichkeit und Glaubwürdigkeit verbinden. Diese Befunde unterstreichen die Bedeutung gezielter Imperfektion bei der Gestaltung von KI-Influencern, um das Vertrauen der Konsumenten in die virtuellen Influencer zu stärken und eine positive Wahrnehmung zu fördern. Abschließend werden Empfehlungen und Implikationen für Forschung und Praxis aufgezeigt.

Soziale Netzwerke fördern Vergleichsprozesse, die Auswirkungen auf das psychische Wohlbefinden haben. Die Studie untersucht den Einfluss aufwärts- und abwärtsgerichteter Vergleiche auf das subjektive Einsamkeitsempfinden und inwiefern persönliche und soziodemografische Merkmale dabei eine Rolle spielen. Eine Onlinebefragung (n = 228) zeigt, dass aufwärtsgerichtete soziale Vergleiche mit höheren Einsamkeitswerten assoziiert sind, während Abwärtsvergleiche tendenziell mit geringer Einsamkeit einhergehen. Extraversion und Selbstwertgefühl korrelieren jeweils negativ mit Einsamkeit, jedoch zeigt nur Extraversion eine moderierende Wirkung auf den Zusammenhang zwischen sozialem Vergleich und subjektiver Einsamkeit. Signifikant geringere Einsamkeitswerte lassen sich bei festen Partnerschaften feststellen, jedoch ohne Einlfuss auf das Vergleichsniveau. Personen unter 25 Jahre weisen einen stärkeren Zusammenhang zwischen sozialem Vergleich und Einsamkeit auf als ältere Personen. Die Ergebnisse betonen die psychologische Relevanz sozialer Vergleichsprozesse während der Social Media Nutzung und die Bedeutung individueller Dispositionen. Sie stützen bestehende theoretische Modelle und liefern praktische Impulse zur Prävention oder Reduktion von Einsamkeit.

Mit der Einführung des Promotionsrechts an bayerischen Hochschulen für angewandte Wissenschaften widmen sich diese fortan auch der Ausbildung von Promovierenden. Im Gegensatz zu Universitäten ist jedoch eine hochwertige didaktische Qualifikation der Promovierenden bayerischer Hochschulen gegenwärtig noch nicht etabliert. Um diesem Bedarf gerecht zu werden, wurde an der Hochschule Ansbach ein Modul zu digital-analoger Hochschullehre namens »Teaching Skills« für Promovierende entwickelt und im Wintersemester 2023/24 erprobt und evaluiert. In diesem Beitrag wird zunächst der interaktive didaktische Ansatz des Lehrkonzepts erörtert und aufgezeigt, wie die einzelnen Lehreinheiten konzeptioniert wurden. Anschließend folgt ein Einblick in die konkrete Implementierung des Moduls an der Hochschule Ansbach. Abschließend erwachsen aus Begleitevaluation, den Beobachtungen des Projektteams, sowie den Lessons Learned Empfehlungen für die erfolgreiche Implementierung des Konzepts an weiteren Hochschulen.

The study examines sustainable tourism behaviour at the historic city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The research aims to explain tourists' sustainable behaviour and to uncover configurations that lead to sustainable or unsustainable behaviour. The present study is based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as its theoretical framework. A mixed-method design is then employed, integrating quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. The quantitative arm of the study employs regression analysis, while the qualitative research uses the fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA).
The findings from the regression analysis revealed that sustainability-oriented attitudes, social norms, and behavioural control have a statistically significant impact on tourists' sustainability-oriented behavioural intention, in descending order of importance. The fsQCA results showed that strong attitudes are a necessary condition for strong behavioural intention toward sustainable tourism activities. Weak social norms are an essential condition for weak behavioural intention toward sustainable tourism activities. Furthermore, the study identified the following sufficient conditions for a strong intention to engage in sustainable tourism activities: strong social norms paired with weak behavioural control, or strong attitudes in conjunction with strong social norms.

Sport-Tracking-Apps helfen dabei, das eigene Sportverhalten zu überwachen und mit anderen zu vergleichen. Vergleiche können jedoch sowohl positiv als auch negativ auf die Sportmotivation wirken. Während einige Nutzende von der Vernetzung profitieren und motiviert sind, empfinden andere sozialen Druck. Diese ambivalente Wirkung ist bedeutsam für die Sportmotivation und wird in einer Online-Befragung unter erwachsenen Nutzenden digitaler Sport-Tracking-Apps unersucht.  

Printing of polymer parts via digital light processing (DLP) is an established technology to produce functional complex parts within a short period of time. Within recent years this technology has advanced in even higher geometrical accuracy of the parts since printers and materials were constantly improved. Nowadays, it is possible to print parts with features in micro- (µm) or even nanoscale (nm), opening new fields of application and further improvement to already existing parts. Similar to stereolithography (SLA), DLP applies UV light to harden a photopolymer resin in a layer-by-layer process. This enables printing parts with complex geometries such as cavities, implying the resin can later exit the part. However, DLP has an advantage over other 3D-printing technologies when it comes to creating cavities or the printing of overhang structures in general. Since in DLP the entire layer is hardened at once, less support structure is needed to achieve a uniform, stable layer. In consequence, this opens the design option to print micro cavities without any support structures needed. This paper highlights the process of micro DLP printing of polymer parts, focusing on the influence of the most relevant parameters on the successful print of overhang structures. Therefore, the paper presents an experimental analysis, investigating the effects of relevant printing parameters of an overhang on the dimensional accuracy of the resulting parts. The results show a significant dependence of the bridges (overhangs) on gaps size and curing time, and the deformation of the bridges are in the opposite sides of the parts.