Adaptive Emotional Support for Groups

Abstract

When faced with a difficult situation, searching for emotional support is one of the most natural things to do. Being supported not only helps regulating the negative emotions, but it also promotes coping skills and psychological adjustment to stressful situations. However, not all emotional support attempts are effective and always available. The increasing usage of technology may offer a solution by providing an emotional support virtual agent, capable to deliver support via smartphone or computer, anytime and anywhere. Such agent may adapt to one’s characteristics and situation, providing supportive feedback tailored to the needs. In my thesis, I will focus on how to provide emotional support to groups of students. Emotional support will be adapted to the stressors that students typically encounter, and to the challenges linked to working in groups. I will study how people adapt emotional support statements to both individual and situational factors, and investigate how this can be implemented in a virtual agent.