Two new research projects: resilience among youth and misconceptions about social reality

Can you use photos of young people to predict their resilience? And to what extent is the image we have of the people around us accurate? These questions are central to the new research projects of Vera Heininga and Vincenz Frey. Both recently received an NWO Open Competition XS grant.

Resilience and vulnerability

The new project of Vera Heininga focuses on recognizing resilience and vulnerability among young people. Nearly half of Dutch young people in the age group of 16-30 years experience mental health problems, such as anxiety and depressive symptoms. Using machine learning, Heininga will investigate whether risk factors and protective factors for mental health issues can be inferred from photos posted on the new social media app "Be Real."

Social perception

According to sociologist Vincenz Frey, the image we have of the behavior and opinions of the people around us often does not match reality. This is true even when it comes to friends. This inaccurate perception can have harmful consequences. For example, young people who overestimate the alcohol consumption of their peers may end up drinking more themselves. Since not much is known about how these misconceptions arise, Frey's project aims to investigate how information flows in social networks influence misconceptions.