Laura van der Bij

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About

Laura van der Bij is a leading voice in the emerging field of human-robot interaction, with a specific focus on the social psychology of technology. Her research critically examines how people perceive and stereotype robots, drawing on classic social frameworks like the Stereotype Content Model. In her most cited work, "Models of (Often) Ambivalent Robot Stereotypes" (2023, 18 citations), she conducted a landmark study involving 120 participants who rated 80 different robots on dimensions of warmth (communion) and competence (agency), as well as gendered task suitability. This work revealed that robots, like humans, are subject to complex, ambivalent stereotypes that vary significantly based on their design and perceived function. Building on this, her 2022 paper, "Ambivalent Stereotypes Towards Gendered Robots," explores the troubling persistence of gender bias, particularly towards female-coded and neutral robots, questioning the mutability of these ingrained social biases. With her work gaining traction in both robotics and social psychology circles, van der Bij is pioneering a crucial conversation about the ethical design and societal integration of autonomous agents.