The list of national projects SAS
Centre of social and psychological sciences SAS
Acceptance and use of Innovations 4.0 in relation to cognitive gains and load in the context of sustainable development goals
Akceptácia a používanie inovácií 4.0 vo vzťahu ku kognitívnym prínosom a záťaži v kontexte cieľov udržateľného rozvoja
A large-scale meta-scientific analysis of the state of Slovak studies and final theses in social sciences
Analýza stavu slovenských vedeckých výstupov a záverečných prác v spoločenských vedách
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Communication in context: neurocognitive mechanisms of naturalistic communication in autistic adolescents
Digital transformation of the Slovak labor market
Digitálna transformácia slovenského trhu práce
| Duration: |
1.1.2025 - 31.12.2028 |
| Program: |
VEGA |
| Project leader: |
Mgr. Fabo Brian MA, PhD. |
| Annotation: | The aim of the project is to integrate advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning methods, statistical
(especially microeconometric) methods, and qualitative approaches to analyze and forecast changes in demand
for skills and competencies in Slovakia as a result of digital transformation. Its main objective is the identification
and analysis of the development of demand for human capital due to automation and digitization at the macro,
meso, and micro levels for the period 2011 – 2027. The project will focus on the following questions: a) How does
digital transformation affect employment dynamics in various sectors in Slovakia? b) Which economic sectors and
population groups are most vulnerable to changes caused by digitization? c) What policies and interventions can
help mitigate the negative effects and seize the opportunities of the digital era? |
Environmental attitudes, pro-environmental behaviour and its promotion
Environmentálne postoje, pro-environmentálne správanie a jeho podpora
| Duration: |
1.1.2024 - 31.12.2026 |
| Program: |
VEGA |
| Project leader: |
Mgr. Sáposová Zlatica PhD. |
| Annotation: | In the context of the Green Transition, people need to feel a personal responsibility to act to limit climate change. The aim of the project is to explore environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behavior and to increase pro-environmental behavior in the workplace using behavioral interventions. The project will focus on the analysis of environmental factors with respect to selected demographic characteristics, psychological characteristics and politics. In relation to this, the researchers will study how organizations in the public and private sectors promote pro-environmental behavior in the work environment, both from an organizational and employee perspective. Based on the findings, our intent is to discuss recommendations for the design of behavioral interventions aimed at increasing pro-environmental behavior. |
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From Blame Allocation to Human Perception: A New Approach to Understanding Conspiracy Theories
| Duration: |
1.12.2024 - 30.6.2026 |
| Program: |
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| Project leader: |
Žilinský Ján PhD |
| Annotation: | This project investigates how a deep-seated distrust of other people, misanthropy, makes individuals susceptible to conspiracy theories. The studies introduces a new way to measure this trait, finding that a "dark view of human nature" strongly predicts receptivity to conspiracies and anti-establishment views. This work shows that believing others are inherently bad is a distinct and powerful explanation for why people embrace conspiratorial narratives. |
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Hĺbková štúdia energetickej núdze (chudoby)
The Holocaust and its Aftermath in The Territory of Southern Slovakia, 1938 - 1948
Holokaust a jeho následky na území južného Slovenska, 1938 - 1948
| Duration: |
1.7.2024 - 30.6.2028 |
| Program: |
SRDA |
| Project leader: |
Szeghy-Gayer Veronika PhD. |
| Annotation: | The project aims to improve research on the Holocaust concerning the territory of daily Southern Slovakia in the period between 1938 and 1948. The geographic area under investigation is a specific border region that belonged to the Hungarian Kingdom between 1938 and 1945, and its social history is one of the most overlooked issues in modern Slovak historiography and educational programs. In the project, on the example of selected towns and localities, the research team consisting of scholars from Slovakia and abroad will carry out research with the aim of mapping the different patterns of the genocide during WWII in the Slovak-Hungarian border region (including anti-Jewish legislation, the process of Jewish deportations in 1941 and 1944, the Aryanization of Jewish property), as well as its aftermath (reintegration of Jews into the local societies, postwar antisemitism and property restitution) in the immediate post-WWII period. The research team established under the project would be the first group of scholars to investigate the wartime genocide in this particular region of daily Slovakia and in a Central European comparative context. The principal investigator of the project is Veronika Szeghy-Gayer, a highly experienced scholar whose research focuses on nationalism and minority issues, with particular attention to the inter-ethnic and genocide studies in the Southern Slovakia region. The main output of the project will be a workshop, a thematic issue in English in a high-impact scientific journal and an edited volume published in two language versions (Slovak and Hungarian). |
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Inštrumentalizácia dejín v slovenskom verejnom priestore v 20. storočí: Politika pamäti v čase konfliktov, vojen a rozvratov
| Duration: |
1.9.2025 - 31.8.2029 |
| Program: |
SRDA |
| Project leader: |
Mgr. Fogelová Patrícia PhD. |
| Annotation: | Reflecting the dynamics of political, social and historical contexts and preferences, public space has undergone
many transformations during various conflicts, wars and historical turning points. This project focuses on the
instrumental use of public space by political power and interest groups during different crisis phases, manifest in
Slovak (and Czechoslovak) public space from the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918 to the present. It examines
how these spaces have been used to shape public historical memory, consolidate national identity and potentially
influence public opinion. The project aims to analyse the mechanisms of control of public space by political
hierarchies or interest groups that seek to influence and dominate it according to their own agendas and
preferences. The project explores the complex interplay of the politics of memory and identity with reference to
public space as an influential instrument of political purpose. |
Climate Neutrality 2050 and Just Transition: Upper Nitra after the End of Coal Mining in a Socio-Economic Context and Implications for Regional Transformations
Klimatická neutralita 2050 a spravodlivá transformácia: Horná Nitra po ukončení ťažby uhlia v socio-ekonomickom kontexte a implikácie pre regionálne transformácie
| Duration: |
1.1.2025 - 30.6.2026 |
| Program: |
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| Project leader: |
Mgr. Filčák Richard MSc. PhD. |
| Annotation: | Slovakia’s ambitious climate neutrality targets require strong economic and social policies with an emphasis on just transition at the regional level. Upper Nitra, following the termination of coal mining, provides an opportunity to examine these processes in real time and within the context of specific local conditions.
The aim of the project is to theoretically frame and, based on empirical data, analyse cross-cutting issues related to the socio-economic, socio-political, socio-cultural, and gender dimensions of the transition to a low-carbon economy. Drawing on power field analysis (P. Bourdieu) and the theory of technological dramas (B. Pfaffenberger), the project focuses on a hierarchically structured social space and how it shapes regional economic and social transformation under the influence of both external and internal factors and pressures.
The project will specifically examine the situation and trends of low-income groups and small and medium-sized enterprises as key areas that shape the trajectory and impacts of the transition towards a low-carbon regional economy. The results will contribute to the knowledge base for developing frameworks, procedures, and policy recommendations for regions and for advancing just transition processes. |
Correction of Unfounded Beliefs: Cognitive versus Motivational and Situational Factors
Korekcia nepodložených presvedčení: Kognitívne vs. motivačné a situačné faktory
| Duration: |
1.1.2025 - 31.12.2028 |
| Program: |
VEGA |
| Project leader: |
doc. PaedDr. Kurincová Čavojová Vladimíra PhD. |
| Annotation: | The present time offers unprecedented access to information, yet for many people, assessing its truthfulness is increasingly challenging. When determining the credibility of information, individuals do not only decide based on accuracy but also on alignment with their worldview, which is why they may trust false information and adopt unfounded beliefs. Interventions focused solely on providing corrective information are thus insufficient and it is necessary to explore the relative importance of cognitive and socio-motivational factors in succumbing to various types of unfounded beliefs. Therefore, the project aims to propose and test the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing unfounded beliefs, with particular emphasis on less explored factors such as the format of corrective information and alignment with worldview. |
The quality of empirical evidence in psychology and education
Kvalita empirických dôkazov v psychológii a pedagogike
| Duration: |
1.9.2024 - 31.8.2027 |
| Program: |
SRDA |
| Project leader: |
Mgr. Adamkovič Matúš PhD. |
| Annotation: | Evidence-based interventions and policy decisions assume and require the integrity and empirical robustness of
published research. This holds particularly true in psychology and education, where interventions can profoundly
alter individual trajectories and broader social structures. When policies are based on flawed or biased evidence,
the consequences can be dire, leading to ineffective interventions, waste of resources, and potentially causing
harm. Among all types of scientific evidence, it is causal evidence that is foundational for explaining the complex
mechanisms at play within educational systems and psychological processes. Randomized experiments and meta-
analyses have emerged as the gold-standard tools in this endeavor, guiding both policy and future research.
However, recent research across social sciences revealed that many key findings lack the assumed empirical
robustness, urging a comprehensive reevaluation of what constitutes sound evidence. The present project
proposes an integrated research program to study the quality of evidence in education and psychology. By
scrutinizing the data underlying experiments and meta-analyses, we aim to gain a nuanced understanding of their
strengths and weaknesses, fostering more realistic expectations about the informativeness and applicability of findings from these studies. We plan to study specific indications of questionable integrity and empirical robustness
of the reported evidence. We will also study, develop, and showcase specific methodological solutions for drawing
more robust causal inferences from various research designs, increasing the informativeness and generalizability
of randomized experiments, and adjusting for publication bias in meta-analytic syntheses. Lastly, we intend to
develop and pilot a prompting architecture for a Large Language Model to automate certain tasks, thus enhancing
the scalability of meta-research. |
Marginalized Roma concentrations in the context of natural threats and social inequity
Marginalizované rómske koncentrácie v kontexte prírodných hrozieb a sociálnej nerovnosti
| Duration: |
1.7.2023 - 30.6.2027 |
| Program: |
SRDA |
| Project leader: |
Mgr. Filčák Richard MSc. PhD. |
| Annotation: | Marginalized Roma concentrations in environmentally unstable areas (floods, landslides, contamination) together with their social status and population trend represent a very current research challenge in the context of increasing society's resilience, especially to flood risk. The present project responds to this challenge and the research focuses mainly on the analysis of: i) flood exposure of Roma settlements, whether due to the impact of morphological changes in river channels or evolution trends of segregated Roma settlements, ii) vulnerability of marginalized Roma concentrations to flood risk due to their social status, iii) public policies in terms of their effectiveness to help Roma communities in settlements to cope with the negative consequences of flood hazard, iv) the natural environment around Roma settlements in the context of its impact on flood risk compared to the rest /majority population. Research will be carried out at national, regional and local levels. Methodologically, the project is based on data obtained by multitemporal analysis of remote sensing data, morphometric analysis of georelief, data on socio-economic and spatial-functional relationships and data obtained from field research. |
Psychological Need Satisfaction in the Mentoring Relationship and Adolescent Identity
Napĺňanie psychologických potrieb v mentorskom vzťahu a identita adolescentov
| Duration: |
1.1.2025 - 31.12.2028 |
| Program: |
VEGA |
| Project leader: |
Mgr. Bozogáňová Miroslava PhD. |
| Annotation: | Identifying sources of support for adolescents is in the spotlight, given evidence of risks to their mental health. Natural mentoring—i.e., a relationship with a significant non-parental adult within the adolescent’s social environment—may represent a source of basic psychological need satisfaction. The aim of the project is to examine which basic psychological needs are satisfied in the relationship between an adolescent and a mentor, and subsequently their association with identity aspects and identity resilience, while testing the mediating role of proactive need processing. The mentoring relationship will be studied in the context of other important relationships. Changes over time will be examined in the variables under study. The project also includes a qualitative analysis of interviews with adults who experienced a mentoring relationship during adolescence, with the aim of identifying the meaning, impacts, and key events of the mentoring relationship and the psychological needs it satisfies. A project output will be a handbook for adults in helping professions who may assume the role of a mentor. |
Across dividing lines: Identifying the interpersonal, group, and socio-cultural causes of unfounded beliefs and preventing their negative outcomes
Naprieč deliacimi čiarami: Identifikácia interpersonálnych, skupinových a sociokultúrnych príčin nepodložených presvedčení a prevencia ich negatívnych dôsledkov
| Duration: |
1.3.2025 - 31.12.2028 |
| Program: |
SRDA |
| Project leader: |
Mgr. Šrol Jakub PhD. |
| Annotation: | The World Economic Forum identified the spread of disinformation and unfounded beliefs (UBs) as a critical global risk. UBs, including belief in conspiracy theories or pseudoscience, are associated with many negative psychological and societal outcomes, emphasizing the need to understand their causes. While extant research primarily focuses on individual cognitive-motivational drivers of UBs, social causes remain largely unexplored. Also, current knowledge of UBs is built mostly on correlational studies, which restricts our understanding of the causes and consequences of UBs and limits the efforts to design effective interventions. Our project aims to fill these gaps by combining correlational, experimental, and longitudinal studies, as well as analyses of multi-national datasets to identify interpersonal, group and socio-cultural causes of UBs. We will achieve this by analyzing causal pathways between social factors (e.g. quality of interpersonal relationships, social norms, intergroup threats), UBs and their negative outcomes and by examining interactions of social (group identity, collective narcissism) and individual (analytic thinking, spirituality) causes of UBs. These findings will be used to design novel interventions to reduce UBs and prevent their negative outcomes by targeting social factors (social norms, intergroup emotions), as well as to examine how existing interventions (e.g. debunking) can be improved by factoring in the social causes of UBs. The project’s theoretical contribution lies in identifying causal chains between social factors, UBs and their negative outcomes and uncovering socio-cultural factors that shape them. Practical implications will involve development of cost-effective and scalable interventions targeting social causes of UBs, improving the effectiveness of existing interventions by tailoring them to different segments of population, and providing actionable insights for NGOs and government bodies on combatting disinformation. |
Distrust mindset and non-normative behaviour: From perceptions of social reality to violations of social norms
Nedôverčivá mentalita a nenormatívne správanie: Od vnímania sociálnej reality k porušovaniu sociálnych noriem
Nostalgia in the Premodern Period in Central, Eastern and South- Eastern Europe
Nostalgia v predmodernom období v strednej, východnej a juhovýchodnej Európe
| Duration: |
1.1.2025 - 31.12.2027 |
| Program: |
Other projects |
| Project leader: |
PhDr. Hlaváčová Anna CSc. |
| Annotation: | The joint project aims to investigate the expressions and images of nostalgia that occur in Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe from the 13th to 16th centuries. The inquiry will highliht four topics of nostalgia: the rhetoric of nostalgia, the figures or individuals of nostalgia, the communities and audiences of nostalgia, and lastly the sites and images of nostalgia. With the aid of a broad range of sources, the project will examine whether it is possible to uncover the strategies of nostalgic thinking, the author’s choice of a past period or occasion, respectively the genres in which nostalgic sentiments most often occur. The project attempts to compare features of nostalgia in the West with those in central, eastern and southeastern regions of Europe and evaluate the hypothesis that nostalgic expressions appear mostly during social acceleration. The project contributes to the understanding of nostalgia and its role in historical and societal transformations. |
Polarized society: From political orientation to protecting moral values
Polarizovaná spoločnosť: Od politickej orientácie k ochrane morálnych hodnôt
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Rizikové správanie adolescentov v kyberpriestore a jeho negatívne dôsledky na duševné zdravie v postpandemickom období
UNWEAVING THE NARRATIVES RELATED TO THE COUNCIL OF FLORENCE
ROZPLIETANIE NARATÍVOV O FLORENTSKOM KONCILE
| Duration: |
1.1.2023 - 31.12.2026 |
| Program: |
VEGA |
| Project leader: |
PhDr. Hlaváčová Anna CSc. |
| Annotation: | In order to understand the Russian history narrative, it is necessary to focus on the political situation between the Union of Florence (1439) and the fall of Constantinople (1453). Therefore, the aim of the project is to examine the corpus of 15th century Cyrillic documents, written directly by the members of metropolitan Isidore's delegation that travelled to the Council of Florence.
In our examination of the Cyrillic travelogue it turned out that this primary, pro-union oriented source had a direct impact on several other documents, including the document opposing the union.
On the basis of this discovery, we propose further, more systematic literary and historical analysis of all these documents – with the perspective of establishing a time order between them.
This will help us to date more precisely the emergence of the first anti-union oriented Cyrillic text and to focus the view on the changed historical circumstances in which the Russian seclusionist narrative began to take shape. |
Social and psychological causes and consequences of belief in epistemically suspect claims
Spoločenské a psychologické príčiny a dôsledky dôvery nepodloženým presvedčeniam
| Duration: |
1.1.2025 - 31.12.2028 |
| Program: |
VEGA |
| Project leader: |
Mgr. Šrol Jakub PhD. |
| Annotation: | Epistemically suspect beliefs – such as conspiracy theories or pseudoscience – are associated with a range of negative psychological and social consequences. Despite intensive efforts to develop interventions to reduce these beliefs, the effectiveness of available methods is very limited. One reason for this may be that previous interventions have largely ignored the metacognitive and social aspects underlying the belief in epistemically suspect claims. The first goal of the project will therefore be to explore these overlooked epistemic (scientific reasoning, trust in science), existential (spirituality, religiosity), and social (social norms) sources of epistemically suspect beliefs, with the aim of contributing to efforts to develop effective interventions. The second goal of the project will be to experimentally study the negative social consequences of epistemically suspect beliefs in the domain of interpersonal relationships, intergroup dynamic, political participation, and pro-environmental behavior. |
Current Images of Socialism in the Czech Republic and Slovakia - Family Memory
Súčasné obrazy socializmu v Čechách a na Slovensku - rodinná pamäť
| Duration: |
1.7.2023 - 30.6.2027 |
| Program: |
SRDA |
| Project leader: |
Mgr. Žuk Klara PhD. |
| Annotation: | The project represents the first Czechoslovak qualitative research on family memory. It creates a space for cooperation between Czech and Slovak experts. It focuses on the memories of the oldest generation in the family (people born in 1950 and earlier) and the younger generation (born around 1970 and later) in selected families. Significant is the focus on the content communicated in contemporary families (in the Czech Republic and Slovakia) about the non-democratic period after 1948 and the socio-political change that took place in the last decade of the 20th century. The planned research project is a basic and, to a large extent, a rescue (due to the age of some of the respondents) qualitative research aimed at mapping the phenomenon of remembering in contemporary society. The importance of this qualitative research lies not in the factual plausibility of the information obtained, but in how the past is portrayed in the present. |
Structural antecedents of conspiracy beliefs: how precarity, inequality and low institutional trust contribute to the endorsement of conspiracy beliefs
Štrukturálne faktory súvisiace s konšpiračných presvedčení: ako neistota, nerovnosť a nízka inštitucionálna dôvera prispievajú k podpore konšpiračných presvedčení
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Vyhľadanie, prijímanie, odmietanie psychologickej pomoci - facilitátory, bariéry a postoje
The wellbeing of Teachers of Marginalised Roma Communities
Wellbeing učiteľov marginalizovaných rómskych komunít
| Duration: |
1.1.2023 - 31.12.2026 |
| Program: |
VEGA |
| Project leader: |
Mgr. Ďurkovská Mária PhD. |
| Annotation: | The school success of pupils from the marginalized Roma communities (MRC) depends to a large extent on the teacher. Its significant role in the context of education is confirmed by the results of research carried out in this field. Teachers' wellbeing (TWB) is an important factor determining not only the effectiveness of teaching but also pupils' performance. The main aim of the project is to investigate the level of wellbeing of MRC teachers as well as individual aspects of wellbeing (work demands, work resources, self-efficacy, engagement, coping, stress). At the same time, the project aims to compare the wellbeing of MRC teachers with that of teachers in the majority population as well as to examine the variables that characterize the teachers. The identification of these variables could be a starting point for the design of targeted interventions aimed at increasing wellbeing.
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Enhancing Meta-Research in Psychology by Generative AI
Zlepšovanie meta-výskumu v psychológii prostredníctvom generatívnej umelej inteligencie
| Duration: |
1.9.2025 - 31.8.2028 |
| Program: |
SRDA |
| Project leader: |
Mgr. Adamkovič Matúš PhD. |
| Annotation: | Meta-research—the systematic study of the research process itself—is crucial for the advancement in the
credibility and integrity of psychological science. The exponential growth in the volume of research output has
rendered traditional meta-research methods (e.g., meta-analysis) increasingly unfeasible, owing to their time-
consuming and labor-intensive nature, as well as their susceptibility to human error. In response to this pressing
need, this project presents a potentially paradigm-shifting solution, leveraging cutting-edge capabilities of
generative artificial intelligence to revolutionize meta-research practices in psychology and related fields. By
harnessing the power of Large Language Models (LLMs), the project aims to explore viable ways to overcome the
limitations of manual data extraction and enhance meta-research processes. Specifically, we will (1) pioneer AI-
driven data extraction methodologies and develop and validate rigorous modular prompting pipelines; (2) explore
innovative pathways of generative AI application in research design optimization, psychometric refinement, and
automated quality assurance; and (3) democratize access to the developed tools and materials for global scientific
advancement. The proposed systematic evaluation of prompting pipeline performance against benchmarks, and their state-of-the-art integration into scientific workflows, will help mitigate biases and enhance the scalability of meta-studies, thereby increasing the comprehensiveness and credibility of research findings. Engaging the community in the development of an ecosystem of strategies for AI integration into meta-research in psychology (and beyond) will ensure the long-term utility and sustainability of these efforts. |
Woman and the world of work: Changes in the education and employment of women in Slovakia between 1918 and 1960
Žena a svet práce. Zmeny vo vzdelávaní a zamestnanosti žien na Slovensku v rokoch 1918 - 1960
| Duration: |
1.1.2023 - 31.12.2026 |
| Program: |
VEGA |
| Project leader: |
Mgr. Gallová Miroslava PhD. |
| Annotation: | The aim of the project is to explore how the major historical events of the 1918-1960 period and the changes
associated with them have been able to affect the status of women and their employment. In this context, the
researchers will focus on mapping the opportunities, limits and changes in the secondary, vocational and higher
education for girls. Following this, they will investigate how women have been able to make use of their education
in the area of work. They will focus on the analysis of women's employment in different sectors of the economy
and examine the employment of women in the selected institutions and enterprises. In doing so, they will focus on
examining horizontal and vertical gender segregation. In addition, they will look at the attitude of society towards
the issue, the contemporary propaganda, the issue of education and employment of girls and women in the
programmes of political parties, and an examination of the fate of individual women and their own experience of
the past. |
The total number of projects: 27
