Jana Krauss, M.Sc.

Jana Krauss M. Sc.

Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin/PhD Studentin

Psychologie Intelligenter Interaktiver Systeme
Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
Institut für Mensch-Computer-Medien
Universität Würzburg
Emil-Fischer-Straße 50
97074 Würzburg
Deutschland

I started studying Human-Computer-Interaction at the University of Würzburg in 2017 and completed both my Bachelor’s and Master’s degree there.
My main interest lies in the use of XR-technology to combat mental health problems and to help those afflicted. I am currently working on a program for cyberbullying prevention in Virtual Reality.
I have started a position as a research assisstant in September 2023 while I am working on my PhD.

Publications

2024[ to top ]

Wienrich, Carolin, Viktoria Horn, Arne Bürger, and Jana Krauss. “Personal Space Invasion to Prevent Cyberbullying: Design, Development, and Evaluation of an Immersive Prevention Measure for Children and Adolescents”. Springer Virtual Reality, 2024.
- [ Abstract ]
- [ BibTeX ]
Previous work on cyberbullying has shown that the number of victims is increasing and the need for prevention is exceptionally high among younger school students (5th-9th grade). Due to the omnipresence of cyberattacks, victims can hardly distance themselves psychologically, thus experience an intrusion in almost all areas of life. The perpetrators, on the other hand, feel the consequences of their actions even less in cyberspace. However, there is a gap between the need and the existence of innovative prevention programs tied to the digital reality of the target group and the treatment of essential aspects of psychological distance. This article explores the design space, feasibility, and effectiveness of a unique VR-based cyberbullying prevention component in a human-centered iterative approach. The central idea is reflected in creating a virtual personal space invasion with virtual objects associated with cyberbullying making the everyday intrusion of victims tangible. A pre-study revealed that harmful speech texts in bright non-removable message boxes best transferred the psychological determinants associated with a personal space invasion to virtual objects contextualized in cyberbullying scenarios. Therefore, these objects were incorporated into a virtual prevention program that was then tested in a laboratory study with 41 participants. The results showed that the intervention could trigger cognitive dissonance and empathy. In the second step, the intervention was evaluated and improved in a focus group with the actual target group of children and adolescents. The improved application was then evaluated in a school workshop for five days with 100 children and adolescents. The children understood the metaphor of virtual space invasion by the harmful text boxes and reported the expected psychological effects. They also showed great interest in VR. In summary, this paper contributes to the innovative and effective prevention of cyberbullying by using the potential of VR. It provides empirical evidence from a laboratory experiment and a field study with a large sample from the target group of children and adolescents and discusses implications for future developments.

@article{wienrich2024personal, abstract = {Previous work on cyberbullying has shown that the number of victims is increasing and the need for prevention is exceptionally high among younger school students (5th-9th grade). Due to the omnipresence of cyberattacks, victims can hardly distance themselves psychologically, thus experience an intrusion in almost all areas of life. The perpetrators, on the other hand, feel the consequences of their actions even less in cyberspace. However, there is a gap between the need and the existence of innovative prevention programs tied to the digital reality of the target group and the treatment of essential aspects of psychological distance. This article explores the design space, feasibility, and effectiveness of a unique VR-based cyberbullying prevention component in a human-centered iterative approach. The central idea is reflected in creating a virtual personal space invasion with virtual objects associated with cyberbullying making the everyday intrusion of victims tangible. A pre-study revealed that harmful speech texts in bright non-removable message boxes best transferred the psychological determinants associated with a personal space invasion to virtual objects contextualized in cyberbullying scenarios. Therefore, these objects were incorporated into a virtual prevention program that was then tested in a laboratory study with 41 participants. The results showed that the intervention could trigger cognitive dissonance and empathy. In the second step, the intervention was evaluated and improved in a focus group with the actual target group of children and adolescents. The improved application was then evaluated in a school workshop for five days with 100 children and adolescents. The children understood the metaphor of virtual space invasion by the harmful text boxes and reported the expected psychological effects. They also showed great interest in VR. In summary, this paper contributes to the innovative and effective prevention of cyberbullying by using the potential of VR. It provides empirical evidence from a laboratory experiment and a field study with a large sample from the target group of children and adolescents and discusses implications for future developments.}, author = {Wienrich, Carolin and Horn, Viktoria and Bürger, Arne and Krauss, Jana}, journal = {Springer Virtual Reality}, keywords = {jkrauss}, title = {Personal Space Invasion to Prevent Cyberbullying: Design, Development, and Evaluation of an Immersive Prevention Measure for Children and Adolescents}, year = 2024 }

2023[ to top ]

Wienrich, Carolin, Jana Krauss, Lukas Polifke, Viktoria Horn, Arne Bürger, and Marc-Erich Latoschik. “Harnessing the Potential of the Metaverse to Counter Its Dangers”.
- [ BibTeX ]
@misc{wienrich2023harnessing, author = {Wienrich, Carolin and Krauss, Jana and Polifke, Lukas and Horn, Viktoria and Bürger, Arne and Latoschik, Marc-Erich}, howpublished = {Presented at workshop "Combating Toxicity, Harassment, and Abuse in Online Social Spaces: A Workshop at CHI 2023"}, keywords = {jkrauss}, month = {04}, title = {Harnessing the Potential of the Metaverse to Counter its Dangers}, year = 2023 }

Hubland Nord, Gebäude 50

Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin/PhD Studentin

Picture credits