As mental health technologies like AI chatbots, social robots, and immersive systems become more widespread, it is essential to ensure that these tools resonate across cultures, especially in deeply personal contexts like emotional support and crisis care. Most research focuses on a single tool or setting, leaving open questions about how people evaluate and choose between different types of support systems, especially across cultural contexts. This project investigates how cultural background shapes trust, comfort, and acceptance of different modalities for technology-mediated mental wellbeing.

Grounded in Hofstede’s six-dimensional model of culture, the study examines how individuals from culturally distinct countries perceive various interaction styles and system characteristics. Participants respond to a range of video-based demonstrations that represent common forms of wellbeing technologies, and reflect on their comfort, trust, and willingness to use them. They also share how they would prefer these systems to support different aspects of mental wellbeing, such as emotion regulation or crisis intervention.

By uncovering how cultural values influence expectations of control, discretion, embodiment, and emotional intelligence in these systems, this work aims to inform the design of culturally sensitive, trustworthy, and human-centered mental health technologies that are attuned to the needs of diverse users worldwide.

This work is done in collaboration with Alexandra Xu.