Gabriela Gonçalves

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About

Gabriela Gonçalves is a leading researcher in the psychology of human-robot interaction, with a particular focus on how people perceive, represent, and form attitudes toward social robots. Her work bridges social psychology and technology, exploring the mental frameworks—or social representations—that shape laypeople’s understanding of robots. In her highly cited 2016 study, she used structural analysis to map how individuals make sense of social robots, revealing the core and peripheral beliefs that underpin public perception. This foundational work has garnered 36 citations and remains a key reference in the field. Gonçalves also contributed to cross-cultural measurement by validating the Portuguese version of the Negative Attitudes towards Robots Scale (NARS) in 2014, a tool now widely used to assess human reluctance toward robotic technologies. With 25 citations, this validation study has enabled more accurate, culturally sensitive research in Portuguese-speaking populations. Her work is essential for designers and policymakers aiming to foster acceptance of social robots, and it continues to influence studies on trust, anthropomorphism, and the social dynamics of human-robot encounters.