The Use of AI in the Behavioral Sciences
A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 February 2026 | Viewed by 20
Special Issue Editor
2. Promotion of Health and Innovation for Well-Being (PHI-WELL), Department of Social Sciences, University of Stavanger, 4021 Stavanger, Norway
3. Department of Behavioral Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
4. Laboratory for Biopsychosocial Personality Research (BPS-PR), International Network for Well-Being, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
5. Centre for Ethics, Law and Mental Health (CELAM), University of Gothenburg, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
6. Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
Interests: personality; well-being; health; organizational psychology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI), including large language models (LLMs) and natural language processing (NLP), has begun to reshape the landscape of the behavioral sciences, and this Special Issue of Behavioral Sciences explores the integration of AI tools into psychological assessment, mental health research, and the broader understanding of the human condition.
Traditional methodologies in behavioral research have largely relied on numerical rating scales and closed-ended items. While effective, these tools often restrict the richness and nuance of individual experience. On the other hand, qualitative methods provide deeper insight into the human condition, yet struggle with issues of replicability, scalability, and statistical rigor. People naturally express their emotions, thoughts, and identities through language—but until recently, researchers have lacked the tools to systematically analyze and quantify such open-ended data at scale.
AI-driven semantic analysis, machine learning, and the application of LLMs offer a powerful bridge between these qualitative and quantitative approaches. These methods enable researchers to transform narratives, whether from clinical interviews, therapy notes, social media, or surveys, into structured data that can be statistically analyzed. As a result, researchers can now combine the depth and context of qualitative data with the generalizability and robustness of quantitative analysis. This methodological fusion represents a significant innovation in the behavioral sciences, enabling new ways to measure mental states, personality traits, therapeutic outcomes, and societal trends.
This Special Issue invites researchers, clinicians, and developers to critically examine the possibilities and responsibilities of using AI to understand, and ultimately support, the human condition. While particular emphasis is placed on language-based methods such as large language models (LLMs) and semantic analysis, this Special Issue also welcomes submissions exploring other applications of AI in the behavioral sciences. These may include predictive analytics, diagnostic algorithms, affective computing, behavioral monitoring, or any AI-driven innovation that advances psychological theory, assessment, or intervention.
Dr. Danilo Garcia
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- artificial intelligence
- natural language processing
- large language models
- behavioral sciences
- quantitative semantics
- machine learning
- psychological assessment
- mental health
- qualitative and quantitative methods
- computational psychology
- open-ended responses
- semantic analysis
- digital phenotyping
- text mining
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