Psychology Researcher
Friends for Humanity is building AI that feels like it's yours — something that understands you deeply, helps you genuinely, and shows up always. Our users are overwhelmingly Gen Z, and the success of what we ship depends as much on psychology as it does on engineering.
We are looking for a Psychology Researcher to study how young people relate to AI companions: what builds trust, what feels supportive, what crosses into unhealthy, and what we can change to make these relationships better. You will work closely with product, design, and engineering — your findings will shape what we ship.
We are hiring at any level. If you are an undergrad with strong methodological intuition, a postdoc looking to take research into product, or a senior researcher who wants their work to reach millions of teens and young adults, we want to talk.
What you’ll do
- Design and run studies — qualitative interviews, diary studies, and quantitative experiments — focused on how Gen Z users form relationships with our AI.
- Synthesize academic literature on adolescent and young-adult development, attachment, parasocial relationships, loneliness, social media effects, and human–computer interaction into recommendations we can act on.
- Partner with product and design on hypotheses, evaluation criteria, and what 'healthy' looks like for a long-term AI relationship in the lives of young people.
- Help define the wellbeing metrics we hold ourselves to as we scale.
What we’re looking for
- A strong grounding in psychology, developmental science, cognitive science, HCI, or a related field — degree level flexible, methodological rigor is not.
- Comfort with both qualitative methods (interviews, thematic analysis) and quantitative methods (study design, basic statistics).
- Genuine curiosity about how young people live online, and a thoughtful point of view on what AI should and should not do in their lives.
- Clear writing — you can turn a messy study into a one-page insight a team can act on.
Nice to have
- Published or applied research on adolescent development, teen mental health, loneliness, attachment, social media, or human–AI interaction.
- Experience embedded on a consumer product team or in industry research.
- Lived familiarity with the platforms and culture Gen Z actually spends time on.
Questions? Email edison@friendsforhumanity.com