The Psychology Research Institute (INPSY) is a specialized research institute at the Faculty of Social Studies at Masaryk University. Our research focus stems from a long-lasting interest in the topics of developmental, social and educational psychology, psychology of personality and psychology in the media. Strong methodological and statistical background allows us to perform quality basic and applied research and develop new psychodiagnostic methods.

We cooperate with the Department of Psychology at the FSS, Masaryk University. We participate in the teaching of students and at the same time, create conditions and opportunities for their involvement in existing research projects.

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Health, Media, and Sexuality

Measurement in Psychology

Gifted Children

Citizenship and Democracy

Early Development, Parenthood, and Attachment

Adolescents, Young Adults, and Identity

Center for Psychotherapy Research

Behaviors of Individuals and Groups Lab (BIG lab)

News

“Are they treating us fairly?” An international experiment examined when adolescents trust authority figures

NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

Trust in authority figures is crucial for adolescence – it influences willingness to cooperate, respect rules, and participate in civic life. While research has long shown that fair decision-making by authority figures strengthens trust in adults, less is known about how these mechanisms work during adolescence. This gap is filled by a new study by our INPSY Citizenship and Democracy team members, which examines how different elements of fair decision-making affect trust in authority among young people across age groups and countries.

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NewsFresh studiesFor parents and teachers

Sex, intimacy, and changes: intimacy after 50

Sexuality remains an important part of life in middle and later age, yet this period is associated with a number of changes that can affect sexual desire and experience. Despite the importance of sexual well-being, people over 50 rarely seek professional help, and their experiences tend to be overlooked in research. A new study by Gabriela Gore-Gorszewska and Anna Ševčíková addresses this gap.

NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

How to interpret factor analysis? Let's ditch the simple rules

Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) is one of the core tools of modern psychology, widely used to evaluate how psychological measurement instruments function. Despite its importance, CFA is often applied in an overly mechanical way. A new methodological study by Petr Palíšek and Edita Chvojka (INPSY), together with Anna Literová (IRTIS), warns that blind reliance on “magic” statistical cut-offs used to assess the quality of factor models – such as RMSEA or CFI – can lead to erroneous conclusions. In a clear and accessible tutorial, the authors demonstrate how model evaluation can be approached more thoughtfully and with a deeper understanding of what the data actually convey.

NewsFresh studiesFor practitioners

How measuring progress during therapy changes the work of therapists – and why measurement in psychotherapy is not a matter of course

A meta-analysis conducted by Klára Jonášová, Michal Čevelíček, Petr Doležal, and Tomáš Řiháček from the Center for Psychotherapy Research provides the most comprehensive view to date of how therapists use routine outcome monitoring (ROM) directly during sessions. ROM is an effective tool for increasing the safety and effectiveness of psychotherapy – practical experience shows that the way it is integrated into sessions can take various forms and thus vary in effectiveness. An analysis of 47 qualitative studies shows that the benefits of measurement are not automatic, but are the result of careful integration into the therapeutic process.

NewsFor practitionersFor parents and teachersConferences, lectures, and collaboration

Lukas Blinka spoke at a conference on children's digital health and also participated in a round table discussion as an expert.

Lukas Blinka was invited to speak at the conference Digital Childhood and Adolescence: Challenges and Answers for Parents and Experts, organized by the Office of the Government together with the Addiction Clinic of the First Faculty of Medicine of Charles University, which took place on December 2, 2025, at the Liechtenstein Palace in Prague under the auspices of the wife of the President of the Czech Republic, Eva Pavlová, and Prime Minister Petr Fiala. The conference featured a presentation of a project led by the Addiction Clinic with financial support from the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic, in which Lukas Blinka was involved. The project also resulted in the DigiRozcestník and iRodič projects, in which our members Natálie Macošková, Ondřej Musil, Veronika Gocieková, and Dita Siřínková participated. These projects, which were created with the support of the Czech Science Foundation, were presented at the conference.