Research Topics

We investigate human experience and behaviour in a social context at the intersection of social psychology, political psychology, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology and environmental psychology.

We investigate attitudes, how they arise, how they can be changed and how they are related to behaviour. In the context of political psychology, we investigate, for example, which boundary conditions (e.g. needs, emotions) underlie right-wing radicalisation.

Another focus of the department is on research into human experience and behaviour under threat and in crisis situations, as well as the question of how resilience can be strengthened in such situations. For example, we have investigated how people perceive and cope with the Covid-19 pandemic and which factors contribute to compliance with protective measures.

Below you will find selected publications on the various research areas of the department. This research is funded, among other things, through the acquisition of various third-party grants.

Attitudes

Basics of Attitude Formation and Change

Buttlar, B., Pauer, S., & van Harreveld, F. (2024). The model of ambivalent choice and dissonant commitment: An integration of dissonance and ambivalence frameworks. European Review of Social Psychology, 1–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2024.2373547

Hahn, L., Buttlar, B., Künne, R., & Walther, E. (2024). Introducing the trier univalence neutrality ambivalence (TUNA) database: A picture database differentiating complex attitudes. PLOS ONE, 19(5), e0302904. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0302904

Singh, T., Frings, C., & Walther, E. (2024). Two roads leading to the same evaluative conditioning effect? Stimulus-response binding versus operant conditioning. Cognition & Emotion, 38(5), 825–833. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2024.2323741

Walther, E., Blask, K., Halbeisen, G., & Frings, C. (2019). An action control perspective of evaluative conditioning. European Review of Social Psychology, 30(1), 271–310. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2019.1699743

Blask, K., Frings, C., & Walther, E. (2016). Doing is for feeling. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145(10), 1263–1268. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000211

Attitudes and Political Behavior

Rothmund, T., Walther, E. (2024). Psychologie der Rechtsradikalisierung: Theorien, Perspektiven, Prävention. Kohlhammer Verlag.

Kassab, Y., Isemann, S. D., Halbeisen, G., & Walther, E. (2021). How relative deprivation increases aggressive behavior: Exploring the moderating roles of resource scarcity, deprivation intensity, and sanctions in a game task. Aggressive Behavior, 47(2), 215–225. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21940

Walther, E., Isemann, S. D. (Eds.). (2019). Die AfD: Psychologisch betrachtet. Springer.

Isemann, S. D., Walther, E., Solfrank, S., & Wilbertz, F. (2019). Peacefully changing the world: Political system support facilitates peaceful but prevents violent protest orientation among school students. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 25(4), 364–366. https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000388

Attitudes and Sustainable Behavior

Buttlar, B., Pauer, S., Ruby, M. B., & Scherrer, V. (2024). Two sides of the same fence: A model of the origins and consequences of meat-related conflict in omnivores and veg*ans. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 94, 102241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102241

Buttlar, B., Rothe, A., Kleinert, S., Hahn, L., & Walther, E. (2021). Food for thought: Investigating communication strategies to counteract moral disengagement regarding meat consumption. Environmental Communication, 15(1), 55–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2020.1791207

Buttlar, B., & Walther, E. (2018). Measuring the meat paradox: How ambivalence towards meat influences moral disengagement. Appetite, 128, 152–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2018.06.011

 

Psychology of Crises and Threats

Covid-19 Pandemic

Hahn, L., & Walther, E. (2023). Ambivalence Toward the Implementation of Preventive Measures in (Un-)Vaccinated German Citizens. European Journal of Health Psychology. https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/10.1027/2512-8442/a000137

Nachtwey, P., & Walther, E. (2023). Survival of the fittest in the pandemic age: Introducing disease-related social Darwinism. PLOS ONE, 18(3), e0281072. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281072

Maldei-Gohring, T., Opdensteinen, K. D., Hellbach, C., Nowakowski, N., Graßmann, T., Hofer, J., Walther, E., & Hechler, T. (2022). Ein halbes Leben lang Corona. Kindheit und Entwicklung. https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/10.1026/0942-5403/a000374

Stress

Halbeisen, G., Domes, G., & Walther, E. (2023). Is stress colorblind? Exploring endocrine stress responses in intergroup contexts using a virtual reality-based Trier Social Stress Test (TSST-VR). Psychoneuroendocrinology, 147, 105970. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105970

Zimmer, P., Buttlar, B., Halbeisen, G., Walther, E., & Domes, G. (2019). Virtually stressed? A refined virtual reality adaptation of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) induces robust endocrine responses. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 101, 186–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.11.010