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Research Interests and Projects

In our research, we are interested in the topics happiness/well-being, loneliness and personality: How are these aspects related to other characteristics? How do they develop over the lifespan and how do they develop in relation to life events? On this page, we provide information about our current and completed projects as well as our publications.

Open Science: In our lab, we actively contribute to more transparency and reliability in psychological science. Whenever possible, we preregister our studies and provide open material, open data and reproducible code.

ForschungsschwerpunkteEN
Overview of our research interests


Current Projects


Duration: April 2024 until the end of 2026
Funding: BMAS und BAuA, program FOGA (Research on health in the workplace)
PsyMeth participants: Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann, Bernd Schäfer, Peter Mohr, Debora Brickau

Loneliness is a societal challenge that also needs to be addressed in the work environment. However, neither work research nor loneliness research has systematically examined the relationship between work and loneliness to date. The overarching goal of this research project is therefore to establish loneliness as a relevant topic for interdisciplinary work research and to identify target groups and approaches for preventing loneliness in the workplace. The particular focus is on optimizing the design of those structural working conditions that have been significantly altered by the pandemic (e.g., remote work).

The project addresses three central research questions: (1) How should working conditions be structured to minimize the risk of loneliness in terms of primary prevention? (2) Which groups are at increased risk of loneliness and thus potential target groups for secondary prevention? (3) How are current working conditions and current loneliness in everyday work life related, and what are the implications for primary and secondary prevention? These research questions are empirically investigated using representative secondary data as well as newly collected diary data.

Duration: October 2023 until May 2024
Funding: Netzwerk Universitätsmedizin (NUM)
PsyMeth participants: Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann, Debora Brickau

CollPan aims to create a nationwide platform to establish evidence-based and sustainable research on collateral effects of the current pandemic and for future pandemics and crises. To this end, a structured mapping of collateral effects, risk factors, and existing interventions and therapies against collateral effects is being conducted. These three approaches are addressed in three thematic areas: in the general population (Area 1), in selected patient groups particularly affected by collateral effects (Area 2), and in employees in health and science institutions (Area 3). As part of our subproject located in Area 1, we are investigating the process of chronicity of loneliness following significant events.

Duration: since May 2023
Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
PsyMeth participants: Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann, Peter Mohr, Dr. Julia Krasko

The German Center for Mental Health (DZPG) conducts research on new methods for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illnesses. The goal is to make these methods available to people as quickly as possible. At the Bochum/Marburg site, we contribute to the selection and development of measurement instruments for assessing mental health within a new digital panel and advocate for the topics of positive mental health and loneliness.

This study examines how the well-being of young people changes and what the underlying causes of these changes are. The aim is to identify the areas that can be addressed in order to keep the fragile well-being stable during this critical phase of life. Past studies have shown that well-being tends to decline during this life stage. In order to be able to look at these changes appropriately, the happiness study is designed as a longitudinal study. Young people in the eighth grade from the Ruhr region are followed over a period of one year and take part in a total of three surveys, which take place at regular intervals. The various facets of well-being and possible significant causes will be assessed. These quantitative surveys are also preceded by a qualitative study in which the young people report on what makes them happy from their own personal perspective. The resulting data will then be analyzed using various statistical methods in order to draw conclusions about protective and risk factors for the well-being of young people.

Duration: April 2019 until December 2024
Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
PsyMeth participants: Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann, Dr. Julia Krasko

The consortium IMPROVE-MH (Lead: Prof. Dr. Silvia Schneider) aims to improve the mental health of refugee families with young children. To achieve this, mentally distressed parents of preschool children will receive a brief treatment for managing symptoms of anxiety disorders and depression through their general practitioner. The program also includes an online training component to promote positive parenting styles. In order to develop and adapt this intervention, the specific needs and challenges during the care of refugees are examined. Additionally, the intervention is evaluated to overcome any obstacles to its implementation and to prepare the program for practical dissemination in primary care.

In our subproject, we pursue two goals: First, established measurement instruments for assessing mental health will be examined for their validity and measurement invariance (MI) across cultural groups and longitudinally. This is relevant for the clinical study, as differences between groups and changes over time can only be correctly interpreted if established measurement invariance is established. Second, new measurement instruments will be developed to allow the assessment of mental health and other variables relevant to the clinical study through Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). Traditionally, mental health has been assessed through self-reports or clinician ratings. Similarly, data on parenting behavior and parent-child interactions are typically collected through observations or parent self-reports. While these traditional methods are reliable and valid, they can be distorted by lack of ecological validity, recall biases, and social desirability. EMA methods are therefore increasingly used in clinical research as a complement to traditional methods.


Completed Projects


Duration: July 2023 until November 2023
Funding: State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia
PsyMeth participants: Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann, Debora Brickau, Peter Mohr, Bernd Schäfer

This study, commissioned by the State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), aims to address some gaps in the empirical research on adolescents and young adults, with a particular focus on NRW. The study was guided by the following questions: (1) What is the current proportion of adolescents and young adults in NRW who feel lonely? (2) What risk and protective factors contribute to loneliness among adolescents and young adults in NRW? (3) How do adolescents and young adults in NRW deal with experiences of loneliness, and how do they assess the effectiveness of their coping strategies? To answer these questions, data from two cross-sectional samples were analyzed.

The results report can be accessed here: https://www.land.nrw/pressemitteilung/jeder-fuenfte-jugendliche-nordrhein-westfalen-ist-stark-einsam-landesregierung

With the PER-SENSE study, we explore how personality traits manifest themselves in daily life. To do this, we use smartphones to repeatedly collect data in everyday situations. The PER-SENSE study is conducted online and with the smartphone and lasts a total of 8 days, each with several short questionnaires. In these questionnaires, we ask about everyday activities, behaviors, and feeling. Vouchers with a total value of 500€ will be raffled among the participants of the study. Students of psychology can alternatively receive up to 11.5 research participation hours.

More information on the study (German only): click here.

With the HYPE-Study (Hypothetical and Experienced Events) we would like to examine how young adults perceive major life events. The HYPE-Study is a longitudinal online-study with three measurement occasions spread over nine months. We are currently looking for young adults who would like to participate in our study.

More information on the study: click here.

The purpose of the study "Studie zur Wahrnehmung von Lebensereignissen" is to examine how major life events like the death of a loved one or the breakup of a romantic relationship are perceived. For this purpose, we are currently looking for participants that expierences one of the following major life events within the last five weeks: death of a loved one, breakup of a romantic relationship, involuntary end of employment, failure to pass an important exam, and end of a close friendship.

More information on the study: click here

The Bochum Berlin Covid-19 longitudinal study has been continuously looking at the personal, social, and societal consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany since March 2020. Participation in this online study is possible. Participants can receive individual feedback on their personality as well as on changes in their mood and feelings of loneliness over the study period. More information on the study: click here (German only)

Duration: September until November 2018
Funding: Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ)
Beteiligte aus dem PsyMeth-Team: Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann, Dr. Susanne Bücker, Dr. Julia Krasko, Dr. Sophia Terwiel

The aim of this project was to create an overview of the current state of research on loneliness and social isolation in old age and to derive implications for future research as well as for individual and policy measures. The project was guided by the following research questions: (1) How prevalent is loneliness and social isolation among older people? (2) What are the causes of loneliness and social isolation in old age? (3) What are the effects of loneliness and social isolation on mental and physical health in old age? (4) What measures exist for the prevention and intervention of loneliness and social isolation in old age, and what is known about their effectiveness? (5) What are the implications of the empirical findings for political and societal measures to combat loneliness and social isolation? Systematic literature searches, supplementary analyses of data from the Socio-Economic Panel, and insights gained from an expert workshop held on December 3, 2018, in Bochum were used as the basis for answering these questions.

The final report (in German) can be accessed here: https://hss-opus.ub.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/opus4/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/6373/file/LuhmannBueckerEinsamkeitimhohenAlter_Projektbericht.pdf

Duration: February 2018 until September 2019
Funding: John Templeton Foundation, Pathways to Character Project
PsyMeth participants: Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann, Dr. Ina Faßbender, Dr. Peter Hähner

The Pathways to Character Project explores how the experience of adversity can make people stronger by improving character strengths such as humility, gratitude, open-mindedness, and others. Our subproject addresses an important open question in this field of research: Which kinds of adversities are associated with character growth – and which ones are not?

Underneath this question is the observation that adversity has many faces. Some life events are adverse because they happen completely out of the blue, giving people no time to prepare and little sense of control over what happens to them. Other events might be predictable but nevertheless have deep negative effects on people’s lives and their well-being. To examine the association between event characteristics and character growth, we conducted the What’s Next-Study, a one-year, 5-wave longitudinal study of young adults.

Publications:

  • Haehner, P., Pfeifer, L. S., Fassbender, I., & Luhmann, M. (2023). Are changes in the perception of major life events associated with changes in subjective well-being? Journal of Research in Personality, 102, 104321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2022.104321
  • Kritzler, S., Rakhshani, A., Terwiel, S., Fassbender, I., Donnellan, M. B., Lucas, R. E., & Luhmann, M. (2023). How are common major life events perceived? Exploring differences between and variability of different typical event profiles and raters. European Journal of Personality, 37(2), 171–186. https://doi.org/10.1177/08902070221076586
  • Haehner, P., Rakhshani, A., Fassbender, I., Lucas, R. E., Donnellan, M. B., & Luhmann, M. (2023). Perception of major life events and personality trait change, 37(5), 524-542. European Journal of Personality. https://doi.org/10.1177/08902070221107973
  • Fassbender, I., Haehner, P., Buecker, S., & Luhmann, M. (2022). Perceived characteristics of life events – short-term changes in prosociality and empathy? European Journal of Personality, 36(4), 529-542. https://doi.org/10.1177/08902070211031762
  • Haehner, P., Kritzler, S., Fassbender, I., & Luhmann, M. (2022). Stability and change of perceived characteristics of major life events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 122(6), 1098–1116. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000394
  • Fassbender, I., & Luhmann, M. (2021). A German adaptation of the prosociality scale. Psychological Test Adaptation and Development, 2(1), 148-156. https://doi.org/10.1027/2698-1866/a000017
  • Luhmann, M., Fassbender, I., Alcock, M., & Haehner, P. (2021). A dimensional taxonomy of perceived characteristics of major life events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 121(3), 633–668. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000291

Duration: April 2017 until March 2020
Funding: Individual Research Grants of the German Research Foundation (DFG)
PsyMeth participants: Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann, Dr. Till Kaiser, Dr. Ina Faßbender

Subjective well-being is not only interesting as a dependent variable but also as an independent variable. For some years, longitudinal studies have accumulated evidence of the positive consequences of subjective well-being on health, income, career success, and social relationships. One possible explanation for these findings is that individuals deliberately brought about these life events to improve their low life satisfaction. To better understand these processes, we developed and empirically tested a theoretical model on the motivational consequences of life satisfaction in this project.

Publiations:

  • Kaiser, T., Hennecke, M., & Luhmann, M. (2020). The interplay of domain and life satisfaction in predicting life events. PloS one, 15(9), e0238992. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238992
  • Luhmann, M., Buecker, S., Kaiser, T., & Beermann, M. (2020). Nothing going on? Exploring the role of missed events in changes in subjective well-being and the Big Five personality traits. Journal of Personality. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12539
  • Luhmann, M., & Hennecke, M. (2017). The motivational consequences of life satisfaction. Motivation Science, 3(1), 51-75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/mot0000048

Duration: 2016 until 2019
Funding: Happiness and Well-Being Project of the Templeton Foundation and St. Louis University
PsyMeth participants: Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann, Dr. Julia Krasko, Dr. Sabrina Intelisano

In this interdisciplinary project, philosophers and psychologists investigated how lay people define happiness for themselves and what they do to invest in their happiness in everyday life. The main question of this project was whether the successful pursuit of happiness depends on how people define happiness for themselfes.  Our study results confirmed this question: people who defined happiness in a multifaceted way (i.e., endorsing several definitions of happiness simultaneously) were more successful in achieving a high level of well-being through self-chosen activities in everyday life. On the other hand, people who defined happiness in a unilateral way (i.e., who endorsed only one or few definitions of happiness) reported a lower level of well-being as a result of everyday activities.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact Dr. Julia Krasko.

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