Research on the pulse of time

Example of climate crisis and its perception

The climate crisis is one of the central social problems of our time. While climate research predicts far-reaching consequences, the window of opportunity in which we can still act to mitigate the consequences of the climate crisis is closing. Because perception plays a key role in determining our actions, we are interested in how people perceive their climate footprint, among other things.

Example mobility turnaround

As a partner in the Baden-Württemberg Institute for Sustainable Mobility, we are researching the connections between mobility motives, mobility perceptions and mobility profiles in the "Why we move how we move" project.

In 2023, the nationwide crowd science campaign #besserbahnfahren took place in cooperation with SWR, which examined mobility behavior and mobility motives in connection with the introduction of the 49 euros ticket.

In "Why we move how we move" we focused 2024 on the topic of cycling and its determinants from a psychological perspective.

Example of the corona pandemic

In the area of risk perception and communication, the coronavirus pandemic has given rise to highly topical and socially highly relevant issues. With our research results from the EUCLID project, we are contributing well-founded facts to the public debate. In addition to publishing articles in various media, Dr. Karoline Villinger from our working group took part in the interdisciplinary panel discussion "What we know - discourses and orientation in the corona pandemic" at the University of Konstanz in autumn 2020.

Examples of publications on current events (selection on the examples of Covid19 and influenza or bird flu):

• Koller, J. E.*, Villinger, K.*, Lages, N. C., Absetz, P., Bamert, M., Branquinho, C., Chaves-Avilés, L., Dimitropoulou, P., Fernández-Fernández, A. L., de Matos, M. G., Griskevica, I., Gutiérrez-Doña, B., Hankonen, N., Inauen, J., Peshevska, D. J., Kassianos, A. P., Kolsenikova, J., Lavrič, M., Mitanovska, T., … Renner, B. (2022). Individual and collective protective responses during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in 10 different countries: Results from the EUCLID online-survey. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 122, 356-364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2022.06.012 *authors contributed equally
• Koller, J. E., Villinger, K., Lages, N. C., Brünecke, I., Debbeler, J. M., Engel, K. D., Grieble, S., Homann, P. C., Kaufmann, R., Koppe, K. M., Oppenheimer, H., Radtke, V. C., Rogula, S., Stähler, J., Renner, B., & Schupp, H. T. (2021). Stigmatization of Chinese and Asian-looking people during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. BMC Public Health, 21. Article 1296. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11270-1
• Lages*, N. C., Villinger*, K., Koller, J. E., Brünecke, I., Debbeler, J. M., Engel, K. D., ... & Renner, B. (2021). The relation of threat level and age with protective behavior intentions during Covid-19 in Germany. Health Education & Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198121989960. *authors contributed equally
• Lages, N. C., Debbeler, L. J., Blumenschein, M., Kollmann, J., Szymczak, H., Keim, D. A., Schupp, H. T. & Renner, B. (2021). Dynamic risk perceptions in times of avian and seasonal influenza epidemics: A repeated cross‐sectional design. Risk Analysis. https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13706
• Villinger, K., Wahl, D.R., Debbeler, L.J., Koller, J.E., Brünecke, I., Lages, N.C., Schupp, H.T., Renner, B. (2022). Using Ecological Momentary Assessment to study variations in daily experiences and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. European Health Psychologist 22(4). https://ehps.net/ehp/index.php/contents/article/view/3380