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| Termin: MO 19. Februar 2024 Zeit: ab 08.00 h via OLAT Bei der Modulbuchung beachten Sie bitte: Betreuer = Prof. Dr. Mike Martin; Ko-Betreuer*in = die beim Thema genannte Kontaktperson. |
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Beschreibung: The concept of purpose and meaning in life is widely recognized as a crucial factor influencing favorable health, cognitive functioning, and overall well-being throughout one's lifespan. The World Health Organization highlights the significance of individuals being able to pursue their valued objectives, as it plays a vital role in promoting healthy aging. However, the definition, distinction, and measurement of these constructs remain inconsistent across studies, often blurring the lines between purpose and meaning in life. This bachelor's thesis aims to conduct a critical review and comparative analysis of the existing characterizations and measurements of these constructs while exploring their potential divergent effects on well-being. The thesis can be written in either English or German, depending on personal preference.
Literature:
Martela, F., & Steger, M. F. (2016). The three meanings of meaning in life: Distinguishing coherence, purpose, and significance. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(5), 531-545.
Kontakt: M.Sc. Melanie Stahlmann, E-Mail
Beschreibung: Thanks to the incorporation of geoscience data in psychological research, increasingly more studies examine the impact of green space on human experience. Focusing on cognition and well-being, this thesis aims to (1) conduct an overview of recent related literature of adults of different ages, (2) synthesize theories and methods used in the existing studies, and (3) critically reflect on the research topic, focusing on older population. The thesis will be written in English.
Jimenez, M. P., Elliott, E. G., DeVille, N. V., Laden, F., Hart, J. E., Weuve, J., ... & James, P. (2022). Residential green space and cognitive function in a large cohort of middle-aged women. JAMA Network Open, 5(4), e229306-e229306.
Kardan, O., Gozdyra, P., Misic, B., Moola, F., & Palmer, L. J. (2017). Neighborhood greenspace and health in a large urban center. In Urban Forests (pp. 77-108). Apple Academic Press.
Kontakt: Dr. Minxia Luo, E-Mail
Beschreibung: How does the time we spend together with close friends or partners affect us and how can we measure the time we spend together via smartphone sensing methods? The aim of this thesis is to review literature on smartphone sensing methods, how the time we spend together impacts daily life, interpersonal emotion regulation and their interaction with developmental changes.
Kontakt: M. Sc. Zilla Huber, E-Mail
Beschreibung: Romantic partners reciprocally influence each other and continuously covary in their affect in daily life. Changes in the emotional experience and expression of one partner affect the emotions of the other partner, which in turn will have an effect on how the first partner will experience and express their emotions.
The aim of this thesis is 1) to review and synthesize existing studies investigating the covariation between romantic partners? affect in daily life and every day interactions and 2) to critically compare and discuss the different terms used to describe emotional covariation in the field of intimate romantic relationships and the methods applied to investigate this phenomenon.
The thesis will be written in English.
Literature:
Schoebi, D. (2008). The coregulation of daily affect in marital relationships. Journal of Family Psychology, 22(4), 595?604. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.22.3.595
Weber, E., & Hülür, G. (2021). Affect contagion in daily life is mediated by perceptions of partner affect: An experience-sampling study with older couples. Emotion, 21(8), 1699-1711. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001043
Kontakt: M. Sc. Myrto Dolcetti, E-Mail
Beschreibung: Research has shown that affective dynamics represent a central component of couples' interactions. In particular, the way affective expression and exchange between romantic partners unfold over time has been associated with important interaction and relationship outcomes.
The aim of this thesis is 1) to review and synthesize existing studies investigating affective dynamics of couples? interactions and 2) to critically compare and discuss the methods used to investigate and measure those dynamics.
The thesis will be written in English.
Literature:
Slep, A. M., Heyman, R. E., Lorber, M. F., Tiberio, S. S., & Casillas, K. L. (2021). Couples? anger dynamics during conflict: Interpersonal anger regulation, relationship satisfaction, and intimate partner violence. Family process, 60(4), 1280-1294.
Kontakt: M.Sc. Myrto Dolcetti, E-Mail
Beschreibung: Thanks to the incorporation of multimodal digital data in psychological research, increasingly more studies have examined the impact of weather on human experience. Focusing on cognition and well-being, this thesis aims to (1) prepare an overview of recent related literature of adults of different ages, (2) synthesize theories and methods used in the existing studies, and (3) critically reflect on the research topic, focusing on older population. The thesis will be written in English.
Literature:
Keller, M. C., Fredrickson, B. L., Ybarra, O., Côté, S., Johnson, K., Mikels, J., ... & Wager, T. (2005). A warm heart and a clear head: The contingent effects of weather on mood and cognition. Psychological science, 16(9), 724-731.
Beute, F., & De Kort, Y. A. (2018). The natural context of wellbeing: Ecological momentary assessment of the influence of nature and daylight on affect and stress for individuals with depression levels varying from none to clinical. Health & place, 49, 7-18.
Kontakt: Dr. Minxia Luo, E-Mail
Beschreibung: Associations between emotional arousal and cognition have long been studied in different research lines, relating to different types of cognitive abilities (long-term memory, working memory) and using different research methods (experimental manipulation, self-report, physiological monitoring). This thesis aims to (1) identify and categorize different relevant lines of research and research methods and (2) critically reflect on the research topic, particularly in the directions of age differences and designing studies outside the laboratory. The thesis will be written in English.
Literature:
Riediger, M., Wrzus, C., Klipker, K., Müller, V., Schmiedek, F., & Wagner, G. G. (2014). Outside of the laboratory: Associations of working-memory performance with psychological and physiological arousal vary with age. Psychology and aging, 29(1), 103.
Mauss, I. B., & Robinson, M. D. (2010). Measures of emotion: A reviews. Cognition and emotion, 109-137.
Kontakt: Dr. Minxia Luo, E-Mail
Beschreibung: The ability to regulate emotions is important for physical and mental health across the lifespan. Often, individuals attempt to avoid or change unpleasant feelings (e.g., through suppression or reappraisal) when they have to deal with a stressful situation.
However, recent studies suggest that emotional acceptance (i.e., accepting feelings without trying to control or judge them) may also be an effective strategy to attenuate negative emotions (Troy et al., 2018; Shallcross et al., 2010). There is also some evidence suggesting that the use of emotional acceptance may become more important as people age (e.g., Allen & Windsor, 2019; Wolfe & Isaacowitz, 2022) and may come with particular benefits for health and well-being (e.g., Shallcross et al., 2010).
This thesis will provide a systematic overview of the current literature on emotional acceptance across the lifespan. The focus will be on antecedents, correlates, and/or consequences of emotional acceptance as an emotion regulation strategy.
References:
Allen, V. C., & Windsor, T. D. (2019). Age differences in the use of emotion regulation strategies derived from the process model of emotion regulation: A systematic review. Aging & mental health, 23(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2017.1396575
Shallcross, A. J., Troy, A. S., Boland, M., & Mauss, I. B. (2010). Let it be: Accepting negative emotional experiences predicts decreased negative affect and depressive symptoms. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 48(9), 921-929. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2010.05.025
Troy, A. S., Shallcross, A. J., Brunner, A., Friedman, R., & Jones, M. C. (2018). Cognitive reappraisal and acceptance: Effects on emotion, physiology, and perceived cognitive costs. Emotion, 18(1), 58?74. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000371
Wolfe, H., & Isaacowitz, D.M. (2022). Acceptance as a cognitive emotion regulation strategy across the lifespan. In K. Federmeier & B. Payne (Eds.), Psychology of Learning and Motivation, Vol. 77 (pp. 291-312). https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.plm.2022.07.002
Kontakt: Dr. Tabea Meier, E-Mail
Beschreibung: Theories on emotional aging often suggest that individuals experience more positive and less negative emotions as they age. However, the majority of studies on emotional aging has distinguished between positive and negative emotional valence, but not between different types of positive (e.g., happiness, awe) and negative (e.g., anger, sadness, anxiety) emotions. Such a global focus on positive or negative emotional valence may mask important nuances in emotional aging, especially since so-called discrete emotions (e.g., sadness) may show distinct trajectories and have particular relevance in aging (e.g., Hamm et al., 2021; Kunzmann et al., 2014).
Discrete emotions perspectives on aging (e.g., Kunzmann et al., 2014) suggest that the salience and adaptive value of different emotions may change as people get older, in line with the typical challenges and opportunities afforded by different lifespan developmental contexts. It has, for example, been shown that experiences of sadness and calmness are more salient and adaptive (i.e., linked with more positive health outcomes) in older adulthood, whereas experiences of excitement and anger are more salient in younger adulthood (e.g., Hamm et al., 2021; Haase et al., 2021; Kunzmann et al., 2014).
This thesis will provide a systematic overview of empirical studies that examined discrete emotions across the adult lifespan, with a focus on age-related changes and associations with health/well-being.
References:
Haase, C. M., Seider, B. H., Shiota, M. N., & Levenson, R. W. (2012). Anger and sadness in response to an emotionally neutral film: Evidence for age-specific associations with well-being. Psychology and Aging, 27(2), 305?317. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024959
Hamm, J. M., Wrosch, C., Barlow, M. A., & Kunzmann, U. (2021). A tale of two emotions: The diverging salience and health consequences of calmness and excitement in old age. Psychology and Aging, 36(5), 626?641. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000512
Levenson, R. W. (1999). The intrapersonal functions of emotion. Cognition and Emotion, 13(5), 481?504. https://doi.org/10.1080/026999399379159
Kunzmann, U., Kappes, C., & Wrosch, C. (2014). Emotional aging: A discrete emotions perspective. Frontiers in psychology, 5, 380. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00380
Kontakt: Dr. Tabea Meier, E-Mail
Beschreibung: Social engagement across the lifespan is found to be associated with the maintenance of cognitive abilities and with reduced risk for cognitive impairment, including dementia and Alzheimer?s Disease (Costa-Cordella et al., 2021; Hertzog et al., 2008; Kuiper et al., 2015, 2016; Litwin & Stoeckel, 2016; Wang et al., 2013; Yoo et al., 2023). An important challenge in trying to understand the effect of social relationships on cognitive function is the use of unclear and divergent definitions of different social factors in the literature. The current thesis will focus on this challenge and examine the relation between older adults? social connection and cognitive skills. The thesis will review past studies on both objective and subjective (e.g., feelings of loneliness) measures of social connection/isolation and examine how they are related with cognition in older age.
Literature:
Costa-Cordella, S., Arevalo-Romero, C., Parada, F. J., & Rossi, A. (2021). Social support and
cognition: A systematic review. Frontiers in Psychology, 12.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.637060
Kuiper, J. S., Zuidersma, M., Zuidema, S. U., Burgerhof, J. G., Stolk, R. P., Oude Voshaar, R. C., & Smidt, N. (2016). Social relationships and cognitive decline: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal cohort studies. International Journal of Epidemiology, 45(4), 1169?1206. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw089
Kontakt: Dr. Burcu Demiray, E-Mail
Beschreibung: With the advancement of technology and the generation gap present in the workforce, older working adults experience some challenges and barriers in their careers. The current practices and norms of the workforce do not always accommodate the needs and wishes of older employees. The current thesis will focus on the shifts in the workforce, how employers are coping with the changing demographics and how aging employees are experiencing these shifts. Cognitive, social and psychological changes that are associated with aging will be discussed in relation to productivity and satisfaction in the workplace.
This thesis has to be written in English.
References:
Clark, R. L., & Ritter, B. M. (2020). How are employers responding to an aging workforce?. The
Gerontologist, 60(8), 1403?1410. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaa031
Wisse, B., van Eijbergen, R., Rietzschel, E. F., & Scheibe, S. (2018). Catering to the needs of an aging
workforce: The role of employee age in the relationship between corporate social responsibility and employee
satisfaction. Journal of Business Ethics, 147(4), 875?888. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2983-8
Kontakt: Dr. Burcu Demiray, E-Mail
Beschreibung: Recent developments in emotion psychology underline the importance of interpersonal processes for emotion regulation in daily life. Intensive longitudinal dyadic data allow the analysis of the dynamics of these processes. The goal of this thesis is a systematic overview over recent studies on interpersonal emotion regulation with a focus on intensive longitudinal studies in older individuals.
Kontakt: Dr. Andrea Horn, E-Mail
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