Themen für Masterarbeiten

Beschreibung: While generative AI adoption accelerates across organizations, empirical evidence about its workplace impact remains limited. This master's thesis will build on qualitative data that identified key psychological dimensions of employee-AI collaboration through in-depth interviews. Drawing on this emergent framework, the current study will develop and test a model of employee adaptation to generative AI tools. Using survey methodology, this research examines hypothesized relationships between AI usage and
psychological responses, like motivation, competence, autonomy, engagement, and more. Statistical analyses will hopefully provide more generalizable insights into how organizations can support employees during AI integration.
Kontakt: Nick Kabrel, E-Mail

Beschreibung: As hybrid work becomes a defining feature of modern employment, understanding how daily work location shapes employees' psychological experiences is of growing theoretical and practical importance. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this
Master's thesis investigates how working from home vs. in the office relates to employees? daily satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness and, in turn, to job attitudes. Whereas prior research has often examined remote work as a between-person characteristic (e.g., comparing people who work mostly remotely vs. mostly on-
site) or as an overall percentage across longer timeframes, this thesis will adopt a within-person perspective, capturing how day-to-day changes in work location correspond to changes in need satisfaction and job attitudes.

Students will work with existing data from a diary study and will additionally collect new data. Diary studies enable within-person analyses of cross-domain processes.
Kontakt: Salomé Dépraz, E-Mail

Beschreibung: Micromanagement (MM) is a widely discussed management practice, often portrayed negatively in organizations and frequently criticized by employees. Despite the abundance of advice and commentary on MM in the professional and grey literature, surprisingly little empirical research has yet been devoted to this topic. This is particularly striking given MM's common occurrence and its potential impact on employee outcomes.

This master's thesis will contribute to advancing knowledge about MM by providing a comprehensive summary of the existing literature, synthesizing key findings and theoretical perspectives. Beyond summarizing existing knowledge, you will be working with data from a longitudinal study conducted in the remote work context. The data comprises at least four measurement points (data collection currently ongoing), with approximately 1200 participants. The design allows for the examination of both within-and between-person processes. By examining MM through the lens of remote work, your work will address not only one but two contemporary, high-impact topics. For
example, you will be able to investigate the dynamics of MM over time, its impact on employee outcomes (including well-being, attitudinal, and behavioral outcomes), and how it interacts with the unique challenges of contemporary work environments. While you will be working with existing data, the thesis also involves the collection of additional data for a future project. The thesis may be written in German or English.
Kontakt: Anne Kellenter, E-Mail

Beschreibung: Die zunehmende Digitalisierung der Arbeitswelt führt dazu, dass
Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie-Kompetenzen (ICT-Skills) eine immer zentralere Rolle im beruflichen Alltag spielen. Unklar ist jedoch, wie stark ICT-Skills tatsächlich Beförderungsentscheidungen beeinflussen, welche Gruppen von Arbeitnehmenden besonders von hohen ICT-Skills profitieren und welche impliziten oder expliziten Biases dabei eine Rolle spielen. Ziel dieser Masterarbeit ist es, die Bedeutung von ICT-Skills für berufliche Aufstiegsprozesse empirisch zu untersuchen.
Kontakt: Barbara Körner, E-Mail

Beschreibung: Person-environment fit is a longstanding and well-established theoretical framework in organizational research, traditionally focusing on the alignment between individual characteristics and features of the work environment. However, this perspective often treats the individual as a relatively one-dimensional entity. In practice, employees occupy multiple roles (e.g., as employees or family members), each associated with distinct and sometimes competing needs. These role-specific needs may overlap, diverge, or operate independently, yet jointly shape experiences of fit-and misfit, respectively-within the work environment. Understanding when and how work environments (fail to) accommodate not only employees? work-related but also their personal life-related needs has important implications for well-being and daily functioning, both at work and in private life.

This master's thesis will contribute to advancing knowledge on environmental (mis)fit by providing a comprehensive review of the existing literature, synthesizing key findings and theoretical perspectives. Beyond summarizing current knowledge, you will work with data from a daily diary study conducted in a hybrid work context. The dataset spans ten consecutive workdays, with three assessments per day, and includes approximately 220 participants. The design allows for the examination of both within-and between-person processes. By examining how perceived fit with the work environment fluctuates across the day, settings, and roles, the thesis moves beyond conceptualizing fit as a static, person-level construct and offers a more nuanced, dynamic perspective. While primarily working with existing data, the thesis also involves the collection of additional data for a future project. The thesis may be written in German or English.
Kontakt: Anne Kellenter, E-Mail

Beschreibung: Organizations are rapidly adopting generative AI to improve efficiency and productivity. However, the psychological implications of working alongside generative AI remain largely unexplored. How does collaboration with generative AI systems affect employees' thoughts, emotions, and behaviors? This master's thesis will be based on an ongoing qualitative study deploying grounded theory - an in-depth method for qualitative inquiry. The study consists of 30-40 interviews with employees across industries and levels of seniority. Interviews are then analyzed, coded, and a framework is created. Based on the framework, follow-up quantitative hypothesis-testing is planned.
Kontakt: Nick Kabrel, E-Mail

Beschreibung: Assessment Centers (ACs) are widely used and effective methods in personnel selection and development. Within a current research project on AC effectiveness, two master's theses positions are available. Both theses will address a research question within the field of Assessment Centers, which can be defined based on the available data and the student's interests. Students working on this thesis will take the role of an Assessor and rate video-recorded Assessment Center exercises. The thesis may be written in English or German.
Kontakt: Valerie Schröder (v.schroeder@psychologie.uzh.ch) and Johanna Bayon (j.bayon@psychologie.uzh.ch), E-Mail

Beschreibung: Building on Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2000) and the Integrative Needs Model of Crafting (de Bloom et al., 2020), this Master's thesis examines need crafting-deliberate strategies individuals use to satisfy their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. While crafting has most often been studied in the work
domain (e.g., job crafting), emerging perspectives suggest that similar strategies also occur in private life (e.g., leisure crafting). The thesis will focus on cross-domain dynamics, asking when and how crafting in one domain relates to experiences in the other domain (e.g., spillover vs. compensation), and how these dynamics are associated with employees' wellbeing.

Students will work with existing data from a diary study and will additionally collect new data. Diary studies enable within-person analyses of cross-domain processes. The thesis may be written in English or French.
Kontakt: Salomé Dépraz, E-Mail

Beschreibung: Across roles and organizations, employees regularly face difficult tasks, critical feedback and interpersonal conflicts-yet they differ strikingly in how they respond. While some adapt constructively, others engage in counterproductive work behaviors. A key explanation for these differences may be an individual's attributional style-stable tendencies in explaining the causes of events. In particular, an optimistic attributional style has been proposed as a key psychological resource enabling effective functioning under adversity. However, emerging evidence indicates that making optimistic attributions may not be universally beneficial: under certain conditions, they may undermine goal-directed motivation or suppress important emotional signals. These considerations underscore the need for a contextualized perspective specifying when, for whom, and in response to which work events optimistic attributions facilitate adaptive performance.

The master's thesis will explore person-situation interactions with respect to attributional styles. The exact research question can be developed in line with the available data and the student's individual interests. As part of the project, students will conduct video-based ratings of simulated selection interviews. The thesis can be written in English or German.
Kontakt: Johanna Bayon , E-Mail

Beschreibung: Interviewer impression management (I-IM) defines the strategic signaling behaviors interviewers use to influence applicant perceptions and organizational appeal in emlpoyment interviews. Despite the interviewer's critical role for talent acquisition, specific influencing factors and the perceived efficacy of I-IM remain underexplored.

This master's thesis analyzes data from an experience sampling methodology capturing interview dynamics across up to four employment interactions. Students will refine specific research questions based on the available dataset and their individual interests, but also collect additional data. The thesis can be written in English or German.
Kontakt: Nathalie von Rooy, E-Mail