Psychology of Communication and Media Use

We investigate psychological processes and phenomena in the context of computer-mediated communication. We focus especially on the topics of political psychology and the use and impact of social media.

Political Psychology is dedicated to the description, explanation and prediction of political behavior and experiencing on the basis of psychological theories and methods. In our research group we investigate the emergence and structure of political ideologies, trust in political elites, interindividual differences in the experience of injustice, and the politically motivated processing of arguments and evidence.

Our research on the use and impact of social media aims to illuminate the consequences of the digitalized forms of mass communication from a socio-psychological perspective. We deal specifically with phenomena in the context of political communication. These include the emergence of homogeneous and homophilic information environments (echo chambers), the formation of digital interest groups, the polarization and fragmentation of online public spheres, and the polarization of political discourse in digital spaces.

What do you find on our websites?

• Research areas // Information on general research interests as well as current and completed third-party funded projects.
• Team // Information about the people in our working group and their specific research activities.
• Teaching and theses de (information in German only) // We offer lectures and seminars in the BA course in Communication Science and the MA course in Public Communication. We provide a range of information for students interested in writing their final thesis.
• Science Communication de (information in German only) // Activities that aim at communicating about scientific knowledge or competences with media and society.