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.
Duration: June 2025 to May 2030
Funding: ERC Consolidator Grant by the European Union
PsyMeth participants: Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann (Principal Investigator)
The LOTIS project is funded by an ERC Consolidator Grant by the European Union awarded to Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann under Grant Agreement No. 101169640. LOTIS investigates the link between the places where people live and spend their time seem to matter for loneliness. The core argument of LOTIS is that to understand why, when, and for whom places contribute to loneliness, the current perspective on the link between place and loneliness needs to be fundamentally shifted towards a dynamic view. This argument is conceptualized in a novel theoretical framework linking a person’s momentary loneliness to how the place is subjectively perceived by this person at a given time, which in turn is influenced by the objective, observable characteristics of this place, characteristics of the person, and individual mobility patterns, i.e., how often, for how long, and in what order places are visited.
To test this framework, first, a new dimensional taxonomy that allows describing perceived characteristics of places systematically and comprehensively is developed and applied to the geographically diverse city of Bochum, Germany, using a citizen science approach. Second, the short-term and long-term reciprocal dynamics of place, mobility, and loneliness will be examined in a longitudinal measurement burst study where participants track their current location using GPS and report their perceptions of their current locations and their momentary loneliness four times over a period of three years. Third, the causal processes that link places to loneliness will be tested using laboratory experiments and a natural field experiment.
Duration: February 2025 to January 2028
Funding: European Union, Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme
PsyMeth participants: Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann (Coordinator and Principal Investigator), Dr. Yixin Tang (Postdoctoral Researcher)
The LONELY-EU project is funded through the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101177225 and coordinated by Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann. The LONELY-EU project tackles the pressing societal issue of Social Isolation and Loneliness (SIL) across the EU through a unified strategy, engaging stakeholders at every level. LONELY-EU aims at facilitating the exchange of knowledge and practices, connecting SIL stakeholders, and supporting and encouraging decisionmakers to adopt targeted and evidence-based policies to prevent and mitigate SIL on local, regional, national, and EU levels.
The LONELY-EU consortium combines scientific expertise, policy expertise, and networking and communication expertise from a diverse array of EU nations (for all consortium members, see project website). This consortium is guided by its Evidence-to-Action Advisory Board under the patronage of Evelyn Regner MEP and Minister President Hendrik Wüst and is supported by the WHO, OECD, and other global entities.
Project website: https://lonelinessineurope.eu/
Duration: April 2024 to December 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: 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.
Duration: May 2022 to April 2024
Funding: Mercator Research Center Ruhr (MERCUR)
PsyMeth participants: Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann, Bernd Schäfer
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: 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: 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.
Publications
Zagha, K., Konietzny, K., Brettschneider, C., Chehadi, O., Chehadi-Köster, A., Chikhradze, N., ... & Schneider, S. (2024). Improve Mental Health (Improve-MH) in refugee families using a culturally adapted, general practitioner-delivered psychotherapeutic intervention combined with Triple P Online parenting programme: study protocol of a multicentre randomised controlled trial. BMJ open, 14(9), e084080. bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/9/e084080
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
Duration: 2021 until 2023
Funding: Own funds
PsyMeth participants: Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann, Prof. Dr. Susanne Bücker, Dr. Sarah Kritzler
In the PER-SENSE study, we investigate how personality traits and loneliness manifest in daily life. To do this, we collected data repeatedly over 8 days in everyday situations and continuously captured the current location and other mobile phone data through mobile sensing. Data collection was completed in the summer of 2023.
Duration: 2022 until 2023
Funding: Own funds
PsyMeth participants: Dr. Peter Hähner, Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann
A brief overview:
With the HYPE study (Hypothetical and Experienced Events), we want to investigate the perception of life events in young adulthood. The HYPE study was conducted online and comprised three data collections spread over nine months. Questions on well-being, personality, and various life events were assessed at the three data collections.
What was the aim of the study?
With the HYPE study, we wanted to gain a more detailed insight into the perception of significant life events (e.g., a new romantic relationship, the end of employment). We also wanted to investigate how young adults imagine major life events and under what circumstances there may be discrepancies between our expectation of life events and the actual experience of these events. The findings of this study should contribute to a better understanding of the impact of life events on well-being and personality.
Organization of the study and contact:
The study was organized by Dr. Peter Hähner and Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann (Ruhr University Bochum) and supported by the students Maren Koß, Sophia Salzburg and Melina Sostmann. If you have any questions about this study, please contact hype-studie@rub.de.
Duration: 2021 bis 2022
Funding: Eigenmittel
PsyMeth participants: Dr. Peter Hähner, Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann
A brief overview:
The study on the perception of life events (WaLe study) examined how stressful life events are perceived and the effects of these life events. The WaLe study targeted people who have experienced a stressful event in the five weeks prior to data collection. The study was conducted online and consisted of a total of five data collections spread over six months. Vouchers with a total value of €1,200 were raffled off among all participants.
What was the aim of the study?
With the WaLe study, we wanted to gain a more detailed insight into the perception of life events. We aimed to find out which circumstances influence the reaction to life events and which factors explain why affected people react differently to stressful life events. These findings are to be used, among other things, to develop support services for those affected.
Organisation der Studie und Kontakt:
The study was organized by Peter Haehner (Psychological Methods lab), Svenja Schaumburg (Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy lab) and Maike Luhmann (Psychological Methods lab) at the Ruhr University Bochum. If you have any questions about this study, please contact: wale-studie@rub.de.
Duration: March 2020 until August 2021
Funding: Own funds
PsyMeth participants: Dr. Susanne Bücker, Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann, Dr. Julia Krasko, Dr. Sophia Terwiel, Dr. Sarah Kritzler, Dr. Till Kaiser
Study leadership: Dr. Susanne Bücker and Prof. Dr. Kai T. Horstmann
Die Bochum Berlin Covid-19 Längsschnittstudie befasste sich seit März 2020 mit den persönlichen, sozialen und gesellschaftlichen Auswirkungen der Corona-Pandemie. Es handelt sich um eine sogenannte Tagebuchstudie, bei der Teilnehmende mehrfach pro Woche befragt werden. Die Studiendaten ermöglichen somit eine sehr hochauflösende Betrachtung von Veränderungen z. B. in der Einsamkeit oder Krisenwahrnehmung in den verschiedenen Phasen der Pandemie. Teilnehmende konnten ein individuelles Feedback zu ihrer Persönlichkeit sowie zur Veränderung ihrer Stimmung und Einsamkeit über den Studienzeitraum hinweg erhalten.
The Bochum Berlin Covid-19 longitudinal study examined the personal, social and societal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020. In this daily diary study participants were surveyed several times a week. The study data therefore allows a very fine-grained examination of changes (e.g., in loneliness or crisis perception) in the various phases of the pandemic. Participants could receive individual feedback on their personality and changes in their mood and loneliness over the study period.
Study Aims:
How does the experience of loneliness develop in the different phases of the pandemic? Which personal characteristics are related to an increase or decrease in loneliness? How does the perception of crisis change? And who uses the Corona Warn-app? We investigated these and many other questions in our longitudinal study.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated measures against the spread of the virus have changed the daily lives of people around the world. With the Bochum Berlin Covid-19 Study, we aimed to investigate the personal, social and societal effects of the measures to prevent the spread of the virus. To this end, we investigated emotions, behavior, worries, health, personality traits and the social environment in the context of the pandemic.
Study Procedure:
The Bochum Berlin Covid-19 study was an online daily diary study in which participants were regularly asked to provide information on their personality traits, behaviors, health, well-being, and their social environment. In addition, a questionnaire was developed to better investigate the effects of Covid-19. More information about this questionnaire can be found here: https://osf.io/62dmf/.
After registering for the study, participants were asked to complete a baseline questionnaire with some demographic questions. This took about 20 minutes. In the four following days that, they received an invitation each day to the daily surveys, which could be completed in the evening between 17:00 and 01:00 on the following day. These four days were followed by a three-day break. On the following day, participants received another e-mail in the evening with an invitation to complete the weekly review. The next day, the survey rhythm began again with the four-day daily progress survey, followed by a three-day break and the weekly review. Completing the daily progress surveys and the weekly review took around 10 minutes per day.
Selected Publications:
Note: If you do not have access to the full texts via the links above, please visit https://psyarxiv.com/ and enter the title of the particular article there. This will provide you with a freely available preprint version of the article.
Press Releases:
Selected Interviews:
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:
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:
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.
Publications:
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Last update: Mar 06, 2025
