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Welcome to the Social Cognition Center Cologne

Eight Research Groups study a broad array of topics in Social Cognition.

The Social Cognition Center Cologne (SoCCCo) provides a dynamic research environment for the psychological study of human social behavior with an emphasis on underlying social cognitive processes. Eight research groups study a broad array of topics in social cognition, ranging from the dynamics of self-control to the ubiquity of social comparison and the intricacies of processing valenced information. SoCCCo aims to conduct high-quality research, and provide a dynamic and inspiring research environment for all researchers regardless of seniority, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, or disabilities. For more information on our ideals, click here.



Most Recent SoCCCo Publications

  • Pittelkow, M.-M., Field, S. M., Isager, P. M., Van’T Veer, A. E., Anderson, T., Cole, S. N., Dominik, T., Giner-Sorolla, R., Gok, S., Heyman, T., Jekel, M., Luke, T. J., Mitchell, D. B., Peels, R., Pendrous, R., Sarrazin, S., Schauer, J. M., Specker, E., Tran, U. S., … Van Ravenzwaaij, D. (2023). The process of replication target selection in psychology: What to consider? Royal Society Open Science, 10: 210586.

  • Alves, H., Ugurlar, P., & Unkelbach, C. (in press). Typical is trustworthy – Evidence for a generalized heuristic. Social Psychological and Personality Science.

  • Ruessmann, J., & Unkelbach, C. (in press). Rational dictators in the dictator game are seen as cold and agentic but not intelligent. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

  • Nicolas, G., Fiske, S. T., Koch, A., Imhoff, R., Unkelbach, C., Terache, J., Carrier, A., Yzerbyt, V. (in press). Relational versus structural goals prioritize different social Information. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

  • Crusius, J., Corcoran, K., & Mussweiler, T. (in press). Social comparison: A review of theory, research, and applications. In D. Chadee (Ed.), Theories in social psychology (2nd ed.). Wiley.

  • Stoker, J.I., Garretsen, H., & Lammers, J. (in press). Leading and working from home in times of COVID-19: On the perceived changes in leadership behaviors. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies.

  • Van Dessel, P., Cone, J., & Gast, A. (in press). Powerful effects of diagnostic information on automatic and self-reported evaluation: The moderating role of memory recall. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

  • Schneider, I. K., & Mattes, A. (2021). Mix is different from Nix: Mouse tracking differentiates ambivalence from neutrality. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

  • Crusius, J. (in press). Soziale Vergleiche [Social comparison]. In P. Ozimek, H.-W. Bierhoff, E. Rohmann, & S. Hanke (Eds.), Angewandte Sozialpsychologie. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.

  • Diel, K., Grelle, S., & Hofmann, W. (in press). A motivational framework of social comparison. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

  • Dohle, S., Duncan, M. J., & Bucher, T. (in press). Development and validation of the Diet-related Beliefs of Exercisers Scale (DBES). Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology.

  • Fleischmann, A. & Van Berkel, L. (in press). Gender disparities in middle authorship. Social Psychological Bulletin.

  • Hahn, A., & Goedderz, A. (in press). Trait-unconsciousness, state-unconsciousness, preconsciousness, and social miscalibration in the context of implicit evaluations. Social Cognition.

  • Amit, E., Han, E. Posten, A.-C., & Sloman, S. (in press). How people judge institutional corruption. Connecticut Law Review.

  • Posten, A.-C., & Kitzig, C. (in press). Strategische Merkmalsnutzung zur Erkennung und Tarnung von Lügen aus der Perspektive von Laien [Strategic cue application to detect and disguise lies from lay people’s perspective]. Praxis der Rechtspsychologie.

  • Van Dessel, P., De Houwer, J., Gast, A., Roets, A., & Smith, C. T. (in press). On the effectiveness of approach-avoidance instructions and training for changing evaluations of social groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 

  • Ruszpel, B., & Gast, A. (in press). Memory and preparedness in evaluative conditioning in a smell-taste paradigm. A registered report. Cognition and Emotion.

  • Ecker, Y., & Bar-Anan, Y. (in press). The misattributing personality: The relationship between priming in the affect misattribution procedure, need for closure and body awareness. Social Cognition.

  • Van Dessel, P., Cone, J., Gast, A., & De Houwer, J. (in press). The impact of valenced verbal information on implicit and explicit evaluation: The role of information diagnosticity, primacy, and memory cueing. Cognition and Emotion.

  • Diel, K., & Hofmann, W. (in press). Inspired to perspire: The predicted interplay of social comparison direction and standard extremity in the context of challenging exercising goals. Social Cognition.

  • Jekel, M. (in press). Empirical content as a criterion for evaluating models. Cognitive Processing.

  • Högden, F., Stahl, C., & Unkelbach, C. (in press). Similarity-based and rule-based generalization in the acquisition of attitudes via evaluative conditioning. Cognition & Emotion.

  • Ecker, Y., Imhoff, R., & Lammers, J. (2021). Self-control failure increases a strategic preference for submission as means to avoid future failure. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 

  • Lammers, J. & Imhoff, R. (2021). A chronic lack of perceived low personal control increases women and men’s self-reported preference for high-status characteristics when selecting romantic partners in simulated dating situations. Social Psychological and Personality Science.

  • Weiss, A., Michels, C., Burgmer, P., Mussweiler, T., Ockenfels, A., & Hofmann, W. (2020). Trust in everyday life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

  • Alves, H. Högden, F., Gast, A., Aust, F., & Unkelbach, C. (2020). Attitudes from mere co-occurrences are guided by differentiation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

  • Righetti, F., Schneider, I. K., Ferrier, D., Spiridonova, T., Xiang, R., & Impett, E. A. (2020). The bittersweet taste of sacrifice: Consequences for ambivalence and mixed reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.

  • Phills, C. E.*, Hahn, A.*, & Gawronski, B. (2020). The bidirectional causal relationship between implicit stereotypes and prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. *equal contribution

  • Schneider, I. K., Gillebaart, M., & Mattes, A. (2020). Meta-analytic evidence for ambivalence resolution as a key process in effortless self-control. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

  • De keersmaecker, J., Dunning, D. A., Pennycook, G., Rand, D. G., Sanchez, C., Unkelbach, C., & Roets, A. (2020). Investigating the robustness of the illusory truth effect across individual differences in cognitive ability, need for cognitive closure, and cognitive style [preprint]. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

SoCCCo in the Media

Jul 14, 2023 | EXPRESS - DIE WOCHE
Köln, warum bist du so dreckig? [Warum so viel Müll herumliegt] [PDF] | Interview with Andreas Glöckner on  waste pollution in Cologne by Alexander Büge

Mar 26, 2023 | SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG
Wie sich Menschen in Fehlurteilen verheddern | Interview with Andreas Glöckner on cognitive biases by Sebastian Herrmann

May 28/29, 2022 | SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG
Verzerrte Welt [Besser denken: Welche Muster menschliche Wahrnehmung, Meinungen und Entscheidungen prägen - und wie man sie überwinden kann] | Interview with Andreas Glöckner on perception and decision making by Sebastian Herrmann

Jan 4, 2022 | KÖLNER STADT-ANZEIGER
Wie kann man gute Vorsätze einhalten? [How can you keep New Year's resolutions?] | Podcast with Simone Dohle | by Sarah Brasack

Nov 29, 2021 | SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG
Wie man bessere Entscheidungen trifft [How to make better decisions] | Interview with Andreas Glöckner on decision making by Lara Fritzsche

Nov 26, 2021 | KÖLNER STADT-ANZEIGER
Interview zu Solidarität Bei der Flut geglänzt, in der Corona-Pandemie versagt? [Interview on solidarity shone in the flood, failed in the Corona pandemic?] | Interview with Andreas Glöckner on solidarity in the German flood and in the COVID-19 Pandemic by Lydia Schauff

Nov, 25 2021 | WDR 5
Darauf bin ich stolz! [This is what I'm proud about!] | Radio feature about the benefits of pride with Jan Crusius | by Andi Ueding

Oct 7, 2021 | dpa
Schlechte Vorbilder: Immer mehr Politiker brechen die Corona-Regeln [Bad role models: Increasingly more politicians are breaking the Corona rules] | Andreas Glöckner on politicians and their function as role models concerning COVID-19 rules | published in e.g. t-online, Stern, Saechsische, Volksstimme

Aug 12, 2021 | SOLO - THE SINGLE PERSON'S GUIDE TO A REMARKABLE LIFE
Attachment Theory | Podcast with Iris Schneider as guest co-host | By Peter McGraw

Jul 15, 2021 | SOLO - THE SINGLE PERSON'S GUIDE TO A REMARKABLE LIFE
Waiting – Part 2 | Podcast with Iris Schneider as guest co-host | By Peter McGraw

Jul 8, 2021 | SOLO - THE SINGLE PERSON'S GUIDE TO A REMARKABLE LIFE
Waiting – Part 1 | Podcast with Iris Schneider as guest co-host | By Peter McGraw

June 2, 2021 | FAZ
Was andere machen, bestimmt unser Verhalten mit [We tend to do what others do] | Simone Dohle on social norms, habits, and COVID-19 preventive behaviors | By Julia Anton

Jun 1, 2021 | PSYCHOLOGY TODAY
The Surprising Benefits of Being Ambivalent | Blog article with Iris Schneider | By Susan Krauss Whitbourne

May 31, 2021 | Spiegel Online
Warum wir uns an Lockerungen gewöhnen müssen [Why we need to get used to the 'new normal'] | Simone Dohle on the psychological consequences of reopening after COVID-19 | By Heike Klovert

May 04, 2021 | DER TAGESSPIEGEL
Neidrepublik Deutschland? Was der Umgang mit dem Glück der anderen über uns aussagt [Envy republic Germany? What dealing with the luck of the others tells about us] | Interview with Jan Crusius | by Maria Fiedler

Apr 22, 2021 | DEUTSCHLANDFUNK KULTUR (Zeitfragen)
Was hinter der irrationalen Angst vor Astrazeneca steckt [Biased risk perception and AstraZeneca vaccine fears] | Interview with Simone Dohle | by Sven Kästner

Apr 20, 2021 | DEUTSCHLANDFUNK NOVA
Corona-Impfung: So kommen wir mit dem Impfneid klar [Corona vaccination: How to deal with with vaccination envy] | Radio interview with Jan Crusius

Apr 12, 2021 | OPINION SCIENCE
Ambivalence with Iris Schneider | Podcast with Iris Schneider | By Andy Luttrell

Mar 10, 2021 | PSYCHE
The fence is uncomfortable, but it affords the best view | Popular Science Piece by Iris Schneider | Edited by Christian Jarrett

Mar 8, 2021 | MT/SPROUT
Ambivalente leiders maken minder denkfouten | Interview with Iris Schneider | By Charlotte Post

Feb 11, 2021 | PSYPOST
New psychology research indicates that ambivalent people make less biased judgments | Blog Post about the work of Iris Schneider | By Eric W. Dolan

Jan 26, 2021 | University of Cologne
University of Cologne Teaching Award awarded to Jan Crusius and Anne Gast. Laudation video.

Dec 9, 2020 | wissenschaftskommunikation.de
Die Wissenschaftskommunikation braucht einen Ehrenkodex [Science communication needs an honor code]. Op-ed by Laura König and Jan Crusius

Jul - Aug, 2020 Le Temps | Forbes | Le Monde | WZ | Psychology Today | Scientific American | WirtschaftsWoche | The Hill | BBC News | Corriere della Sera | News coverage of Correcting misperceptions of exponential coronavirus growth increases support for social distancing by Joris Lammers, Jan Crusius, and Anne Gast

Jul 27, 2020 | WDR 5 (Sendung „Neugier genügt“)
Wieso fällt Fleischverzicht oft schwer? [Why is it often hard to abstain from consuming meat?] | Radio interview with Simone Dohle

Jul 23, 2020 | KÖLNER STADTANZEIGER
Trotz Tönnies-Skandal - Warum es vielen so schwer fällt, kein Fleisch zu essen [Despite the Tönnies scandal - Why many people find it difficult to abstain from consuming meat] | Interview with Simone Dohle | By Elisa Sobkowiak

Jul 13, 2020 | UNIVERSITÄT ZU KÖLN
Fleischverzicht ist keine Alles-oder-Nichts-Entscheidung, sondern ein Prozess [Abstaining from meat is no all-or-nothing decision, it is a process] | Simone Dohle on meat consumption

Jun 25, 2020 | Perspective Daily
Wir alle empfinden Neid. Ist das so schlimm? [We all feel envy. Is that so bad?] | Article about research by Jan Crusius | by Lara Malberger

May 25, 2020 | RTL aktuell
Forschungsprojekt zur Unterstützung im Umgang mit den psychologischen Belastungen durch COVID-19 [Research project to support coping with COVID-19 stress] | News coverage of research by Andreas Glöckner

May 19, 2020 | WDR
Warum wir wütend werden, wenn andere die Regeln brechen [Why we get angry when others break the rules] | Interview with Andreas Glöckner on social distancing norms by Anastasiya Polubotko

May 11, 2020 | Radio Eins
Die neue Sorglosigkeit [The new nonchalance] | Interview with Andreas Glöckner on Corona risk fatigue

May 11, 2020 | rtl.de | ntv.de | stern.de
Persönlichkeitstest zum Coronavirus: Welcher „Corona-Typ“ sind Sie [Personality test about Coronavirus: Which "Corona type" are you?] | rtl.de | ntv.de | stern.de | News coverage of a research project of Andreas Glöckner

May 08, 2020 | FORUM - Das Wochenmagazin
Ist doch alles gut gegangen – bisher [But all went well - so far] | Interview with Andreas Glöckner on Corona risk fatigue | By Volker Thomas

Apr 24, 2020 | dpa
Vom Ermüden der Risikowahrnehmung [On fatigue of risk perception] | Andreas Glöckner on Coronavirus risk perception and trust in science | published in e.g. Süddeutsche Zeitung, Stern, Die Zeit, MSN, Augsburger Allgemeine

Apr 22, 2020 | University of Cologne
Isoliert, aber nicht allein. Ein Gespräch über die besondere Verbundenheit in digitalen Netzen [Isolated but not alone: A conversation about the social connections in social networks] | Interview with Jan Crusius by Frieda Berg

Mar 23, 2020 | In-Mind Magazin
Coronavirus: Warum die Dynamik der Ansteckungsgefahr so schwer zu begreifen ist [Corona virus: Why the dynamic growth of the Corona virus is hard to grasp] | By Jan Crusius

Mar 19, 2020 | In-Mind Magazin
Corona-Krise: Warum tätigen Menschen Hamsterkäufe? [Corona crisis: Why do people engage in panic-buying and hoarding?] | By Oliver Genschow

Feb 19, 2020 | Wissenschaftskommunikation.de
Trau keiner Studie, die du nicht selbst repliziert hast? [Don't trust any study you didn't replicate yourself?] | Invited guest article on the link between replicability and trust in science | By Tobias Wingen and Jana Berkessel

November 11, 2019 | Junior Researcher Programme News
How does the replication crisis affect public trust in psychology? | Blog post covering a publication by Tobias Wingen, Jana Berkessel, & Birte Englich | By Junior Researcher Programme

October 31, 2019 | BPS Research Digest
The replication crisis lowers public’s trust in psychology. But can that trust be build back up? Blog post covering a publication by Tobias Wingen, Jana Berkessel, & Birte Englich | By Matthew Warren

Aug 31, 2019 | Forschung & Lehre
Neid an Hochschulen - Neid tut weh, motiviert aber auch [Envy in academia - It's painful, but can motivate] | By Katja Corcoran & Jan Crusius

May 8, 2019 | wissenschaftskommunikation.de
„Es gibt oft keine einfachen Antworten“  [Often, there are no easy answers] | Interview with Oliver Genschow and Jan Crusius about the science communication project In-Mind Magazine | By Joachim Retzbach

Apr 17, 2019 | SPSP's Character & Context
Does power corrupt? How powerful people react in moral dilemmas | Blog post covering a publication by Alexandra Fleischmann, Joris Lammers, Paul Conway, and Adam D. Galinsky | By Alexandra Fleischmann

Mar 6, 2019 | LTO
Geschlechtergerechtigkeit in der Justiz: Berlin will mehr Frauen in Prü­fungs­kom­mis­sionen [Gender equality in the judiciary: Berlin calls for more female examiners in law state exams] | A study by Towfigh, Traxler, & Glöckner influences politics

Dec 30, 2018 | BR
Intuition: Wegweiser in einer komplexen Welt [Intuition: Guidance in a complex world]  | A radio contribution on intuition by Andreas Glöckner and others | By Rita Homefeldt

Oct 10, 2018 | FAZ
Politiker und Brillen: Auge um Auge [Politicians and glasses: An eye for an eye] | Press coverage of a publication by Alexandra Fleischmann, Joris Lammers, and colleagues | By Thomas Diel

Oct 2, 2018 | University of Cologne
Politiker und Politikerinnen mit Brille werden im Experiment häufiger gewählt [Politicians wearing glasses get elected more often in an experimental setting] | Press release on a publication by Alexandra Fleischmann, Joris Lammers, and colleagues | By Frieda Berg

Sep 17, 2018 | DGPs
In-Mind erhält den Förderpreis der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Psychologie [In-Mind is awarded the prize for promoting psychology by the German Psychological Association (DGPs)] | Oliver Genschow and Jan Crusius accept the prize as members of the editorial board of the In-Mind Online Magazine | By Anne Klostermann

July 10, 2018 | SPEKTRUM
Neid - Die Kirschen in Nachbars Garten [Envy—The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence] | Jan Crusius and Jens Lange on the (in)evitability of painful social comparisons | By Theodor Schaarschmidt

July, 2018 | MEIN ERBE TUT GUTES
Gutes tun steckt an [Doing good is contagious] | Alexandra Fleischmann on the influence of social comparison on moral behavior | By Angelika S. Friedl

July, 2018 | PSYCHOLOGIE HEUTE
Gemeinsam im Stress [Together under stress] | Jan Crusius on stress evoked by social comparison | By Frank Luerweg

Apr 13, 2018 | SPEKTRUM
Dürfen wir stolz sein?  [Is it OK to be proud?] | Jan Crusius on functions of pride and its interplay with envy | By Theodor Schaarschmidt