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Faculty of Human SciencesSocial Cognition Center Cologne

Chair Unkelbach Group | Allgemeine Psychologie II

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Christian Unkelbach

Phone +49-221-470-2001

E-mail christian.unkelbachSpamProtectionuni-koeln.de
Address Richard-Strauss-Str. 2, 50931 Köln | Germany

Room 1.A21
Office hours Fridays, 14.00-15.00 (Please register for the Office hours via Email)

Research interests | Key publications |All publications | Academic distinctions

Research interests

Social Cognition • Evaluative Judgments • Information Ecologies • Stereotypes and Prejudice • Evaluative Learning • Fluency Effects • Sport Psychology

Key Publications

  • Unkelbach, C., Alves, H., Baldwin, M., Crusius, J., Diel, K, Galinsky, A. D., Gast, A., Hofmann, W., Imhoff, R., Genschow, O., Lammers, J., Pauels, E., Schneider, I., Topolinski, S., Westfal, M., & Mussweiler, T. (2023). Relativity in social cognition: Basic processes and novel applications of social comparisons. European Review of Social Psychology, 34, 387-440. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2022.2161043
  • Unkelbach, C., Alves, H., & Koch, A. (2020). Negativity bias, positivity bias, and valence asymmetries: Explaining the differential processing of positive and negative information. In: B. Gawronski (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (pp. 115-187). Cambridge, MA: Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aesp.2020.04.005
  • Unkelbach, C., Koch, A., & Alves, H. (2019). The Evaluative Information Ecology: On the frequency and diversity of “good” and “bad”. European Review of Social Psychology, 30, 216-270. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2019.1688474
  • Unkelbach, C., & Rom, S. C. (2017). A referential theory of the repetition-induced truth effect. Cognition, 160, 110–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2016.12.016
  • Unkelbach, C., Fiedler, K., Bayer, M., Stegmüller, M., & Danner, D. (2008). Why positive information is processed faster: The density hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 36–49. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.95.1.36
  • Unkelbach, C. (2006). The learned interpretation of cognitive fluency. Psychological Science, 17, 339–345. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01708.x

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All Publications

Please find a full list of publications here.

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Academic distinctions

  • Honorary Doctorate:
    Dr. h.c. awarded by the Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium 
    For  outstanding  contributions  to  research  and  teaching  in  the  psychological  sciences, 
    together  with  Brenda  Rapp  (Johns  Hopkins,  USA)  and  Richard  J.  McNally  (Harvard 
    University)
  • Grants:
    Speaker Research Unit FOR2150 "Relativity in Social Cognition" (DFG), 2017-2021
    Emmy Noether Research Grant, German Science Foundation (DFG), 2009-2013
    Feoder Lynen Research Scholarship, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, 2007-2008
    Fulbright Scholarship, Fulbright Commission, 1999-2000
  • Editor-in-Chief:
    Social Psychological and Personality Science (2023- )
    Social Psychology (2013-2016)
  • Associate Editor:
    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (2021-2023)
    Experimental Psychology (2011-2012)
    Social Psychology (2012-2013, 2016-2017)
  • Editorial boards:
    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (2017-)
    Psychological Science (2012-2019)
    Experimental Psychology (2013-)
    Social Cognition (2020-2025)
    Social Psychology (2017-)
    Social Psychology and Personality Science (2009-2015, 2018-2020)
    European Journal of Social Psychology (2007-2014)

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