What do people consider unjust? How do they react when they see important social norms or moral principles as violated? We investigate perceptions of and reactions to injustice from the different perspectives of victim, perpetrator or beneficiary, and observer; and systematic interindividual differences in these perceptions and reactions. This involves a specific interest in moral emotions and their motivational and communicative functions; processes of adherence to and disengagement from social norms and moral principles; as well as their active protection. 

Current research topics:

• How do individuals differ in their sensitivity to injustice?
• Moral courage: How does anger motivate people to intervene against witnessed transgressions?
• How do people respond to experienced discrimination - online and offline?
• Can feelings of guilt motivate unfair behavior?

Ongoing or finalized projects:

• AWARE
• Personalized AI-Based Interventions Against Online Norm Violations: Behavioral Effects And Ethical Implications (Anna Baumert, Bergische Universität Wuppertal and Jens Grossklags, Technische Universität München)

We investigate the interplay between personal dispositions and situational factors with in political opinion formation. We are particularly interested in which people perceive which climate policy measures as fair under which conditions. Among other factors, we look at how people differ in terms of how sensitive they are to injustices towards themselves or towards others.

Current research questions are:

• When are climate policy measures perceived as fair by whom and thus more likely to be accepted?
• Are highly victim-sensitive individuals more likely to fear being disadvantaged by climate policy measures and therefore more likely to reject them?
• What kind of communication/narratives on climate mitigation are effective to reach people with different concepts of social justice?

Societal relevance

With our research, we aim to contribute to a better understanding of support for and resistance against climate policy measures and to help actors from politics, civil society and administration get the necessary public acceptance for urgent climate mitigation efforts.

Many people spend a significant portion of their lives not alone, but in close relationships. Through our research, we aim to better understand which potential partners are chosen for relationships and which processes significantly influence the experience and quality of existing relationships.

Current research questions

• Which characteristics are relevant for potential partners?
• How are moral violations perceived and evaluated within partnerships?
• How are emotions expressed in real time—for example, through facial expressions—during conflicts within partnerships?

Social relevance

Close partnerships have a profound influence on mental health, well-being, life satisfaction, and individual resilience. A better understanding of partner choice, conflict dynamics, and moral evaluations within intimate relationships contributes to the development of interventions and support services that help people maintain fulfilling and stable relationships.

Beyond the interpersonal level, we put a special focus on understanding social and moral issues at the intra- and intergroup level. We study how persons perceive and react to moral violations committed by their fellow group members or directed against their or other groups.

We look at norm violations, such as discrimination, prejudice and intergroup aggressions, manifested, for example, in online hate-speech and everyday micro-aggression. Considering the negative outcomes of behaviours that inflict harm on others, we test various interventions to reduce their emergence. Specifically, we address processes and conditions that facilitate or hinder that people confront or call out such violations, and the conditions that foster positive effects of such confrontations. In doing so, we examine individual differences such as justice sensitivity, group identification, and system justification. In addition, we look at prosocial behaviour and empathy in the context of social and economic inequality.

As each data collection method inherently captures only a limited aspect of the research construct, our research implements, integrates, and develops a broad range of methodological approaches to data collection. These methodological approaches include:

• Self-report measures (e.g., online surveys, ambulatory assessments using extensive longitudinal designs; e.g. Baumert et al., 2023; Halabi et al., 2024) 
• Behavioral observation (e.g., laboratory and field experiments, nonverbal behavior such as facial expressions, dyadic interactions; e.g. Schwarz & Baßfeld et al., 2019; Zinkernagel et al., 2018)
• Economic games  (e.g. Baumert et al., 2014)
• Response-time-based measures (e.g. Klümper et al., 2020; Zinkernagel et al., 2011)