Research Interests
Positive Psychology, (positive) interventions, subjective-wellbeing in the educational context, student-study subject fit (interests and expectations) and study success (academic achievement, study satisfaction)
Research Project
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from 06/ | NEST-BW – Further development of the state strategy “Aptitude and Selection” and expansion of the network on procedures for study orientation and self-reflection (Project staff, funded by the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of the State of Baden-Württemberg) |
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02/ | STAV-Psych-BaWü – Studierendenauswahl-Verbund Psychologie Baden-Württemberg (Project staff, funded by the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of the State of Baden-Württemberg) |
Vita
02/ 2019 – dato Academic staff member, Chair of Educational Psychology, University of Mannheim 08/ 2016 – 06/ 2019 Master of Science Psychology: Work, Economy and Society, University of Mannheim 08/ 2015 – 12/ 2015 Exchange Semester, University of Florida 09/ 2013 – 07/ 2016 Bachelor of Science Psychology, University of Mannheim Awards & Scholarships
07/ 2019 Funding for congress participation, Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, WCPP 2019, Melbourne, Australia 07/ 2019 Funding for congress participation, IPPA’s student scholarship program, WCPP 2019, Melbourne, Australia 06/ 2019 Excellent master thesis in vocational and business education, Barbara-Hopf-foundation 2018–2019 Qualification scholarship, Center for Doctoral Studies in Social and Behavioral Sciences (CDSS) at the Graduate School of Economic and Social Sciences (GESS) 05/ 2018 Funding for congress participation, Rationale Altruisten Mannheim e.V., DGPPF 2018, Bochum 06/ 2016 Best B.Sc. Psychology degree, Absolventum Mannheim e.V. 08–12/2015 Funding for exchange semester, Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, Gainesville, Florida 2013–2019 Study Scholarship, Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes Reviewer
Publications and conference presentations
Conference presentations
- Merkle, B.* & Dickhäuser, O. (2022, July). Combining interests and expectations in Online Self Assessments to change study (choice) attitudes. Talk at the conference of the Special Interest Groups 1 (SIG 1 Assessment and Evaluation) and 4 (SIG 4 Higher Education) of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI), Cádiz, Spain.
- Merkle, B.*, Messerer, L., A., S. & Dickhäuser, O. (2022, June). Will I be happy? Objective interest-major fit before entering university predicts students’ motivation and well-being beyond affective forecast . Research report presented at the fourth conference of the German Association for Positive-Psychological Research, Trier, Germany (Online).
- Merkle, B.* & Dickhäuser, O. (2021, August). The joint role of students' expectation discrepancies and their interests for study success. Poster presentation presented at the Junior Researcher Konferenz der European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (JURE), Gothenburg, Sweden (Online).
- Merkle, B.* (2021, July). Less of interesting or more of boring study content than expected – Combining expectation discrepancies and interests to predict students’ wellbeing. Gallery Presentation presented at the 7th World Congress on Positive Psychology, Vancouver, Canada (Online).
- Merkle, B.*, Schiltenwolf, M., Bengel, J., Kiesel, A., & Dickhäuser, O. (2020, April). Welche Rolle spielen Erwartungen, Interessen und deren Kombination für das Wohlbefinden im Studium? Talk accepted at the fourth conference of the German Association for Positive-Psychological Research, Vienna, Austria (conference cancelled).
- Merkle, B.*, Krispenz, A., & Dickhäuser, O. (2019, September). Active-Constructive Responding – Effects of a Short Communication Intervention on Responders’ SWB and Underlying Mechanisms. Poster presented at the joint conference of the developmental psychology and educational psychology sections of the German Psychological Society (paEpsy), Leipzig, Germany.
- Merkle, B.*, Kippenberger, E., Messerer, L. A. S., & Dickhäuser, O. (2019, September). Soll ich Psychologie studieren? – Entwicklung eines standortübergreifenden Online-Self-Assessments zur Erkundung von Passung im Fach Psychologie. Poster presented at the joint conference of the developmental psychology and educational psychology sections of the German Psychological Society (paEpsy), Leipzig, Germany.
- Janke, S.*, Messerer, L. A. S., Merkle, B., & Krille, C. (2019, September). Als Erste an die Universität – Was motiviert Kinder aus Nichtakademikerfamilien ein Studium aufzunehmen? Talk presented at the joint conference of the developmental psychology and educational psychology sections of the German Psychological Society (paEpsy), Leipzig, Germany.
- Merkle, B.*, Krispenz, A., & Dickhäuser, O. (2019, July). Active-constructive responding – effects of a short-intervention on responders’ positive affect and underlying mechanisms. Roundtable presentation presented at the 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology, Melbourne, Australia.
- Heekerens, J. B.*, Heinitz, K., Eid, M., & Merkle, B. (2019, July). Deconstructing positive interventions: Differential effects of optimistic, grateful, and self-compassionate writing on well-being. Poster presented at the Sixth World Congress of Positive Psychology, Melbourne, Australia.
- Heekerens, J., Heinitz, K., & Merkle, B.* (2018, May). How positive psychology interventions work – The role of positive-self relevant thoughts, optimism, gratitude and self-compassion. Research report presented at the third conference of the German Association for Positive-Psychological Research, Bochum, Germany.
- Rosen, M., Marin, S., Merkle, B., Liberty, L., Williamson, H., & Heesacker, H. (2017, March). Major Motivation. Poster presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting der Southeastern Psychological Association, Atlanta, USA.
Publications
- Janke, S., Messerer, L.A.S., Merkle, B. & Rudert, S.C. (in Druck). Why do minority students feel they don’t fit in? Migration background and parental education differentially predict social ostracism and belongingness. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations.
- Heekerens, J. B., Eid, M., Heinitz, K., & Merkle, B. (2022). Cognitive-affective responses to online positive-psychological interventions: The effects of optimistic, grateful, and self-compassionate writing. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being. Advanced online publication. doi: 10.1111/aphw.12326
- Merkle, B., Schiltenwolf, M., Kiesel, A. & Dickhäuser, O. (2021): Entwicklung und Validierung eines Erwartungs- und Interessenstests (E-×-I) zur Erkundung studienfachspezifischer Passung in einem Online-Self-Assessment. Zeitschrift für empirische Hochschulforschung 5 (2), S. 162–183.
- Janke, S., Messerer, L. A. S., Merkle, B. & Krille, C. (2021). STUWA: Ein multifaktorielles Inventar zur Erfassung von Studienwahlmotivation. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1024/1010–0652/a000298
- Bluemke, M., Merkle, B., Jong, J., & Halberstadt, J. (2017). Supernatural Belief Scale (SBS) – German version. Zusammenstellung sozialwissenschaftlicher Items und Skalen. doi:10.6102/zis252
- Merkle, B., Kaczmirek, L., Hellwig, O. (2016). „Du kommst hier nicht rein“ – Türsteherfragen identifizieren nachlässige Teilnehmer in Online-Umfragen. Planung und Analyse, 1, 2–5