Research
By drawing on theories and methods from psychology, economics and related disciplines, we aim to better understand how people make judgments and decisions in social interactions.
We aim to contribute to the solution of societal problems and challenges. This includes basic research on, for instance, social interactions (particurly human cooperation and prosociality), but also applied research in specific contexts. We apply a broad range of methods, including (online, lab and field) experiments, survey studies and computational modeling. Some of our main research areas are the following:
- Intergroup conflict and violence
- Health decision making, such as vaccine uptake and antibiotic use
- Environmental and climate protection
- Human-computer interaction and human-human interaction in digital environments
- Reactions to and interactions with institutions and policies, such as in the context of tax regulations or health policies
Publications of the Working Group
2026
Gross, R., Sievert, E. D. C., Korn, L., Santana, A. P., Betsch, C., & Böhm, R. (2026). Promoting health information-seeking behaviour prior to vaccination decisions. Psychology & Health, 1-23. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2026.2739472
Böhm, R., Fuchs, C., Granulo, A., & Reiter, L. (2026). Öffentliche Akzeptanz von systemischen Politikmaßnahmen im Zeitverlauf. Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, 27(3), 308-317. https://doi.org/10.1515/pwp-2026-0018
Böhm, R., Gross, R., Korn, L., Schneider, A., Sievert, E. D. C., & Betsch, C. (2026). Antibiotikaeinsatz: Psychologische Einflussfaktoren auf die Wahrnehmung und das Verhalten von Ärzt*innen und Patient*innen. Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz, 69(5), 574-581. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00103-026-04225-7
Böhm, R., Schneider, A., Betsch, C., & Lilleholt, L. (2026). CDC communication undermines trust in vaccines. Science (New York, N.Y.), 392(6797), 475-477. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aef5320
Reiter, L., Böhm, R., & Fuchs, C. (2026). Country-level differences in socio-economic development and cultural dimensions are associated with workers’ economic expectations of AI: Evidence from 31 countries. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 21, Article 100905. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2025.100905
Reiter, J. (2026). Meine Nachbarin, die Politik - Kommunalwahl in Hessen: ARD hr - Der Tag. Ein Thema, viele Perspektiven.. Radio show, ARD hr. https://www.ardsounds.de/episode/urn:ard:episode:2f4b519865d1b6fa/
Liu, Y., Stivers, A. W., Murphy, R. O., Van Doesum, N. J., Joireman, J., Gallucci, M., Aharonov-Majar, E., Athenstaedt, U., Bai, L., Böhm, R., Buchan, N. R., Chen, X.-P., Dumont, K. B., Engelmann, J. B., Eriksson, K., Euh, H., Fiedler, S., Friesen, J., Gachter, S., ... Van Lange, P. A. M. (2026). Wherefore art thou competitors? How situational affordances help differentiate among prosociality, individualism, and competition. European Journal of Personality, 40(1), 24-45. https://doi.org/10.1177/08902070241298850
Xiao, Q., Columbus, S., & Böhm, R. (2026). Self-serving intergroup aggression escalates and prevails over parochial cooperation. Evolution and Human Behavior, 47(1), Article 106801. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106801
Bauer, C., & Kirchler, E. (2026). Co-operation in Tax Matters: A Source of Advantage for Businesses. In A. Masson, H. Bouthinon-Dumas, J.-M. do Carmo Silva, & W. G. Voss (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Law and Management Oxford University Press.
Reiter, L., Voracek, M., Betsch, C., & Böhm, R. (2026). Emphasising herd immunity in vaccine advocacy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Health Psychology Review, 20(1), 223-254. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2025.2562841
Plechatá, A., Makransky, G., & Böhm, R. (2026). Engaging the unengaged: Differential effects of AI-driven climate communication across audiences. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 109, Article 102892. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102892
Stein, M., Zacher, H., Rudolph, C. W., & Böhm, R. (2026). Reciprocal within-person relations between pandemic fatigue and protective behavior: A 20-wave longitudinal study during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health Psychology, 45(3), 241-250. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0001551
Seifert, M., Palan, S., Homar, A., Spitzer, F., Kirchler, E., & Gangl, K. (2026). Sustainable finance literacy predicts investment behavior beyond general financial literacy: Evidence from two representative samples. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, 1-15. https://doi.org/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2214635026001243
Holzmeister, F., Böhm, R., Huber, J., Johannesson, M., & Kirchler, M. (Accepted/In press). Tackling heterogeneity in populations, designs, and analyses through big-team science. Current Directions in Psychological Science.
Schild, C., Lilleholt, L., Böhm, R., & Zettler, I. (2026). Testing the effectiveness and endorsement of collective punishment. European Journal of Personality. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/089020702513958
Sievert, E. D. C., Gross, R., Korn, L., Betsch, C., & Böhm, R. (2026). Using a decision support tool to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use after a delayed presciption. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 18(4), Article e70198. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.70198
Schneider, A. K., Sirota, M., Gross, R., Korn, L., Sievert, E. D. C., Betsch, C., & Böhm, R. (2026). Willful ignorance in the context of antibiotic prescribing. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 127, Article 104965.
2025
Böhm, R., Glowacki, L., Rusch, H., & Thielmann, I. (2025). Untangling altruism and parochialism in human intergroup conflict. iScience, 28(12), Article 113978. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.113978
Dimitras, A., Fourlas, V., Peppas, G., & Kirchler, E. (2025). Drivers of tax compliance: Survey evidence from 1761 Greek micro-firms. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 119, Article 102480. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2025.102480
Siglé, M. A., Mühlbacher, S., Van der Hel, L. E. C. J. M., & Kirchler, E. (2025). Tax Audit Quality: The Role of Experience and Technology Readiness in a Digital World. Journal of Tax Administration, 10(1). https://jota.website/jota/issue/view/17/30