Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Faculty of Life Sciences - Department of Psychology

Dr. Ronja Demel

Foto
Name
Dr. Ronja Demel
Status
Research Assistant
Email
ronja.demel (at) hu-berlin.de
Institution
Humboldt-Universität → Präsidium → Lebenswissenschaftliche Fakultät → Institut für Psychologie → Persönlichkeitspsychologie
Visiting address
Rudower Chaussee 18 , Room 4'109
Phone number
030 2093-1836
Mailing address
Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin

About

 

Ronja Demel is a postdoctoral researcher at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, where she conducts research on (inter-group) empathy, attitudes toward refugees, and (the measurement of) political attitudes. She is the principal investigator in the Einstein Research Unit “Coping with Affective Polarization.” In her doctoral thesis at the Universität Göttingen, she examined, among other things, how political attitudes shape everyday moral judgments.

Ronja Demel teaches in the bachelor's and master's programs in psychology with a focus on personality and political psychology. In her teaching, she emphasizes an innovative and non-discriminatory learning environment in which students use a variety of methods to develop not only subject-specific content but also methodological and presentation skills. She encourages students to try out new approaches and to actively engage in scientific exchange. A detailed feedback culture is particularly important to her in order to promote reflection and further development.

 

Research Interests

 

  • (Inter-group) empathy
  • Political attitudes
  • Stereotyping and prejudice
  • Marginalization

 

Academic Career

 

2017-2022

Doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.) in the doctoral program Behavior and Cognition of Georg-August Universität Göttingen

2014-2017

M. Sc. Psychology with a focus on affective neuroscience at Georg-August Universität Göttingen

2011-2014

B. Sc. Psychology at Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg

 

Scientific Career

 

since 2022      

Research Associate in the Department of Personality Psychology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

2017-2021 

Research Associate in the Department for Cognition, Emotion and Behavior (ANaP Lab) at Georg-August Universität Göttingen

2016-2017

Student Assistant in the Department for Cognition, Emotion and Behavior (ANaP Lab) at Georg-August Universität Göttingen

 

Scholarships and Awards

 

2022-2023   

Career Development Award from the Berlin University Alliance for investigating the role of intergroup empathy in activist engagement

2023

Conference travel grant from the Leibniz Science Campus: Primate Cognition

2018

Conference travel grant from the Leibniz Science Campus: Primate Cognition

2018-2022 

Doctoral scholarship from the Stiftung der Deutschen Wirtschaft (sdw)

 

Publications

 

Demel, R., Masch, L., Schieferdecker, D., Schwander, H., Hutter, S., & Specht, J. (2025). Empathy During Crises: Investigating Attitudes, Tolerance, and Ingroup-Outgroup Dynamics in Response to Refugee Movements. Journal of personality, 10.1111/jopy.13012. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.13012

 

Demel, R., Pooresmaeili, A., Gagsch, F., Spengler, M., & Schacht, A. (2024). Beyond bidimensional measures: Introducing a culturally tailored measure of political orientation. Political Psychology, 45(3), 517–535. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12935

 

Masch, L., Demel, R., Schieferdecker, D., Schwander, H., Hutter, S., & Specht, J. (2023). Shift in Public Opinion Formations on Defense, Energy, and Migration: The Case of Russia’s War Against Ukraine. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 35(4), edad038.

 

Demel, R., Grassi, F., Rafiee,Y., Waldmann, M.R., Schacht, A. (2022) How German and Italian Laypeople Reason about Distributive Shortages during COVID-19. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 12067. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912067

 

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