PhD Researcher (f/m/d): Negative Emotions and the Formation of Conspiracy Beliefs

The Social Influence Lab at the Leibniz Institute for Psychology (ZPID) in Trier offers a four-year PhD position (TV-L E13, 75%) starting on 1 March 2027 in a social-psychological project led by Kai Sassenberg in collaboration with Lotte Pummerer (Universität Mannheim). The project examines how negative emotions shape the formation of conspiracy beliefs, applying appraisal theories of emotion and emotion-regulation approaches. It belongs to the DFG Research Unit "Beyond Crazy: Integrating Benefits into the Analysis of Conspiracy Beliefs", with regular exchange, joint conferences and workshops across the participating institutions.

The doctoral researcher will develop, prepare and conduct studies, analyse data, write manuscripts and supervise research assistants; applicants interested in several subprojects of the research unit apply to each institution offering one.

MSc in psychology or a related field; interest or background in emotion regulation and conspiracy beliefs; experience in quantitative research and data analysis; strong psychological methods and statistics; strong English, German an advantage. Cover letter, CV, degree certificates and two references.