Search form

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Kühnen
Prof. Dr.
Professor of Psychology
School of Business, Social & Decision Sciences
Psychology & Methods


Constructor University Bremen gGmbH
Res. IV
Campus Ring 1
28759 Bremen
Germany

Academic Chair at Bremen International School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS),

Spokesperson DFG Research Training Group "Social Dynamics of the Self"

 

Fax: 
+49 421 200-3303
Email: 
ukuehnen [at] constructor.university
Office: 
Research IV, Room 119
Research Interests: 
Social Cognition, cultural psychology, evolutionary psychology
 
  • The self-concept: independence and interdependence in self construal
  • Cross-cultural differences in thinking, feeling, and action
  • Cultural models of agency
  • Beliefs about learning across cultures; teaching in multicultural settings
  • Intercultural competence
  • Judgmental heuristics
  • Meta-cognition
  • Values
University Education: 
2003Habilitation "Culture, self-concept, and cognition," Venia legendi in psychology, University of Mannheim
1998Doctoral dissertation: "Biases in social comparisons as a consequence of accessible self-knowledge", Berlin University of Technology
1989-1995Undergraduate study in Psychology at Berlin University of Technology; Diploma thesis: "On the self-concept of East- and West-Germans."
Fellowships and Awards: 
2012Teacher of the Year Award; Jacobs University
1998-1999"Auswirkungen der chronischen und situationalen Aktivierung autonomer und sozialer Selbstkonstrukte auf kognitive, motivationale und emotionale selbstbezogene Prozesse", DFG-Postdoctorial Fellowship
Research and Teaching Positions: 
2001-2003Research Scientist at the University of Mannheim
1998-1999Post-doctorial fellow at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, awarded by the German Science Foundation.
1995-2001Research Scientist and Lecturer of Social Psychology at the Department of Psychology of Berlin University of Technology
Publications: 

(selected)

Eklund, R.C., Sabiston, C.M. und Kühnen, U. (in press). The self in sport. In J. Schüler, M. Wegner, H. Plessner & R.C. Eklund (eds). Sport PSychology-Theory and Application (chapter 19). Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature.

Kühnen, U. & Haberstroh, S. (in press). Soziale Dynamiken des Selbst im Kontext von Stresserleben und Stressbewältigung. In P. Genkova, T. Ringeisen und F.T.L. Leong (Hrg.). Handbuch Stress und Kultur: Interkulturelle und kulturvergleichende Perspektiven. Zweite Auflage, Berlin. Springer.

Binder, N. & Kühnen, U. (in press). Teaching Cultural Intelligence for VUCA World. European Journal of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management.

Lippke, S., Schalk, T., Kühnen, U., Shang, B. (in press). Pace of Life and Perceived Stress in International Students. PsyCH Journal.

Baur, C., Soucek, R., Kühnen, U. & Baumeister, R. F. (2020). Unable to resist the temptation to tell the truth or to lie for the organization? Identification makes the difference. Journal of Business Ethics 167, 643-662.

Binder, N. & Kühnen, U. (2020). Interkulturelle Kompetenz - Strategien für eine erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit. Die Zeit Verlag, Hamburg.

Schoop, A. M, Verweij, M., Kühnen, U, Luan, S. (2020). Political disagreement in the classroom: Testing Cultural Theory with observational methods. Quality & Quantity, 54, 623-643.

Kühnen, U. & Kitayama, S. (2020). Agency Detection. In T.K. Shackelford, V.A. Weekes-Shackelford (eds), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science, Springer, Cham.

Kühnen, U. (2020). What is there to be learned and how-Learning through the lens of the self. In M. Watzlawik & A. Burkholder (eds). Educating adolescents through a cultural lens - Becoming who you are in a world full of expectations (pp 285-298). Heidelberg: Springer

Kühnen, U. (2020). Evolved morality: implications for intercultural learning. Intercultura,  97, 6-9.

Kokkoris, M. D., Baumeister, R. F., & Kühnen, U. (2019). Freeing or freezing decisions? Belief in free will and indecisiveness. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 154, 49-61.

Ponizovskiy, V., Grigoryan, L., Kühnen, U., & Boehnke, K. (2019). Social Construction of the Value-Behavior Relation. Frontiers in Psychology – Personality and Social Psychology.

 

Kokkoris, M., Sedikides, C. & Kühnen, U. (2019). Do consumer choices augment narcissism? The role of self-referent processing. Self & Identity

 

Kühnen, U (2019). „…denn es fühlt wie Du den Schmerz“ – Von tierischen Gefühlen. Sozialpsychiatrische Informationen, 49 (2), 10-13.

 

Kühnen, U. & Simunovic, D. (2018). Assimilation. In T. K. Shackelford, V.A. Weekes-Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science, Springer: Heidelberg.

 

Uz, I., Kemmelmeier, M., Paksoy, C., Krumov, K., Kühnen, U., Volkova, E., Gluzdova, O. & Walton, A. P. (2018). Kültürlerarası Bağlamda Cinsiyet ve Toplumsal Cinsiyetin Başarı Motivasyonu Üzerindeki Etkisi [Sex and gender differences in achievement motivation across cultures].Türk Psikoloji Dergisi: Turkish Journal of Psychology, 33 , 1-27.

 

Kühnen, U. (2018). Psicología cultural: el poder de la comunidad. Mente y cerebro, 88, 78-83. [Reprint von Kühnen, U. (2016). Macht der Gemeinschaft. Gehirn und Geist, 2/2016, 38-43.]

 

Kühnen, U. & Van Egmond, M. C. (2018). Learning – a cultural construct. In J. Proust and Fortier, M. (Eds.): Metacognitive diversity: An interdisciplinary approach. (pp 245-264) Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Kühnen, U. (2016). Macht der Gemeinschaft. Gehirn und Geist, 2/2016, 38-43.

Hirata, E., Lodder, G. M. A., Kühnen, U., Lippke, S., & Hermans, R. C. J. (2015). The possible antecedents and consequences of matching of food intake: Examining the role of trait self-esteem and interpersonal closeness. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1920.

Kühnen, U. (2015). Tierisch kultiviert – Menschliches Verhalten zwischen Kultur und Evolution. Heidelberg: Springer Akademischer Verlag.

Hirata, E., Kühnen, U., Hermans, R.C.J., & Lippke, S. (2015). Modelling of food intake in Brasil and Germany: Examining the effects of self-construal. Eating Behavior, 19, 127-132.

Kedzior, K. K., Röhrs, W., Kühnen, U., Odag, Ö., Haber, F., & Boehnke, K. (2015). Evaluation of an intercultural peer training for incoming undergraduate students at an international university in Germany. SAGE Open (Online Journal), 2015, 1-9.

Kokkoris, M., & Kühnen, U. (2015). The need to have an opinion as a driver of consumer choice. Journal of Consumer Behavior, 14, 92-102.

Kokkoris, M., & Kühnen, U. (2015). You are (not only) what you choose: A self-expression account of post-choice dissonance. Motivation and Emotion, 39, 34-48.
 
Kokkoris, M., & Kühnen, U. (2014). „Express the real you”: Cultural differences in the perception of self-expression as authenticity. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 45, 1221-1228.
 
Van Egmond, M., & Kühnen, U. (2014). Cultural Diversity in Meta-Cognitive Beliefs about Learning: Within-European Similarities and Differences? In L. T. Jackson, D. Meiring, F. J. R. Van de Vijver, E. S., Idemoudia, & W. K. Gabrenya Jr. (Eds). Toward sustainable development through nurturing diversity: Selected papers from the Twenty First International Congress of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology. Melbourne, Florida: International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology.
 
Verweij, M., Van Egmond, M., Kühnen, U., Luan, S., Ney S., & Schoop, A. (2014). I Disagree, Therefore I Am: How to Test and Strengthen Cultural Versatility. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, 27, 83-98.
 
Binder, N., Schreier, M., Kühnen, U., & Kedzior, K. K. (2013) Integrating international students into tertiary education using the intercultural peer-to-peer training at Jacobs University Bremen, Germany. Journal of Educational and Training Studies, 1, 273-286.
 
Kokkoris, M. & Kühnen, U. (2013) More than just an opinion: The effect of verbal self-expression on consumer choice. Psychology & Marketing, 30, 1062-1075.
 
Kokkoris, M. & Kühnen, U. (2013) Choice and Dissonance in a European Context: The Case of West and East Europeans. International Journal of Psychology, 48, 1260-1266.
 
Kokkoris, M., Kühnen, U. & Yang, S. (2013) Likes, Dislikes, and the Perception of Choice as Self-Expression across Cultures. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 13, 129-143.
 
Kühnen, U, Hannover, B., Pöhlmann, C., & Roeder, U. R. (2013). How self-construal affects dispositionalism in attributions. Social Cognition, 31, 237-259.
 
Van Egmond, M. & Kühnen, U., Haberstroh, S. & Hansen, N. (2013). Learning through the eyes of Eastern and Western European university students: mind or virtue-oriented? Polish Psychology (Psychologia Społeczna), 8, 140-155.
 
Van Egmond, M., Kühnen, U., & Li, J. (2013). The meaning of learning, a matter of culture? Learning, Culture, and Social Interaction, 2, 208-216.
 
Kühnen, U. & Haberstroh, S. (2012). Die Dynamik von Kultur und Selbstkonzept: Konsequenzen für das Erleben und Bewältigen von Stress. In P. Genkova, T. Ringeisen, & F.T.L. Leong (Hrg.). Handbuch Stress und Kultur: Interkulturelle und kulturvergleichende Perspektiven. Berlin: Springer Verlag, pp.97-112.
 
Kemmelmeier, M. & Kühnen, U. (2012). Culture as process: Dynamics of cultural stability and change. Social Psychology.
 
Kemmelmeier, M. & Kühnen, U. (2012). Culture as process: Dynamics of cultural stability and change (editorial), Social Psychology, 43, 171-173
 
Kühnen, U., van Egmond, M., Haber, F., Kuschel, S., Özelsel, A., Rossi, A. L., & Spivak, Y. (2012) Challenge me! Communicating in multicultural classrooms. Social Psychology of Education, 15, 59-76.
 
Deutsch, F., Boehnke, M., Kühnen, U., & Boehnke, K. (Eds.): Rendering borders obsolete: (Cross-)Cultural Psychology as an interdisciplinary multi-method endeavor. A peer-revieved book based on presentations at the XIX Congress of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2008; International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2011.
 
Deutsch, F.; Boehnke, M.; Kühnen, U, & Boehnke, K. (2011): Can happiness change: An interdisciplinary, multi-method investigation of the dynamics of happiness. In F. Deutsch, M. Boehnke, U. Kühnen, & K. Boehnke, (Eds). Rendering borders obsolete: (Cross-)Cultural Psychology as an interdisciplinary multi-method endeavor. Bremen, Germany: International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology.
 
Kühnen, U. & Hannover, B. (2010). Culture, self-construal and regulatory focus: What and how to promote or prevent? Psychological Inquiry, 21, 233-238.
 
Kühnen, U. (2010). Manipulation-checks as manipulation: Another look at the ease of retrieval heuristic. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 47 - 58.
 
Berninghausen, J., Gunderson, C., Kammler, E., Kühnen, U. & Schönhagen R. (Eds.). Lost in TransNation - Towards an intercultural dimension in higher education (2009); Kellner Verlag, Bremen.
 
Hannover, B. & Kühnen, U. (2009). Culture and social cognition in human interaction. In J. Forgas & A. Kruglanski (Series Eds.), F. Strack & J. Förster (Vol. Eds.), Frontiers of social psychology: Vol. 7. Social cognition. Pp. 291-309. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
 
Kühnen, U. (2009) Culture, Self-construal and Social Cognition: Evidence from Cross-Cultural and Priming Studies; In A. Gari, & K. Mylonas, A. Gari (Eds.). Q.E.D. From Herodotus: Ethnographic Journeys to Cross-Cultural Research. pp. 303-310. Athens, Greece: Athens: Atrapos Editions.
 
Kühnen, U., Deutsch, F. & Boehnke, K. (2009). Crossing Borders - (Cross-) Cultural Psychology as an interdisciplinary, multi-method endeavor. Cross-Cultural Psychology Bulletin, 43, 30-37.
 
Kühnen, U., van Egmond, M. C., Haber, F., Kuschel, S., Özelsel, A. & Rossi, A. (2009): Mind and virtue: The meaning of learning across cultures. In J. Berninghausen, G. Gunderson, E. Kammler, U. Kühnen & R. Schönhagen (Eds). Lost in TransNation - Towards an intercultural dimension in higher education. pp 27-40. Kellner Verlag, Bremen.
 
Kuschel, S., Özelsel, A., Haber, F., Jungermann, A. & Kühnen, U (2007). Interkulturelles Lernen an der Jacobs University Bremen: Das Erfolgsrezept Multiplikatoren-Training. Internationalisierung, Vielfalt und Inklusion an Hochschulen (IVI). 1, 97-102 .
 
Hannover, B. & Kühnen, U. (2007). A connectionist model of the self or just a general learning model. Psychological Inquiry. 18, 102-107.
 
Kühnen, U. (2005). "I" and "We" think differently - culture, self, and cognition. In P. Ludes (Ed.): Visuals Hegemonies - an outline. Vol. 1, Lit Verlag, Münster, pp. 99-120.
 
Hannover, B., Pöhlmann, C., Roeder, U., Springer & Kühnen, U. (2005). Eine erweiterte Version des Semantisch-Prozeduralen Interface-Modells des Selbst: Funktion des Mentalen Interface und Implikationen des Modells für motivierte soziale Kognition. Psychologische Rundschau, 56, 99-112.
 
Hannover, B. & Kühnen, U. (2004). Culture, Context and Cognition: The Semantic-Procedural-Interface Model of the Self. European Review of Social Psychology, 15, 297-333.
 
Kühnen, U. & Haberstroh, S. (2004). Self-construal activation and focus of comparison as determinants of assimilation and contrast in social comparisons. Current Psychology of Cognition, 22, 289-310.
 
Kühnen, U., Sczesny, S., von Rennenkampff, A. & Stahlberg, D. (2004). Assets and drawbacks of a feminine or masculine look - how gender stereotypes guide the perception of leadership. In Ö. Ödag and A. Perschai (Eds.): Negotiating space for gender studies. Peter Lang Publishers, Hamburg, pp 119-134.
 
Sczesny, S. & Kühnen, U. (2004). Meta-cognition about biological sex and gender-stereotypic physical appearance and their impact on the assessment of leadership competence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 13-21.
 
Kühnen, U. & Hannover, B. (2003). Kultur, Selbstkonzept und Kognition. Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 211, 212-224.
 
Haberstroh, S., Oyserman, D., Schwarz, N., Kühnen, U. & Ji, L. (2002). Is the interdependent self a better communicator than the independent self? Self-construal and the observation of conversational norms. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 38, 323-329.
 
Hannover, B. & Kühnen, U. (2002). Der Einfluss independenter und interdependenter Selbstkonstruktionen auf die Informationsverarbeitung im sozialen Kontext. Psychologische Rundschau, 53, 61-76.
 
Hannover, B. & Kühnen, U. (2002). "The clothing makes the self" - via knowledge activation. Journal of Applied Social Psychology,32, 2513-2525.
 
Kühnen, U. & Oyserman, D. (2002). Thinking about the self influences thinking in general: Procedural consequences of self-construal activation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 38, 492-499.
 
Pöhlmann, C., Hannover, B., Kühnen, U. & Birkner, N. (2002). Independente und interdependente Selbstkonzepte als Determinanten des Selbstwerts: Die Sozial-Autonome Selbstwertskala (SAS). Zeitschrift für Sozialpsychologie, 33, 111-121.
 
Kühnen, U., Hannover, B., & Schubert, B. (2001). The Semantic-Procedural Interface Model of the Self: The Role of Self-knowledge for context-dependent versus context-independent Modes of Thinking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 397-409.
 
Kühnen, U., Hannover, B, Roeder, U, Schubert, B., Shah, A.A., Upmeyer, A., Zakaria, S. (2001). Cross-cultural variations in identifying embedded figures: Comparisons from the US, Germany, Russia, and Malaysia. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32, 365-371.
 
Kühnen, U., Schießl, M., Bauer, N., Paulig, N., Pöhlmann, C., & Schmidthals, K. (2001). How robust is the IAT? Measuring and manipulating implicit attitudes of East- and West-Germans. Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie, 48, 135-144.  
 
Hannover, B., Kühnen, U., & Birkner, N. (2000). Independentes und interdependentes Selbstwissen als Determinante von Assimilation und Kontrast bei kontextuellem Priming; Zeitschrift für Sozialpsychologie, 31 (1), 44-56.
 
Kühnen, U., & Hannover, B. (2000). Assimilation and contrast in social comparisons as a consequence of self-construal activation. European Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 799-811.