Sustainable Behavior and Invisible Work: Social Psychology at the DGPs Congress in Luxembourg

The Chair of Social Psychology was represented at the 54th Congress of the German Psychological Society (DGPs) in Luxembourg (September 7–10, 2026) with several presentations, including ones on one of the congress’s key themes: the psychology of sustainable behavior.

Dr. Jan-Bennet Voltmer and Dr. Johanna Werner demonstrated that climate anxiety is by no means merely paralyzing; rather, it can also be associated with stronger intentions to engage in environmentally conscious behavior and with the desire to incorporate climate considerations into one’s career choices—especially among people with a strong environmentally oriented identity. Dr. Johanna Werner, together with Dr. Christian Blötner, illustrated how sustainable decisions are also strongly influenced by one’s social environment, using diet as an example: People who want to please others and avoid conflict are more likely to choose a less sustainable dish in group situations. Dr. Sybille Neji examined non-normative climate protest based on interviews with activists from “Letzte Generation”—and demonstrated how solidarity and shared experiences of success sustain long-term commitment.

A second focus was on Mental Labor research. Dr. Jan-Bennet Voltmer presented a joint study with Dr. Natalia Reich-Stiebert and PD Dr. Laura Froehlich: a newly developed scale that comprehensively and multidimensionally measures invisible organizational work in the household. The findings support “Mental Labor” as an independent construct that predicts satisfaction in couple relationships beyond purely physical housework.