Rainer K. Silbereisen

Rainer K. Silbereisen is currently Professor and Head of the Department of Developmental Psychology at the University of Jena (Germany), Adjunct Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at the Pennsylvania State University (USA), Director of the Center for Applied Developmental Science (CADS), and member of the Board of Governors of the University of Haifa, Israel. He is Fellow of the American Psychological Association and Member of the European Academy of Sciences (London). He was Editor of the International Journal of Behavioral Development and the Journal European Psychologist. He was Chair of the Board of the German Social Science Infrastructure Services (Gesis), is a former President of the German Psychological Society and was President of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development. Since 2008 he is President of the International Union of Psychological Science. A psychologist by training, he has been involved in interdisciplinary large scale research on the role of social change in positive and maladaptive human development, utilizing a cross-cultural and biopsychosocial format. With the help of private foundations, he has established training programs for young investigators from countries with weak scientific infrastructure. He has edited about 20 books and published more than 300 scholarly research papers.

His main research interests concern human development across the life-span, particularly adolescence and early adulthood. The theoretical framework focuses on dynamic interactionism, stressing the combined role of biological, psychological, and socio-cultural determinants of human development. For many years, longitudinal studies have been conducted on substantive topics such as problem behaviors in adolescence, effects of early adversities on the timing of psychosocial transitions, the impact of social change on adolescent development, acculturation among immigrants, and biobehavioral aspects of human development. Many of these studies have been conducted in an explicit cross-national and cross-cultural format, and consequently he has been enjoying much international collaboration.

 

Recent Publications

 

Papers

In press

Haase, C. M., Landberg, M., Lüdke, K., Schmidt, C., & Silbereisen, R. K. (in press). The later, the better? Early, average, and late timing of sexual experiences in adolescence and psychosocial adjustment. European Psychologist.

Obschonka, M., Silbereisen, R. K., & Schmitt-Rodermund, E. ( in press). Successful entrepreneurship as developmental outcome: A path model from a life span perspective of human development. European Psychologist.

Obschonka, M., Silbereisen, R. K., Schmitt-Rodermund, E. & Stuetzer, M. (in press). Nascent entrepreneurship and the developing individual: Early entrepreneurial competence in adolescence and venture creation success during the career. Journal of Vocational Behavior.

Pinquart, M., & Silbereisen, R. K. (in press). Entwicklung des Umweltbewusstseins über die Lebensspanne. Umweltpsychologie.

Pinquart, M., Silbereisen, R.K., & Grümer, S. (in press). Perceived demands of social change and depressive symptoms in adolescents from different educational tracks. Youth and Society

Titzmann, P. F., Silbereisen, R. K., Mesch, G., & Schmitt-Rodermund, E. (in press). Migration-specific hassles among adolescent immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Germany and Israel. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology.

Weichold, K., Brambosch, A., & Silbereisen, R. K. (in press). Do Girls Profit More? Gender Specific Effectiveness of a Life Skills Program against Alcohol Consumption in Early Adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence.

2011

Haase, C. M., & Silbereisen, R. K. (2011). Effects of positive affect on risk perceptions in adolescence and young adulthood. Journal of Adolescence, 34(1), 29-37

Pavlova, M. K., Haase, C. M., & Silbereisen, R. K. (2011). Early, on-time, and late behavioural autonomy in adolescence: Psychosocial correlates in young and middle adulthood. Journal of Adolescence, 34(2), 361-370

2010

Obschonka, M., Silbereisen, R. K., & Schmitt-Rodermund, E. (2010). Enterpreneurial intentions as developmental outcome. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 77(1), 63-72

Pinquart, M., Stotzka, C., & Silbereisen, R. K. (2010). Ambivalence in decisions about childbearing. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 28(2), 212-220

Silbereisen, R. K., & Tomasik, M. J. (2010). Human behaviour in response to social change: A guide for the special section. European Psychologist, 15(4), 243-245

Tomasik, M. J., Silbereisen, R. K., & Pinquart, M. (2010). Individuals negotiating demands of social and change: A control theoretical approach. European Psychologist, 15(4), 246-259

Tomasik, M. J., Silbereisen, R. K., & Heckhausen, J. (2010). Is it adaptive to disengage from demands of social change? Adjustment to developmental barriers in opportunity-deprived regions. Motivation and Emotion, 34(4), 384-398. Full Text

Pinquart, M., & Silbereisen, R. K. (2010). Patterns of fulfilment in the domains of work, intimate relationship, and leisure. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 5, 147-164.

Pinquart, M., Silbereisen, R. K., & Körner, A. (2010). Coping with family demands under difficult economic conditions: Associations with depressive symptoms. Swiss Journal of Psychology, 69, 53-63.

Silbereisen, R. K., & Tomasik, M. J. (2010). Development as action in changing contexts: Perspectives from six countries. Historical Social Research, 35, 57-75. Full Text

Spaeth, M., Weichold, K., Silbereisen, R.K., & Wiesner, M. (2010). Examining the differential effectiveness of a life-skills program (IPSY) on alcohol use trajectories in early adolescence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 78, 334-348.

Xinyin Chen, X., Bian, Y., Xin, T, Wang, L., & Silbereisen, R. K. (2010). Perceived social change and childrearing attitudes in China. European Psychologist, 15(4), 260-270


2009

Pinquart, M., Silbereisen, R. K., & Körner, A. (2009). Perceived Work-Related Demands Associated with Social Change, Control Strategies, and Psychological Well-Being: Do Associations Vary by Regional Economic Conditions? Evidence from Germany. European Psychologist, 14(3), 207-219.

Tomasik, M. J., & Silbereisen, R. K. (2009). Demands of social change as a function of the political context, institutional filters, and psychosocial resources. Social Indicators Research, 94, 13-28.

Books

Silbereisen, R. K., & Chen, X. (2010). Social change and human development: Concepts and results. London: SAGE Publications.


Book Chapters

Pinquart, M., & Silbereisen, R. K. (in press). Youth in Europe. In M. H. Bornstein (ed.), Handbook of cross-cultural developmental science. Hove, UK: Psychology Press/Taylor & Francis.

Silbereisen, R. K., & Tomasik, M. J. (in press). Psychosocial functioning in the context of social, economic, and political change. In X. Chen & K. H. Rubin (Eds.), Socioemotional development in cultural context. New York: Guilford Press.

Pinquart, M. & Silbereisen, R. K. (2010). Demands of social change in Germany as reflected by self-referential temporal comparisons. In O. Kapella, C. Rille-Pfeiffer, M. Rupp, M. & N. F. Schneider (eds.), Family diversity (pp. 253-266). Opladen, Germany: Barbara Budrich Publishers.


Research Reports

Silbereisen, R. K., & Tomasik, M. J. (2011). Mapping demands of social change. LLAKES Research Paper 21.


Other Publications

Silbereisen, R. K., & Tomasik, M. J. (Eds.). (in press). Changing contexts - changing individuals: Psychological approaches to social, economic, and political change. [Special section]. European Psychologist, 15(4).

Best, H., Bluhm, K., Fritsch, M., & Silbereisen, R. K. (2010). Transitions – transformations: Trajectories of social, economic and political change after communism [Special issue]. Historical Social Research, 35(2).

Silbereisen, R. K., Ritchie, P., & Overmier, B. (2010). Psychology at the vortex of convergence and divergence: The case of social change. In United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and International Social Science Council (ISSC) (Eds.), World social science report: Knowledge divides (pp. 213-217). Paris, France: UNESCO Publishing.

 

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