Members:
Anja Eder (spokesperson), Otto Bodi-Fernandez, Markus Hadler,Sabine Haring-Mosbacher, Beate Klösch, Matthias Penker, Dieter Reicher, Karin Scaria-Braunstein, Bettina Stadler, Rebecca Wardana, Thomas Zenkl
Former members:
Max Haller (em.), Franz Höllinger (pens.)
Brief description
The research group's main focus is on the emergence, continuity and change of social behaviour and attitudinal patterns from an intercultural comparative and historical-sociological perspective. In the initial research area, the change in attitudes and behaviour is explored on the basis of national and international comparative survey data concerning the following topics. The survey data originates from the participation in the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) and as the principal investigator of the Social Survey Austria (SSÖ).
- Social inequality and social justice
- Environment and climate
- Work (working conditions and working time organisation with a focus on gender aspects)
- Digital societies (digital divide and participation)
- Family and gender roles
Together with the Centre for Social Research, the research area is also responsible for archiving social science data as part of AUSSDA - The Austrian Social Science Data Archive.
In the second research area, the theory of civilisation as propsed by Norbert Elias is applied to examine, processes of long-term change in psychological dispositions and mentalities in connection with the transformation of social and institutional structures. These processes are examined from an international comparative and diachronic perspective. The subject of the analyses includes the national habitus, coping with war experiences and the transformation of nationalism. The common methodological basis of these studies is the content analysis of primary texts (novels, diaries, internet forums, etc.), which provide access to the emotional state of individuals in specific life contexts.