This year’s Health Psychology Division Conference took place from September 15 to 19 in the beautiful city of Salzburg. The theme of the conference was: “Health and Sustainability: Two Sides of the Same Coin?”
Before the main conference began, our PhD students Rebecca Blase and Alice Seffen participated in the Summer School for Early Career Researchers. There, they not only practiced science pitches but also explored different career paths in health psychology
At the main conference, Prof. Simone Dohle and Ann-Sophie Schenk joined Rebecca and Alice.
Rebecca presented a research project on the role of the source in debunking health-related misinformation. Her talk sparked great interest and lively discussions, including questions about the role of ChatGPT as an information source.
As part of a symposium on sustainable nutrition, Alice presented a research project on self-control strategies to reduce meat consumption. In addition, she gave a talk on debunking meat-related myths using the “truth sandwich”. Both of her presentations received positive feedback and led to inspiring follow-up discussions.
Ann-Sophie presented the results of her master’s thesis, which she conducted in our Health and Risk Communication Lab. Her study investigated how the availability of vegetarian menu options and the introduction of a “Veggie Day” influence food choices. For her outstanding work, she was awarded the Early Career Award for the best master’s thesis in the field of health psychology – congratulations!
Other conference highlights included a panel discussion on how health psychologists can become more actively involved in political decision-making processes, as well as an inspiring keynote on the synergies between health and environmental psychology.
We have returned with numerous new insights, valuable feedback, and new ideas!
