Jana Straßheim, MSc

"We rarely do anything alone, we are usually in the company of other people. I am fascinated by people and social interactions - how we experience such situations and communicate in them, especially non-verbally. In addition to the way we communicate, I am particularly interested in the interplay of our social and physical environment and its influence on our health or our sustainability behaviour.

Charles Spence puts it in a nutshell in Gastrophysics: "The table is the original social network". That is why I am investigating eating together as model for social interaction and invite people to eat in the lab. Objective movement data is recorded with video tracking and the participants are asked about their subjective experience. This data can be used to analyse several levels of group interaction. I enjoy meeting this challenge every day, supported by inspiring colleagues and a wonderful team."

https://orcid.org/0009-0002-5393-7182

Professional activity

• since 01/2020 Academic staff member, doctoral candidate
  CASCB Cluster of Excellence, University of Konstanz
• since 05/2019 Academic staff member, doctoral candidate
  Working Group Psychological Assessment & Health Psychology, University of Konstanz
• 04/2018 - 04/2019 Student assistant
  Working Group Psychological Assessment & Health Psychology, University of Konstanz
• 03/ 2017- 08/2017 Working student HR Marketing, Social Media & Online Communication
  ZF Friedrichshafen
• 03/ 2017- 08/2017 Intern HR Marketing, Talent Attraction & Social Media
  ZF Friedrichshafen
• 05/2015 - 08/2016 Student assistant
  Working Group Psychological Assessment & Health Psychology, University of Konstanz
• 09/2014 - 02/2015 Intern Market Research, Brand & Communication
  Kantar TNS, Hamburg
• 12/2013 - 08/2014 Student assistant
  Working Group Psychological Assessment & Health Psychology, University of Konstanz

Qualification

• 03/2019 Master of Science in Psychology, University of Konstanz
  The supermarkets next door - A cross-sectional analysis of retail density and BMI in children and adolescents in Germany
• 09/2016 Bachelor of Science in Psychology, University of Konstanz
  The colour of food – An Ecological Momentary Assessment study examining colour variety in daily eating behaviour

Research projects

Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour - Project Individual and Collective Appetite

(funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the EXC Collective Behaviour)

Konstanz Life-Study: Prospective cohort study in which citizens of Constance are repeatedly examined in order to observe changes in nutrition, fitness and health over a longer period of time.
Sub-project of the SMARTACT project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Memberships in professional organisations

European Health Psychology Society (EHPS)

Courses

My teaching philosophy is to facilitate the transfer of scientific knowledge into real-world applications. I believe students should have the opportunity to develop their abilities, engage in creative problem-solving, collaborate in teams to develop their own ideas, and conduct the sub-processes of scientific work independently. Additionally, I often incorporate training in presentation and communication skills, as well as strategies for managing stress, into my teaching approach.

Offered seminars on applied health psychology, behavioural observation and recording health-related behaviour (methods and diagnostics in occupational and health psychology):

• Socially healthy - The social influence on health behaviour
• Behavioural Observation of health related behaviour
• Getting Healthy, Staying healthy - Health models & theories in use
• Why good intentions are not enough?! Models of Health Behaviour
• Mobile Interventions in Health