Stephan Bongard

• Dr. rer. nat.
• Professor at Goethe University Frankfurt

We propose that emotion psychology would significantly gain from including narrative(s) and the conversational negotiation of their appropriateness. Using the example of anger, we argue that narrators need to construct plausible narratives of emotional events to achieve validating responses by listeners. We argue first that narrators attempt to dem...

Introduction Due to an inhibited tryptophan resorption, patients with fructose malabsorption are expected to experience decreased serotonin synthesis. A deficiency of serotonin may cause internalizing mental disorders like depression and anxiety, and a fructose-oriented eating behavior may affect these symptoms. Methods The parents of 24 children...

Beneficial effects of music on wellbeing and group cohesion are well established. Furthermore, participation in music groups has been shown to be associated with increased orientation to the host culture, while orientation to culture of origin appears to remain unaffected. In order to gain insight into the effects of music activities on acculturati...

Previous work suggests that musical training can enhance acculturation processes. This study examined this assumption among third-graders with migrant backgrounds within a longitudinal framework. A total of 54 children (31 females; 23 males; mean age: 8.85 years) were assigned to one of three groups in a quasi-randomized procedure: (a) music traini...

We launched a multinational study to examine changes in substance use during the early phase of the pandemic and to identify factors related to these changes, with a specific focus on the effect of polysubstance use in increasing nicotine, alcohol, and cannabis use. This study was conducted using an online survey in English and seven other language...

Cultural and biographical influences on the expression of emotions manifest themselves in so-called “display rules.” These rules determine the time, intensity, and situations in which an emotion is expressed. To date, only a small number of empirical studies deal with this transformation of how migrants, who are faced with a new culture, may change...

While tobacco use rates are relatively high among East African immigrants in the U.S., factors contributing to this high rate are largely unknown. Acculturation is associated with stress and substance use. Whether acculturation styles are related to stress and current tobacco use has not been tested among this population. We conducted a cross-secti...

Growing up in cities is associated with increased risk for developing mental health problems. Stress exposure and altered stress regulation have been proposed as mechanisms linking urbanicity and psychopathology, with most research conducted in adult populations. Here, we focus on early childhood, and investigate urbanicity, behavior problems and t...

Bei jungen Migrant*innen fallen die mit der Akkulturation und Adaptation an eine neue Kultur einhergehenden Herausforderungen zeitlich mit alterstypischen Veränderungen und Entwicklungsaufgaben zusammen. Für das Erwachsenenalter gut erforschte, mit dem Migrant*innen-Status einhergehende Stressoren und Ressourcen müssen daher vor dem Hintergrund die...

Learning to play a musical instrument is associated with different, partially conflicting emotions. This paper describes the development and psychometric properties of the Emotions while Learning an Instrument Scale (ELIS). In a longitudinal study with 545 German elementary school children factorial structure and psychometric properties were evalua...

Zusammenfassung Der Verlust eines Menschen kann ernsthafte gesundheitliche Konsequenzen für die Hinterbliebenen bedeuten. Bislang fehlt ein struktureller Rahmen, der die Versorgung Betroffener systematisch regelt und den Aufbau qualitativer Standards bundesweit ermöglicht. Für den britischen Versorgungsraum liegt ein Stepped-Care-Modell für eine pr...

Die in dem Kapitel dargestellte Studie untersucht im Rahmen des Verbundprojektes "MINUTE" ("Musikalische Interventionen für nachhaltige Eingliederung und kulturelle Teilhabe geflüchteter Kinder und Heranwachsender") die Effekte eines musikalischen Freizeitangebots für geflüchtete, junge Erwachsene auf Akkulturationsprozesse sowie gesundheitliche un...

Die zugrunde liegende Studie beschäftigte sich erstmals mit der wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Amokfahrten in Deutschland zwischen 2000 und 2017 und schloss 22 von 46 ausgewerteten Strafakten in die nähere Betrachtung ein. Die überwiegend männlichen Einzeltäter waren mittleren Alters, ledig und planten ihre Taten nur selten. Die Tatsituation e...

Recent research has identified significant correlations between traumatic events and depression in refugees. However, few studies have addressed the role of acculturation strategies in this relationship. This study explored the relationship between cultural orientation, traumatic events and depression in female refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Eri...

Zusammenfassung Ziel Überblick englisch- und deutschsprachiger Messinstrumente zur Diagnostik von klinisch relevanten Trauerverläufen und Trauer in ihrer Multidimensionalität. Methodik Systematischer Literaturreview. Ergebnisse Insgesamt konnten 22 Inventare extrahiert werden, die sich unterteilen lassen in allgemeine und spezielle Verfahren zur Ak...

Die FRAKK ist ein Fragebogen für erwachsene Migranten, die in erster oder nachfolgender Generation in Deutschland leben. Der Selbstbeurteilungsbogen erfragt die individuelle Akkulturationsstrategie. Erfassen Sie, zu welchen Grad sich eine Person an der Aufnahmekultur und/oder an der Herkunftskultur orientiert. Der Selbstbeurteilungsbogen eignet sic...

From an evolutionary perspective, musical behavior such as playing an instrument can be considered as part of an individual’s courting behavior. Playing a musical instrument or singing might fulfill a function similar to that of a bird’s colored feathers: attracting attention. Therefore, musicians may be rated as more attractive than non-musicians....

The aim of this study was to investigate the interdependence of depression and acculturation in migrant adolescents in Germany.The sample contained 416 adolescents (53% female, 71% migrants). Migrant adolescents reported more severe depressive symptoms than Germans. Migrant participants showed higher depression scores when they reported being less...

Die Zuverlässigkeit alltäglicher Dinge ist eines der Fundamente der Orientierung in unserer Lebenswelt. Viele Gegenstände offenbaren jedoch auf den zweiten Blick andere, oftmals ganz unerwartete Eigenschaften. Diese zeigen sich in neuen Umgangsweisen, führen zu neuen Kontexten und bedingen mitunter überraschende Umwertungen. Die Beiträge dieses Ban...

Attachment theory is commonly used to investigate children’s psychosocial development. To demonstrate cultural variability and to advance the idea of attachment as a collective resource, we assessed children’s attachment networks during middle childhood among the Nseh, a Cameroonian clan with distinct concepts of family and childhood. Using photo e...

This paper describes the development and psychometric properties of the Frankfurt Youth Acculturation Scale (FRACC-Y), a bidimensional instrument designed to assess orientation to culture of origin, orientation to host culture and acculturation strategy (i.e. assimilation, integration, separation and marginalization). Data were obtained from 292 ad...

In this article, we develop a child-centered network approach to attachment during middle childhood. Following monotropic ideas, current attachment research focuses on parental attachment figures despite the expansion of the children’s social environment during middle childhood, failing to generate a comprehensive and structured overview of all ind...

Cultural psychology assumes that the ecocultural conditions of a particular setting shape children’s pathways, resulting in multiple adaptive solutions to universal developmental tasks. While the adaptivity of attachment and children’s psychosocial development during the early years has been thoroughly investigated, attachment research during middl...

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of an Arabic version of the trait anger and anger expression scales of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI). Methods: This study took place between April 2005 and August 2014. Adults in Yemen (n = 334) and Tunisia (n = 200) were recruited from university campuses and...

Extended music lessons have been suggested to reduce stress responses, and to increase well-being in primary school children. We investigated this assumption with regard to the provocation of aggressive behavior in primary school children (N = 34; 7–8 years of age). A computerized modified version of the Point-Subtraction Aggression Game (‘Stimulat...

Background: Risk for smoking relapse may be associated with context-dependent social and behavioral cues. However, lack of research examining the role of trait negative mood such as anger in this relationship and assessment of objective indices related to smoking status (e.g., biochemical measures) may limit existing findings. We examined the role...

Musikalische Emotionsregulation bei Kindern ist bisher wenig untersucht. Das vorliegende Kapitel berichtet daher sowohl Befunde zu erwachsener und jugendlicher als auch zu kindlicher Emotionsregulation durch Musik. Musik scheint ein über alle Altersstufen hinweg verwendeter Emotionsregulationsmechanismus zu sein, der vor allem zum Auslösen positive...

Music is a promising candidate for the enhancement of cultural integration through increased group cohesion and social support. This study assessed the impact of a music program on elementary school- aged migrants’ cultural orientation, as measured via the Frankfurt Acculturation Scale for Children (Frankenberg et al., 2013). The music program is a...

The present study addresses visual attention and processing speed in primary school children (N = 345; 7–8 years of age) who received either music (MC) or natural science training (NC) over a period of 18 months. Dependent variables were collected three times (T1–T3) and included measures for processing speed, visual attention and cognitive music a...

Anger has become one of the most widely studied emotions in the psychological literature. In order to accurately assess individual differences in emotions, validated and reliable measures must be incorporated to compare findings across studies. One of the most widely used anger scales is the Novaco Anger Scale—Provocation Inventory (NAS-PI; Novaco...

This paper reviews research on young migrants in Germany. Particular attention is given to the question of how Germany’s history of migration, immigration policies, and public attitude toward migrants influence the transcultural adaptation of children and adolescents from different ethnic backgrounds. We combine past research with the results of ne...

This paper describes the development and psychometric properties of the Frankfurt Acculturation Scale for Children (FRACC-C). Two studies were conducted for scale refinement, assessment of factorial structure and psychometric evaluation using data from a total of 387 elementary school-aged children from two metropolitan areas in Germany. Explorator...

Instrumental music training has been shown to enhance cognitive processing beyond general intelligence. We examined this assumption with regard to working memory performance in primary school-aged children (N = 50; 7-8 years of age) within a longitudinal study design. Half of the children participated in an extended music education program with 45...

This study examined the effects of a school-based instrumental training program on the development of verbal and visual memory skills in primary school children. Participants either took part in a music program with weekly 45 min sessions of instrumental lessons in small groups at school, or they received extended natural science training. A third...

This chapter examines the influences of musical activities such as listening, singing, or dancing on the endocrine system. The underlying assumption is that psychological processes associated with musical experiences lead to changes in the hormonal systems of brain and body. It begins with a brief introduction to general questions of psychoneuroend...

Khat (Catha edulis) is a widely used stimulating drug often consumed in daily routine in Yemen and East African countries. Chewing khat acutely elicits states of euphoria and feelings of well-being which later shift into emotional instability and low mood. Little is known about emotional regulation in habitual khat chewers. In this study, we compar...

Previous studies have shown that self-reports of an individual's anger expression vary between the home and the work domain. The aim of this study was to investigate the validity of such self-reports by comparing them with reports of intimate partners and work colleagues in the respective domain. Participants (N= 86) rated their anger expression on...

Past research has suggested positive influences of musical experiences on people's health and well-being. Empirical work has focused on musical activities such as listening and singing, while neglecting the potential effects of dancing. In the present study, 475 non-professional adult dancers completed an online survey, which sought to evaluate the...

The present study examines the emotional and hormonal responses to tango dancing and the specific influences of the presence of music and partner on these responses. Twenty-two tango dancers were assessed within four conditions, in which the presence of music and a dance partner while dancing were varied in a 2 × 2 design. Before each condition and...

Zusammenfassung Die Tätigkeit professioneller Orchestermusiker wird entgegen einem allgemeinen Stereotyp von den Betroffenen häufig als belastend er-lebt und führt, wie empirische Studien belegen, zu starken Stressreaktionen und zu einer Viel-zahl von Belastungssymptomen. In dieser Studie werden Arbeitsplatzfaktoren und soziale Stressoren bei profe...

Our unit investigates the relationship of emotional processes (experience, expression, and coping), their physiological correlates and possible health outcomes. We study domain specific anger expression behavior and associated cardiovascular loads and found e.g. that particularly an open anger expression at work is associated with greater blood pre...

Nicotine may be used to manage negative emotions, and recent research suggests that smokers with high levels of hostility may use cigarettes to cope with anger provoking situations. This study evaluated the extent to which a high level of trait anger is associated with risk for relapse among smokers interested in cessation. Chronic smokers with dif...

The hypothesis that intense anger experience may increase risk for or exacerbate cardiovascular diseases has been under active theoretical and empirical interest for decades. Biopsychological models of disease suggest that persons displaying exaggerated physiological responses to acute emotional or stressful states are at a greater risk to develop...

The objective of the present study was to examine the influence of personality traits and coping strategies on performance anxiety among professional orchestra musicians. The sample consisted of 122 members of six German symphony and opera orchestras. The musicians were asked to complete questionnaires measuring various personality traits. In addit...

The purpose of the present study was to extend a previous work in a sample of American undergraduates demonstrating the effects of situational factors on reported anger expression behavior and blood pressure. General and domain-specific anger expression behavior and subjective work stress were assessed in 218 nurses from the Frankfurt am Main metro...

The present study investigates the effects of choir music on secretory immunoglobulin A (S-IgA), cortisol, and emotional states in members of a mixed amateur choir. Subjects participated in two conditions during two rehearsals 1 week apart, namely singing versus listening to choral music. Saliva samples and subjective measures of affect were taken...

Hostility is associated with coronary heart disease. However, the dimensionality of hostility and its relationship to coronary diseases has not been clarified sufficiently. Based on the act-frequency-approach a new questionnaire for assessing hostility has been developed. The new scale, the State-Trait-Anger-Expression-Inventory(STAXI), the Cynicis...

Anger expression has been linked to hypertension, although assessment of anger expression has not accounted for situational influences. We predicted that anger expression style varies across social situations. Two studies assessed reported anger expression in three domains (home, work, and during free time) and compared findings to those obtained u...

Zusammenfassung Mit funktioneller Magnetresonanztomographie (fMRT) untersuchten wir die Wirkung ausgewählter klassischromantischer Instrumentalmusik auf die zerebrale Aktivität. Einer Stichprobe von n = 17 (7 weiblich) gesunden erwachsenen Versuchspersonen wurden je 10 Musikausschnitte mit »fröhlichem« und »traurigem« Ausdruck sowie rosa Rauschen j...

Functional magnet resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to investigate the effects of selected classical-romantic music on cerebral activation. We presented music excerpts representing »happy« and »sad« emotions and, in addition, pink noise to a group of healthy adult listeners (n = 17; 7 female) during fMRI scans. Each stimulus category consisted of t...

Previous studies have shown that migration and acculturation lead to higher blood pressures and a higher prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. Heightened cardiovascular reactivity is considered as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine cardiovascular reactivity in young and healthy sec...

Previous research showed that cardiovascular responses during music listening was influenced not only by musical features, but also by the biography of the listener. The present study investigated emotional and cardiovascular reactions of musicians and non-musicians to “happy” and “sad” pieces of music. We hypothesized that musicians would show str...

Previous research showed that cardiovascular responses during music listening was influenced not only by musical features, but also by the biography of the listener. The present study investigated emotional and cardiovascular reactions of musicians and non-musicians to 'happy' and 'sad' pieces of music. Fifty-five musician and non-musician voluntee...

Zusammenfassung. Theoretischer Hintergrund: Ärger und Ärgerverarbeitungsprozesse werden häufig im Zusammenhang mit unterschiedlichen psychischen und psychosomatischen Störungsbildern diskutiert. Fragestellung: Es sollten die psychometrischen Eigenschaften des State-Trait-Ärgerausdrucks-Inventar (STAXI) an einer großen klinischen Stichprobe überprüf...

We compared 475 patients with at least one suicide attempt in their life with 3737 patients without former suicide attempts in their behavioral dispositions for depression, anxiety, anger and anger coping styles. At the beginning of their stay in a psychosomatic hospital all patients filled out a short version of the General Depression Scale, the t...

We compared 475 patients with at least one suicide attempt in their life with 3737 patients without former suicide attempts in their behavioral dispositions for depression, anxiety, anger and anger coping styles. At the beginning of their stay in a psychosomatic hospital all patients filled out a short version of the General Depression Scale, the t...

This study evaluated the influence of overt anger expression style and defensiveness on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) responses to acute psychological stress. These personality traits are thought to modulate the stress cardiovascular response and influence disease risk, however, little is known about their influence on HPA respons...

Hostility and anger-expression style are personality traits often associated with elevated cardiovascular reactivity and potential heightened risk for cardiovascular disease. In the present study a sample of 50 young, healthy men were divided into groups low or high on the Cook-Medley Hostility scale and on anger-out from Spielberger's Anger Expres...

This study addresses the question of whether effortful active coping and anger provocation add in their effects on cardiovascular responses. Heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) responses of 64 female students were collected during an active versus nonactive coping task with and without provocation. Aft...

In this study, we evaluated cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, and psychological adjustment to repeated presentations of a public speaking and a mental arithmetic task. Brief versions of mental arithmetic tasks have been used widely in previous reactivity studies, and growing attention to more socially salient tasks has led to the increased use of pub...

Examines effort hypothesis of cardiovascular effects of active coping on the bases of performance data in 2 experiments. In Exp 1, 84 female students worked on mental arithmetic tasks for 20 minutes. Ss had to solve the problems mentally and type the results into a computer. HR, systolic and diastolic blood pressure were then measured. In Exp 2, 36...

This study was designed to examine the invested mental effort during active and passive coping by means of performance data. Dual-task performance was measured while subjects coped with a situation, either actively or passively. Thirty-six male students worked on a primary mental arithmetic task (MAT) and a secondary choice reaction time task simul...

Heightened cardiovascular reactivity under conditions of active coping is often seen as an effect of enhanced mental effort. To examine this hypothesis, task performance and cardiovascular reactivity were investigated under conditions of active coping, passive coping, and neutrality. Eighty-four subjects worked for 20 minutes on a mental arithmetic...

This study examined the hypothesis of a covariation of cardiovascular and emotional responses in an aversive active coping situation. A letter detection task was presented to 40 male students. From a stream of letters moving across a screen, subjects were required to eliminate a specific letter. Control was manipulated by instruction. Half the subj...