Research
Structural Equation Models (SEMs) provide a highly flexible framework for analyzing the mean and covariance structure of data. Specifically, they allow us to test how well a theorized model fits empircally obtained data sets.
I am researching new ways of judging a model's goodness-of-fit and developing simple solutions (such as the
R package ezCutoffs by Schmalbach, Irmer, & Schultze, 2019). My main point of focus is making clear distinctions between statistical significance and practical relevance in statistical decision-making.
In many cases, psychological research is aimed at variables that are not directly observable. In optimizing the theories and procedures that our measurements of such latent constructs are based on, we can vastly improve our inferences.
I am mainly working on understanding how measures work differently for different individuals and groups (
Hinz et al., 2020;
Schmalbach & Zenger, 2019). Specifically, I am working on method and response biases and how to account for them in our analytical models.
This includes analyses of differential item functioning and measurement invariance, as well as the usage of multilevel models (
Schmalbach, Zenger, Michaelides, et al., 2020).
Most recently, I am working on translating the simulation-based
ezCutoffs approach to the testing of measurement invariance.
I am highly interested in basic socio-cognitive processes such as attitude and memory formation.
During my post-graduate studies I therefore started conducting research on shared reality, which is the experienced commonality of inner states with another person.
Shared reality is a ubiquitous phenomenon that can have a substantial impact on people's attitudes and beliefs along with the decisions they make (
Echterhoff & Schmalbach, 2018).
I developed a self-report measure of target-specific shared reality (SR-T;
Schmalbach, Hennemuth, & Echterhoff, 2019; Schmalbach Rossignac-Milon, et al., under review)
and applied it in a novel paradigm to show how shared reality can transfer from target to target, given sufficient trust in one's counterpart (Schmalbach, Rossignac-Milon, Higgins, & Echerhoff, in preparation).
A current project involves the disentanglement of implicit and explicit attachement measures (Petrowski et al., in preparation).
Psychological disorders of all kinds are multiply determined in their genesis and their treatment. Factors of interest range from individual risk and protective factors (such as personality, attitudes, and behavior etc.) to environmental determinants (such as family and work system)
and societal ones (such as education and socio-economic status).In my research, I am interested in identifying these key factors and derriving interventions on intra- and interinindividual levels as well as on the societal level.
As a result, my employed methods range from intervention studies to longitudinal surveys. I am particularly excited at the prospect of connecting social cognition research with clinical topics.
Examples: