Member of the Social Processes Lab
Kevin Winter has been a researcher at the IWM since September 2016. He works in the Social Processes lab. In his research, he investigates ways of exerting social influence to reduce societal polarization. He focuses on the use of different forms of communication (e.g. negations), which trigger cognitive conflicts and thus lead to more openness for new perspectives (cognitive flexibility). He also examines the prerequisites for interpersonal and intergroup trust as well as the influence of conspiracy theories in the context of vaccination and climate protection.
In 2016, Kevin Winter graduated from the University of Tübingen with a M.Sc. in psychology and obtained his PhD in 2019 (summa cum laude) at the IWM. He received the dissertation award of the University of Tübingen and was nominated for the Leibniz PhD award. In his dissertation, he investigated how intergroup relations can be improved using cognitive mechanisms. A particular focus was on the use of communication to change attitudes.
Kevin Winter is an active member of the Fachnetzwerk Sozialpsychologie zu Flucht und Integration, a network of German social psychologists on the topic of refugees and integration.
Flexibility of attitudes and behaviors as a result of cognitive conflicts
Understanding and fighting the impact of conspiracy mentality
Pummerer, L., Ditrich, L., Winter, K., & Sassenberg, K. (in press). Think about it! Deliberation reduces the negative relation between conspiracy belief and adherence to prosocial norms. Social Psychological and Personality Science. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/19485506221144150 [Data]
Open Access
Winter, K., Scholl, A., & Sassenberg, K. (in press). Flexible minds make more moderate views: Subtractive counterfactuals mitigate strong views about immigrants’ trustworthiness. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/13684302221102876 [Data]
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Winter, K., & Epstude, K. (2023). Motivational consequences of counterfactual mindsets: Does counterfactual structure influence the use of conservative or risky tactics? Motivation and Emotion, 47(1), 100-114. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11031-022-09979-6 [Data]
Open Access
Pummerer, L., Böhm, R., Lilleholt, L., Winter, K., Zettler, I., & Sassenberg, K. (2022). Conspiracy theories and their societal effects during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 13(1), 49-59. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/19485506211000217 [Data]
Open Access
Pummerer, L., Winter, K., & Sassenberg, K. (2022). Addressing covid-19 vaccination conspiracy theories and vaccination intentions. European Journal of Health Communication, 3(2), 1-12. https://dx.doi.org/10.47368/ejhc.2022.201 [Data]
Open Access
Sassenberg, K.*, Winter, K.*, Becker, D., Ditrich, L., Scholl, A., & Moskowitz, G. B. (2022). Flexibility mindsets: Reducing biases that result from spontaneous processing. European Review of Social Psychology, 33(1), 171-213. *shared first-authorship. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2021.1959124
Open Access
Winter, K., Hornsey, M. J., Pummerer, L., & Sassenberg, K. (2022). Anticipating and defusing the role of conspiracy beliefs in shaping opposition to wind farms. Nature Energy, 7(12), 1200-1207. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-01164-w [Data]
Open Access
Winter, K., Pummerer, L., Hornsey, M. J., & Sassenberg, K. (2022). Pro‐vaccination subjective norms moderate the relationship between conspiracy mentality and vaccination intentions. British Journal of Health Psychology, 27(2), 390-405. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12550 [Data]
Open Access
Knab, N.*, Winter, K.*, & Steffens, M. C. (2021). Flexing the extremes: Increasing cognitive flexibility with a paradoxical leading questions intervention. Social Cognition, 39(2), 225-242 *shared first-authorship. https://dx.doi.org/10.1521/soco.2021.39.2.225 [Data]
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Winter, K., & Sassenberg, K. (2021). Mitigating the default? The influence of ingroup diversity on outgroup trust. International Review of Social Psychology, 34(1), Article 19. https://dx.doi.org/10.5334/irsp.520 [Data]
Open Access
Winter, K., Scholl, A., & Sassenberg, K. (2021). A matter of flexibility: Changing outgroup attitudes through messages with negations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 120(4), 956-976. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000305 [Data]
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Winter, K., Zapf, B., Hütter, M., Tichy, N., & Sassenberg, K. (2021). Selective exposure in action: Do visitors of product evaluation portals select reviews in a biased manner? Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 15(1), Article 4. https://dx.doi.org/10.5817/cp2021-1-4 [Data]
Open Access
Landkammer, F., Winter, K., Thiel, A., & Sassenberg, K. (2019). Team Sports Off the Field: Competing Excludes Cooperating for Individual but Not for Team Athletes. Frontiers in Psychology, 10:2470. https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02470
Open Access
Winter, K., & Sassenberg, K. (2022). Soziale Kategorisierung, Stereotype, Vorurteile. In C. Cohrs, N. Knab, & G. Sommer (Eds.), Handbuch Friedenspsychologie (35). Philipps-Universität Marburg. https://dx.doi.org/10.17192/es2022.0052
Pummerer, L., Winter, K., & Sassenberg, K. (2022, July 14-17). Always going against the grain? On conspiracy belief and norm adherence. 44th Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP). Athens, Greece. [Talk]
Pummerer, L., Winter, K., & Sassenberg, K. (2022, September 10-15). Addressing conspiracy theories before they spread. 52. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Psychologie (DGPs). Hildesheim. [Talk]
Sassenberg, K., & Winter, K. (2022, September 10-15). Flexibility mindsets: Reducing biases that result from spontaneous processing. 52. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Psychologie (DGPs). Hildesheim. [Talk]
Winter, K. (2022, March 10). Open mind for a different view: Flexibility mindsets as a strategy to reduce prejudice and polarization. Invited talk at the colloquium of the Social Psychology Lab. University of Groningen, The Netherlands. [Talk]
Winter, K. (2021, June 1). Flexibility mindsets: A novel strategy to reduce prejudice via (political) communication. Invited talk at The Boris Mints Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions to Global Challenges. The Gershon H. Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences, Conflict Resolution Lab, Tel Aviv University. Tel Aviv, Israel. [Talk]
Winter, K. (2021, November 24). Cognitive conflicts as a means to reduce societal polarization. Invited talk at the Colloquium of the General Psychology Lab. Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen. [Talk]
Winter, K., Pummerer, L., Hornsey, M., & Sassenberg, K. (2021, November 18-19). Pro-vaccination norms moderate the relationship between conspiracy mentality and vaccination intention. European Association of Social Psychology (EASP) Small Group Meeting: Social Implications of Conspiracy Theories. Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen. [Talk]
Winter, K., Scholl, A., & Sassenberg, K. (2021, June 30). Flexibility mindsets: A novel strategy to reduce prejudice via (political) communication. Eingeladener Vortrag, Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft. Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena. [Talk]
Winter, K., Scholl, A., & Sassenberg, K. (2021, October 4-6). Open mind for a different view: Flexibility mindsets as a strategy to reduce polarization. Invited talk at the Symposium on Belief Polarization. Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen. [Talk]
Winter, K., Scholl, A., & Sassenberg, K. (2021, February 25-26). Flexible minds, moderate views: How political communication can reduce extreme attitudes towards immigrants. 24 hours of Political Psychology. Scientific Online Meeting of the German Political Psychology Network. Jena. [Talk]
Wronska, M. K., Rietzschel, E., Nijstad, B., Winter, K., Baas, M., & Sassenberg, K. (2021, September 13-15). A systematic review and a meta-analysis of priming effects on creativity. European Social Cognition Network (ESCON) Transfer of Knowledge Conference 2021. Salzburg, Austria. [Talk]
Knab, N., Steffens, M. C., & Winter, K. (2020, June). A paradoxical intervention for improving intergroup relations in the refugee context: Cognitive and behavioral effects. 19th General Meeting of the European Association of Social Psychology (EASP). Krakow, Poland. (Conference cancelled). [Talk]
Winter, K., & Landmann, H. (2020, June). Science communication in the domain of refugee integration: Chances and challenges. Invited talk at Preconference on Rethinking and Acting with Refugees: Bridging between Science and Social Action. Krakow, Poland. (Preconference cancelled). [Talk]
Winter, K., Sassenberg, K., & Scholl, A. (2020, June). Getting the hard-to-get: Cognitive flexibility as means to reduce prejudice. 19th General Meeting of the European Association of Social Psychology (EASP). Krakow, Poland. (Conference cancelled). [Talk]
Winter, K. (2019, September). Current approaches to refugee integration II: Quo vadis? - Mechanisms of improving intergroup relations between majority members and refugees. 17. Tagung der Fachgruppe Sozialpsychologie. Köln, Germany. [Symposium Organisation]
Winter, K., Sassenberg, K., & Scholl, A. (2019, September). The impact of counterfactual thinking on the perceived trustworthiness of migrants. 17. Tagung der Fachgruppe Sozialpsychologie. Köln, Germany. [Talk]
Winter, K., Sassenberg, K., & Scholl, A. (2019, March). A matter of flexibility: How and when messages with negations enhance outgroup trust. 3rd International Convention of Psychological Science (ICPS). Paris, France. [Talk]
Winter, K., Sassenberg, K., & Scholl, A. (2019, February). Persuasive communication in intergroup settings: Messages with negations change outgroup attitudes via cognitive flexibility. Sozialpsychologisches Kolloquium. University of Mannheim, Germany. [Talk]
Winter, K., Sassenberg, K., & Scholl, A. (2019, July). Subtractive counterfactual thinking depolarizes attitudes towards immigrants. EASP Small Group Meeting ´Taking a cognitive perspective on social phenomena’. Tübingen, Germany. [Talk]
Zapf, B., Sassenberg, K., Winter, K., & Hütter, M. (2019, September). Do online customers select wisely? The influence of interface properties of product rating portals on review selection. 17. Tagung der Fachgruppe Sozialpsychologie. Köln, Germany. [Talk]
Sassenberg, K., & Winter, K. (2018, August). Enhancing trust in outgroups among the distrusting. Colloquium of the Center of Research in Social Psychology. Brisbane, Australien. [Talk]
Winter, K. (2018, September). Chances and challenges for successful integration of refugees: What can social psychology contribute? 51. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Psychologie (DGPs). Frankfurt. [Symposium Organisation]
Winter, K., & Sassenberg, K. (2018, September). Prejudice reduction through mediated communication - how messages with negations enhance outgroup trust among the highly prejudiced. 51. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Psychologie (DGPs). Frankfurt. [Talk]
Winter, K., Sassenberg, K., & Scholl, A. (2018, November). Building intergroup trust through cognitive flexibility. European Association Social Psychology (EASP) Meeting: "Polarization, Populism, Political Alienation: Causes and Consequences of Social Diversity and Inequality?". Landau. [Talk]
Winter, K., Sassenberg, K., & Scholl, A. (2018, December). Stereotype change through cognitive flexibility - how messages with negations enhance outgroup trust among the distrusting. 2018 Associatie van Sociaal-Psychologische Onderzoekers (ASPO) Conference. Nijmegen, The Netherlands. [Talk]
Winter, K., Sassenberg, K., & Scholl, A. (2018, November). Shaping outgroup trust through cognitive flexibility. Colloquium of the Social Psychology Lab. Groningen, The Netherlands. [Talk]
Winter, K., & Sassenberg, K. (2017, Mai). Der Einfluss unterschiedlicher Kommunikationsstrategien auf die intergruppale Vertrauensbildung. Interdisziplinärer Workshop "Körper im Visier - Körper und Visibilität in Diskriminierungsprozessen". Tübingen. [Vortrag]
Winter, K., & Sassenberg, K. (2017, June). Negations aren't that bad: Messages with negations enhance outgroup trust among the highly prejudiced. 1st International Symposium on Intergroup Communication. Thessaloniki, Greece. [Talk]
Winter, K., & Sassenberg, K. (2017, September). Negations aren't that bad: Messages with negations enhance outgroup trust among the highly prejudiced. 16. Tagung der Fachgruppe Sozialpsychologie. Ulm. [Talk]
Winter, K., Sassenberg, K., & Landkammer, F. (2017, July). Enhancing trust in refugees: The effect of an independent third person's communication. 18th General Meeting of the European Association of Social Psychology (EASP). Granada, Spain. [Poster]
Pummerer, L., Sassenberg, K., Winter, K., & Hornsey, M. (2021). EASP: Small Group Meeting: Social implications of conspiracy theories. Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, 18.-19.11.2021.
Becker, D., Winter, K., & Sassenberg, K. (2019). EASP: Small Group Meeting: Cognitive Conflict. Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany, 04.-06.06.2019.
Winter, K., & Sassenberg, K. (2019). Wissenskommunikation über digitale Medien zum Thema Flucht und Integration. Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany, 25.-26.03.2019.
Pummerer, L., Winter, K., & Sassenberg, K. (2020). Warum sind Verschwörungstheoretiker nicht für rationale Argumente zugänglich?. https://www.leibniz-magazin.de/alle-artikel/magazindetail/detail/warum-sind-verschwoerungstheoretiker-nicht-fuer-rationale-argumente-zugaenglich.html
Winter, K. (2020). Stereotypes: Why we need them, why they are harmful, and how to overcome them. https://blog.speak.social/stereotypes
Winter, K. (2018). Abstrakt oder konkret: Wie lassen sich Vorurteile durch eine geeignete Wortwahl reduzieren?. http://www.fachnetzflucht.de/abstrakt-oder-konkret-wie-lassen-sich-vorurteile-durch-eine-geeignete-wortwahl-reduzieren
Winter, K. (2017). Vertrauen fördert kooperatives Verhalten – aber nicht immer. wissens.blitz (181). http://wissensdialoge.de/vertrauen-foerdert-kooperatives-verhalten-aber-nicht-immer
Winter, K. (2017). Wie „Klebstoff“ zu „Benzin“ wird: Perspektivenübernahme in Wettbewerbssituationen. wissens.blitz (180). http://www.wissensdialoge.de/wie-klebstoff-zu-benzin-wird-perspektivenuebernahme-in-wettbewerbssituationen
Winter, K. (2017). Gemeinsam zum Ziel: Wie Teams ihre Leistung steigern können. wissens.blitz (176). http://www.wissensdialoge.de/ziel_team_leistung
Pummerer, L., Ditrich, L., Winter, K., & Sassenberg, K. (2022). Dataset for: Think about it! Deliberation reduces the negative relation between conspiracy belief and adherence to prosocial norms. https://dx.doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.12210 [Publication]
Pummerer, L., Winter, K., & Sassenberg, K. (2022). Dataset for: Addressing covid-19 vaccination conspiracy theories and vaccination intentions. http://dx.doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.5377 [Publication]
Winter, K., & Epstude, K. (2022). Datasets for: Motivational consequences of counterfactual mindsets: Does counterfactual structure influence the use of conservative or risky tactics? http://dx.doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.8133 [Publication]
Winter, K., Hornsey, M. J., Pummerer, L., & Sassenberg, K. (2022). Dataset for: Anticipating and defusing the role of conspiracy beliefs in shaping opposition to wind farms. https://dx.doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.8253 [Publication]
Winter, K., Scholl, A., & Sassenberg, K. (2022). Dataset for: Flexible minds make more moderate views: Subtractive counterfactuals mitigate strong views about immigrants’ trustworthiness. https://dx.doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.6889 [Publication]
Winter, K., Pummerer, L., Hornsey, M.J., & Sassenberg, K. (2021). Dataset for: Pro-vaccination subjective norms moderate the relationship between conspiracy mentality and vaccination intentions. https://dx.doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.4959 [Publication]
Winter, K., & Sassenberg, K. (2021). Mitigating the default? The influence of ingroup diversity on outgroup trust. https://dx.doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.4969 [Publication]
Winter, K., Zapf, B., Hütter, M., Tichy, N., & Sassenberg, K. (2021). Selective exposure in action: Do visitors of product evaluation portals select reviews in a biased manner? https://dx.doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.4549 [Publication]
Knab, N.*, Winter, K.*, & Steffens, M.C. (2020). Flexing the extremes: Increasing cognitive flexibility with a paradoxical leading questions intervention. *shared first-authorship. https://osf.io/aq4vb/?view_only=93050784678a47cabc50b2eac7f53209 [Publication]
Winter, K., Scholl, A., & Sassenberg, K. (2020). A matter of flexibility: Changing outgroup attitudes through messages with negations. https://dx.doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.2884 [Publication]
Dr. Kevin Winter
Schleichstraße 6
