Laura Maria König, Professorship for Health Psychology

Contact Laura Maria König

"Our lifestyle, for example what we eat or how much we (don't) exercise, contributes significantly to the development of obesity. This in turn is associated with the development of a number of non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer, as well as a reduced quality of life. In my research, I investigate why people behave in unhealthy ways - even though they often know better. From these findings, I derive possible prevention approaches so that, ideally, obesity does not develop in the first place. In this context, I work with scientists from a wide range of disciplines to develop smartphone apps for health promotion, for example, or to investigate the effectiveness of possible political measures such as different food labels. In this way, I want to make a contribution to a healthier society." (Laura Maria König)

Research areas:

* Psychological mechanisms of health behavior, esp. eating behavior
* Digital health behavior interventions
* Social inequality in digital health promotion
* Methods of digital health behavior measurement and their data quality
* Environment-based intervention approaches (esp. nudging, labeling)
* Health and science communication

Curriculum Vitae:

2010-2014 Study of Psychology (Bachelor, Master), University of Konstanz
2014-2018 Research assistant and doctoral candidate, University of Konstanz
2015 Research stay at the University of Essex, United Kingdom
2018 Doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.), University of Konstanz
2018-2020 Postdoc, University of Konstanz
2018 Research stay at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
2020 Scholarship holder of the German Research Foundation at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
2020-2023 Junior Professor for Public Health Nutrition, University of Bayreuth
since September 2023 Professor of Health Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna