Social Psychology Network

Maintained by Scott Plous, Wesleyan University

Michael Häfner

Michael Häfner

The lines of research I am pursuing cover a wide range of topics, including affective information processing, automatic processes in emotion elicitation, emotion contagion/facial mimicry, social comparisons, and the processing of sexually arousing stimuli. As a general theme within all of these areas, I am interested in the flexibility and stability of automatic processes and how automatic processes interact with gut feelings.

Primary Interests:

  • Applied Social Psychology
  • Emotion, Mood, Affect
  • Motivation, Goal Setting
  • Person Perception
  • Prejudice and Stereotyping
  • Sexuality, Sexual Orientation
  • Social Cognition

Journal Articles:

  • Den Daas, C., Häfner, M., De Wit, J. (in press). Sizing opportunity: Biases in estimates of goal-relevant objects depend on goal congruence. Social Psychology and Personality Science.
  • Denzler, M., Häfner, M., & Förster, J. (2011). He just wants to play: How goals determine the influence of violent computer games on aggression. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1644-1654.
  • Höfling, A., Likowski, K., Deutsch, R., Häfner, M., Seibt, Mühlberger, A., B, Weyers, P., & Strack, F. (2009). When hunger finds no fault with moldy corn: Food deprivation reduces food-related disgust. Emotion, 9, 50-58.
  • Häfner, M. (in press). When body and mind are talking: Interoception moderates embodied cognition. Experimental Psychology.
  • Häfner, M. (2009). Knowing you, knowing me: Familiarity moderates comparison outcomes to idealized media images. Social Cognition, 27, 496-508.
  • Häfner, M. (2004). How dissimilar others may still resemble the self: Assimilation and contrast after social comparison. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 14, 187-196.
  • Häfner, M. & IJzerman, H. (2011). The face of love: Spontaneous accommodation as social emotion regulation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37, 1551-1563.
  • Häfner, M., Jagsch, O., Kund, A., Mager, S., Türk-Pereira, P., & Zimmermann, A. (2008). The female may feel male: Defending against the adverse consequences of exposure to idealized media images. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 27, 778-808.
  • Häfner, M. & Schubert, T. (2009). Feel the difference! The influence of ease experiences on the direction of social comparison. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 291-294.
  • Häfner, M & Stapel, D. A. (2009). Familiarity can increase and decrease stereotyping: Heuristic processing versus enhanced usability. Social Cognition, 27, 615-622.
  • Häfner, M. & Trampe, D. (2009). When thinking is beneficial and when it is not: The effects of round and thin advertising models. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 19, 619–628.
  • Nussinson, R., Seibt, B., Häfner, M., & Strack, F. (2011). Cognitive consequences of motivational orientation: Perceived similarity between objects. Acta Psychologica, 138, 39-44.
  • Nussinson, R., Seibt, B., Häfner, M., & Strack, F. (2010). Come a bit closer: Approach motor actions lead to feeling similar and behaviorally assimilating to others. Social Cognition, 28, 40-58.
  • Nussison, R., Häfner, M., Seibt, B., Strack, F., & Trope, Y. (2012). Approach/avoidance orientations affect self-construal, experienced closeness to close others, and identification with in-group. Self and Identity,11, 255–272.
  • Regenberg, N. F. E., Häfner, M., & Semin, G. (2011). The groove move: Action affordances produce fluency and positive affect. Experimental Psychology,1, 1-8.
  • Schubert, T. W., & Häfner, M. (2003). Contrast from social stereotypes in automatic behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 577-584.
  • Seibt, B., Häfner, M. & Deutsch, R. (2007). Prepared to eat: How immediate affective and motivational responses to food cues are influenced by food deprivation. European Journal of Social Psychology, 37, 359-379

Other Publications:

  • Häfner, M. (in press). Assimilation or contrast? How fluency channels comparison processing. To appear in, R. Greifeneder and C. Unkelbach (Eds.). The experience of thinking: How Feelings from mental processes influence cognition and behavior. Psychology Press.
  • Häfner, M. (2006). Eindrucksbildung und soziale Wahrnehmung [Impression formation and person perception]. In W. Bierhoff und D. Frey (Hrsg.), Handbuch der Sozialpsychologie und Kommunikationspsychologie. Göttingen: Hogrefe.
  • Trampe, D., & Häfner, M. (2008). Echte schoonheid of marketing schoonheid: Het impliciete en expliciete effect van slanke en volslanke modellen op productevaluaties. in J. Karremans, B. Beersma, R. Custers, F. van Harreveld, & W. van Rijswijk, Jaarboek Sociale Psychologie 2007 (pp. 355-362). Groningen: aspo pers.

Courses Taught:

  • Advertisement Psychology
  • Attitudes
  • Emotions
  • Group Dynamics
  • Person Perception
  • Research Methods
  • Social Cognition

Michael Häfner
Communication Psychology
PO Box 120544
10589 Berlin
Germany

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