Theses 

If you are interested in writing your bachelor’s thesis at the Chair of Work and Organizational Psychology, please note the following information:

• Bachelor’s theses can only be started in February.
• No topics for bachelor’s theses are advertised. Instead, you will independently develop a research question on an established association from work and organizational psychology, taking into account 2-3 moderator and/or control variables. Due to the planned cross-sectional design, it is not possible to investigate mediation models.
• Please develop your research question in a theory-driven manner based on the discussed literature from the modules in industrial and organizational psychology. In addition, you can refer to the relevant literature on the respective context (see associations and literature below).
• The operationalizations of the central constructs can also be found below.
• All bachelor’s students of the professorship will conduct a joint data collection in March (coordinated by Dr. Clara Kühner). For this, you must recruit at least 30 participants (employed persons working at least 20 hours per week).
• Please send your application (including a brief description and justification of your research question) by December 1 of each year to Dr. Clara Kühner (clara.kuehner@uni-leipzig.de).
• In addition to your bachelor’s thesis, you should attend the bachelor’s colloquium in the summer semester. 

Associations and literature:

• Job satisfaction – job performance
  • Judge, T. A., Thoresen, C. J., Bono, J. E., & Patton, G. K. (2001). The job satisfaction–job performance relationship: A qualitative and quantitative review. Psychological Bulletin, 127(3), 376–407. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.127.3.376
• Organizational commitment – Intentions to leave
  • Harrison, D. A., Newman, D. A., & Roth, P. L. (2006). How important are job attitudes? Meta-analytic comparisons of integrative behavioral outcomes and time sequences. Academy of Management Journal, 49(2), 305-325. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2006.20786077
• Work stressors – psychological well-being
  • Guthier, C., Dormann, C., & Voelkle, M. C. (2020). Reciprocal effects between job stressors and burnout: A continuous time meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 146(12), 1146–1173. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000304
• Recovery from work – mental well-being
  • Headrick, L., Newman, D. A., Park, Y. A., & Liang, Y. (2023). Recovery experiences for work and health outcomes: A meta-analysis and recovery-engagement-exhaustion model. Journal of Business and Psychology, 38(4), 821-864. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-022-09821-3
• Leadership behavior – psychological well-being
  • Harms, P. D., Credé, M., Tynan, M., Leon, M., & Jeung, W. (2017). Leadership and stress: A meta-analytic review. The Leadership Quarterly, 28(1), 178-194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2016.10.006
• Perceived fairness – counterproductive work behavior
  • Colquitt, J. A., Scott, B. A., Rodell, J. B., Long, D. M., Zapata, C. P., Conlon, D. E., & Wesson, M. J. (2013). Justice at the millennium, a decade later: A meta-analytic test of social exchange and affect-based perspectives. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(2), 199-236. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031757
• Environmentally friendly attitudes – Environmentally friendly behavior in the workplace
  • Katz, I. M., Rauvola, R. S., Rudolph, C. W., & Zacher, H. (2022). Employee green behavior: A meta‐analysis. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 29(5), 1146-1157. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/csr.2260
• Age – professional future perspective
  • Rudolph, C. W., Kooij, D. T., Rauvola, R. S., & Zacher, H. (2018). Occupational future time perspective: A meta‐analysis of antecedents and outcomes. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 39(2), 229-248. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2264
• Social support at work – Thriving at Work
  • Kleine, A. K., Rudolph, C. W., & Zacher, H. (2019). Thriving at work: A meta‐analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 40(9-10), 973-999. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2375
• Job Crafting – Person-Environment Fit at Work
  • Rudolph, C. W., Katz, I. M., Lavigne, K. N., & Zacher, H. (2017). Job crafting: A meta-analysis of relationships with individual differences, job characteristics, and work outcomes. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 102, 112-138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2017.05.008

Operationalizations of the central constructs and other variables for the joint survey

If you are interested in writing your Master’s thesis at the Chair of Work and Organizational Psychology, please read the following information:

• Master theses can be started twice a year.
• Thesis topics are announced twice a year on our website. The application procedure is as follows:
  • Mid-October/April: Master’s thesis topics are published on our website
  • 01 December/01 June: Application deadline; please submit your application to Dr. Clara Kühner, briefly outlining your motivation for the chosen topic(s). You may apply for several topics. In this case, please rank the topics by preference.
  • December/June: You will receive feedback on your application.
  • January/July: Upon acceptance, you may begin your Master’s thesis.

Students writing their thesis at our Chair are expected to attend the research colloquium regularly and must present their work at least once during the process. Please make sure to inform yourself about relevant deadlines and formal requirements in advance.

List of topics