Themen für Bachelorarbeiten

Beschreibung: Mental health challenges vary in expression but lead to similar outcomes across cultures. The nomological network framework provides a theoretical approach to understanding how psychological constructs relate to shared symptoms, risk factors, and their universal consequences. Internalizing disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety, PTSD) are associated with inwardly directed outcomes such as emotional distress and withdrawal, while externalizing disorders (e.g., anger, substance abuse) often lead to outward behaviors like aggression and social disruption. This thesis explores how these disorders, despite cultural variations, converge on key universal outcomes, such as impaired relationships, reduced quality of life, and barriers to daily functioning. By integrating global evidence on shared dimensions and patterns of comorbidity, this thesis aims to map the overarching impact of psychopathology. The findings will contribute to a deeper understanding of mental health as a global concern, informing dimensional models and universal strategies for intervention.
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Eingabedatum: 23.12.2024
Kontakt: Daniel Hofmann, E-Mail

Beschreibung: Exploring rites of passage practices worldwide offers crucial insights into how diverse cultural rituals shape the transition to adulthood, fostering identity development, resilience, and social integration. These practices often provide structured pathways for navigating the challenges of emerging adulthood, instilling a sense of belonging, responsibility, and purpose. This bachelor thesis will explore the literature on rites of passage and how they impact this critical transition to adulthood, shedding light on their psychological and social significance across cultures.
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Eingabedatum: 20.12.2024
Kontakt: Selma Uugwanga, E-Mail

Beschreibung: Emerging adulthood is reported to be the developmental time most susceptible to mental illness onset. However, it is also a phase of growing resilience and wellbeing. There are increasing studies on life satisfaction among this population, although mostly in Western contexts. Low and middle income countries (LMIC) tend to have great cultural diversity which has implications on the transition to adulthood, and likely on life satisfaction. This thesis will explore literature on life satisfaction and well-being of emerging adults in LMIC contexts, especially in Africa where there is a significantly young population. It could highlight potential cultural influences and differences of these populations in comparison to western contexts. It could also seek to identify culture-specific practices that may promote the well-being and life satisfaction of this population.
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Eingabedatum: 21.06.2024
Kontakt: Selma Uugwanga, E-Mail

Beschreibung: Emotion expression is a fundamental aspect of human experience, yet it varies significantly across cultural contexts, reflecting the unique cultural landscapes of each society. These differences highlight the need for culturally-sensitive approaches in both research and practice. The goal of this bachelor thesis is to assess the role of culture in emotion expression. By providing insights into the cultural nuances of emotional expression, the review seeks to improve cross-cultural understanding and inform mental health interventions. Recognizing these cultural variations can lead to more effective and culturally appropriate care. Of specific interest are African counties, in comparison to each other and to the global north.
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Eingabedatum: 21.06.2024
Kontakt: Daniel Hoffman, E-Mail

Beschreibung: Most psychological theories and concepts have been developed in WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) societies, with very little representation of other cultures (Henrich et al., 2010). In the last decades, efforts have been taken place towards internationalization of psychology to make it more global, inclusive, and universally applicable with the inclusion of participants and researchers from non-Western societies (van de Vijver, 2013). How much has been done since then to research the phenomenon from the perspective of indigenous psychology? The goal of this Bachelor thesis is to review the literature of the current research and efforts on decolonizing psychology, especially in non-Western cultures.
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Eingabedatum: 01.12.2023
Kontakt: Julia Rotzinger, E-Mail

Beschreibung: People use different expressions for psychological distress around the world. These expressions are referred to as cultural concepts of distress, which capture culturally specific ways individuals or communities express, experience, and communicate psychological distress (Kohrt et al., 2014). Understanding cultural concepts of distress are crucial to enhance the validity and utility of mental health assessments. For instance, a study performed in Cambodia found that over half of the variance in anxious-depressive symptoms were accounted for by five cultural concepts of distress: ?weak heart,? ?thinking a lot,? dizziness, ?khyâl hitting up from the stomach,? and sleep paralysis (Hinton et al., 2019). Additionally, cultural concepts of distress are important to provide effective and culturally sensitive care (Cork et al., 2019). Current psychological disorder manuals already recognise the importance of including cultural concepts of distress in their diagnostic systems (APA, 2019). There are large amount of research on cultural concepts of distress coming from the Africa continent. A comprehensive overview of the rich and diverse literature on cultural concepts of distress coming from African samples is necessitated to inform further research and practice. However, there has been a lack of cultural concepts of distress coming from the African continent. The primary goal of this bachelor thesis is to review of the current research on cultural concepts of distress in Kenya, Namibia, and South Africa. The secondary goal is to compare the cultural concepts of distress across countries.
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Eingabedatum: 01.12.2023
Kontakt: Daniel Hofmann, E-Mail

Beschreibung: The consumption of alcohol is documented world-wide (WHO, 2018), with the highest prevalence of abuse occurring amongst emerging adults (Arnett, 2005). The motivational model identifies Enhancement, Social, Coping and Conformity as key aspects that generally motivate alcohol consumption in multiple societies around the world (Cooper, 1994; Cox & Klinger, 1988; Cox & Klinger, 1990). However, important cultural influences on these motivators are often overlooked, especially from non-Western contexts such as Africa - where the largest population of emerging adults live. The goal of this thesis will be to review non-Western literature on the motivations of alcohol consumption, zooming in on reported cultural variations and making comparisons to the West.
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Eingabedatum: 01.12.2023
Kontakt: Selma Ndatimpililwa Uugwanga, E-Mail

Beschreibung: Belief in ancestors is part of traditional African beliefs and values, for example relating to ubuntu (Sodi et al., 2021). Ancestors may be seen as playing a special role in people?s lives, for example they can influence the current (e.g., fortune and long life or bad luck and illness; Ngubane, 1977) and the future generation (e.g., inheriting behaviors; Makgahlela, 2015). This Bachelor thesis will focus on the psychology of ancestor beliefs in sub-Saharan Africa; it could explore 1) possible impacts and influences ancestors have on psychology; 2) potential sources of resilience or negative impact on mental health; 3) the role of ancestor beliefs in family relationships.
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Eingabedatum: 17.08.2023
Kontakt: Julia Rotzinger, E-Mail

Beschreibung: Income inequality is high in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This may have many psychological consequences: Unequal distribution of social and economic resources has been found to have an influence on people?s mental health. For example, associations have been found between low education and poverty, and the prevalence of mental disorders (e.g., Patel et al., 1999; Patel & Kleinman, 2003). Different indicators for socioeconomic status have been used to assess socioeconomic inequalities in adults around the world (e.g., income, education, occupation), but socioeconomic inequalities in adolescents have been poorly studied due to a lack of inappropriate measures. This Bachelor thesis will focus on sub-Saharan Africa, and especially on Namibia, Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana. It will consist of a literature review on (1) how socioeconomic status has been assessed in sub-Saharan Africa so far and (2) on relationships between socioeconomic status and adult?s and adolescent?s mental health.
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Eingabedatum: 05.12.2022
Kontakt: Julia Rotzinger, E-Mail

Beschreibung: Emerging adulthood, a time of transition between childhood and full adult responsibilities, is understood to have come into being in Western countries (e.g., United States, Western Europe) with demographic changes in the 1960s (Arnett, 2000, 2015). Whereas people once typically entered marriage, parenthood, and stable employment in their early 20s, the ages 18-29 have come to be a period of freedom, exploration, and personal development. Research on emerging adulthood has been conducted in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The present thesis consists of a literature review on how emerging adulthood varies across cultures. What are the characteristics of emerging adults across different cultural contexts? How do emerging adults differ between regions? Are there differences in whether people see themselves as an adult across cultures? For example, research in Japan and China suggests more emphasis on supporting one's parents, and less romantic exploration (Nelson & Chen, 2007; Rosenberger, 2007; Zhong & Arnett, 2014).
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Eingabedatum: 07.12.2021
Kontakt: Julia Rotzinger, E-Mail

Beschreibung: Mental health and well-being are essential to leading a fulfilling life, to realizing our potential, to participating productively in our communities, and to finding resilience in the face of stress and adversity. The WHO has proposed a ?Comprehensive mental health action plan 2013-2030? to combat mental disorders around the world. One of the continents with the highest mental health burden is Africa. The goal of this bachelor thesis is to review the implementation of the WHO action plan in sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, this will include assessing the mental health policies or plans in Namibia, Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana, the countries included in the Africa Long Life Study. This includes reviewing publications on the implementation of the plan, the creation of national policies, and reports on the status quo of mental care in the aforementioned countries.
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Eingabedatum: 03.12.2022
Kontakt: Daniel Hofmann, E-Mail

Beschreibung: The identification of risk and protective factors for mental disorders is crucial for the development of prevention and intervention strategies. The objective of this bachelor thesis is to review the literature on demographic risk and protective factors for mental disorders in sub-Saharan African countries. The focus of will be on: age, gender, ethnic background, socio-economic, employment, and family role status, and on urban versus rural lifestyle.
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Eingabedatum: 02.06.2022
Kontakt: Daniel Hofmann, E-Mail

Beschreibung: The study of cultural psychology requires reliable ways to define cultural differences, in order to generalize beyond single cross-cultural comparison, to establish hypotheses, and to make appropriate study choices (Heine, 2016). Early work that defined cultural-level variation in terms of collectivism versus individualism, tightness versus looseness, etc. helped establish cultural psychology (Heine, 2016), but new variables are needed to bring depth to this domain (van de Vijver, 2013). So far, most research has been conducted in Western countries (e.g., USA, Europe) with the majority world (e.g., Asia, Africa, Latin America) being underrepresented (Saucier et al., 2015). More research is needed that goes beyond established variables in cross-cultural research and examines additional variables in different cultural contexts that have not yet been looked at. The present thesis consists of a literature review on cultural variables prevalent in Asia. What are the cultural traits most prevalent in Asian cultures? How do cultural traits manifest itself in people?s behavior? What are their characteristics? How do they vary among people, within and between Asian countries, ethnolinguistic groups, and individually? Possible variables to be looked at could be face, Amae, holisitc thinking among others. A critical perspective may also be taken, asking whether or which of these variables can be measured, and which and to what extent they have been shown to lead to different scores between the groups they purport to distinguish.
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Eingabedatum: 19.05.2022
Kontakt: Julia Rotzinger, E-Mail

Beschreibung: A 'culture of honor' has been found to exist in the U.S. South and West, the Mediterranean, in the Middle East, and in Central and South America. Studies have shown that historically, honor cultures arose in lawless and economically insecure environments, and in populations that depended on animal herding. An important characteristic of honor cultures is maintaining and defending a person's reputation from threats: men in honor cultures defend reputations for strength, bravery, and intolerance of disrespect; women protect reputations for loyalty and sexual purity (Brown et al., 2018). Theses on this topic will explore this phenomena across cultures, (a) comparing it to other cultural types across contexts; (b) exploring how it relates to sub-Saharan Africa; or (c) exploring the relationship between culture of honor and mental health, including both protective and risk factors. Research suggests, for example, a correlation between culture of honor and violence (against oneself and others), psychological distress (e.g., major depression), and conflict. Furthermore, people in honor cultures show greater social and personal concern about seeking help (Brown et al., 2018) and lower help-seeking intentions (Foster et al., 2021).
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Eingabedatum: 07.12.2021
Kontakt: Julia Rotzinger, E-Mail

Beschreibung: The experience of alcohol use has been shown to vary considerably across cultures (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/02/15/drinking-games), leading to surprisingly different effects. The current thesis will explore this variation and in particular variations in the motivation for drinking alcohol across contexts.
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Eingabedatum: 07.12.2021
Kontakt: Daniel Hofmann, E-Mail

Beschreibung: In our team?s preliminary work on mental health and disorder symptoms in Namibia, we identified different patterns of alcohol use and abuse, including different attitudes, motivations, community reactions, and patterns of difficulty. Bachelors theses with our group will review the literature available on this topic related to sub-Saharan Africa (or with focus on a specific region or country), and can place these patterns into a public health, and a social and political context, taking colonial history and independence into consideration.
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Eingabedatum: 07.12.2021
Kontakt: Daniel Hofmann, E-Mail