Research topics
The main focus of the research group is the different aspects of the psychology of competition. One main investigation aims at revealing the relationship between competitiveness and coping with winning and losing with mental and somatic health. Another major line of research investigates the cultural differences of competition. Research on citizenship examines the determinants and educational implications of youth social activism in an international cultural comparative study.
Cultural comparative studies extend beyond the topic of competition: they examine the effect of physical appearance and clothing on workplace competition and promotion, the cultural determination of self-construals and the cultural differences in the experience of happiness.
Another research area of the group is related to talented/gifted people. At the meeting point of talent and competition research, the group studies what kind of role contests and competition have in the life of talented people and what kind of psychological components are needed for high achievement.
In the context of gifted studies the most important topics are: elaboration of online techniques to examine ability and ability development, developing 21st century tools to help gifted people with exceptional needs, introducing new technologies for the inclusion of special needs students, particularly in learning foreign languages. A cultural comparative study investigates the concept, identification and treatment of ADHD.
The group applies the narrative pschological approach to study the construction of identity, both personal and social identities and the processes of dealing with emotional information and experiences. To this end we use tools of automated linguistic analysis which are freely available for academic applications (see the storyanalysis.wixsite.com/storyanalysis webpage).
The themes of the group further include the psychobiographical exploration of the careers of Hungarian women intellectuals; the analysis of gender concepts of psychological studies; and the exploration of the psychological and social status of sexual minorities.
Current and recent grants
2020-2024 Patterns of Competitive Behaviour in Development in a Developmental and Socio-cultural Approach: Interactions Between the Individual and Society. (NKFIH- OTKA-K 135963) Project leader: Márta Fülöp
2016-2019 Youth Activism, engagement and the development of new civic learning spaces. Leverhulme Foundation. Anglia.
2015-2019 The individual, situational and sociocultural determinants of psychologically and somatically healthy competition. OTKA (K-111 789) Projektvezető: Fülöp Márta
2014-2017 ISCH COST Action IS1210 2014-2017Appearance Matters: Tackling the Physical and Psychosocial Consequences of Dissatisfaction with Appearance
2013-2016 Öregedés a versengő társadalomban: a kockázatvállalást kísérő pszichofiziológiai folyamatok (Aging in a Competitive Society: Psychophysiological Correlates of Risk taking), OTKA (K 104332) (National Research Fund). Projekt leader: Márk Molnár
OTKA K 124192 Social inequalities and prejudices in the light of
psy-sciences in Hungary, Principal investigator: Anna Borgos
OTKA K 124206 Narrative construction as an indicator of ablility based
Emotional Intelligence, Principal investigator: Tibor Pólya
Collaborations
Office of Education, TalentGate (TehetségKapu), Talent Case (TehetségTár)
Budapest University of Technology and Economics Group of Automation
University of Debrecen Institute of Psychology
Mensa HunagrIQa
Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences
Freie Universitet, Berlin, Germany
English-At-Work, Dresden, Germany
University of Duisburg, Essen, Germany
Synscenter Refsnæs, Hillerod , Denmart
University of Sussex, United Kingdom
University of York, United Kingdom
University of Maryland, USA
Ontario Institute of Education, University of Toronto, Canada
University of South Australia, Australia
American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Nanyang Institute of Technology, Singapore
University of Birmingham, UK
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, USA
James Liu, Massey University, New Zealand
European Society for the History of the Human Sciences
Doctoral School of Psychology, University of Pécs, Hungary
Leader
Márta Fülöp