Attitude Formation, Value Change and Intercultural Communication

Field Chairs: Ulrich Kühnen and Jan Delhey
Field Coordinator: Song Yan

Social change is not only an objective process. It also has a subjective dimension involving people's attitudes, communication, and orientations with respect to themselves, others, life in general, and towards politics, economics, and society at large. Changing forms of socialization and shifting patterns of (dis)integration have massive perceptional and orientational implications, remaking people's identities and communication patterns, subjective well-being and value orientations, et cetera. Attitudes, stereotypes and beliefs affect intercultural communication and interaction and are themselves reshaped through such interaction.

The general topic of this field is to explore the significance of the individual in societal and political processes. In particular, the following three aspects will be addressed:

  1. Construal processes in attitude and value formation
  2. Subjective well-being
  3. Intercultural Communication

Please find a pdf with more detailed information on thematic field 4.