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Biased by the Media? : The Occurrence and Mitigation of Discrimination in German Welfare Offices
No full textWhether it be renewing an identity card, registering as a jobseeker, seeking childcare, or receiving a pension—encounters with public administrators accompany citizens throughout the course of life. These officials are often referred to as street-level bureaucrats, a term famously coined by Lipsky (1980, 2010), as they implement public services in direct interactions with the public and exercise discretion. Yet, this discretion carries the risk of discriminatory treatment when stereotypes feed into decisions. While existing studies identify various principals and contextual explanations that influence how administrators decide as implementing agents, the role of the media context remains underexplored. This dissertation develops the media-driven discrimination cycle as a new theoretical mechanism to explain how immigration-related news coverage activates stereotypes and influences bureaucratic decision-making (see Chapter 2). The cycle consists of three key stages, which I explore in the respective empirical chapters.
In Chapter 3, “Regional News, Regional Bias: Unequal Sanction Decisions in Welfare Offices”, I argue that immigration discourses in regional news outlets activate stereotypes and make them cognitively accessible, subconsciously feeding into decisions of street-level bureaucrats (the activation stage). To examine this relationship, I leverage a novel dataset combining longitudinal state-level data on benefit reduction rates of the German welfare program Citizen’s Benefit with regional media reports from 2010 to 2020. Through panel data analysis, I find that foreign nationals face reduced sanction risks in regions where positive topics are prevalent. In contrast, media coverage emphasizing immigration as a financial burden is associated with increased sanction risks for refugees. These results highlight the critical role of the regional media environment in shaping bureaucratic behavior.
Co-authored with Gerald Schneider and Jan Vogler, Chapter 4, “How Negative News About Immigration Activates Illiberal Norms: Bureaucratic Discrimination Across German States”, starts with the observation that recent research on the rise of radical right-wing parties highlights the normalization of deeply rooted illiberal norms in society. We posit that such norms in the regional social context, especially anti-immigrant sentiments, influence how strongly negative media reporting affects bureaucratic-decision-making due to selective information processing (the reinforcement stage). To empirically test this, we conducted a preregistered survey experiment with a random sample of 1400 caseworkers in 60 German job centers in June/July 2023, including a vignette with negative newspaper articles and a conjoint experiment on hypothetical welfare decision scenarios. Our findings reveal that negative news frames relating immigration to crime increase the likelihood of discrimination, which is reinforced in contexts of widespread regional anti-immigrant sentiments. These findings raise concerns about the impartiality of state institutions amidst rising illiberal norms and negative news reporting.
Together, the media and social context form a self-reinforcing cycle of biases. To disrupt this cycle, I argue in Chapter 5, “The Pursuit of Fairness: Can Media Literacy Interventions Mitigate Discrimination in Welfare Offices?”, that media literacy interventions can target the psychological mechanisms underlying media-driven biases (the disruption stage). To empirically investigate these dynamics, I conducted a preregistered survey experiment in November/December 2024, involving 582 caseworkers from 35 German job centers. Half of the participants are randomly assigned to the intervention, presenting two contrasting newspaper articles on the same migration study. The results demonstrate that media literacy training reduces discriminatory behavior, highlighting the potential of media literacy interventions as an innovative tool to promote fairness in welfare offices.
The main insight is that news coverage of immigration shapes the decisions of street-level bureaucrats in multiple ways, depending on regional factors and beneficiary groups (see Chapter 6). Regional news contributes to or diminishes unequal treatment of ethnic minority clients depending on the dominant media discourse. In regions with widespread anti-immigrant attitudes, negative news stories have the most detrimental effects on immigrants’ access to benefits. But media literacy training can mitigate this unfavorable treatment. Thus, to ensure that decisions are based on objective criteria, strategies such as balanced media reporting and proactive countermeasures are important to reduce discrimination in public administration.publishe
The 2025 motile active matter roadmap
No full textActivity and autonomous motion are fundamental aspects of many living and engineering systems. Here, the scale of biological agents covers a wide range, from nanomotors, cytoskeleton, and cells, to insects, fish, birds, and people. Inspired by biological active systems, various types of autonomous synthetic nano- and micromachines have been designed, which provide the basis for multifunctional, highly responsive, intelligent active materials. A major challenge for understanding and designing active matter is their inherent non-equilibrium nature due to persistent energy consumption, which invalidates equilibrium concepts such as free energy, detailed balance, and time-reversal symmetry. Furthermore, interactions in ensembles of active agents are often non-additive and non-reciprocal. An important aspect of biological agents is their ability to sense the environment, process this information, and adjust their motion accordingly. It is an important goal for the engineering of micro-robotic systems to achieve similar functionality. Many fundamental properties of motile active matter are by now reasonably well understood and under control. Thus, the ground is now prepared for the study of physical aspects and mechanisms of motion in complex environments, the behavior of systems with new physical features like chirality, the development of novel micromachines and microbots, the emergent collective behavior and swarming of intelligent self-propelled particles, and particular features of microbial systems. The vast complexity of phenomena and mechanisms involved in the self-organization and dynamics of motile active matter poses major challenges, which can only be addressed by a truly interdisciplinary effort involving scientists from biology, chemistry, ecology, engineering, mathematics, and physics. The 2025 motile active matter roadmap of Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter reviews the current state of the art of the field and provides guidance for further progress in this fascinating research area.publishe
How Education Policies Shape Political Inequality : Analyzing Policy Feedback Effects in Germany
No full textEducation is one of the strongest predictors of political participation at the individual level. However, the association between education and participation varies across countries, which previous studies attribute mainly to institutions like electoral systems. Drawing on policy feedback and political socialization theories, we suggest an alternative explanation: education policies generate powerful and lasting policy feedback effects in adolescence, which continue to influence patterns of participation among adults. More concretely, we argue that policies aimed at de-stratifying secondary education (i.e., promoting more comprehensive models of education) are associated with a decrease in political inequality. We empirically investigate our argument in Germany, where education policies vary across sub-national units (Länder) and over time. We leverage this variation by combining data on Land-level policies with data on individual’s participation. Our results show that de-stratifying education policies have reduced in inequality in various forms of political participation, interest, and efficacy, but not in turnout.publishe
Inherent instability leads to high costs of hovering in near-neutrally buoyant fishes
No full textHovering, the ability to maintain a stationary position in fluid, is essential for many fish species during prey capture, habitat exploration, and mating. While traditionally assumed to be energetically inexpensive for fishes with a swim bladder, the metabolic costs and morphological factors influencing postural stability during hovering remain poorly understood. Hovering requires fishes to counteract small instabilities in position and orientation, often through continuous adjustments using their fins and body. To examine the energetic consequences of this active stabilization, we measured body posture, fin kinematics, and metabolic rates in 13 near-neutrally buoyant fish species during both hovering and resting. Our results show that hovering nearly doubles metabolic rates compared to resting, and species with greater separation between the center of mass and center of buoyancy and increased caudal fin activity exhibit higher energetic costs. In contrast, species with more posteriorly positioned pectoral fins and lower length-to-depth ratios show reduced hovering costs. Our findings demonstrate that, despite morphological traits that promote instability, fishes maintain posture and position through fine-scale fin control—at a significant energetic expense. This study suggests that hovering is a costly behavior that likely plays a key role in shaping the evolution of fish morphology and locomotor strategies.publishe
Liegeplatzspezifischer Flächenverbrauch von Bootsstationierungsanlagen : Verfahrenserprobung (BoStA-Map) und Stichprobenkartierung am Bodensee : Bericht der Arbeitsgruppe Umweltphysik am Limnologischen Institut der Universität Konstanz für das SuBoLakes-Projekt der Deutschen Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU), Az. 35825/01
No full textpublishe
Confessional Illiberalism in Europe
No full textThis article introduces the concept of confessional illiberalism and situates it alongside two other forms of illiberalism: prejudicial illiberalism and reactionary illiberalism. Confessional illiberalism emerges as a reactionary backlash against secularism and gender equality, drawing ideological inspiration from interwar fascism. It adopts a model of governance that fuses the state with religious intermediary organizations, such as churches and socially conservative advocacy groups. Whereas confessional illiberalism constitutes an epistemic rejection of modernity and aspires to a restoration of conservative traditionalism, prejudicial illiberalism originates at the individual level as a grievance and may escalate into a mass movement. Positioned between individual‐level prejudice and state‐level redemption offered by confessionalism, reactionary illiberalism entails a policy‐based pushback against the advancement of aspirational or ascending minority groups. Confessional illiberalism, by embedding itself within religious intermediary organizations and segments of uncivil society, cultivates a deep‐rooted institutional presence that becomes difficult to dislodge once it consolidates power.publishe
Activation Processes and Nonlinear Dynamics of Out-of-Equilibrium Systems in the Classical and Quantum Domain
No full textpublishe
Predicción del resultado de los tratamientos psicológicos para el trastorno límite de la personalidad y el trastorno de estréspostraumático : un enfoque de aprendizaje automático para predecir el resultado a largo plazo de la terapia de exposición narrativa frente al tratamiento basado en la terapia dialéctica conductual
No full textBackground:
A comorbidity between Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is common, severely disabling, and hard to treat. The choice of an optimal psychotherapy based on patient characteristics remains challenging.
Objective:
This study develops models to predict the outcome of two psychotherapies for comorbid BPD and PTSD.
Method:
Data from two trials comparing Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET, N = 40) with Dialectical Behavior Therapy-based treatment (DBT-bt, N = 40) was analysed. A cross-validated genetic algorithm was used to detect baseline predictors of change in PTSD symptoms.
Results:
In the NET group higher education, more baseline PTSD symptoms, more traumatic experiences, fewer baseline BPD symptoms, and not taking antipsychotic medication predicted better treatment outcome. This model (RMSE = 8.98) outperformed the prediction of PTSD symptom reduction with baseline PTSD symptoms alone (RMSE = 10.07) or with all available predictor variables (RMSE = 12.97). Only more baseline PTSD symptoms were selected to predict a better treatment outcome after DBT-bt. This model (RMSE = 9.41) outperformed the prediction of change in PTSD symptoms with all available predictor variables (RMSE = 14.43).
Conclusion:
Differences in treatment outcome between NET and DBT-bt may be predictable at baseline, to identify which one of both treatments may be most beneficial for individual patients. The small sample size may restrict the generalizability of the results.publishe
Stone and Water : a case study of integrated hydraulic structures within the Late Antique monumental architecture of the Bozpar Valley in South Iran
No full textThis paper presents the results of a geoarchaeological study of the ancient hydraulic structures in the Bozpar Valley and an analysis of their relationship with the standing monuments, especially the two palatial structures known as Kushk-e Ardashir and Zendan-e Soleyman. It presents a raison d’être for each identified structure regarding its hydraulic function and physical integration within the monumental landscape. Then, it suggests an interpretative pattern in their spatial relation to the mentioned monumental structures.
The study area is a small and remote Valley in the Zagros highlands in south Iran. It borders the modern provinces of Fars and Bushehr and is historically associated with the Greater Fars region.
The monumental structures in this area belong to the Sasanian architectural tradition. Here, their integrated hydraulic structures are investigated interdisciplinary via remote sensing. The analysis indicates different functions for the two monuments: a representative and official kushk and a [seasonal] leisure palace. Based on the nature and function of the integrated hydraulic structures, the former monument seems to relate to food production activities and the latter to currently unidentified activities other than daily life. The results of this study provide further evidence of integrated hydraulic structures in Late Antique Iran and shall trigger comparative studies from neighbouring regions in the future.publishe