André Hahn

Social Integration and Social Support in a Life Crisis: Effects of Macrosocial Change in East Germany

The breakdown of the former communist system in East Germany was a major critical life event for those who left that country as well as for those who stayed behind. When the borders were opened, a longitudinal study was launched to examine the psychological readaptation process. Some indicators of social changes of migrants compared to nonmigrants were available. At three points in time over 2 years, both groups reported on their social bonding and social support. Migrants readjusted well by making new friends. In particular, young men were socially active, and more same-sex than opposite-sex friendships were established. The group of young migrants reported having received the most support, in particular when they had a partner. Anticipated support, in contrast, was highest for young single women who did not migrate. Results contribute to the understanding of social dynamics that occur after a stressful relocation.

Internetsucht: Jugendliche gefangen im Netz

Das Internet als Suchtmaschine — Immer haufiger finden sich in den internationalen Medien alarmierende Fallbeispiele einer neuen Sucht. Dargestellt werden meist jugendliche, mannliche Internetnutzer, die scheinbar vom Internet abhangig geworden sind, wie andere Menschen von Drogen, Alkohol, Zigaretten oder dem Glucksspiel. Selbst die geschilderten sozialen Konsequenzen sind vergleichbar: Misserfolge und Leistungsbeeintrachtigungen in der Schule oder im Beruf bis zum Verlust des Arbeitsplatzes oder dauerhafte Trennung von Freunden oder dem Lebenspartner. Hilferufe von selbstettiketierten Betroffenen in einschlagigen Onlineforen und Bucher ehemaliger Betroffener, die zu Bestsellern avancierten (Farke 1998; 1999), komplettieren das mediale Bild. Ist Internetsucht eine Erfindung der Medien, die Internetnutzern die Moglichkeit bietet, schwer fassbare personliche Probleme zu benennen, oder ist Internetsucht ein reales psychologisches Phanomen, dessen sich Psychologen, Padagogen und Suchttherapeuten annehmen sollten (vgl. Hunerfauth 2000)?

Negative affect in east german migrants: Longitudinal effects of unemployment and social support

Abstract Migrants have to deal with a number of stressors, among them tenacious job search and the constitution of a new social network. Prolonged unemployment and lack of social support can result in enduring negative affect. A sample of 235 East Germans was investigated three times during two years following their transition to West Berlin in 1989, after the breakdown of the communist system. Their anxiety and depression levels were initially high but declined over time. The majority found a job during this time span and succeeded to adapt psychosocially. Those, however, who remained unemployed were worse off in terms of well-being. The stress-affect relationship was moderated, however, by social support. Within the group of migrants who suffered from long-term joblessness, social support exerted a longitudinal buffer effect. At Wave 3, most anxiety and depression was reported by migrants who neither held a job nor received support. In a longitudinal causal model, the employment status affected mainly n...

Internetsucht — Reliabilität und Validität in der Online-Forschung

Ist Internetsucht eine Erfindung der Medien, die Internetnutzern die Moglichkeit bietet, schwer fasbare personliche Probleme zu benennen, oder ist Internetsucht ein reales psychologisches Phanomen, dessen sich Psychologen, Padagogen und Suchttherapeuten annehmen sollten (Hunerfauth, 2000)? Internetsucht wurde tatsachlich 1995 als scherzhafte Scheindiagnose von dem New Yorker Psychiater Ivan Goldberg erfunden (Eichenberg/Ott, 1999). Goldberg, ubrigens heute einer der Kritiker der Internetsucht, veroffentlichte in Anspielung auf diagnostische Richtlinien im DSM-IV (Sas/Wittchen/Zaudig, 1996) eine Liste mit Symptomen der Internetsucht in der Experten-Mailingliste “Psychology of the Internet” (Suler, 1996). Anstelle der erwarteten belustigten Reaktionen der Kollegen erhielt Goldberg jedoch eine Vielzahl von Emails von Personen, die meinte, von der Storung betroffen zu sein. Zum Selbstlaufer wurde der Scherz, als die New York Times im Dezember 1996 (Belluck, 1996) Internetsucht zum Thema eines langeren Artikels machte.

Social bonding and loneliness after network disruption: A longitudinal study of East German refugees

After the 1989 breakdown of the communist system, 235 East Germans were interviewed three times during the two years following their transition to West Berlin. In moving to the west, the migrants had to deal with various stressors, among them the lack of social ties in their new environment. Fortunately, the number of their new friends increased steadily, and loneliness declined. These changes, however, differed between sexes and age groups. Men made more friends than women, in particular same-sex friends, whereas women knitted ties with both sexes. The young built larger networks than the intermediate age group. Loneliness emerged as an inhibiting factor in the bonding process. The study demonstrates how well these refugees coped with a social crisis. It also examines the roles that loneliness and social bonding played in the readjustment process.

Physical exercise and anxiety as moderators of the stress-illness relationship

Abstract This study examines the interplay of unemployment stress, trait anxiety and physical exercise in the development of physical health. Longitudinal data were taken from a sample of East German migrants (N = 330) who were confronted with the potentially stressful demand of finding a job in the Western society. Unemployment stress was found to exert a main effect on illness level. Trait anxiety was a moderator of the stress-illness relationship, but exercise was not. As indicated by a three-way interaction involving exercise, anxiety, and stress, exercise was most beneficial among high-anxious subjects who were not exposed to unemployment stress. Results of this study suggest that exercise may not buffer the deleterious effects of stressful situational conditions (unemployment), but may effectively mitigate the health-damaging consequences of lacking personal resources, such as high dispositional anxiety.

Reliabilität und Validität in der Online-Forschung

In dem noch jungen Marktsegment der Online-Marktforschung werden zunehmend Stimmen laut, die die Einhaltung von Qualitatsstandards einfordern (z.B. ADM/ASI/ BVM/DGOF, 2001). Entsprechend befassen sich auch in diesem Band fast alle Beitrage implizit (z.B. Starsetzki, Jarchow, Theobald) oder explizit (z.B. Hauptmanns/Lander, Pfleiderer, Batinic, Hoffmann) mit Fragestellungen, die fur die Qualitat von Online-Forschung wichtig sind. Alle Autoren verfolgen dabei letztlich das gleiche Ziel: das methodologische Fundament und damit die Glaubwurdigkeit von Aussagen der Online-Marktforschung soll verbessert werden.