2020 - PhD, Social Psychology, University of Helsinki
2014 - Diplom-Psychologe (Univ.), Universität Würzburg
After obtaining my degree in psychology, I worked in addiction counseling and therapy before starting my PhD in the Behavior Change and Well-being research group at the University of Helsinki, Finland. In my thesis, I examined how behavioral impulses towards unhealthy foods can be reduced with simple computer tasks, using a wide range of methods (meta-analysis, EEG, smartphone data from a field trial). Further, I have worked on other health-psychological topics like physical activity and sedentary behavior but have also ventured into the field of prejudice research. I am interested in all things impulse control and self-regulation. In my current role I mainly use ecological momentary assessment to understand and support self-regulation in eating behavior and physical activity.
Intervention where and when you need it: I-CRAV (2025 - 2029)
Aulbach, M. B. (2023). “Dasselbe wie immer?“—Die Rolle von Gewohnheiten beim Essen. Report Psychologie, 48(1).
Aulbach, M. B. (2022, May 19). Virtuelle Realität: Kann die “Empathie-Maschine” Vorurteile bekämpfen? | In-Mind. https://de.in-mind.org/blog/post/virtuelle-realitaet-kann-die-empathie-maschine-vorurteile-bekaempfen
Aulbach, M. B., & Tassinari, M. (2022, March 9). Virtual Reality: Can the “Empathy Machine” end prejudice? Liikkeessä yli rajojen. https://liikkeessaylirajojen.fi/virtual-reality-can-the-empathy-machine-end-prejudice/
Aulbach, M. (2021, February 12). Ärger, Angst, Mitleid – Vorurteil ist nicht gleich Vorurteil. In-Mind. https://de.in-mind.org/blog/post/aerger-angst-mitleid-vorurteil-ist-nicht-gleich-vorurteil
Aulbach, M. (2020, May 15). Impulsives Essen abtrainieren. In-Mind. https://de.in-mind.org/blog/post/impulsives-essen-abtrainieren
Houben, K., & Aulbach, M. (2023). Is there a difference between stopping and avoiding? A review of the mechanisms underlying Go/No-Go and Approach-Avoidance training for food choice. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 49, 101245.
Tassinari, M., Aulbach, M. B., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2022). The use of virtual reality in studying prejudice and its reduction: A systematic review. PloS one, 17(7), e0270748. [co-first author]. Tassinari, M., Aulbach, M. B., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2022). Investigating the influence of intergroup contact in virtual reality on empathy: an exploratory study using AltspaceVR. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 815497.
Sproesser, G., Aulbach, M. B., Gültzow, T., & König, L. M. (2022). Do nutrition knowledge, food preferences, and habit strength moderate the association between preference for intuition and deliberation in eating decision‐making and dietary intake?. Applied Psychology: Health and Well‐Being.
Aulbach, M. B., Konttinen, H., Gardner, B., Kujala, E., Araujo-Soares, V., Sniehotta, F. F., ... & Hankonen, N. (2021). A dual process model to predict adolescents’ screen time and physical activity. Psychology & Health, 1-20.
Aulbach, M. B., Knittle, K., van Beurden, S. B., Haukkala, A., & Lawrence, N. S. (2021). App-based food Go/No-Go training: User engagement and dietary intake in an opportunistic observational study. Appetite, 165, 105315. Halmesvaara O, Harjunen VJ, Aulbach MB, Ravaja N (2020) How bodily expressions of emotion after norm violation influence perceivers’ moral judgments and prevent social exclusion: A socio-functional approach to nonverbal shame display. PLoS ONE 15(4): e0232298. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232298
Aulbach, M. B., Harjunen, V. J., Spapé, M., Knittle, K., Haukkala, A., & Ravaja, N. (2020). No evidence of calorie‐related modulation of N2 in food‐related Go/No‐Go training: A preregistered ERP study. Psychophysiology, 57(4), e13518.
Aulbach, M. B., Knittle, K., & Haukkala, A. (2019). Implicit process interventions in eating behaviour: A meta-analysis examining mediators and moderators. Health psychology review, 13(2), 179-208.
Mastodon social network: @matthias_aulbach@nerdculture.de
