Charlotte De Backer professor

Research Charlotte De Backer

Research team

Expertise

I have expertise in conducting interdisciplinary research in the fields of social language (gossip, past research) and food studies (current research). Methods I use include large-scale surveys, (online) experiments, psychophysiology measures (eye-tracking, skin conductance, EEG, Facial Expression Analyses - I am a certified Facial Action Coder), interviews and focus groups, nutritional content analyses, and framing analyses.

The Antwerp Social Lab (tASL). 01/01/2022 - 31/12/2026

Abstract

The Antwerp Social Lab originated in 2018 from the collaboration between the research groups MIOS and EDUBRON at the faculty of Social Sciences. It merges the expertise, networks, and a portfolio of research projects in which a wide variety of state-of-the-art psychophysiological and behavioral research measures are employed. Although social science research typically relies on selfreport as a way of collecting data from individuals, psychophysiological and behavioral methods allow to gain insights in more direct, spontaneous, and continuous reactions. This allows more fine-grained and complementary insights in complex human processes such as attention, learning and memory, which are important for all types of educational, training and communication domains. Moreover, having accurate and valid affective measures is necessary for the promising AI-field of 'affective computing' whereby an individual, group-based affective and cognitive states are fed into technological systems which then adapts accordingly, allowing for optimized experience or efficacies. The Antwerp Social Lab currently houses state-of-the art infrastructure such as eyetracking to study attention and cognitive processing and electrodermal activity (sweat reactions), facial EMG (activation of facial muscles) and heart rate to capture affective processes such as stress and interest. Topic-wise the Antwerp Social Lab has focused on applying these psychophysiological and behavioral methods to human interactions in interpersonal and mediated contexts, spanning a wide range of application domains (collaboration, learning, strategic communication, media use and effects). The Antwerp Social Lab has the strong ambition to scale up and to make more available its expertise to other groups, faculties, and external partners by facilitating research, providing advice and collaborations. We are convinced that research in the Antwerp Social Lab can provide essential and currently overlooked user insights in the context of acceptance, experience and adoption of a broad range innovations and technologies within various scientific domains, as such contributing to pressing societal and economical challenges.

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  • Research Project

Meat, Men & Masculinities: how social media and interpersonal communication processes shape the connections between masculine identities and meat consumption. 01/01/2021 - 31/12/2024

Abstract

Although an over-consumption of meat relates to health- and sustainability problems, many people, men in particular, eat more meat than recommended. An underlying cause of men's over-consumption of meat may be the widespread belief that "real men eat meat". This belief fits hegemonic, patriarchal views on masculinity, but does not fit newer, more inclusive forms of masculinity. Newer forms of masculinity are gaining momentum, and at the same time also meatless diets seem to be on the rise. The general scope of this project is to study potential connections between (not) eating meat and beliefs about masculinity. In concrete terms, we will study: (1) how social media portray meat, men and masculinities; (2) investigate if and how men's decision to (not) eat meat relates to interpersonal processes of othering and polarization; and (3) study how meat, men and masculinities intersect on the cultural, interpersonal, and individual level of food choice behavior. Quantitative and qualitative content analyses will be used to study (1) Instagram and Twitter content about meat and masculinities. Experiments with self-report and psycho-physiological measures will be used to study: (2) interpersonal processes of distancing, othering and tension-relief, and (3) the effect of social media content and interpersonal interactions on men's choice to eat or not to eat meat. The outcomes may offer timely and necessary solutions to assist avid male meat eaters to reduce their meat intake.

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  • Research Project

Fulbright Scholarship Visiting Student Researcher 2022-2023 01/05/2023 - 31/10/2023

Abstract

My PhD research concerns the perceptions, motivations, and effects of food media content (any food-related message or content present in media including print, social media, etc.) among emerging adults between 18 and 25 years old in Flanders, Belgium. My research project studies this topic through diverse methodologies: qualitatively through focus groups, and quantitatively through self-report questionnaires and direct measurement via a media psychophysiology experiment. This way, this topic of food media content is approached holistically from various perspectives and its understanding is built upon iteratively as I progress from deep, interpretative qualitative data to specific quantitative data with more predictive value. My final PhD study aims to adopt direct measurements, through media psychophysiology and experimental methods, in assessing food media content perceptions and effects among emerging adults and incorporates exploratory findings from my previous studies to create experimental stimuli. Carrying out this psychophysiological study requires strengthening that specific methodological expertise. Prof. Dr. Paul Bolls, who is situated in Pullman, WA, U.S. at Washington State University, has helped set foundations for media psychophysiology research and has inspired media psychophysiology strategies at the University of Antwerp. He carries out media psychophysiology studies as the core of his research and thus has comprehensive know-how when it comes to preparing, conducting, analyzing, and reporting such studies. These things considered, I am fulfilling this last phase of my PhD together with this expert in media psychophysiology in the U.S. thanks to a successful Fulbright grant from the Commission for Educational Exchange between the United States, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Specifically, Prof. Dr. Bolls is guiding me in analyzing the psychophysiological data that I have collected in Antwerp, reporting on it, and writing up the manuscript. This will strengthen my current research and provide me with in-depth methodological expertise that will strengthen my profile as an academic researcher in the future. Undertaking this research stay also creates opportunities for intercultural exchange of research expertise more broadly and of laboratory processes and skills as well. First, with this visit I have the opportunity to learn more advanced psychophysiology equipment and practices than research at my own institution currently allows. This not only advances my knowledge; I will bring this expertise back to the psychophysiological lab at my home institution so our teams in Belgium can learn from these best practices as well. As such, the knowledge transfer that will take place during my visit will extend into long-term research practices adopted from advanced U.S. media psychophysiology research.

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  • Research Project

Experimental studies on the evolutionary roots of gossip. Neuroendocrine, psychophysiological and psychological effects of gossip on stress. 01/10/2021 - 30/09/2024

Abstract

Gossip is a universal social behavior proposed to serve a central role in the evolution of human sociality. Gossiping promotes in-group cooperation, trust, formation of new social bonds and maintenance of the existing ones. As a result gossip was suggested to serve a similar role in humans that social grooming serves in other primates. Social grooming strengthens in-group ties, but also helps with the stress of group living by lowering the levels of stress hormones and alleviating the activity of stress-inducing physiological systems. The hypothesis that gossip serves similar functions as grooming is alluring, however, no research so far had investigated if it really has similar physiological effects. Gossip is often said to be stress-relieving, but there is no data to support that claim. The purpose of this study is to fill that gap and answer the question if gossip lowers physiological stress levels. In two experimental studies and one correlational study we will investigate relationships between gossip and: non-social stressors, social stressors and stressors in the workplace. Physiological stress levels will be measured with state-of-the art biological markers: cortisol levels, beta-endorphin levels, electrodermal activity and heart rate variability. Additionally, subjective perceptions of stress in the study participants will also be measured with psychometric questionnaires in order to gather a complete picture of psycho-socio-biological effects of gossiping.

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  • Research Project

Meat, Men & Masculinites: How the (non) consumption of meat relates to personal, interpersonal, and cultural communication, focusing on connections between "meat", "men" and "masculinity". 01/10/2020 - 30/09/2024

Abstract

Food is about nutrition and health as much as it is about communication. The food choices we make relate to our identity, our interactions, and our culture. While research on food and health is abundant, research into food as a process of communication remains scarce. Charlotte De Backer fills this niche with her research (https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/projects/food-media-society/). At current De Backer and colleagues mainly look at how to effectively communicate about food (cSBO InFlOOD, FWO project, VLAIO- Meat The Challenge). The focus of the running projects is on how communication influences food consumption behavior. The goal of this Meat, Men & Masculinities proposal is to also study how food choices influence communication. The starting point of this proposal is the widespread cultural belief that "real men eat meat", and the growing resistance towards this idea. Together with Gaëlle Ouvrein, De Backer is currently conducting pilot studies that show that meat eaters and vegetarians/vegans stereotype each other and react to bashing comments in ways that ache towards polarization, especially among male populations. Ouvrein, an international expert in (celebrity) bashing behavior is therefore co-supervisor of this proposal. Departing from the socio-ecological model, this Meat, Men & Masculinities project will study how choices to eat or not to eat meat interact with communication processes at the level of (1) the individual, (2) interpersonal interactions and (3) culture. First, at the level of the individual, it is well known that, compared to women, men have stronger pro-meat attitudes that manifest at both explicit rational- and implicit, unconscious levels. We have recently shown, however, that not all men are alike, and that differences in masculine identities predict differences in men's explicit attitudes towards meat consumption. The question that will be addressed in this proposal is if similar differences in masculinities can also predict differences in attitudes and motives at unconscious, implicit levels. Implicit attitudes and motives are less prone to cultural change, but if these can be changed, they offer a more powerful and sustainable end goal for interventions. Second, at the level of culture, mass media messages about food increase in number every day. Research has shown that mass media reinforce beliefs like "real men eat meat", but these studies are outdated and scant attention has been paid to online media messages about Meat, Men & Masculinities. We thus aim to study if and how current print- and online media frame factual information about Meat, Men & Masculinities. To narrow down online media, we will focus on Instagram and Twitter, known for their abundant, and often outspoken messages about food. Third, focusing on the interpersonal level, it is known that meat is a moralizing topic, and there are assumptions that meat polarizes people into those who do and do not eat meat. We plan to empirically investigate if this is the case, and how this in the end also relates to communication at the individual and cultural level. For all this, we plan to adopt a holistic multimethod approach. Quantitative and qualitative content analyses will be used to study media messages about Meat, Men & Masculinities. Self-report (online) surveys will be combined with psychophysiological measures to investigate how men self-identify in relation to meat, react to (social) media messages about meat, and interact with meat eaters and vegetarians/vegans. In the end the outcomes of this project will lead to a profound understanding of how a seemingly simple choice to "eat or not to eat meat" operates as an important message at the level of personal, interpersonal and cultural communication. This knowledge will have the potential to impact communication strategies of health professionals and marketeers that urgently look for solutions to convince avid (most often male) meat eaters to reduce their meat intake.

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  • Research Project

Taking a closer look at micro-processes: a high sampling rate eye-tracker for collecting multimodal data. 01/01/2020 - 31/12/2021

Abstract

The application relates to the purchase of a +1000 Hz eye-tracker and upgrade of the software. This eye-tracker delivers high quality eye tracking data with an unmatched tolerance to head movements even at high frequencies. And is developed for studying micro-saccades and very fast eye movements, or for synchronizing with other high-frequency data sources (such as for example EEG, GSR or other biometrics data). The application also includes a desktop in order to run the eye tracker software and hardware and a 24" screen that can be detached in order to use the eye tracker with other screens, projectors or in "real life" physical setups and the necessary software updates that will also be available for the existing eye-tracking infrastructure at the University. The equipement will be hosted by the Antwerp Social Lab and as will as such be available for other researchers in the University of Antwerp and the Faculty of Social Sciences in particular. On a short notice the equipement will be used in the ongoing projects of the Edubron and MIOS research groups of the faculty of social sciences and will open oportunities for new research proposals in which eye momvements need to be synchronized with other high-frequency data sources.

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  • Research Project

In the Spotlight: The Effects of Celebrity Bashing on (young) Bystanders and Victims. 01/10/2019 - 30/09/2022

Abstract

This project covers a study on a very specifc, though, prominent type of online aggression: Celebrity bashing. Celebrity bashing refers to the negative and scandal-inspired way of commenting toward and about celebrities, and can be performed by journalists, the audience and other celebrities. This project aims to enrich our knowledge on this phenomenon by investigating both the perspective of adolescent perpetrators as well as the perspective of celebrity-victims. On the side of the perpetrator, we will investigate the causal link between being a bystander of the different types of celebrity bashing and becoming a perpetrator and the underlying processes that might explain this association (mediators), and contextual factors (i.e., type of the perpetrator, type of the involved celebrity) moderating this association (moderators). This will be guided by the General Aggression Model (GAM). On the side of the celebrity-victim, we will investigate celebrities' feelings and coping strategies when being confronted with bashing. This project will increase our insights on the impact of celebrity bashing on adolescents and celebrities, and thus provide evidence for the development of effective prevention and intervention initiatives.

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  • Research Project

3xG Environment and Health Research in the region of Dessel, Mol and Retie 2018. 01/04/2019 - 31/12/2020

Abstract

3xG stands for '(Environment and) Health - Municipalities - Newborns'. The study follows up the (environmental) health of a cohort of 300 newborns over a longer period in the region of Dessel, Mol and Retie. The project was suggested by the local partnerships STORA (Dessel) and MONA (Mol) in the framework of the cAt-project (disposal of low level radioactive waste (category A) and steered by NIRAS, the national agency for radioactive waste, in cooperation with the partnerships. Human biomonitoring is used as a novel technique to measure exposure to environmental conditions in the body. On the one hand human biomonitoring is used as a novel technique for early warning on human exposure to old and new chemicals and its effects in the body; on the other hand morbidity and mortality registers are analysed. UAntwerpen leads the research into social and community aspects of the study.

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  • Research Project

inFLOOD: A study about the influence of food media on food consumption patterns in Flanders. 01/01/2019 - 31/03/2023

Abstract

The scientific goal of InFlOOD is to understand how food media (i.e. all mass communication about food with the exception of traditional advertising campaigns and information/ health campaigns) influence food consumption in Flanders. The abundance of often contradictory and non-evidence-based media reports about nutrition are causing confusion. In this context, it is quite a challenge for the food industry and health organizations to communicate effectively about nutrition guidelines. Our goal is to learn from the growing group of highly successful food influencers how we can better communicate about food and nutrition. As a group of academics, health organizations, food producers and media, we want to produce positive, powerful evidence-based messages about nutrition. The concrete goals of InFlOOD are: 1. Starting from an in-depth historical analysis to study the content of popular food media in relation to the Flemish food consumption figures, 2. Zoom in on the role of celebrity status of popular food influencers, 3. Developing communication strategies that use the discourse of the most influential food gurus (how to communicate) applied to evidence-based information (which message) about nutrition (guidelines), and 4. Setting up an independent communication platform on food and nutrition that refers to the various expert bodies. The valorization of the project will be achieved via three routes: Route 1: Produce evidence-based output on the influence of food media on Flemish food consumption Route 2: Setting up a platform that forms the bridge between the food and media industry Route 3: Setting up an independent communication platform on food and nutrition that brings the consumer to the competent experts. This project has three different stakeholder groups, each with their own motivation to participate in this project: The food industry is presented with communication challenges such as keeping up with the new era of digital marketing (social media, food influencers), and refuting the flow of negative and often erroneous messages about nutrition that appear in the media. The food marketing and media industry are struggling to get their message to the consumer in these times of abundant communication about food. Health organizations are asking for more insight into how they should communicate dietary guidelines to consumers. In these internet-connected times, consumers are more directly informed and the health professionals who used to act as intermediaries to explain and frame messages are increasingly skipped

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  • Research Project

Meat the challenge. 01/01/2019 - 31/03/2021

Abstract

The meat industry is confronted with challenges in the areas of health, food safety and the environment. Consumers increasingly distrust the meat industry. A number of crises within the sector, negative attention in the press, increasingly louder voices to choose vegetarian alternatives and repeated messages that "eating meat" is unhealthy have caused concern and confusion among consumers. The general aim of this project is to analyze and optimize the communication skills of small and large-scale meat industries. How can they optimally communicate correct information about their product? And can we restore consumer confidence where necessary?

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  • Research Project

Investigating the power of cooking television (and related) as a positive stimulus to promote healthy eating habits among children. 15/07/2018 - 14/07/2019

Abstract

More than ever it is important to educate children about food literacy, which refers to the all tools needed for a healthy lifelong relationship with food. Food literacy can help to prevent obesity, which has increased to epidemic proportions over the past three decades. In many ways television (TV) consumption is linked to this obesity epidemic, partly due to viewers' exposure to unhealthy foods. This influence of food exposure via TV has mainly been studied in the context of TV advertisements, while scant attention has been paid to the potential role of TV cooking shows. These shows, along with food content on social media have become important food information sources for young viewers. Yet little is known about the nutritional value of recipes prepared in these shows, and their potential impact on young audiences. The general aim of this project is therefore to study the relation between food media (TV cooking shows and food content on social media) and food literacy in a population of Flemish children aged 9-16 years old (a life stage when children become vulnerable to messages about food). In the past 28 months, a range of nutritional content analyses of TV cooking shows targeting children have shown that the nutritional value of recipes in these shows is poor (OBJ. 1). Second, the outcomes of a few survey studies have shown that watching these shows correlates with aspects of food literacy (OBJ.3) and results of two experiments showed that watching TV cooking shows can influence food choice behavior (OBJ.4). In addition, a new scale to measure food literacy among children was developed, and this scale just needs a few more validation studies to be completed (OBJ.2). Finally, a last series of experiments is planned to study the effect of TV cooking shows on all the different aspects of food literacy (planning, selecting, preparing and eating foods). The outcomes of this project will help us understand if and how TV cooking shows and food content on social media may contribute to the ongoing obesity epidemic, and offer suggestions for how we could remediate this process. For instance, one of the experiments of this project has already demonstrated that a TV cooking show episode that focuses on healthy food choices (fresh fruits and vegetables) shifts children's food choice behavior from less healthy to more healthy food choices (choosing fruit as a snack rather than a cookie). This means that if we can nudge program makers to focus (more) on healthy food choices in (TV) cooking shows, these media platforms could be successfully used to endorse healthy eating habits. This, and other suggestions that will come out of this project make this a timely and necessary study that is near completion.

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  • Research Project

From Food Media to Food Literacy: Investigating the potential of using food media to increase food literacy among young adults (18-25). 01/01/2018 - 31/12/2021

Abstract

People consume food via various media to such a degree that some even talk about "food porn". This project aims to investigate if this form of entertainment can be(come) a tool to educate young adults (18-25) from different SES backgrounds about food literacy. We start with an exploration of the food literacy barriers Flemish young adults experience. In this exploratory phase we will also monitor which food media they watch most often and find most entertaining. Second, we will study if and how existing food media cover the four general domains of food literacy (planning, selecting, preparing, consuming). We firstly want to know if food media cover these topics. Second, we aim to study how they transfer this information using a framework of methods that have been proven to be successful in planning health promotion programs. In a final stage, we merge the above knowledge by testing the impact of different food media on the potential improvement of the four general food literacy domains. Using four experiments, we will focus each time on one of the four food literacy domains in detail and how certain food media may positively influence their users. Participants will be asked to actively use a particular form of food media and keep a record of their experience using social media (experimental group) or to not use any food media (control group) for a period of ten weeks. Prior and after each trial measures will be taken to asses any differences in food literacy.

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Using multi-media entertainment-education programme as tool to prevent obesity in black South-African women. 01/01/2018 - 31/12/2019

Abstract

The project is a partnership between the University of the Western Cape (UWC), the Human Science Research Council (HSRC), University of Antwerp and KU Leuven. AIMS: To capacitate the School of Public health (SOPH) UWC and to implement an obesity prevention program using entertainment-education (EE) as a platform. The project will support the SOPH to improve the quality of the master program and improve food literacy and body image perception in black females residing in the rural Eastern Cape (Mt Frere) and Langa Township in Cape Town. METHOD: The project will offer opportunities for full time enrolment of master students and provide opportunities for information sharing among the universities. Furthermore the project will produce and test the effectiveness of multimedia entertainment-education on food literacy and body weight perception using locally available resources.

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  • Research Project

3xG Environment and Health Research in the region of Dessel, Mol and Retie 2018. 01/01/2018 - 31/12/2018

Abstract

3xG stands for '(Environment and) Health - Municipalities - Births'. The study follows up the (environmental) health of inhabitants, and more in particular a cohort of newborns over al longer period in the region of Dessel, Mol and Retie. The project was suggested by the local partnerships STORA (Dessel) and MONA (Mol) in the framework of the cAt-project (disposal of low level radioactive waste (category A) and steered by NIRAS, the national agency for radioactive waste, in cooperation with the partnerships. On the one hand human biomonitoring is used as a novel technique for early warning on human exposure to old and new chemicals and its effects in the body; on the other hand morbidity and mortality registers are analysed. In the 2018-project UAntwerpen will focus on two tasks: (i) facilitate the external communication of collective biomonitoring results on endocrine disrupting chemicals to local stakeholders and the public. (ii) conduct focus groups with young children (8-9 years old) in 4 elementary schools in Dessel, Mol, Retie and Antwerp to gain better insights into the child perspective on environmental health.

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  • Research Project

City of Things (CoT). 01/05/2016 - 30/04/2020

Abstract

As everyday devices are being connected to the Internet, research on large-scale wireless sensors networks specifically and Internet of Things (IoT) generally are becoming more and more important. There is a considerable research and innovation effort related to the deployment of smart cities using this IoT technology. However, there are still plenty of hurdles to move from R&D to implementation and real mass-scale deployment of wireless sensors networks. Moreover, the city itself is a treasure of data to be explored if the right sensors can be installed. Testbeds are the preferred tools for academic and industrial researchers to evaluate their research but a large-scale multi-technology smart city research infrastructure is currently the missing link. The City of Things research infrastructure will build a multi-technology and multi-level testbed in the city of Antwerp. As a result, 100 locations around the city of Antwerp and its harbour will be equipped with gateways supporting multiple wireless IoT protocols. These gateways will connect with hundreds of wireless sensors and actuators, measuring smart city parameters such as traffic flows, noise, air pollution, etc.

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Gossip as social glue: an investigation into the potential mediating role of oxytocin. 01/10/2015 - 30/09/2019

Abstract

Across time and cultures, gossip has proven to be a universal behavior that strengthens social cohesion and increases trust, presumably because of its stress-reduction and social information-sharing functions. So far, the underlying biological mechanisms of this relation have received little or no attention. We suspect that the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT), which is known to have an important role in regulating social behaviors in all mammals, is likely to be involved. OT levels increase when receiving a trust signal or sharing a secret, two behaviors that also have been attributed to the act of gossip. Hence it is conceivable that gossiping may stimulate OT release, which in turn, promote positive in-group dynamics The purpose of the proposed study is to investigate if, and how, OT could have a mediating role in the relation between gossip on the one hand, and trust and cooperation on the other hand. In addition, we will investigate the moderating effects of individual differences (gender and personality traits) and contextual factors (gossip between friends vs. strangers). We propose a set of laboratory experiments whereby we test whether gossiping participants (compared to solitary or non-gossiping participants) show (1) a temporary increase in salivary OT level (i.e., a greater OT reactivity) and (2) an increase in trust and willingness to cooperate with group members. This project is innovative because it merges two streams of research that have up to now been pursued mostly independently. On the one hand, the social sciences have addressed how and when gossip facilitates social cohesion. On the other hand, in the field of psychoneuroendocrinology, increasing attention is paid to the underlying neural circuits and chemicals that underscore prosocial behaviors like trusting and cooperating. So far both fields of expertise have not been linked to each other. Given the ubiquity of gossip in all cultures and its pervasiveness in almost every aspect of life, we believe the outcomes of this project will appeal to different scientific domains and society at large.

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Feasibility study for Human Biomonitoring (3xG) in the region of the municipalities Dessel, Mol and Retie 01/01/2015 - 31/12/2016

Abstract

The UA-team coordinates the social scientific research activities within the consortium. In this stage of the study, there will be process guidance for a rational dialogue on a selection of 3xG human biomonitoring results to translate into policy (phased action plan) and for building a communication strategy for the group of participants in the study and the local community at large.

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What unites us: Investigating the power of social talk and shared meals on shared basis, cooperation and trust in ephemeral interactions. 01/02/2014 - 31/12/2014

Abstract

Many societies today are characterized by ephemeral interactions. We communicate with many, yet with most we no longer have a shared basis, which leads to lower levels of cooperation and trust. Previous research and literature suggests that celebrity gossip and sharing food may have the power to connect people, even within this context of ephemeral interactions. This will be tested by means of social experiments.

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First food, then morals: the impact of (new) media on the ongoing decline in commensality, and the consequences on the development and activation of moral attitudes and moral behaviour 01/01/2011 - 31/12/2012

Abstract

Due to an increase in television consumption, family meals are in decline. This also implies a loss in daily rituals of moral socialization, which might explain why low frequencies in family meal consumption correlate with lower psychological wellbeing. This project aims to investigate the relation between commensality, morality and wellbeing, with a focus on new media, and commensality outside the family context as new research angles.

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eSafety label pilot project. 30/10/2010 - 30/06/2011

Abstract

This project represents a formal research agreement between UA and on the other hand EUN Partnership. UA provides EUN Partnership research results mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions as stipulated in this contract.

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