Prof. Dr. Wendelin Schnedler

Bachelor

Master

Final theses with us

We take part in the centralised allocation procedure for theses. The procedure distributes the students who wish to write a thesis fairly among the professorships. All information on the centralised allocation procedure.

What makes us special is that, unlike many other professorships, we do not specify any fixed topics. With us, students have the opportunity to write their theses in many different fields on the topic of "human behaviour".

Our 'Finding' course is open to all students, including those who are not writing their thesis with us. However, due to limited capacity, students who are writing their thesis with us will be given priority in the allocation of course places. If you are interested, please contact us at finding@mail.uni-paderborn.de.

Our aim is to prepare students for the challenges of research in the best possible way and to strengthen their skills in independent scientific work. Join us in discovering the many opportunities to organise your own research project. We look forward to fostering your interest in research.

Examples of previous theses

How effective is empathic communication?
An experimental analysis regarding the effect of empathic communication on the willingness to wear a mask

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the wearing of face masks was mandatory on public transport, in supermarkets and in public places. Despite this, some people did not wear a mask, putting themselves and others at risk. In her bachelor's thesis, Antonia investigated the effectiveness of encouraging people to wear face masks in public spaces. She investigated whether expressing empathy and personal dislike of masks influences compliance. Antonia conducted her study in buses and train stations and randomly approached people with and without an empathetic approach. She then observed and documented the participants' reactions. The results showed that empathic communication did not increase the willingness to wear a face mask.

The Impact of Ice Breaking Games on Trust and Reciprocity:
A Lab in the Field Experiment

In environments with frequent staff turnover, such as schools or dynamic workplaces, building mutual trust is crucial for group engagement and productivity. The key question here is how this essential trust can be developed more quickly, especially when teams suffer from constant turnover of members. Jennifer addressed this issue in her master's thesis and investigated the effectiveness of ice breaker games as a tool to accelerate the development of trust and reciprocity. The study was conducted with students in their first semester at Paderborn University and the results show that the Ice Breaker game did not have a significant impact on trust and mutual cooperation. However, significantly more people actively participated when the game was not played.

A field experiment on sustainable consumption in tourism
Can nudging influence hotel guests to reuse their towel more often?

Water scarcity due to tourism is a major problem, especially on islands. Laura carried out a field experiment in a hotel in Mauritius as part of her master's thesis. She investigated the effectiveness of signs in hotel rooms to encourage guests to reuse towels and save water. The signs emphasised the harmful effects of excessive water wastage and the resulting water shortages for people in Africa. The result: up to two fewer towels per room and stay need to be washed when guests are reminded that their choices can prevent water shortages.

Can flyers help people reduce their recyclable waste?

Single-use plastic is a major burden on the environment and climate protection. Marie and Laura conducted a field experiment in their bachelor's thesis to investigate how waste in the yellow bins can be reduced in people's everyday lives. The result: the households with the flyers on waste separation reduced their plastic waste by an average of 350 grams. The yellow bins of the households with the information about their neighbours' waste consumption weighed 1340 grams less.

Do you look away now, even if you face the consequences on others, later?
An online (lab) experiment

A potentially harmful decision can easily be excused by a lack of knowledge about the consequences of that decision. In his bachelor's thesis, Laurenz investigated whether individuals show less ignorant and more pro-social behaviour when they know in advance that they will definitely experience the consequences of their decisions afterwards. It turned out that this is not the case.

Can greenwashing mislead consumers in their purchasing decision?
An experimental study

Greenwashing refers to the misleading practice of marketing a conventional product as environmentally friendly. This prompted Kathrin to investigate the effectiveness of ingredient transparency in detecting such practices in her bachelor's thesis. She investigated consumers' decisions between a greenwashed hand cream advertised as "organic" and a conventional one, based on access to information about the ingredients. In a field experiment, 100 participants were divided into two groups - one was exposed to the greenwashing practice, while the other was given transparent lists of ingredients. The results indicated that the latter group, who were informed about the ingredients, were less likely to choose the product advertised as 'greenwashed'.