Projects
The role of psychological climate in shaping subjective job insecurity, perceived employability and their effects on employeesˈ well-being KU Leuven
The present PhD places the focus on job insecurity (JI) and perceived employability (PE) – two constructs that represent central determinants of employees’ well-being in the context of the contemporary labor markets. Despite their well-established relevance, the question on how both can be managed to good effect still represents a challenge for researchers and practitioners. In response, this PhD aimed to investigate whether and how does a ...
Perceived employability, an asset to employee performance? Why and when (not) KU Leuven
Perceived employability (PE; an employee’s perceived chance to finding a new job elsewhere) has gained resonance in a labor market context in which employers can no longer ensure lifelong employment: They feel a pressure to pursue flexible personnel staffing in order to stay competitive. While PE is an established asset to employee health and career success, it is not clear if it also benefits employers, especially in terms of higher employee ...
Perceived and measured indoor environmental quality in hospitals: closing the gap. KU Leuven
The design of healthcare environments can have an impact on patients' emotions. These emotions can influence their comfort and health, and interlink with adaptation, i.e. the response to restore comfort when discomfort occurs. Adaptation affects energy use. In that context, researchers seek to develop models that predict comfort (MCP) or adaptations of indoor conditions (MAP); or try to understand the roles of the built environment (RBE) in ...
Backup mandate Research Council: Perceived injustice-targeted pain neuroscience education combined with motivational interviewing: Can we decrease health care utilization in breast cancer survivors? Vrije Universiteit Brussel
21-76% of breast cancer survivors (BCS) experience pain. More
healthcare use (HCU) is seen in BCS with pain. Recent work revealed that perceived injustice (PI) is experienced by 22% of BCS with pain. PI is the tendency to attribute blame to others for one’s suffering and to experience a sense of unfairness and is associated with higher opioid use, influencing HCU. ...
To mirror or not to mirror upon perceived eye contact? A neurophysiological examination of interpersonal motor resonance KU Leuven
The overall aim of this doctoral project was to thoroughly investigate the effect of observed eye gaze on different neurophysiological markers of the human mirror system, which was achieved by conducting six different studies. In a first study, we developed a sensitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) protocol for measuring the effect of direct versus averted eye gaze on interpersonal motor resonance, as indexed by corticospinal ...
Understanding and alleviating the mismatch between observed and perceived upper limb function after stroke KU Leuven
In people post stroke, we recently reported a mismatch between observed and perceived upper limb function, i.e. a group of patients at six months after stroke showed good upper limb function but low perceived ability. Building on this knowledge, this project will systematically address the subsequent research questions arising from our previous analysis. Through a longitudinal observation of evolution of mismatch between six and 12 months ...
Attitudes toward integration and perceived ethnic threat; a case-study of Luxembourg and cross-cultural comparisons within and outside of Europe. KU Leuven
Since the mid-twentieth century, Europe has been confronted with immigration on a scale larger than ever before (Hooghe, Trappers, Meuleman, and Reeskens, 2008). This has led to demographic, ethnic, and cultural changes in European societies. As a result, questions about intergroup conflicts, social cohesion, and social inclusion have come to the fore in most Western countries (Bircan and Hooghe, 2010; Valentova and Berzosa, 2012).
One ...
New windows on cognitive control: the effects of attentional load and consciousness on control mode KU Leuven
Investment of cognitive effort plays an important role in many aspects of daily life. For example, it can lead to feelings of cognitive fatigue, it is perceived as aversive and therefore avoided if possible, and it is registered as a cost in decision making. Cognitive effort can be invested through the application of cognitive control, which entails a flexible adjustment of behavior to environmental demands. For example, when faced with ...
The role of prefrontal control in anticipatory and reactive stress regulation: an integrative psychoendocrinological and neurocognitive approach. Ghent University
During our life, we face different situations that we can perceive as stressful (for example: a job
interview or an exam). Before and during the confrontation with these stressful situations, some
important changes occur in our mind and body: we feel more anxious and less happy, our heart
starts to beat faster, and our body produces more cortisol (the so-called hormone of stress). If
these reactions are too extreme ...