Forschung am ZPID > Psychological Metascience > Metascience Lab

Welcome to the Metascience Lab!

Psychologists all over the world report countless research results and produce thousands of scientific papers every year. Yet, those research results do not always agree or replicate in later studies. How can we know which findings we can trust and what story all these results us when taken together? In the Psychological Metascience Lab, our goal is to find out. We work to examine psychological science from a meta-perspective. We investigate the quality and reliability of cumulative evidence in psychology, the biases encountered in psychological science, as well as the transparency and openness of psychological research. We also conduct high quality research syntheses on burning social topics such as migration or misinformation.

Lab Spotlights

  • June ’25: Dinh Hung Vu and Ling Ling Tai will participate in the joint conference of IACCP and IAIR in Brisbane, Australia, where they will present the results of our meta-analysis of correlates of migrant adaptation.
  • March ’25: Kinga Bierwiaczonek was invited to give a talk at the QUEST Center for Responsible Research in Berlin. The topic is “Toward evidence-based psychological science: Assessing the heterogeneity of cumulative evidence in psychology”.
  • February ’25: Kinga Bierwiaczonek gave a talk on migration and misinformation during the interdisciplinary workshop “Navigating Uncertainty: Leveraging digital technologies for migration decisions” in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The workshop was co-convened by Prof. Anna Triandafyllidou, Prof. Igor Grossmann, and Prof. Faisal Garba. 

Who we are

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Kinga Bierwiaczonek

Junior Professor Metascience

+49 (0) 651 201-1713

Dr. Janine Kesselheim

Senior Researcher

+49 (0) 651 201-2164

Ling Ling Tai

Associated scientist
ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon

Dinh Hung Vu

Associated scientist
University of Oslo

Recent Lab Publications (selection)

  • Vu, D.-H., Kunst, J.R., Tong, R., Bierwiaczonek, K. (in press). Methodological challenges in cross-cultural adaptation research: Insights from a large-scale meta-analysis. In: L. Arasaratnam-Smith (Ed.). Handbook of Communication and Culture. Edward Elgar.
  • Kunst, J.R., & Bierwiaczonek, K. (in press). Commentary on “The Appraisal Model of Conspiracy Theories (AMCT): Applying Appraisal Theories to Understand Emotional and Behavioral Reactions to Conspiracy Theories”. Psychological Inquiry.
  • Bierwiaczonek, K., Fluit, A.M., von Soest, T., Hornsey, M., & Kunst, J. (2024). Loneliness trajectories over three decades predict conspiracist worldviews in midlife. Nature Communications 15, 3629. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47113-x
  • Bierwiaczonek, K., Pereira da Costa, L., & Bianchi, M. (2024). Does digital intergroup contact reduce prejudice? A meta-analysis. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 27(7), 440-451. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2023.059
  • Varmann, A., Kruse, L., Bierwiaczonek, K., Gómez, A., Vázquez, A, & Kunst, J.R. (2024). How Identity Fusion Predicts Extreme Pro-Group Orientations: A Meta-Analysis. European Review of Social Psychology, 35(1), 162-197. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2023.2190267
  • Kunst, J. R., & Bierwiaczonek, K. (2023). Utilizing AI questionnaire translations in cross-cultural and intercultural research: Insights and recommendations. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 97, 101888. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2023.101888
  • Obaidi, M., Anjum, G., Bierwiaczonek, K., Dovidio, J., Ozer, S., & Kunst, J.R. (2023). Cultural threat perceptions predict violent extremism via need for cognitive closure. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(20), e2213874120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2213874120
  • Bierwiaczonek, K., Cheung, M., & Kunst, J.R. (2023). Revisiting the integration hypothesis again: High heterogeneity complicates the interpretation of cross-sectional evidence. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 93, 101780. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2023.101780

Current Projects and Cooperations (selection)

  • Evaluating meta-analytical evidence in psychology: In psychology, the perception that meta-analyses represent conclusive evidence is widespread. Yet, recent findings contradicting some of the most prominent meta-analyses of the discipline indicate that meta-analytical evidence may be largely overstated, distorting research results and leading practitioners astray. Why is that? This ongoing project aims at evaluating the quality and reliability of meta-analytical evidence in psychology and identifying ways to improve it.
  • Examining human and systemic biases in psychological research: Science aspires to being objective but in fact, both the academic system and the research process are prone to all kinds of human and systemic biases. In this project, we work to identify what biases these are, and how they affect the researchers, the scientific process, and the research results.
  • Synthesizing research results in key areas of psychological research: A running activity of the Psychological Metascience Lab consists of conducting high-quality, methodologically innovative meta-analyses addressing questions of high societal relevance such as migration, misinformation, or conspiracy beliefs. For instance, as part of a project funded by the Research Council of Norway, we have synthesized over 1K studies to find out what factors correlate with the well-being of immigrants in the receiving countries.