Dr. Alma-Sophia Merscher, M.Sc.
Research Assistant | Postdoc
Social Psychology
Research Interests
- Loneliness and its interactions with
- Prejudice and stigmatization
- Sense of injustice
- Political attitudes
Academic Background
- 2023
- Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat.), Julius-Maximilian University Würzburg and Graduate School of Life Sciences Würzburg
- 2015-2018
- M.Sc. in Clinical Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
- 2012–2015
- B.Sc. in Psychology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Academic Positions
- Since 2024
- Postdoc, Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) Munich, Department of Social Psychology (PI: Prof. Dr. Mario Gollwitzer)
- 2023-2024
- Postdoc, Julius-Maximilian University (JMU) Würzburg, Department of Experimental Clinical Psychology (PI: Prof. Dr. Matthias Gamer)
- 2021-2022
- Visiting Researcher, California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, USA)
- 2015-2016
- Visiting Researcher, University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, USA)
Third-Party Funded Projects
Conceptualization, coordination, and execution of the symposium “(Tackling) Loneliness: Prejudice and Stigma as Shared Markers across Vulnerable Groups – Migration, Mental Health, and Aging” within the Volkswagen Foundation’s thematic week Gem/Einsamkeit.
Memberships in Professional Associations and Interest Groups
- Member of the German Psychological Society (DGPs), Interest Group for Open and Reproducible Science
- Founder and leader of the independent interest group Loneliness (open for new members)
- Ambassador for the Lonely-EU network
- Collaborator in the project “Global Index of Social Connection”, an initiative led by the Annecy Behavioral Science Lab, supported by the Templeton World Charity Foundation, and conducted in partnership with the Global Initiative on Loneliness and Connection
Science Communication
- Keynote speaker and podcast contributor at the Conference “Loneliness – a Challenge for Democracy?” (Federal Agency for Civic Education)
- Podcast guest for Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte by the Federal Agency for Civic Education, episode on loneliness and democracy (release: November 2025)
- Interview on male loneliness for GEO Magazine
- Webinar speaker on “Prejudice and Stigma around Loneliness” at the Tackling Loneliness Hub
- Coordinator of the group “Stigma & Prejudice around Loneliness” at the Tackling Loneliness Hub – new members welcome
Publications
- Merscher, A. S., & Gamer, M. (2020, June). Freezing of Gaze in Anticipation of Avoidable Threat: A threat-specific proxy for freezing-like behavior in humans. In ACM Symposium on Eye Tracking Research and Applications (pp. 1–3). https://doi.org/10.1145/3379156.3391345
- Merscher, A.-S., Tovote, P., Pauli, P., & Gamer, M. (2022). Centralized gaze as an adaptive component of defensive states in humans. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 289(1975), 20220405. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0405
- Merscher, A.-S., & Gamer, M. (2024). Fear lies in the eyes of the beholder—Robust evidence for reduced gaze dispersion upon avoidable threat. Psychophysiology, 61, e14421. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14421
- Merscher, A.-S., & Gamer, M. (2024). Can I see it in the eyes? An investigation of freezing-like motion patterns in response to avoidable threat. Psychophysiology, 00, e14567. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14567