Prof. Dr. Philipp Sprengholz

Former research associate Philipp Sprengholz is now Junior Professor for Health Psychology at the University of Bamberg. He received his M.Sc. in Cognitive Neuroscience and Cognitive Psychology from Friedrich Schiller University Jena in 2018. In his dissertation project under the supervision of Prof. Cornelia Betsch, he investigated the effects of coercive and rewarding measures for increasing vaccination uptake. He is interested in applying state of the art technology as well as implicit methods in his research. Before becoming a psychologist, Philipp Sprengholz graduated in engineering and gathered several years of professional experience in the IT industry.

Areas of expertise: reactance in health communication; health and climate change; preferences in health care allocation; vaccination and social polarization

Curriculum Vitae

Academic career        

• 2018 – 2022           Dissertation in Health Psychology, University of Erfurt
• 2016 – 2018           Master of Science in Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Friedrich Schiller University Jena
• 2013 – 2016           Bachelor of Science in Psychology, University of Hagen
• 2011 – 2012           Master of Science in Business Administration and Engineering, Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences Jena
• 2007 – 2011           Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Engineering, Ernst Abbe University if Applied Science Jena

Employment

• 2023 – present      University of Bamberg, Junior Professor of Health Psychology
• 2018 – 2023.          University of Erfurt, Research Associate (100%). Research project "COSMO - COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring"
• 2012 – 2020           Engineer at Carl Zeiss Microscopy, Jena

Publications

An overview of Philipp Sprengholz current research projects and publications of the Junior Professor for Health Psychology at the University of Bamberg can be found here.

• Sprengholz, P., Tannert, S., & Betsch, C. (2023). Explaining Boomerang Effects in Persuasive Health Communication: How Psychological Reactance to Healthy Eating Messages Elevates Attention to Unhealthy Food. Journal of Health Communication, 1–7.
• Gilan, D., Birkenbach, M., Wossidlo, M., Sprengholz, P., Betsch, C., Hahad, O., & Lieb, K. (2023). Fear of COVID-19 disease and vaccination as predictors of vaccination status. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 1–8.
• Böhm, R., Sprengholz, P., Betsch, C., & Partheymüller, J. (2023). Filter Questions in Symptom Assessment Affect the Prevalence of (A)Symptomatic COVID-19 Cases. Medical Decision Making, 43(4), 530–534.
• Sprengholz, P., Bruckmann, R., Wiedermann, M., Brockmann, D., & Betsch, C. (2023). From delta to omicron: The role of individual factors and social context in self-reported compliance with pandemic regulations and recommendations. Social Science & Medicine, 317, 115633.
• Sprengholz, P., Schreckenbach, F., Giesen, C. G., Koranyi, N., & Rothermund, K. (2023). Guilty on the Go: Uncovering Concealed Information by Assessing Response Preparation Processes in a Go-Nogo-Paradigm. Collabra, 9(1), 1–12.
• Shamsrizi, P., Jenny, M. A., Sprengholz, P., Geiger, M., Jäger, C. B., & Betsch, C. (2023). Heatwaves and their health risks: knowledge, risk perceptions and behaviours of the German population in summer 2022. European Journal of Public Health, 33(5), 841–843.
• Sprengholz, P., Henkel, L., Böhm, R., & Betsch, C. (2023a). Historical narratives about the COVID-19 pandemic are motivationally biased. Nature.
• Sprengholz, P., Henkel, L., Böhm, R., & Betsch, C. (2023b). Learning from the past?: how biased memories of the pandemic endanger preparation for future crises. Clinical and Translational Medicine, 13(12), 1–3.
• Taubert, F., Sprengholz, P., Korn, L., Eitze, S., Wiedermann, M., & Betsch, C. (2023). Situational pathogen avoidance mediates the impact of social connectedness on preventive measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Scientific Reports, 13(1).
• Scholz, D. D., Bader, M., Betsch, C., Böhm, R., Lilleholt, L., Sprengholz, P., & Zettler, I. (2023). The moderating role of trust in pandemic-relevant institutions on the relation between pandemic fatigue and vaccination intentions. Journal of Health Psychology, Online First.
• Sprengholz, P., Felgendreff, L., Buyx, A., & Betsch, C. (2023). Toward future triage regulations: Investigating preferred allocation principles of the German public. Health Policy, 134(August 2023, 104845).
• Eitze, S., Sprengholz, P., Korn, L., Shamsrizi, P., Felgendreff, L., & Betsch, C. (2023). Vicarious experiences of long COVID: A Protection Motivation Theory Analysis for Vaccination Intentions. Vaccine, Online First, 100417.
• Sprengholz, P., Korn, L., Felgendreff, L., Eitze, S., & Betsch, C. (2022). A lay perspective on prioritization for intensive care in pandemic times: Vaccination status matters. Clinical Ethics, 147775092210944.
• Sprengholz, P., Korn, L., Eitze, S., Felgendreff, L., Siegers, R., Goldhahn, L., De Bock, F., Huebl, L., Böhm, R., & Betsch, C. (2022). Attitude toward a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy and its determinants: Evidence from serial cross-sectional surveys conducted throughout the pandemic in Germany. Vaccine, 40(51), 7370–7377.
• Böhm, R., Betsch, C., Litovsky, Y., Sprengholz, P., Brewer, N. T., Chapman, G., Leask, J., Loewenstein, G., Scherzer, M., Sunstein, C. R., & Kirchler, M. (2022). Crowdsourcing interventions to promote uptake of COVID-19 booster vaccines. EClinicalMedicine, 53, 101632.
• Sprengholz, P., Henkel, L., Böhm, R., Betsch, C. (2022). Different Interventions for COVID-19 Primary and Booster Vaccination? Effects of Psychological Factors and Health Policies on Vaccine Uptake. Medical Decision Making. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X221138111
• Henkel, L., Sprengholz, P., Korn, L., Betsch, C., & Böhm, R. (2022). The association between vaccination status identification and societal polarization. Nature Human Behavior. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01469-6
• Böhm, R., Betsch, C., Litovsky, Y., Sprengholz, P., Brewer, N., Chapman, G., ... & Kirchler, M. (2022). Crowdsourcing interventions to promote uptake of COVID-19 booster vaccines. EClinicalMedicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101632
• Sprengholz, P., Henkel, L., Betsch, C. (2022). Payments and freedoms: Effects of monetary and legal incentives on COVID-19 vaccination intentions in Germany. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268911
• Sprengholz, P., Korn, L., Felgendreff, L., Eitze, S., & Betsch, C. (2022). A lay perspective on prioritization for intensive care in pandemic times: Vaccination status matters. Clinical Ethics. https://doi.org/10.1177/14777509221094474 
• Sprengholz, P., Felgendreff, L., Böhm, R., & Betsch, C. (2022). Vaccination policy reactance: Predictors, consequences, and countermeasures. Journal of health psychology, 27(6). https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053211044535 
• Korn, L., Siegers, R., Eitze, S., Sprengholz, P., Taubert, F., Böhm, R., & Betsch, C. (2022). Age Differences in COVID-19 Preventive Behavior. European Psychologist, 26(4). https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000462 
• Sprengholz, P., Korn, L., Eitze, S., Felgendreff, L., Siegers, R., Goldhahn, L., ... & Betsch, C. (2022). Attitude toward a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy and its determinants: Evidence from serial cross-sectional surveys conducted throughout the pandemic in Germany. Vaccine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.01.065 
• Sprengholz, P., Betsch, C., & Böhm, R. (2021). Reactance revisited: Consequences of mandatory and scarce vaccination in the case of COVID‐19. Applied Psychology: Health and Well‐Being, 13(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12285 
• Betsch, C., & Sprengholz, P. (2021). The human factor between airborne pollen concentrations and COVID-19 disease dynamics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(34). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2107239118 
• Sprengholz, P., & Betsch, C. (2021). Ok Google: Using virtual assistants for data collection in psychological and behavioral research. Behavior Research Methods. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-021-01629-y 
• Schreckenbach, F., Sprengholz, P., Rothermund, K., & Koranyi, N. (2021). How to Remember Something You Didn't Say. Experimental Psychology, 67(6). https://doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169/a000504 
• Adeyanju, G. C., Sprengholz, P., Betsch, C., & Essoh, T. A. (2021). Caregivers’ Willingness to Vaccinate Their Children against Childhood Diseases and Human Papillomavirus: A Cross-Sectional Study on Vaccine Hesitancy in Malawi. Vaccines, 9(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9111231 
• Sprengholz, P., & Betsch, C. (2021). Zero-sum or worse? Considering detrimental effects of selective mandates on voluntary childhood vaccinations. The Journal of Pediatrics, 240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2021.08.018 
• Betsch, C., Sprengholz, P., Siegers, R., Eitze, S., Korn, L., Goldhahn, L., ... & Jenny, M. A. (2021). Empirical evidence to understand the human factor for effective rapid testing against SARS-CoV-2. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(32). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2107179118 
• Sprengholz, P., & Betsch, C. (2021). Previous SARS‐CoV‐2 infection is linked to lower vaccination intentions. Journal of Medical Virology, 93. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.27221 
• Sprengholz, P., Siegers, R., Goldhahn, L., Eitze, S., & Betsch, C. (2021). Good night: Experimental evidence that nighttime curfews may fuel disease dynamics by increasing contact density. Social Science & Medicine, 286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114324 
• König, H. H., De Bock, F., Sprengholz, P., Kretzler, B., & Hajek, A. (2021). Willingness to bear economic costs of measures against SARS-CoV-2 in Germany. BMC public health, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11734-4 
• Felgendreff, L., Korn, L., Sprengholz, P., Eitze, S., Siegers, R., & Betsch, C. (2021). Risk information alone is not sufficient to reduce optimistic bias. Research in Social & Administrative Pharmacy, 17(5). https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.sapharm.2021.01.010 
• Sprengholz, P., Korn, L., Eitze, S., & Betsch, C. (2021). Allocation of COVID-19 vaccination: when public prioritisation preferences differ from official regulations. Journal of medical ethics, 47(7). http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2021-107339 
• Hajek, A., De Bock, F., Sprengholz, P., Kretzler, B., & König, H. H. (2021). Attitudes towards the economic costs associated with measures against the spread of COVID-19: Population perceptions from repeated cross-sectional data of the nationally representative COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring in Germany (COSMO). PloS one, 16(11). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259451 
• Sprengholz, P., Eitze, S., Korn, L., Siegers, R., & Betsch, C. (2021). The power of choice: Experimental evidence that freedom to choose a vaccine against COVID-19 improves willingness to be vaccinated. European Journal of Internal Medicine, 87. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.ejim.2021.03.015 
• Eitze, S., Felgendreff, L., Korn, L., Sprengholz, P., Allen, J., Jenny, M. A., ... & Betsch, C. (2021). Public trust in institutions in the first half of the Corona pandemic: findings from the COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring (COSMO) project. Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz, 64. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00103-021-03279-z 
• Sprengholz, P., Eitze, S., Felgendreff, L., Korn, L., & Betsch, C. (2021). Money is not everything: experimental evidence that payments do not increase willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Journal of Medical Ethics, 47(8). http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2020-107122 
• Hajek, A., De Bock, F., Wieler, L. H., Sprengholz, P., Kretzler, B., & König, H. H. (2020). Perceptions of health care use in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(24). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249351 
• Gilan, D., Röthke, N., Blessin, M., Kunzler, A., Stoffers-Winterling, J., Müssig, M., … & Lieb, K. (2020). Psychomorbidity, resilience, and exacerbating and protective factors during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, 117(38). https://dx.doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.2020.0625 
• Betsch, C., Korn, L., Sprengholz, P., Felgendreff, L., Eitze, S., Schmid, P., & Böhm, R. (2020). Social and behavioral consequences of mask policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(36). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2011674117 
• Habersaat, K., Betsch, C., Danchin, M., Sunstein, C. R., Böhm, R., Falk, A., ... & Butler, R. (2020). Ten considerations for effectively managing the COVID-19 transition. Nature human behaviour, 4(7). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0906-x 
• Sprengholz, P., & Betsch, C. (2020). Herd immunity communication counters detrimental effects of selective vaccination mandates: Experimental evidence. EClinicalMedicine, 22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100352