Prof. Dr. Jan Wacker
Photo: Jan Wacker
Head of Department
Differential Psychology and Psychological Assessment
Address
Office
Office hours
by appointment
Contact
Academic Education
| 2011 | Philipps-University Marburg: Habilitation (venia legendi in psychology) |
| 2005 | Philipps-University Marburg: Doctorate (RNDr) in psychology ("Dopamin, Handlungssteuerung und Spontan-EEG: Bausteine einer psychobiologischen Extraversionstheorie"), grade: Summa cum laude |
| 1996-2001 | Philipps-University Marburg: Study of psychology (Diplom thesis: "Emotionen, Verhaltenstendenzen und frontales EEG"), Degree: Dipl.-Psych., grade: 1,0 with special acknowledgements |
Academic Appointments
| 2015 | Call for W2-Professorship for Differential Psychology and Psychological Assessment at the University of Osnabrück (1st on the list of appointments, rejected) |
| Since 2013 | Professor (W2) for Differential Psychology and Psychological Assessment at the Universität Hamburg |
| 2012 | Call for W2-Professorship for Differential Psychology and Psychological Assessment at the Universität Hamburg (1st on the list of appointments) |
| 2012 | 3rd on list of appointments for a professorship for Foundations of Psychology (equivalent to W3) at the University of Witten-Herdecke |
| 2012 | 3rd on list of appointments for a W3 professorship for Biological Personality Psychology and Psychological Assessment at the University of Göttingen |
| 2011-2013 | Private lecturer, Department of Psychology, Philipps-Universität Marburg |
| 2010 | 2nd on list of appointments for a W2 professorship position for Differential Psychology and Psychological Assessment at the Justus-Maximilians-University of Würzburg |
| 2008 | Research fellowship at the Affective Neuroscience Laboratory (Prof. Dr. Pizzagalli), Harvard University, Cambridge, MA |
| 2005-2013 | Lecturer at the section for Differential Psychology and Psychological Assessment (Prof. Dr. Stemmler) at the Department of Psychology, Philipps-Universität Marburg |
| 2001-2005 | Research associate in DFG-projects of Prof. Dr. Stemmler, Philipps-University of Marburg |
Participation in University Committees and Institutions
| 2015-2021 | Vice Dean for faculty of psychology and human movements at the Universität Hamburg |
| Since 2014 | Substitute member of the exam committee for dissertations as well as the committee for promotion of research and young researchers at the Universität Hamburg |
Participation in Journals
| Since 2018 | Editorial board of Personality Neuroscience |
| Since 2013 | Editorial board of the European Journal of Personality |
| Since 2013 | Editorial board of the Journal of Research in Personality |
| 2012 | Guest Editor for the Frontiers in Human Neuroscience Research Topic „Dopaminergic Foundations of Personality and Individual Differences“ (in cooperation with Dr. Luke Smillie) |
Funding
| 2019-2022 | A novel collaborative approach for EEG personality neuroscience research (WA 2593/9-1; amount: € 398.574) |
| 2010-2012 | Biopsychological foundations of individual differences in reward and feedback processing in healthy and clinical samples (WA 2593/2-2; amount: € 76.000) |
| 2009-2012 | Neurological foundations of the modulations of cognitive control through positive emotions: Differentiation of warmth of affection and anticipatory pleasure (WA 2593/5-1; amount: € 115.000) |
| 2008-2010 | Personality and behavioral control: Molecular-genetic and psychopharmacological investigations of dopaminergic mechanisms (WA 2593/2-1; amount: € 107.000) |
| 2016-2017 | DAAD-grant for a project-related exchange with Luke Smillie, University of Melbourne (amount of grant for german project particpants: € 5.531) |
| 2008 | Scholarship „Young Scientists Program des International Congress of Psychology“ (€ 900) |
| 2007 | G.A. Lienert-scholarship for a research stay at Harvard University (€ 3200) |
| 2007 | Travel scholarship of the DFG (presentation at the conference of SPR in Savannah, GA, € 1100) |
| 2006 | Dissertation prize of the Philipps-University of Marburg (€ 1000) |
| 2004 | Poster prize of EEG and Clinical Neuroscience Society ($ 1000) |
| 2001 | Diplom degree with special acknowledgements |
| 2000 | Travel scholarship of the DAAD for a research internship in Madison, WI, USA |
Publications
Journals
Alexander, N., Illius, S., Feyerabend, D., Wacker, J., & Liszkowski, U. (2023). Don't miss the chance to reap the fruits of recent advances in behavioral genetics. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 46, e208. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X22002497
Beringer, M, Wacker, J. & Recio, G. (2022). Deliberate control of facial expressions in a go/no-go task: An ERP study. Acta Psychologica, 230, 103773. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103773
Herrmann, W., & Wacker, J. (2022). Executive Functions Neither Associated With Agentic Extraversion nor Sensitive to the Dopamine D2 Blocker Sulpiride in a Preregistered Study. Personality Science, 3, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.5964/ps.7657
Ohmann, H. O., Kuper, N. & Wacker, J. (2022). Examining the reliability and validity of two versions of the Effort-Expenditure for Rewards Task (EEfRT). PloS one, 17 (1). e0262902. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262902
Paul, K., Short, C. A., Beauducel, A., Carsten, H. P., Härpfer, K., Hennig, J., Hewig, J., Hildebrandt, A., Kührt, C., Mueller, E. M., Munk, A., Osinsky, R., Porth, E., Riesel, A., Rodrigues, J., Scheffel, C., Stahl, J., Strobel, A., & Wacker, J. (2022). The Methodology and Dataset of the CoScience EEG-Personality Project – A Large-Scale, Multi-Laboratory Project Grounded in Cooperative Forking Paths Analysis. Personality Science, 3, 1-26. https://doi.org/10.5964/ps.7177
Trofimova, I., Bajaj, S., Bashkatov, S. A., Blair, J., Brandt, A., Chan, R. C. K., Clemens, B., Corr, P. J., Cyniak-Cieciura, m., Demidova, L., Filippi, C. A., Garipova, M., Habel, U., Haines, N., Heym, N., Hunter, K., Jones, N. A., Kanen, J., Kirenskaya, A., ... Pickering, A. D. (2022). What is next for the neurobiology of temperament, personality and psychopathology? Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 45, 101143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101143
Wacker, J. & Paul, K. (2022). An unsatisfactory status quo and promising perspectives: why links between brain activity and personality remain elusive and what we need to change to do better. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 43, 224-229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.11.008
Herrmann, W. & Wacker, J. (2021). The Selective Dopamine D2 Blocker Sulpiride Modulates the Relationship Between Agentic Extraversion and Executive Functions. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-021-00887-9
Smillie, L. D., Bennett, D., Tan, N. P., Sutcliffe, K., Fayn, K., Bode, S. & Wacker, J. (2021). Does openness/intellect predict sensitivity to the reward value of information? Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 1-171. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-021-00900-1
Ohmann, H. A., Kuper, N. & Wacker, J. (2020). A low dosage of the dopamine D2-receptor antagonist sulpiride affects effort allocation for reward regardless of trait extraversion. Personality Neuroscience, 3. https://doi.org/10.1017/pen.2020.7
Beringer, M., Spohn, F., Hildebrandt, A., Wacker, J. & Recio, G. (2019) Reliability and validity of machine vision for the assessment of facial expressions. Cognitive Systems Research, 56, 119-132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsys.2019.03.009
Kuper, N., Käckenmester, W., & Wacker, J. (2019). Resting frontal EEG asymmetry and personality traits: A meta-analysis. European Journal of Personality, 33(2), 154-175. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2197
Mittelstaedt, J.M., Wacker, J. & Stelling, D. (2019). Virtual Reality 23(2), 143-154. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-018-0370-3
Mittelstädt, J. M., Wacker, J., & Stelling, D. (2019). Emotional and Cognitive Modulation of Cybersickness: The Role of Pain Catastrophizing and Body Awareness. Human Factors, 61(2), 322–336. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018720818804382
Smillie, L. D., Hayley, K. J., Hughes, D. M., Wacker, J., Cooper, A. J. & Pickering, A. D. (2019). Extraversion and reward-processing: Consolidating evidence from an electroencephalographic index of reward-prediction-error. Biological Psychology 146, 107735. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.107735
Käckenmester, W., Kroencke, L., & Wacker, J. (2018). Frontal asymmetry predicts the incentive value of perceptual information. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 134, 22-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2018.10.002
Mittelstaedt, J., Wacker, J., & Stelling, D. (2018). Effects of display type and motion control on cybersickness in a virtual bike simulator. Displays, 51, 43-50. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.displa.2018.01.002
Ohmann, H. A., Kuper, N., & Wacker, J. (2018). Left frontal anodal tDCS increases approach motivation depending on reward attributes. Neuropsychologia, 119, 417-423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.09.002
Wacker, J. (2018). Increasing the reproducibility of science through close cooperation and forking path analysis. Front. Psychol. 8:1332. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01332
Wirz, L., Reuter, M., Wacker, J., Felten, A., & Schwabe, L. (2017). A Haplotype Associated with Enhanced Mineralocorticoid Receptor Expression Facilitates the Stress-Induced Shift from ‘Cognitive’ to ‘Habit’ Learning. eNeuro, 13 November 2017. https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0359-17.2017
Geller, S., Wilhelm, O., Wacker, J., Hamm, A. & Hildebrandt, A. (2017). Associations of the COMT VAL158Met polymorphism with working memory and intelligence - A review and meta-analysis. Intelligence, 65, 75-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2017.09.002
Wacker, J. (2017). Effects of positive emotion, extraversion, and dopamine on cognitive stability-flexibility and frontal EEG asymmetry. Psychophysiology, 17 March 2017, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12727
Wirz, L., Wacker, J., Felten, A., Reuter, M. & Schwabe, L. (2017). A deletion variant of the α2b-adrenoceptor modulates the stress-induced shift from ‘cognitive' to ‘habit' memory. Journal of Neuroscience, 23 January 2017, 3507-16. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3507-16.2017
Wacker, J., & Smillie, L. D. (2015). Trait extraversion and dopamine function. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 9(6), 225-238.
Mueller, E. M., Panitz, C., Pizzagalli, D. A., Hermann, C., & Wacker, J. (2015). Midline theta dissociates agentic extraversion and anhedonic depression. Personality and Individual Differences, 79, 172-177.
Mueller, E.M., Burgdorf, C., Chavanon, M.-L., Schweiger, D., Hennig, J., Wacker, J., Stemmler, G. (2014). The COMT Val158Met polymorphism regulates the effect of a dopamine antagonist on the feedback-related negativity. Psychophysiology, 51(8), 805-809. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12226
Mueller, E. M., Burgdorf, C., Chavanon, M. L., Schweiger, D., Wacker, J., & Stemmler, G. (2014). Dopamine modulates frontomedial failure processing of agentic introverts versus extraverts in incentive contexts. Cognitive Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience, 14(2), 756-768. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-013-0228-9
Mueller, E. M., Panitz, C., Nestoriuc, Y., Stemmler, G., & Wacker, J. (2014). Panic disorder and serotonin reuptake inhibitors predict coupling of cortical and cardiac activity. Neuropsychopharmacology, 39(2), 507-514.
Schweiger, D., Stemmler, G., Burgdorf, C., & Wacker, J. (2014). Opioid Receptor Blockade and Warmth-Liking: Effects on Interpersonal Trust and Frontal Asymmetry. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 9(10), 1608-1615.
Smillie, L. D., & Wacker, J. (2014). Dopaminergic foundations of personality and individual differences. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 874.
Chavanon, M.-L., Wacker, J., & Stemmler, G. (2013). Paradoxical dopaminergic drug effects in extraversion: Dose- and time-dependent effects of sulpiride on EEG theta activity. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7(117).
Mueller, E. M., Stemmler, G., Hennig, J., & Wacker, J. (2013). 5-HTTLPR and anxiety modulate brain-heart coupling. Psychopyhsiology, 50, 441-453.
Panitz, C., Wacker, J., Stemmler, G., & Mueller, E. M. (2013). Brain-heart coupling at the P300 latency is linked to anterior cingulate cortex and insula – a cardio-encephalographic covariance tracing study. Biological Psychology, 94, 185-191.
Wacker, J., Mueller, E. M., Pizzagalli, D. A., Hennig, J., & Stemmler, G. (2013). Dopamine-D2-Receptor Blockade Reverses the Association Between Trait Approach Motivation and Frontal Asymmetry in an Approach-Motivation Context. Psychological Science, 24(4), 489–497. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612458935
Wacker, J., Mueller, E. M., & Stemmler, G. (2013). Prenatal testosterone and personality: Increasing the specificity of trait assessment to detect consistent associations with digit ratio (2D:4D). Journal of Research in Personality, 47(2), 171-177. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2012.10.007
Mueller, E. M., Evers, E. A., Wacker, J., & van der Veen, F. (2012). Acute tryptophan depletion attenuates brain-heart coupling following external feedback. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 6, 77. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2012.00077
Wacker, J., Mueller, E. M., Hennig, J., & Stemmler. G. (2012). How to consistently link extraversion and intelligence to the catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) gene: On defining and measuring psychological phenotypes in neurogenetic research. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 427-444.
Chavanon, M.-L., Wacker, J., & Stemmler, G. (2011). Agentic extraversion predicts frontoparietal theta activity and rostral anterior cingulate activity. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 11, 172-185.
Köhler, S., Wacker, J., Odorfer, T., Reif, A., Fallgatter, A. J., & Herrmann, M. J. (2011). Resting posterior versus frontal EEG slow wave activity is associated with extraversion and DRD2 genotype. Biological Psychology, 87, 407-413.
Müller, E. M., Hennig, J., Stemmler, G., & Wacker, J. (2011). Dopamine effects on human error processing depend on COMT VAL158MET genotype. Journal of Neuroscience, 31, 15818-15825.
Wacker, J. (2011). With great power comes great responsibility: Meta-analytic proof for a timeless insight. Biological Psychiatry, 69, e37.
Mueller, E. M., Stemmler, G., & Wacker, J. (2010). Single-trial EEG predicts cardiac acceleration: A time-lagged P-correlation approach for studying neurovisceral connectivity. Neuroscience, 166(2), 491-500.
Stemmler, G., & Wacker, J. (2010). Personality, emotion, and individual differences in physiological responses. Biological Psychology, 84, 541-551.
Wacker, J., Chavanon, M. L., Leue, A., & Stemmler, G. (2010). Trait BIS predicts alpha asymmetry and P300 in a go/no-go task. European Journal of Personality, 24(2),, 85-105.
Wacker, J., Chavanon, M.-L., & Stemmler, G. (2010). Resting EEG signatures of agentic extraversion: New results and meta-analytic integration. Journal of Research in Personality, 44, 167-179.
Wacker, J., & Gatt., J. M. (2010). Resting posterior versus frontal delta/theta EEG activity is associated with extraversion and the COMT VAL158MET polymorphism. Neuroscience Letters, 478, 88-92.
Leue, A., Chavanon, M.-L., Wacker, J., & Stemmler, G. (2009). On the differentiation of N2-components in an appetitive choice task: Evidence for the revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory. Psychophysiology, 46, 1244-1257.
Wacker, J., Dillon, D. G., & Pizzagalli, D. A. (2009). The role of the nucleus accumbens and rostral anterior cingulate cortex in anhedonia: Integration of resting EEG, fMRI, and volumetric techniques. NeuroImage, 46, 327-337.
Crost, N. W., Pauls, C. A., & Wacker, J. (2008). Defensiveness and anxiety predict frontal EEG asymmetry only in specific situational contexts. Biological Psychology, 78(1), 43-52.
Kemper, C. J., Leue, A., Wacker, J., Chavanon, M.-L., Hennighausen, E., & Stemmler, G. (2008). Agentic extraversion as a predictor of effort-related cardiovascular response. Biological Psychology, 78(2), 191-199.
Wacker, J., Chavanon, M.-L., Leue, A., & Stemmler, G. (2008). Is running away right? The behavioral activation-behavioral inhibition model of anterior asymmetry. Emotion, 8(2), 232-249.
Chavanon, M.-L., Stemmler, G., & Wacker, J. (2008). A cognitive-affective extension to reinforcement sensitivity. European Journal of Personality, 22(5), 391-393.
Chavanon, M.-L., Wacker, J., Leue, A., & Stemmler, G. (2007). Evidence for a dopaminergic link between working memory and agentic extraversion: An analysis for load-related changes in EEG alpha 1 activity. Biological Psychology, 74, 46-59.
Stemmler, G., Aue, T., & Wacker, J. (2007). Anger and fear: Separable effects of emotion and motivational direction on somatovisceral responses. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 66, 141-153.
Wacker, J., Chavanon, M.-L., & Stemmler, G. (2006). Investigating the dopaminergic basis of extraversion in humans: A multilevel approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(1), 171-187.
Wacker, J., & Stemmler, G. (2006). Agentic extraversion modulates the cardiovascular effects of the dopamine D2 agonist bromocriptine. Psychophysiology, 43, 372-381.
Pauls, C. A., Wacker, J., & Crost, N. W. (2005). The two components of social desirability and their relations to resting frontal brain asymmetry. Journal of Individual Differences, 26(1),29-42.
Wacker, J., Reuter, M., Hennig, J., & Stemmler, G. (2005). Sexually dimorphic link between dopamine D2 receptor gene and neuroticism-anxiety. Neuroreport, 16(6), 611-614.
Wacker, J., Heldmann, M., & Stemmler, G. (2003). Separating emotion and motivational direction in fear and anger: Effects on frontal asymmetry. Emotion, 3, 167-193
Books
Wacker, J. (2005). Dopamin, Handlungssteuerung und Spontan-EEG: Bausteine einer psychobiologischen Extraversionstheorie. Berlin: Logos.
Research Topics
- Biopsychological emotion and personality research
- Personality and social interactions