Dr. Rainer K Silbereisen

Rainer K. Silbereisen is Professor and Head of the Department of Developmental Psychology at the University of Jena, Adjunct Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at The Pennsylvania State University, and Director of the Center for Applied Developmental Science, Jena. He is currently the President of the International Union of Psychological Science. His main research interests focus on human development across the life-span - particularly concerning adolescence and early adulthood -...See more

Rainer K. Silbereisen is Professor and Head of the Department of Developmental Psychology at the University of Jena, Adjunct Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at The Pennsylvania State University, and Director of the Center for Applied Developmental Science, Jena. He is currently the President of the International Union of Psychological Science. His main research interests focus on human development across the life-span - particularly concerning adolescence and early adulthood - the theoretical framework of which focuses on dynamic interactionism, stressing the combined role of biological, psychological, and socio-cultural determinants of human development. Trained as a psychologist, he has been involved in interdisciplinary, large-scale research on the role of social change in positive and maladaptive human development, such as the German Collaborative Research Center on Social Development in Post-Socialist Societies (SFB 580) and the German-Israeli Research Consortium on Migration and Societal Integration. He has published widely, such as the recently edited book (with Richard Lerner) Approaches to Positive Youth Development. See less