Daniel Possler

Dr. Daniel Possler is a research assistant at the Department of Journalism and Communication Research at Leibniz University Hannover. He previously held a research assistant position at the Department of Media and Business Communication at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (2022-2024). His work focuses on media psychology, entertainment research, and the use and effects of digital media, particularly video games and social media. He also explores environmental communication and computational methods in social research.

• PhD (2020): "Fascinating Entertainment: The Elicitation and Entertaining Quality of the Emotion Awe in Media Reception Using Video Games as a Case Example"

Research Interests include player-avatar relationships, emotional responses to media (especially awe), pro-environmental messaging through documentaries, and computational approaches to analyzing communication data. His recent publications examine dual-process entertainment models, eudaimonic gaming motives, and automated content analysis tools.

Professional Activities involve:

• Young Members’ Representative of the Media Psychology Division (DGPs, since 2023)
• Co-organiser of the DGPuK 2022 conference
• Member of the editorial board of Media Psychology (since 2022)
• Lecturer for the Media Entrepreneurship program (since 2013)
• Membership in ICA, ECREA, DGPuK, and DGPs