Sabine Bergner

Sabine Bergner serves as Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology within the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Graz, Austria. Her academic titles include Mag. Dr.rer.nat., indicating a Master's degree and Doctorate in Natural Sciences. Bergner actively contributes to the university through multiple leadership roles including President of the Styrian Society for Psychology since 2022 and Scientific member of the management team for the 'Nursing Management' study program. She is also an Affiliated Researcher at the Free University of Amsterdam since 2021.

Professor Bergner's research expertise spans several interconnected domains with primary focus on Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Personality Psychology. Her work examines how personality traits influence professional and leadership success, with particular interest in diagnostics within work and business contexts. She investigates the psychological determinants of entrepreneurial intention, exploring how opportunity recognition, risk perception, and personality interact to shape business creation. Her research also delves into leadership effectiveness in crisis situations, examining why dominant leadership can be problematic during turbulent times and how organizations can mitigate these risks.

Analysis of her publication record reveals a consistent trajectory toward understanding the psychological foundations of leadership and entrepreneurship. Her recent work increasingly integrates neuroscientific approaches to examine neural responses to leadership, while maintaining strong connections to practical applications in personnel selection and development. The research demonstrates growing interest in gender-specific aspects of entrepreneurship, particularly through her 'Female entrepreneurship – Empowering female students' project. Her publications span organizational psychology, business psychology, and neuroscience journals, reflecting her interdisciplinary approach to understanding human behavior in professional contexts.

Professor Bergner has secured multiple third-party funded research projects including 'Dominant leadership in times of crisis' (2022-2023), 'Female entrepreneurship – Empowering female students' (2023), and 'Finding a balance: How organizational design, leadership style and employee personality contribute to the exploration-exploitation duality' (2023-2024). She serves on the doctoral committee at the University of Göttingen and has provided academic leadership through her roles on various curriculum commissions and as co-editor of the 'Styrian Spirit of Management' book series. Her service contributions include workshops for the PostDoc Service of the University of Graz and moderation of exams and meetings.

Her academic engagement extends to multiple professional organizations including the Styrian Brain Research Initiative (since 2017), Austrian Society for Psychology (since 2011), and German Society for Psychology (since 2011). She participates in research networks focused on 'Brain and behavior', 'Heterogeneity and cohesion', and 'Economic Processes, Institutions and Decisions (WIP)', reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of her scholarly work.