Tessa was born and raised near Munich and moved to Ulm for her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Seeking to expand her horizons geographically and academically, she started her Master’s degree in Würzburg, where she is currently studying Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Clinical Neuroscience. Her broad range of interests reflects her passion for interdisciplinary research, which has brought her to the Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology (CCTB).
Research Focus
As a therapist-in-training, Tessa is especially interested in analyzing complex emotions and making sense of human behavior in various contexts. This professional interest is reflected in her research, which focuses on understanding how people engage with art, particularly music, and the emotions these experiences evoke.
Current Research
Tessa is investigating the paradoxical enjoyment of sad art, specifically examining why people deliberately expose themselves to supposedly aversive stimuli. During her Bachelor’s degree, she worked on a project analyzing the relationship between personality, music streaming behavior, and the tendency to prefer sad music as a form of emotion regulation. To assess authentic music streaming behavior, she examined Spotify streaming histories to gain an impression as close as possible to real everyday behavior.
In her current role as a student assistant, she is following up on this research by investigating the hypothesis that sad music can prepare its listeners for similar emotional experiences in the real world.
Research Interests
- Emotions and emotional experience
- Art and emotional response
- Music psychology
- Sad music and emotion regulation
- Personality and music preferences
- Psychological adaptation
- Emotional resilience
- Behavioral patterns in music consumption
Personal Interests
Beyond research, Tessa has diverse intellectual interests. She enjoys watching documentaries about the universe, physics, and math problems. She is also working to improve her Spanish language skills and catching up on general geography education. To balance her physically inactive hobbies, Tessa loves bouldering and swimming.
Passion for Poetry
Tessa has a deep passion for poetry, which she enjoys reading and writing. This artistic interest complements her scientific work and reflects her broad, interdisciplinary approach to understanding human behavior and experience.