Project leader
Dr. Rita Žukauskienė is a professor at the Institute of Psychology, Mykolas Romeris University. She is constantly involved in studying human psychological development (particularly, during adolescence and emerging adulthood), as well as the factors related to positive development and pro-social behavior. She already published over 30 publications in major international peer-reviewed scientific journals, as well as over 120 papers in other national or international journals), (h-index = 24; i10-index = 36, Retrieved in June 2017, from Google Scholar Citations). She extensively publishes on identity formation and civic engagement during the adolescence. Her achievements were recognized in Lithuania, granting her the National Award for Excellence in Sciences in 2012 for the “Study of Psychological Well-being of Lithuanian Children, Adolescents and Adults (1997–2011)”.
She is an experienced manager of a number of big research projects with increasing productivity and international visibility. Dr. Žukauskienė’s record of accomplishment includes awarded research grants for studying human development. Recently, she was leading two large-scale longitudinal projects on positive youth development from adolescence to emerging adulthood, such as “Political socialization from adolescence to young adulthood” (POSAD) (Lithuanian Science Foundation, 2007 –2009) and “Mechanisms of positive youth development in the context of socio-economical transformations” (POSIDEV) (Lithuanian Research Council, 2012-2015). She was leading an international project “IDELIJA” (2015-2017) with Japanese and Italian partners with the focus on identity development.
More recently, she started research of individual and contextual factors related to pro-environmental behavior. This new line of the research is closely related to her previous studies on positive youth development, where the contribution to self, family, and the community, including civic engagement is directly related to pro-environmental behavior. Her research focuses on the investigation how pro-environmental behavior develops over time, and what socialization agents or factors play the most significant role in this process
In addition to her scientific and methodological expertise, she also has acquired considerable experience in teaching and supervising students (4 PhD students already defended their doctoral theses, 2 have prepared their work for the defense at the Doctorial Committee, other 3 students are on early-middle stages of their PhD studies). Rita Žukauskienė was the principal organizer (Conference Chair) of the XIV European Conference on Developmental Psychology (2009), 12th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Adolescence (2010), and the 24th Biennial Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development (2016). Currently, she is a President of the European Association for Research on Adolescence (EARA).
Dr. Goda Kaniušonytė is a researcher in Mykolas Romeris University. She is a member of research team that focuses on environmental conservation and pro-environmental behavior. Goda’s scientific expertise includes positive and prosocial youth development, relationships with parents and identity formation in various contexts.
Goda’s research interest in this team is the role of developmental science in the mechanisms and promotion of pro-environmental behavior in adolescents. Her research background in developmental psychology and interest in environmental psychology led her to seek joint solutions to understand the impact of interventions at the individual, community, and systematic level.
Goda gained her expertise in several longitudinal and international research projects such as “Mechanisms of positive youth development in the context of socio-economical transformations” (POSIDEV) (2012-2015); “Identity development among adolescents and emerging adults in Lithuania and Japan” (IDELIJA) (2015-2017); “Identity and post-traumatic growth in female survivors of intimate partner violence: the role of resilience, coping and social support” (INTEGRO) (2017-2019) with a principal investigator R.Žukauskienė. Goda is also a lecturer in Mykolas Romeris university with courses on research methods in Psychology. She is an active member in a number of professional and scientific organizations.
Key words: Developmental Psychology, Environmental Psychology, Positive Youth Development, Identity, Research Methodology, Parenting.
Goda Kaniušonytė
Institute of Psychology
Laboratory of Psychological Well-Being
Mykolas Romeris University
Email: godakan@mruni.eu, godakan@gmail.com
Reaserchgate profile
ORCID
Dr. Inga Truskauskaitė-Kunevičienė is a research fellow at Mykolas Romeris University and, currently, a member of the research team on pro-environmental behavior. Inga’s scientific expertise includes positive youth development, prosocial and problem behavior, intentional self-regulation, and identity formation.
Inga is particularly interested in intervention research and she is a co-author of two developmental interventions. Her main contribution in this team is the development and evaluation of the intervention that will promote pro-environmental behavior in adolescence and revealing the underlying mechanisms of the behavioral change.
Inga gained her expertise in longitudinal and international research projects such as “Mechanisms of promoting positive youth development in the context of socio-economic transformations” (POSIDEV) (2012-2015); “Identity and post-traumatic growth in female survivors of intimate partner violence: the role of resilience, coping and social support” (INTEGRO) (2017-2019) with a principal investigator dr. R. Žukauskienė. Inga is also an active member of a number of professional and scientific organizations.
Key words: Developmental Psychology, Positive Youth Development, Identity, Self-regulation, Intervention.
Inga Truskauskaite-Kunevičienė
Institute of Psychology
Laboratory of Psychological Well-Being
Mykolas Romeris University
Email: inga.truskauskaite@mruni.eu, inga.truskauskaite@gmail.com
Researchgate profile
Oksana Malinauskienė is a PhD student in psychology, junior researcher in the field of Environmental psychology, and a lecturer at the Institute of Psychology, Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Together with other colleagues, she participated in six research projects (three of them – longitudinal studies): “Mechanisms of positive youth development in the context of socio-economical transformations” (POSIDEV) (Lithuanian Research Council, 2012-2015); “Identity development among adolescents and emerging adults in Lithuania and Japan” (IDELIJA) (2015-2017); „Political socialization from adolescence to young adulthood” (POSAD) (Lithuanian Science Foundation, 2007-2009); „The formalization of non-formal competencies of adults through Lithuanian higher education institutions“ (2012); “The assessment and formalization of non-formal and spontaneous learning through Lithuanian higher education institutions“ (2009); „Youth School Effectiveness“ (2005). Oksana is a member of The International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development (ISSBD). Her academic interests include studying behavioral and emotional problems in adolescence, gender differences, self-esteem, and relationships with parents.
Keywords: Developmental Psychology, Behavioral and emotional problems in adolescence, Gender differences, Parental rearing practices.
Oksana Malinauskienė
Institute of Psychology
Laboratory of Psychological Well-Being
Mykolas Romeris University
Email: oksana@mruni.eu, omalinauskiene@gmail.com
Audra Balundė is a PhD student of psychology and junior researcher in the field of Environmental psychology in Mykolas Romeris University, Institute of Psychology, Vilnius, Lithuania. She holds a MSc in developmental psychology and bachelor in general psychology as well as qualification of a psychology teacher from the University of Educational Sciences. She is a counselor at the Educational Center for the Gifted, where she helps gifted youth, their parents, and educators to deal with giftedness related issues. In 2016 she was an intern in the University of Groningen, in the group of Environmental Psychology under the supervision of prof. L. Steg and asst. prof. G. Perlaviciute. In this university through formal and non-formal means A. Balundė obtained a considerable amount of knowledge in environmental psychology.
She is a member of an environmental psychology research group which is pioneering this field in Lithuania. A. Balundes’ research interests include antecedents of pro-environmental actions. Specifically, she aims to understand how psychological, contextual and demographic factors affect adolescents’ pro-environmental actions and how it is possible to foster pro-environmental behaviour with interventions. A. Balundė is a co-author of four research projects in the domain of environmental psychology. Two of them currently received funding while others are under the review process.
A. Balundė’s scientific expertise includes the understanding and knowledge in the area of pro-environmental behavior theories and concepts as well as advanced statistical methods for data analysis in environmental psychology. She is also acquainted with the theoretical concepts and instruments that are directed to change and increase pro-environmental actions.
Keywords: Environmental Psychology, Evidence based Interventions, Pro-environmental behavior change, Quantitative research methods in environmental psychology
Audra Balundė
Institute of Psychology
Laboratory of Psychological Well-Being
Mykolas Romeris University
PhD student in Psychology
Junior researcher in Environmental Psychology
Email: audra.balunde@gmail.com
Fax: +370 5 267 6000
Tel: +370 5 271 4625
Lina Jovarauskaitė is a junior researcher in the field of Environmental psychology and a PhD student at Mykolas Romeris University, Institute of Psychology (Vilnius, Lithuania). Lina’s scientific work is focused on climate change perception and the psychological underpinnings of behaviours mitigating climate change. Specifically, she is interested in the socio-psychological antecedents of zero waste behaviours and what can effectively encourage individuals to reduce or eliminate waste completely. Lina is a MC Substitute in COST Action CA16229 “European Network for Environmental Citizenship”, a member of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), The International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development (ISSBD).
Keywords: Zero waste, climate change perceptions, climate experts, emotional response to climate change, evidence-based psychological interventions.
Lina Jovarauskaitė
Institute of Psychology
Laboratory of Psychological Well-Being
Mykolas Romeris University
PhD student in Psychology
Junior researcher in Environmental Psychology
Email: jovarauskaite.lina@gmail.com
Fax: +370 5 267 6000
Tel: +370 5 271 4625
Mykolas Simas Poškus is a researcher in the field of Environmental Psychology in Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania. He is a member of a growing team of researchers interested in environmental conservation and pro-environmental behavior.
Mykolas’ interests are evolutionary psychology; how it shapes human interaction with built and natural environments. More specifically, Mykolas is doing research on how environments can be constructed in order to suggest desirable behavioral patterns and what types of environmental cues are most effective in eliciting pro-environmental behavior. Mykolas is also interested in evolutionarily inspired person-oriented research on understanding how different individuals interact with environments and how different people can be persuaded to adopt pro-environmental behaviors effectively.
Keywords: Environmental psychology; Evolutionary psychology; Behavioral defaults; Normative influence; Human-environment interaction.
Mykolas Simas Poškus
Institute of Psychology
Laboratory of Psychological Well-Being
Mykolas Romeris University
Email: mykolas_poskus@mruni.eu