Previous research based on large-scale studies consistently suggests that on average, male students tend to have lower literacy compared to their female students during secondary schooling. However, this gender gap in literacy seems to "disappear" during adulthood. Up until today, only a few studies investigated the role of assessment…

A link between literacy and health has already been demonstrated in various national and international surveys. Previous research has shown that adults with low literacy are very frequent users of social media. Increasingly, people are gaining their health-related knowledge and skills by being in digital spaces and consuming health-related content…

Loneliness represents a serious health risk. However, studies investigating social inequalities in loneliness are rare. Thus, the current study investigates which socioeconomic groups are the most affected by loneliness. Data from the population-based German Aging Survey were used (N = 3,784), with participants being 40+ years old. Education,…

This paper conducts Group Delphi-study and foresight approach within a five-year horizon in the field of digital education, with a specific focus on Continuing Education (CE) in a post-pandemic society. The study examines the impact of increasing digitalisation on the significant population of low-qualified individuals (approximately five million…

Regular evaluation of environmental education is important for quality assurance and the self-assessment of educational institutions such as zoos. However, capacity is often lacking. Therefore, this study presents instruments that can be used to track the impact of educational programs on connection to nature, interest in species conservation,…

This study aimed to review the validity and/or reliability of light-intensity physical activity (LPA) questionnaires and identify the most suitable questionnaires for measurement of LPA in adults. Following the PRISMA-P 2020 guidelines, we searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Scopus, Embase, and MedNar. Only studies that targeted adults [greater…

This study explores gender-related inequality in participation in Adult Education and Training (AET) in four countries with vastly different adult learning systems and support measures for women's AET. Our examination of the data from an original international survey conducted in 2022 has found that the participation of men and women clearly…

Digitisation represents one of the key directions of adult education and training in the post-COVID-19 times, but direct empirical evidence of its scope among learners is rather scarce after 2021. Therefore, the general aim of this article is to investigate the current state of the use of online learning platforms and resources in adult education…

People living alone are often depicted as prone to social isolation and poor well-being. Since previous research largely focused on comparisons between the living arrangements of older adults, evidence on differences within middle-aged adults living alone remains sparse. The present study used a person-centered approach to allow for a…

Building on previous work on the civic returns of adult learning, this article examines the association between adult education, personality traits, and demands for civic participation or volunteering. Based on National Education Panel Study data, the study finds openness to be a crucial personality trait for participating in further training, as…

The current study examines change and stability of cognitive skills across life stages and delves into the factors contributing to changes in cognitive skills. Specifically, we examine the associations between cognitive skills and individual characteristics and contextual factors in a large sample of German adults aged 16-65 years (N = 2,430;…

This paper presents findings by the "LEO Survey 2018 -- Living with Low Literacy." It found that in Germany 12.1% of the adult population (aged between 18 and 64 years) have low literacy skills. This paper questions existing assumptions about the everyday life of adults with low literacy. Based on variables on everyday practices, we work…

Ostracism, that is, being excluded and ignored by others, is a highly painful and threatening experience for individuals. Most empirical research on ostracism has been carried out in the lab or focused on samples in specific contexts. Here, we investigate the effects of age on how individuals experience ostracism within a broad, representative…

Empirical studies on individual behaviour often, implicitly or explicitly, assume a single type of decision rule. Other studies do not specify behavioural assumptions at all. We advance sociological research by introducing (random) regret minimization, which is related to loss aversion, into the sociological literature and by testing it against…

Causal asymmetry is a situation where the causal factors under study are more suitable for explaining the outcome than its absence (or vice versa); they do not explain both equally well. In such a situation, presence of a cause leads to presence of the effect, but absence of the cause may not lead to absence of the effect. A conceptual discussion…