Archived projects

The “Musicians' Lives” study focuses on musicians in Switzerland. The objective of the study is to better understand their personal and professional careers, as well as their individual and collective experiences related to this occupation.

This project is designed to provide the participants in the NCCR LIVES with high methodological competences in data collection and data management and with advanced statistical tools for the analysis of vulnerability and resilience processes in the life course.

This project has the objective of developing a multidimensional, dynamic and contextualised model of vulnerability, defined as a lack of individual or collective resources that places individuals or groups at major risk of experiencing (1) negative consequences related to sources of stress; (2) the inability to cope effectively with a stressor; and (3) the inability to recover from a stressor or to take advantage of opportunities in a given period of time.

This project aims at investigating the processes of overcoming vulnerabilising factors in close relationships in middle- and old-aged adults. Specifically the project seeks to explore the various paths of psychological adaptation to major stressors related to marital relationship in the second half of life, and to identify resources and possibilities of psychosocial prevention and psychological intervention.

This project’s objective remains that of studying well-being among the elderly, notably based on the VLV survey data. Our interdisciplinary research is concerned with the dynamic interplays that take place in old age between health problems, psychological functioning and regulation, individual actions, and the interpersonal, institutional and cultural contexts in which elderly live.

This project aims to develop an interdisciplinary theoretically innovative perspective on gendered aspects of the life course that enables us to clarify the conceptual insights to be gained from the term “vulnerability,” as compared to more frequently used concepts (e.g. social exclusion, poverty, precariousness).

This project proposes a research programme to improve our understanding of the factors affecting the employment outcomes for individuals in potentially vulnerable states: job seekers, mothers of new-born children, teenagers and young adults entering working life as well as mature adults with vocational education.

The nuclear family, particularly within marriage, has been regarded for a long time as a resilient group against expectations, constraints and hazards stemming from the social context. The pluralisation of life courses has, however, made families change, becoming more diverse and less predictable.

Adopting a broad psychological perspective and considering the roles of environmental resources and cultural background, this project studies the direct and moderating/mediating effects of 1) individual characteristics (such as personality, character strengths, or justice beliefs), 2) professional conditions and demands (e.g., job strain, discrimination at the work place, job insecurity), and 3) individual resources (such as adapt-abilities resources, self-efficacy or self-regulatory skills) on adults’ career transitions and pathways and their successful development.

From 2011 to 2014 the project led by Christian Staerklé studied the normative foundations of life courses, the material, psychological and categorical impact of vulnerability on the individual, relational and political regulation of life events as well as long-term results of these regulation strategies in terms of their impact on vulnerability.

From 2011 to 2014 the project led by Claudio Bolzman studied the integration of the second generation of immigrants, focusing on the relationship between the life course and vulnerability around the transition from youth to adulthood.

From 2011 to 2014 the project directed by Dominique Joye emphasized the importance of temporal and social context to study the critical events and inequalities with a strong methodological component in terms of expertise and innovation that also applied to the other projects. This project has now merged with IP214.

From 2011 to 2014 the project led by Nicolas Favez studied the role of social support as a resource helping people to deal with the stress caused by a fatal illness. It was concerned with the effects of this on quality of life, with the goal of facilitating psychosocial and psychological interventions for couples dealing with this kind of situation.

From 2011 to 2014 the project led by Claudine Burton-Jeangros examined the trajectories of health by observing inter- and intra-generational social mobility, the relevant socio-economic resources and social resources, differences between the genders and interactions between mental and physical health.

The objective of social policies is to address the issue of vulnerability defined as a lack of resources. However, previous research during the first phase of the NCCR LIVES has shown that social policies are deeply ambivalent: being in welfare certainly provides access to resources and programmes, but these are subject to conditions and constraints that are themselves sources of stress.