Interview - Professor Dr. Petra Jansen, Department of Sports Science, University of Regensburg: emotion control, career goals and women
// By Simone Janson

Professor Dr. Petra Jansen, chair of sports science at the University of Regensburg, talks about how to control one's feelings with mindfulness, how to reach his goals and why the glass ceiling really exists.

Professor Dr. Petra Jansen studied anthropology, anthropology, psychology and mathematics at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz before obtaining her doctorate in 1999 at the Gerhard-Mercator University in Duisburg in general psychology on the subject of"Cognition of Distances". 2005 habilitated you at the Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf in Experimental Psychology with the topic"Development of spatial knowledge". 2008 also completed a further education course in dance therapy at the Westfälische-Wilhelms-Universität Münster. Since 2008 she holds the Chair of Sport Science at the University of Regensburg. Her main research interests are the investigation of the relationship between motor skills, emotions and cognition, including from a neuroscience perspective. Her research has been funded in several projects by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and so far has been published in 120 peer-reviewed journal articles. Your future sees you in exploring the integration of the heart and mind. Prof. Dr. Petra Jansen is the mother of three adult children.

Mrs. Prof. Dr. Jansen, please briefly change your field of research.

For a long time, my main interest was the study of cognitive processes in humans. Cognition involves the processes of perception, language, thinking, problem solving, and, Including the processing of spatial information.

In particular, I was interested in studying the influence of movement on cognition as well as possible gender differences in cognitive abilities. Today, I am increasingly exploring the connection between body, cognition, and emotion within the context of embodiment research and the influence of mindfulness-based training.

Can emotions be effectively controlled at all?

Emotions can be regulated. Please introduce a small child to the cash register. It sees all the sweets and may start screaming because they would like to have them. Even an adult can hardly calm the child.

The ability to regulate emotions is not as well developed in the young child, but adults have mostly acquired the ability if you want something to react appropriately.

And what is more important: the IQ or the EQ?

First of all, the IQ is the theoretical concept that has been researched for a longer time. It is certainly undisputed that the intelligence quotient is essential for solving cognitive tasks. However, Checa and Fernandez-Berrocal (2015) have shown that emotional cognitive skills are also important in human cognitive control. There are reciprocal influences, which are summarized in a recent review by Okon-Singer and colleagues (2015):"Stress, anxiety and other kinds of emotions can be profoundly influential key elements of cognition, including selective attention, working memory , and cognitive control. [...] In my opinion, it would be good to get from an"either - or" perspective to a"and also" point of view.

• Checa, P., and Fernández-Berrocal, P. (2015). The role of intelligence quotient and emotional intelligence in cognitive control processes. Frontier Psychology, 6: 1853.
• Okon-Singer, H., Hendler, T., Pessoa, L., and Shackman, AL, (2015). The neurobiology of emotion-cognition interactions: fundamental questions and strategies for future research. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9: 58. doi: 10.3389 / fnhum.2015.00058

In recent times, there are always criticisms of mindfulness, eg by the feministLaurie Penny or even inConnect to Silicon Valley, What do you think of criticism of mindfulness?

The criticism in the first article I think more on the"trend to self-love", the author in the end brings self-care into the conversation and the second article more on mindfulness as a kind of diet of the digital world.

Both do not describe mindfulness in my opinion. In my eyes, mindfulness means awareness at the moment. I can not find anything critical about this quest; Being with the attention where you are is what I consider an important goal for every human being. What I find critical is that many people feel that they need to do yoga, meditate, or attend mindfulness seminars. Mindfulness refers to me - and I stress for me - in addition to the presence at the moment to find their own suitable life path, it is a step to self-love. Self-love has nothing to do with wellness at all, but with the recognition and appreciation of one's own life. And I fully agree with Laurie Penny that, for example, for socially disadvantaged people, the path to self-love is not about"self-love seminars", but rather perhaps thoughts about changing the social situation.

In my opinion, we consider far too little the individuality of the individual. People differ individually in the emotional, cognitive, physical and spiritual development and, of course, also in the social situation and the cultural integration. Mindfulness means integrating these facets and being present from this situation. It is clear that here the paths are different and that not everyone, perhaps because he is currently involved in a burdensome social situation, can be on the way. This is also the case.

There is a lot of criticism of digital media. Is cell phone and internet consumption less mindful? And what about newer technologies like augmented and virtual reality?

Secured studies are available regarding the disruptive eff