LiebKind
Every child carries a unique and wonderful world within their heart. When we observe them with care, we witness with awe how this world unfolds.
Professor Tina Malti, PhD, Dr. h. c.,
Study Director
Number of children living in the city of Leipzig, latest published survey (Statistical Office of the Free State of Saxony)
Our Approach
- What positive dispositions are children born with?
- How do they develop kindness and character strengths?
- What role do primary caregivers, peers, educators, teachers, and other close individuals play in this development?
With LiebKind, we seek to understand the roots of human kindness by focusing primarily on positive experiences and strengths that help children florish. I explain it to my three children like this: in LiebKind, we do research through rose-colored glasses.
Dr. Katrin Rothmaler, Operational Study Lead
Research Through Rose-Colored Glasses
LiebKind takes a new approach: Instead of focusing on deficits and negative influences, we look at the many positive factors that support children’s healthy development and help them to fully unfold their diverse potentials. Try it yourself:
At first glance, you may only see chaos in this picture. But put on the rose-colored glasses and move the slider to the left. Suddenly, the chaos becomes organized, and the happily playing children and their mother come into focus.
This is the same perspective we follow in LiebKind. We ask: Which positive potentials foster humanity and kindness? And how do positive experiences help children realize their full potential and develop their character strengths?
With this innovative focus, we aim to identify new ways of supporting children with diverse strengths, needs, and life experiences.
Research Through Play
Typical study situation: Through playful activities, we learn more about children’s thoughts and emotions.
To answer these research questions, LiebKind implements a developmentally differentiated longitudinal design. Thus, children’s varying abilities, needs, and developmental challenges are carefully considered. This design combines a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods, including interviews, games, and psychophysiological measures that are applied across different age groups - from infancy to early childhood, and middle childhood – and across different observation periods, such as daily and annual assessments.
Participation
We are looking for 500 families with four-year-old children from Leipzig and the surrounding area.
We are looking for you.
LiebKind is currently recruiting families with four-year-old children from Leipzig and the surrounding area. Participation in each part of the study is compensated with gifts or vouchers.
How Does the Study Work?
Procedure of the study
If you, as parents, are interested in becoming part of LiebKind, please register in the database of the Humboldt Science Center for Child Development, HumanKind. We will then contact you via email and provide you with further information about the study. If you decide to participate, you can directly book an individual time slot of your choice for the online session.
During the online session, we will play several short games together with your child. At the same time, you can complete our parent questionnaire conveniently from home. This procedure is then repeated every two years.
In addition to parents, early childhood educators also play an important role in your child’s life. Therefore, we would also like to include their perspective in our study.
With your consent, we will send you a questionnaire for early childhood educators via email. You can then forward it to an educator of your choice.
LiebKind plus
Families who would like to continue can also visit us on site. Once again, it is playtime. To gain deeper insights into child development, we collect additional data there, such as heart rate measurements.
Your Questions. Our Answers.
LiebKind Family
How Much Effort Does Participation Require?
Your Time Commitment:
Completing the questionnaires takes approximately 30 minutes. The same applies to the online session.
What are the Benefits of Participating?
Why Join LiebKind:
As a LiebKind family, you help us answer some of the most fundamental questions about child development. Only through these insights we are able better support the positive development and well-being of every child.
To thank you for your participation, you will receive a voucher of your choice and your child a little surprise. In addition, you will receive regular updates about our research and invitations to exciting event as part of the LiebKind community,
How can I Sign Up?
The easiest way to register is directly through the database of the Humboldt Science Center for Child Development. Alternatively, you can also contact us by email at: liebkind@uni-leipzig.de
Can I Participate On Site?
Yes, you are also welcome to participate in person. Instead of meeting online, we will then invite you to visit us at our campus on Jahnallee.
About Us
LiebKind is a study conducted by the Humboldt Science Center for Child Development, (HumanKind) at Leipzig University.
Professor Tina Malti, PhD, Dr. h. c., Director of the Science Center and Study Director
Dr. Katrin Rothmaler, Operational Study Lead
Negar Asghari, PhD Student
Lisa Lüersen, Research Fellow
Martina Dietrich, Transfer and research coordination
Dr. Madlen Mammen, Science communication
Inês Morais, PhD Student
Our researchers at work.
HumanKind is an interdisciplinary science center at Leipzig University, bringing together experts from psychology, education, medicine, neuroscience, computer science, and related fields. Our team studies children’s positive development, education, and mental health.
We are deeply committed to ensuring that our research findings make a real difference – not only in academia but also in practice, policy, and the everyday lives of children and families. Learn more about HumanKind here:
humankind.uni-leipzig.de
Research Funding
Supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Duration: September 2025 – December 2037
Editorial Information
Leipzig University
Faculty of Education
Humboldt Science Center for Child Development, HumanKind
Jahnallee 59
04109 Leipzig
Germany
Dr. Madlen Mammen (Text, layout, and design)
Dr. Katrin Rothmaler (Text and video)
Antje Gildemeister (Photography)
Colourbox (Photos and videos)
https://www.humankind.uni-leipzig.de/en
Email contact: liebkind@uni-leipzig.de
Date of publication: March 11, 2025