Content and Objectives

The starting point is the life course perspective, according to which spatial mobility behaviour is closely interrelated with other areas of life such as family, employment and health and is embedded in the spatial-social context. The unique selling point is in particular the consideration of diverse forms of mobility and their interactions. This includes, for example, the connection between virtual (such as working from home) and physical forms of mobility. The project addresses these and other key research questions - mostly using panel data - and thus closes existing research gaps in the literature.

Firstly, the increase in digitalisation in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic has triggered profound changes in the world of work, particularly with a significant increase in working from home, and allows, among other things, more freedom in choosing where to live and work. Research into the resulting consequences is of significant social relevance. Therefore, in cooperation with the "Family" research group, the connection between commuting mobility and working from home will be focussed on. On the other hand, further consequences of home office use for employees, particularly with regard to the scope of employment, well-being and health, are being investigated.

Secondly, the effects of spatial mobility in the form of commuting and job-related relocations on civic engagement are analysed. This question is of central importance to society, but has hardly been addressed in research to date. On the one hand, previous research assumes that increasing spatial flexibility in the labour market leads to uprooting and isolation, as people are detached from local social relationships. On the other hand, spatial mobility is seen as a resource for participation in society and is associated with desired and encouraged characteristics such as (cultural) openness.

Thirdly, the relationship between spatial mobility and well-being/health will be analysed. Among other things, possible selection processes and explanatory (mediating) factors will be analysed. In cooperation with Research Group 2.1 "International Migration", changes in subjective well-being and health in connection with the migration event will be analysed for the first time for internationally mobile Germans using panel data.

Fourthly, the quality of life of expatriates is analysed in relation to the cultural and other (urban) living conditions at the place of posting, such as quality of housing, green spaces, air pollution, noise, infrastructure and commuting situation. It is based on a separate survey of all employees of the Foreign Service in cooperation with the health service of the Federal Foreign Office (AA). In cooperation with Research Group 2.1 "International Migration", a comparison with data from the GERPS project (German Emigration and Remigration Panel Study) will be used to analyse whether the subjective quality of life of expatriates in the country of origin depends on the cultural distance between the country of origin and the destination country. Extending the existing literature, the "cost-benefit hypothesis" will be analysed, which assumes a non-linear relationship between cultural distance and psychological and socio-cultural adjustment instead of a linear one.