The research at the department is organized into three main areas: Social Psychology of Everyday Life, Lifelong Learning and Health Promotion.

Social Psychology of Everyday Life is characterized by exploring psychological issues as they manifest themselves in everyday life. It focuses on psychological processes as they unfold in the spaces that are most strongly associated with everyday life: home, family, childcare and schools, work, urban spaces and community, but also on how the processes can be related to significant psychological themes such as gender, class, ethnicity, technology and power. There is also a focus on how the psychological processes of everyday life are challenged by general development in society.

Lifelong Learning is oriented towards exploring learning processes in a life-long perspective. Research into life-long learning is designed in relation to the stages of life (children, adolescents, adults, elderly), learning contexts (education, institutions, family, work, health, social innovation processes, professions, etc.) and learning aspects (skills development, orientation capacity, identity, etc.). The fundamental goal is to develop a nuanced understanding of the interplay between people's conditions for learning and the subjective processes that are involved in processes of learning and change, as well as helping to develop innovative working and learning environments.

Health Promotion studies health and illness from social, everyday life and subjective perspectives. The research generates knowledge about the conditions for health, about health policies, health interventions and about innovation in the health promotion efforts. Conditions and processes that create learning and empowerment in health, are studied and developed on the basis of the premise that there is a close relationship between people's influence and health promotion. Work is conducted on theory development concerning what health promotion represents, and what role it plays in relation to changes in late-modern everyday life, the welfare state and its institutions.

The department's areas of research have also organized a joint, interdisciplinary platform in Participatory Methodology.

Research within the three main areas is characterized by the following common features:

• In accordance with RU's Strategy 2015, it can be characterized as socially engaged, experimental and internationally oriented in key areas.
• It has an interdisciplinary focus on the interaction between human subjectivity, their concrete life and learning contexts and relevant social contexts.
• It has a strong focus on qualitative methodology and theory-based interpretation of empirical data and towards critical refining and further development of scientific theory.
• It is engaged in active dialogue with traditions and paradigms in the fields of research of which they are a part, namely psychology, educational theory/education research and health promotion research.
• It has a strong national and international network and anchoring.
• It is committed to the public good, and therefore oriented towards supporting processes that increase human empowerment, their critical judgement and their social and civic influence.
• It is oriented towards 'community outreach', with an ambition to help develop sustainable everyday living and learning environments.

At a basic level, the research in the three main areas covers nine interdisciplinary research groups/centres:

1. Gender, Body and Everyday Life (Research group)
2. Subject, Technology og Social practice (Research Group)
3. Organisational Psychology (Research Centre)
4. Working Life and Learning (ForAll) (Research Group) (Research Centre - ENSPAC)
5. Childhood, Youth and Family Life (Research Group) (Research Centre)
6. Welfare, Profession and Everyday Life (Research Centre)
7. Social Innovation (Research Group) (Research Centre)
8. Health Promotion (Research Group) (Research Centre)
9. University and University Education (Research Centre)