Institute of Sports Science

Dr. Jannika John

Contact
Institute of Sports Science
Wilhelmstraße 124,
1st floor, room 115
  07071 29-72654
jannika.johnspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de
Consultation Times (PDF)


Main research

  • Health and injuries in elite sports
  • Societal impact of elite sports
  • Talent and giftedness
  • Biopsychosocial approaches in sports science
  • (In)activity biographies

Short vita

since 10/2024
Senior Lecturer

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen

Since 2022
Junior Research Group Leader for Social Scientific Elite Sports Research
2022
2022 PhD

University of Tübingen

2017-2022
Research assistant and PhD student, Institute of Sports Science

University of Tübingen

2017
Master of Science in Family and Consumer Sciences with an emphasis on nutrition

Lamar University, Texas

2016
Master of Science in Kinesiology

Lamar University, Texas

2014
Bachelor of Science Scientific in Principles of Sport

Technische Universität München


Selected publications

Journal articles

  • Bursik, J., Mayer, J., Thiel, A., & John, J.M. (2025). The role of psychosocial factors in performing hurt: A systematic review covering the high-performance domains of sports, music, and dance. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2025.2450791
  • John, J.M., Wachsmuth, S., & Thiel, A. (2024). “Either or” or “as well as”: Exploring the relation between health and performance throughout the career pathways of elite athletes, musicians, and mathematicians. Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/spy0000370  
  • Hapig, M., Zurstiege, G., Mayer, J., Thiel, A., & John, J.M. (2024). Exploring media coverage of elite athlete’s mental illness between 2010 and 2023 in Germany: A quantitative content analysis. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2024.1446680
  • Bursik, J., John, J.M., Mayer, J., Thiel, A., & Kühnle, F. (2024). Risk profiles for self-medication with analgesics among elite German handball players. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. https://doi.org/10.1177/10126902241280156
  • Muhsal, F., Jaitner, D., & John, J.M. (2024). #picturesofchange: physical self representations in social media as a sign of change in sports and movement culture – an integrative review with implications for physical education. Current Issues in Sport Science, 8(3), 006. https://doi.org/10.36950/2023.3ciss006
  • Reußner, A., Kühnle, F., Thiel, A., & John, J.M. (2024). The meaning of injury to the elite athlete. A systematic review. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 71, 102571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102571
  • John, J.M.*, Bursik, J.*, Burgstahler, C., Büsch, D., Kühnle, F., Luig, P., Mayer, J.,  Reußner, A., & Thiel, A. (2023). Prevalence of sport-related analgesic use in elite German handball players. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Sportmedizin. 74(5), 168-174. doi:10.5960/dzsm.2023.568
  • Gropper, H., John, J.M., & Thiel, A. (2023). Ways into physical (in)activity: The role of critical life events and transitions in the reconstructions of young adults. PlosOne. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290438
  • Gropper, H., John, J.M., Sudeck, G., & Thiel, A. (2023). “I just had the feeling that the interval training is more beneficial”: Young adults’ subjective experiences of physical fitness and the role of training modes. Frontiers in Sport and Active Living. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2023.1115944
  • Eppinger, A., Thiel, A., Sudeck, G., Dierkes, K., John, J.M., Nieß, A., & Gawrilow, C. (2023). Well-Being of Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Ambulatory Assessment of Physical and Sport Activity, Social Contacts, and Screen Time. Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 231(2), 83-92. https://doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000518
  • John, J.M. & Thiel, A. (2022). Talent as a social construction: Proposing a Constructivist conceptualization of athletic talent. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 25, 1199-1220. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-022-01110-2
  • John, J.M. & Thiel, A. (2022). All roads lead to Rome? Talent narratives of elite athletes, musicians, and mathematicians. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2022.2074078
  • John, J. M., Haug, V., & Thiel, A. (2020). Physical Activity Behavior from a Transdisciplinary Biopsychosocial Perspective: a Scoping Review. Sports Medicine - Open, 6(1), 49. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-020-00279-2
  • Frahsa, A., Altmeier, D., John, J. M., Gropper, H., Granz, H., Pomiersky, R., . . . Thiel, A. (2020). “I Trust in Staff's Creativity”—The Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Physical Activity Promotion in Nursing Homes Through the Lenses of Organizational Sociology. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2(131). https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2020.589214
  • Thiel, A., John, J.M., Carl, J., & Thedinga, H. (2020). Weight stigma experiences and physical (in)activity: A biographical analysis. Obesity Facts, 13, 386-402. https://doi.org/10.1159/000507936
  • Gropper, H., John, J.M., Sudeck, G., & Thiel, A. (2020). The impact of life events and transitions on physical activity: A scoping review. PlosOne. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234794
  • Bekker S, Bolling C, Ahmed O, Badenhorst M, Carmichael J, Fagher K, Hägglund M, Jacobsson J, John J, Litzy K, Mann R, McKay C, Mumford S, Tabben M, Thiel A, Timpka T, Thurston J, Truong L, Spörri J, van Nassau F, Verhagen E. (2020). Athlete Health Protection: Why qualitative research matters. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 23 (10), 898-901. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2020.06.020
  • John, J. M., Gropper, H., & Thiel, A. (2019). The role of critical life events in the talent development pathways of athletes and musicians: A systematic review. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 45, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2019.101565
  • Thiel, A., John, J., & Frahsa, A. (2019). Qualitative interviews in sport and physical activity research – do not forget the body. European Journal for Sport and Society, 16, 1-4. DOI: 10.1080/16138171.2019.1616423
  • Thiel, A. & John, J. M. (2019). Is eSport a ‘real’ sport? Reflections on the spread of virtual competitions, European Journal for Sport and Society, DOI: 10.1080/16138171.2018.1559019

Conference presentations

  • John, J., Gropper, H. & Thiel, A. (2019). Mapping biographies – A method for the analysis of the subjective history of physical activity. Oral presentation at the ISSA World Congress of the Sociology of Sport, Dunedin, New Zealand
  • John, J. & Thiel, A. (2019). The role of critical life events in the talent development pathways of athletes and musicians: A systematic review. Oral presentation at the ISSA World Congress of the Sociology of Sport, Dunedin, New Zealand
  • John, J. & Thiel, A. (2018). Developmental pathways of gifted individuals - a biographical analysis. Oral presentation at the 2nd Summer School of the international PhD program Bern-Tübingen "Interdisciplinary sport science", Sankt Moritz, Switzerland
  • John, J. & Thiel, A. (2018). Developmental pathways of gifted individuals - a biographical analysis. Oral presentation at the international PhD Workshop "Culture, Sport, and Society", Tübingen.

Functions

  • PI (with Prof. David Jaitner and Prof. Michael Mutz) GUIDE (Societal impact of elite sports in Germany); BISp (2024-2026)
  • 2nd place at the PhD award of the German Society for Sports Science (dvs-Promotionspreis), 2023
  • PI MeFraMe (Media framing of elite athletes‘ mental health); BISP (2023-2025)
  • Representative of the non-professorial academic staff on the faculty council of the Faculty for Economics and Social Sciences (since 2022)
  • Representative of Junior Scholars in Sport Sociology of the German Society for Sports Science (since 2021)
  • Editorial’s Assistant for the European Journal for Sport and Society (2017-2019)
  • Associated member of the LEAD Graduate School and Research Network (since 2018)
  • Holder of scholarships from the German National Academic Foundation (2014-2017)
  • Member of the Organizing Committee of the 2022 eass & ISSA World Congress of Sociology of Sport (2020-2022)
  • Project coordinator FIDELIS (Figurations of painkiller consumption in elite handball – Modulation patterns and interdependence networks); BISP (2021-2024)
  • Project coordinator "Figurations of painkiller consumption in semi-professional football – Modulation patterns and interdependence networks“; DFL and DFB (2021-2023)