Research Topics in Sociology

Political Participation & Polarization

Political participation, ideological and affective polarization, political trust, and democratic engagement

My research examines how different forms of political participation and civic engagement are associated with polarization, political information, trust, health, and individual and contextual resources. My recent work investigates the relationship between affective polarization and political participation, the role of ideological polarization in the relationship between political news consumption and participation across 24 countries, and longitudinal relationships between perceived ideological polarization, institutional trust, and vaccination attitudes. A dedicated comparative project examined these dynamics across Central and Eastern Europe, covering Austria, Poland, and Slovenia. See selected publications on political participation and polarization.

Topic page: political participation and polarization research.

Key finding: Across 24 European countries, ideological polarization mediated the link between political-news consumption and participation only inconsistently, with positive indirect effects in just five to six countries (Kirbiš, Lubej & Branilović, 2026).

Health Sociology, Vaccine Hesitancy & Health Literacy

Social inequalities, trust, health literacy, vaccination attitudes, and health behaviour

A major strand of my research investigates vaccine hesitancy, vaccination intentions, health literacy, trust in healthcare and science, health inequalities, and health-related behaviour. I examine individual and contextual determinants including socioeconomic position, education, cultural capital, conspiracy mentality, ideological polarization, institutional trust, and national economic and cultural characteristics.

My recent work also examines the measurement of health literacy and vaccination readiness, differences between groups with different patterns of vaccine hesitancy, and longitudinal changes in vaccination attitudes.

Topic page: vaccine hesitancy, health literacy and trust in science research.

Key finding: Across 26 European countries, institutional trust and healthcare satisfaction predicted COVID-19 vaccination intention more strongly in less corrupt, more developed countries, while conspiracy beliefs mattered more in more corrupt ones (Lamot & Kirbiš, 2024).

Health, Social Inequalities & Lifestyles

Health status, substance use, mental health, and socioeconomic inequalities

I examine how education, socioeconomic position, gender, health literacy, and other social resources are associated with health and health-related behaviour. My work in this area includes adolescent substance use, mental health, fruit and vegetable intake, and relationships between physical health and political participation.

Key finding: Using Slovenian HLS19 data, health literacy partially mediated socioeconomic inequalities in fruit and vegetable intake (Kirbiš, Branilović & Lubej, 2025).

Youth Studies

Youth political participation, civic engagement, health, values, and inequalities among young people

Young people are a recurring population in my research. I study political orientation, political participation, and civic engagement among youth, as well as health and substance use, environmental attitudes, cultural participation, educational inequalities, values, and cross-national differences among young people in Slovenia and other European societies.

My youth research draws on both national and comparative datasets and examines how socioeconomic resources, family background, education, gender, and wider social contexts are related to attitudes and behaviour.

Key finding: Among Slovenian youth, a three-dimensional model (social, economic, international) described political orientation better than the traditional left–right scale (Lep & Kirbiš, 2021).

Environmental Attitudes, Climate Literacy & Behaviour

Climate knowledge, environmental engagement, pro-environmental behaviour, and inequalities

My environmental research examines climate literacy, environmental attitudes, environmentally friendly behaviour, and environmental civic engagement. My recent work investigates the measurement of climate knowledge, the relationship between education and active environmental engagement, and cross-national environmental public sphere behaviour. See related publications on climate literacy and environmental behaviour.

Topic page: climate literacy and environmental behaviour research.

Key finding: A systematic review of 92 studies found that the measurement of climate knowledge is inconsistent, especially in how its dimensions are defined (Lubej, Petraš & Kirbiš, 2025).

Human-Animal Relations, Animals & Diet

Speciesism, vegan sociology, meat consumption, sustainable dietary patterns, and ideology

This area examines the social and political dimensions of human-animal relations, including speciesism, attitudes toward vegetarians and vegans, meat consumption and reduction, sustainable dietary patterns, climate literacy, and the role of ideology in everyday consumption.

Recent work connects Slovenian and comparative evidence on meat consumption with new manuscript and conference work on speciesism, social dominance, sexism, and anti-vegan attitudes.

Topic page: human-animal relations, animals and diet research.

Key finding: Among Slovenians aged 14-88, climate attitudes and literacy mediated the association between higher education and both lower meat consumption and greater willingness to reduce meat (Kirbiš & Branilović, 2025).

Cultural Participation, Volunteering & Civil Society

Cultural engagement, volunteering, participation inequalities, and civic life

I study cultural participation and volunteering as important dimensions of social capital and civic engagement. My work examines participation patterns, motivations and barriers, inequalities in access and engagement, and traditional and digital forms of cultural participation.

My research project on cultural participation among young people combined national and comparative European analyses. My current national project on volunteering extends this research to the prevalence, determinants, barriers, and consequences of formal and informal volunteering in Slovenia.

Topic page: volunteering, cultural participation and civil society research.

Comparative & Longitudinal Quantitative Research

Comparative and longitudinal survey research, cross-national analysis, panel data, multilevel modelling, and structural equation modelling

Much of my research uses comparative and longitudinal survey research designs. I analyse national and international survey data to examine individual and contextual differences and increasingly use longitudinal panel data to investigate change over time and relationships between variables across multiple waves.

Methods used in my recent research include multilevel modelling, structural equation modelling, cross-lagged panel analysis, moderated mediation, latent profile analysis, psychometric validation, discrete choice experiments, and systematic review methodology.

Key finding: A four-wave random-intercept cross-lagged panel model found no within-person effect of perceived polarization on later trust or vaccination intention, showing how longitudinal designs can overturn cross-sectional conclusions (Kirbiš & Branilović, 2026).