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Research suggests that spatial ability plays a significant role in science, technology, mathematics, and engineering (STEM; Newcombe, 2017). Crucially, gender differences in favor of males are observable in STEM enrollment and success (Wang & Degol, 2013) and spatial cognition (Levine et al., 2016). There is evidence regarding the influence of stereotyping in this context (e.g., Sanchis-Segura et al., 2018; Moé & Pazzaglia, 2006). However, there are no scientific studies investigating the influence of stereotypes on spatial ability at a young age. The aim of the planned study is to illuminate parts of the uncertainty regarding gender stereotypes related to spatial ability in early childhood and their potential relation to mental rotation performance. To this end, participants will complete an Implicit Association Test, a questionnaire relating to stereotypes about spatial ability, and a chronometric mental rotation task. Aditonally, parents will provide information regarding their socioeconomic status (SES). Research suggests that SES relates to spatial ability (e.g., Ruthsatz et al., 2012; Austin & Hanisch, 1990) and to explicit stereotyping (Ruthsatz et al., 2012). In the planned study, SES will serve as a covariate in our analyses (see analysis plan).

Classical cognitive-motor dual-tasks typically show impairments in the accuracy and stability of either cognitive or coordinative motor performance due to shared cognitive demands (e.g., Schaefer et al., 2015; Schaefer & Schumacher, 2011). Moreover, even for automated motor tasks such as aerobic activity, acute effects on cognitive performance are observed (Chang et al., 2012; Lambourne & Tomporowski, 2010; Oberste et al., 2019). These can be explained by shared neural resources of limited capacity such as self-control (strength models, Audiffren & André, 2015; Baumeister et al., 1998, 2007; Englert, 2016) or brain activation (RAH model, Dietrich & Audiffren, 2011). In line with these models, Jost et al. (2021) observed a bidirectional increased effort during simultaneous cycling and mental rotation tasks compared to isolated tasks. However, performance could be upheld in both aspects. As neural resources can be limited in both the maximal capacity and in the amount available over time, the predicted impairments should be exacerbated at higher intensities. Thus, the current study aims to investigate the interaction of mental rotation as an explicit cognitive task and cycling as an automated motor task under maximal physical load. Another interesting point arises from the fact that maximal physical load during cycling is typically not maximal physiological load as peak heart rate is lower than the maximally achievable heart rate (e.g., Such & Meyer, 2010). Combining maximal physical load with the expected increased demand due to simultaneous cognitive exercise thus also allows the investigation whether physiological demand can be increased further. Participants perform two step tests on a cycling ergometer. During one of these tests, they simultaneously execute mental rotation tasks. Cognitive and physical performance, as well as objective and subjective effort are measured during the respective tests.

Mental rotation describes the cognitive ability to rotate objects or images in the mind. Two types of mental rotation tests are widely used: 1) chronometric tests (SM tests) based on the study of R. N. Shepard and Metzler (1971), where two objects are presented which are either the same (rotated) or different (mirrored). 2) psychometric tests (VK tests) based on the study of Vandenberg and Kuse (1978), where compared to one stimulus, two out of four alternatives are rotated and the other two are mirrored or structurally different. Both tests are suggested to measure the same mental rotation ability. However, large performance differences favoring men are only detected in VK tests whereas there are only small or no differences in SM tests between men and women (Peters & Battista, 2008). Recently, Jost and Jansen (2020) suggested a new test (JJ tests), where one stimulus is compared to two alternatives, which are mirrored to each other, i.e., one is rotated to the stimulus and one is mirrored. Interestingly, they also did not observe sex differences. From this, two main questions arise: 1) Why do sex differences occur in mostly in one test (psychometric) but not the other (chronometric)? Which difference(s) is/are responsible? 2) What are the differences between the tests and can we explain both as specific cases of a general test? A more thorough overview of the theoretical background and idea of the study as well as a detailed power analysis and statistical tests can be found in the accompanying documents. This is a second preregistration for the planned research question. The first preregistration was planned as a lab experiment, which was canceled due to the worsening COVID-19 pandemic after 9 participations. Those 9 participations were not and will not be analyzed but the data will be made available. Compared to the lab experiment, the following changes were made: 1) The experiment was moved online 2) To account for a possibly increased variance in performance, the sample size was increased to 200. 3) We now target a wider range of participants. To account for a possibly larger variance in the larger target population, additional demographic data (education and previous experience) will be collected. 4) The types of tasks are now isolated to the blocks. This allows better treatment of unattempted data and better control of speed-accuracy trade-offs. The number of blocks was increased to 6 (from 4).

It is the main goal of this study to investigate gender differences in psychometric mental rotation tests favouring men in more detail. We assume that the affective evaluation of the geometrical figures in a mental rotation test is related to the mental rotation performance.

According to the European Commission, sustainability includes the use of resources in that way that the capacity of the earth is not exceeded (European Commission - Environment, 2016). In this context, mindfulness is discussed as a concept, which might be able to contribute to a more sustainable way of living. In their adapted version of the stage model of self-regulated behavior change (SSBC; Bamberg. 2013), Richter and Hunecke (2020) suggest that, among other specific variables, attitudes affect intentions and ultimately sustainable behavior. Attitudes can be differentiated into explicit and implicit ones: attitudes, for which people do not have an explicit awareness and for which an activation could not be controlled, are called implicit attitudes (Rydell & McConnell, 2006, p. 995). Previous research showed a low congruence between explicit and implicit sustainability orientations (Steiner et al., 2018). This result was also found in the study of Jansen et al. (2021a), which provided evidence for a more positive explicit attitude towards e-mobility in comparison to gasoline cars, whereas the affective implicit attitude did not show such a difference. Mindfulness can be defined as “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment” (Kabat-Zinn, 2003, p. 145). According to Hölzel et al. (2011), attention regulation, body awareness, emotion regulation, and change in perspective of the self are the mechanisms behind mindfulness. Beside the rather cognitive aspect awareness, mindfulness also has a gentle emotional quality, that can be described as heartfulness (Kabat-Zinn, 1994). The heartfulness aspect of mindfulness comprises on the one hand the concept of self-compassion that is an indicator of heartfulness towards the own person (Neff, 2003). On the other hand, it includes gratitude (Emmons & McCullough, 2003), which can be seen as an indicator of heartfulness towards others (Voci et al., 2019). In context of sustainability, it has been shown, that gratitude can promote sustainable resource extraction under conditions of rapidly depleting resources (Kates & DeSteno, 2021). Furthermore, a statistically significant and moderate positive correlation between gratitude and prosocialness could be demonstrated (Ma et al., 2017). Prosocial behavior describes a kind of behavior, that is costly but beneficial to others. Previous research found that sustainable behavior is often linked with prosocial behavior (De Groot & Thogersen, 2018). Another factor that can be considered in context of mindfulness and sustainable behavior is connectedness to nature. There is a positive correlation between connectedness to nature and mindfulness (Schutte & Malouff, 2018) as well as with sustainable behavior (Whitburn et al., 2019). In the study of Jansen et al. (2021b) a relation between prosocialness and connectedness to nature on the one side and sustainable attitude on the other side could also be drawn. In their mediation model, sustainable attitude was predicted by the indirect effects of inner and outer awareness and insight via prosocialness and by outer awareness and insight via connectedness to nature. No other mediator (e.g., values, well-being) reached significance. The main goal of this study is to investigate the explicit and implicit attitudes towards different aspects of sustainability and their relating factors in more depth. In addition to the studies of Jansen et al. (2021a) and Siebertz et al. (2021), other aspects of sustainability beside mobility and food will be considered. In the studies mentioned above only the direct paths of mindfulness on attitudes were investigated. In the present study, the indirect paths of mindfulness through the mediators prosocialness and connectedness to nature will be investigated. Furthermore, not only the cognitive aspect of mindfulness awareness, but also the emotional quality of mindfulness - conceptualized by self-compassion and gratitude – will be incorporated.

The research on mindfulness gets a lot of attention in the last two decades and according to Desbordes et al. (2015, p. 357) mindfulness “corresponds to the higher-level awareness of present-moment sensory, affective, and cognitive experiences”. This state can also be regarded as equanimity, which can be conceptualized in more detail on the one side as a state of openness and acceptance and on the other side as an enduring state or trait which is a result of a mindfulness training. Equanimity is related to the emotion regulation ability. Whereas equanimity can be regarded as a kind of inner balance, postural stability can be seen as outer balance ability. The main goal of this study is to investigate the relation of inner (equanimity) and outer (postural stability) balance while considering attentional and emotion regulation abilities.

It is the main goal of the study to investigate the relation between the choice of a planetary diet as one criterion of sustainability and the aspect of heartfulness. In general, mindfulness has an awareness non-judgmental component. However, Jon Kabat-Zin (2004) already stated that mindfulness also has a gentle emotional quality, which can be described as heartfulness. Whereas a link between the awareness qualities of mindfulness "acting with awareness" and sustainable food choice has been established (Hunecke & Richter, 2019), the relation of a sustainable food choice as the choice of a vegetarian and vegan diet and heartfulness was not investigated. So the main goal of the proposed study is to investigate the following question: Do vegetarians and vegans score higher in values of heartfulness than omnivores?