The award committee emphasized that her research combines theoretical innovation, methodological rigor, and a strong commitment to studying social processes in everyday life. Her research on social exclusion has made a substantial contribution to the field, advancing understanding of its emotional, cognitive, and behavioral consequences as well as their contextual and cultural moderators. She employs a diverse methodological repertoire that includes experience sampling, experiments, cross-national surveys, and digital trace data. Her work is highly interdisciplinary, bridging social psychology with clinical, communication, and human–computer interaction perspectives. Beyond important publications on leading journals, she is also committed to the dissemination of science to the public.

The award ceremony took place during the EASP General Meeting, held in Strasbourg from 30 June to 4 July 2026. Christiane Büttner completed her PhD in 2024 as part of the Society & Choice doctoral programme at the University of Basel and is currently conducting research as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University.