Aki Koivula
akjeko@utu.fi +358 29 450 2093 +358 40 769 7798 Assistentinkatu 7 Turku Office: 488 ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8453-0863 |
Political trust, Political attitudes, Political Participation, Political Parties, Digital interaction and participation; Social networks; Social Trust; Media consumption; Longitudinal and Experimental Survey methodology
I am a Docent in Economic Sociology at the University of Turku and a Docent in Political Science at Tampere University.
I currently work at the INVEST Research Flagship in several research and leadership roles. I am a Senior Research Fellow in the project Stratification and Equality of Opportunity in the Era of Novel Technologies (PI: Jani Erola) and head the research group responsible for the development and implementation of the INVEST Longitudinal Study on Well-Being (ILSW).
I am also the Principal Investigator of two research projects: Segregated Trust and Sleeping Suburbs: Intra-Urban Inequalities in Political Efficacy and Electoral Participation (SEGREGTRUST) and The Impact of Increasing Socioeconomic Residential Segregation on the Accumulation of Educational Disadvantages and People’s Life Courses (SOSE). These projects examine how socioeconomic segregation shape political engagement, attitudes, educational opportunities, well-being, and life-course outcomes.
In addition, I lead a work package in the Finnish Infrastructure for Register-Based Research consortium, where my work focuses particularly on improving permit and data-access processes for register-based research.
From 2020 to 2024, I led the KRIME research group, which examined the social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular focus on trust, crisis communication, and public responses to the pandemic. Before joining INVEST, I held several teaching and research positions and served for two years as Head of the Economic Sociology Unit at the University of Turku.
My research focuses on citizens' well-being and their engagement with state institutions within the context of societal change. In particular, I have studied the drivers and consequences of political trust, as well as the impact of digital technology on human behaviour and interaction. I have published extensively in leading academic journals, such as European Political Science Review, Sociology, Social Science & Medicine, and New Media & Society.
My current teaching profile centers on PhD supervision and the development of research proposals. I am responsible for INWS0018 Research Proposal Workshop. I supervise nine PhD researchers whose topics range from political attitudes to subjective well-being.
- The Electoral Consequences of Economic Inequality in Finland: The Case of the Finns Party (2023)
- INVEST blog
(E1 Popularised article) - Did the pandemic increase social media-induced appearance pressures? A longitudinal analysis of social media caused appearance-related pressures before and during the Covid-19 pandemic (2022) Sarpila Outi, Koivula Aki, Åberg Erica
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Different Sample Sources, Different Results? A Comparison of Online Panel and Mail Survey Respondents (2022)
- International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction
(A4 Refereed article in a conference publication ) - Exploring class identification among Finnish party members (2022)
- Scandinavian Political Studies
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Life satisfaction with gambling communities: a cross-national study of excessive gambling actives among Finnish, South-Korean, Spanish and American emerging adults. (2022)
- Journal of Gambling Studies
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Loneliness and Psychological Distress Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Relationships With Social Media Identity Bubbles (2022)
- Social Science and Medicine
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Miksi suomalaiset eroavat evankelis-luterilaisesta kirkosta? (2022)
- Yhteiskuntapolitiikka
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Shedding Light on People's Social Media Concerns through Political Party Preference, Media Trust, and Immigration Attitudes (2022) Europe in the Age of Post-truth Politics - Populism, Disinformation and the Public Sphere Malinen Sanna, Koivula Aki, Keipi Teo, Saarinen Arttu
(A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Sosiaalinen media on kaksiteräinen miekka yksinäisyyden torjunnassa (2022)
- Turun Sanomat
(E1 Popularised article) - The Role of Collaboration in Complying with COVID-19 Health Protective Behaviors: A Cross-National Study. (2022)
- Administration and Society
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)



