Peter M. GollwitzerNew York University | NYU · Department of Psychology
Peter M. Gollwitzer
PhD
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375
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Introduction
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September 1999 - present
Publications
Publications (375)
Past implementation intention research focused on shielding goal striving from disruptive internal states (e.g., being anxious) by forming if–then plans that link these very states to instrumental coping responses. In the present line of research, we investigated whether planning out goal striving by means of if–then plans specifying opportunities...
This study tested whether an intervention that combined information with self-regulation strategies had a better effect on eating fruits and vegetables than an information-only intervention.
Women between age 30 and 50 (N = 255) participated in a 24-month randomized controlled trial comparing two brief interventions: All participants received the s...
The authors tested the effectiveness of implementation intentions as a strategy for limiting the behavioral expression of implicit stereotypes. Implementation intentions are if-then plans that link an intended response to an anticipated situational cue, thereby enabling a reflexive form of control. The authors examined whether two different types o...
Self-efficacy was analyzed as a potential moderator of implementation intention effects on goal attainment. Participants' self-efficacy with respect to taking an analytic reasoning test (Advanced Progressive Matrices; Raven, 197641.
Raven , J. C. 1976. Advanced progressive matrices. Set II, Oxford, , UK: Oxford Psychologists Press. View all refere...
As highlighted by Kurt Lewin, goal attainment is not yet secured solely by forming strong commitments to highly desirable and feasible goals. There is always the subsequent issue of implementing a set goal, and one wonders what people can do to enhance their chances of being successful at this second phase of goal pursuit. A promising answer seems...
Procrastination is addressed from the perspective of the psychology of goals, looking at how people may procrastinate with respect to the typical tasks people need to tackle in pursuit of goals. Moreover, a strategy to overcome such procrastination is suggested, namely, the formation of specific if-then plans (implementation intentions): when, wher...
Due to learned nonuse (Uswatte & Taub, 2005) of the restricted arm stroke patients tend to use the non-restricted arm even after a sufficient remission of the operability. The following 2 studies test whether Implementation Intentions (II: „IF-THEN“-plans) represent an effective instrument for therapy of learned nonuse. With perception of a stimulu...
College students whose test anxiety was measured completed a working memory-intensive math exam with televised distractions. Students were provided with implementation intentions (if–then plans; Gollwitzer, 1999) designed to either help them ignore the distractions (i.e., temptation-inhibiting plans) or focus more intently on the math exam (i.e., t...
In this chapter, the authors focus on one of the more cognitive mediators of behavior, dealing with the extent to which implementation intentions lead to successful execution of an intended behavior. From this viewpoint, automatic processes such as those discussed in the preceding chapters (particularly Chapters 5 and 6) are sometimes an unwanted s...
Motivation is the study of the processes that cause animals and humans to exhibit varying sets of behavior at different times. Some examples of such behavior sets are eating, fighting, socializing, achieving, and studying. Traditionally, one distinguishes between biopsychological and sociopsychological approaches to the processes that cause these b...
The transition to school is seen as an extensive process of adaptation during which children need to adjust to school standards. Successful adaptation is reflected in children's classroom behavior (i.e., prosocial behavior rather than behavior problems) and academic performance (Petriwskyj, Thorpe, & Tayler, 2005). It is well documented that cognit...
In the past decade, implementation intentions have consistently been shown to be effective self-regulatory tools in a multitude of studies (Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006). In this article, we will review their effectiveness in the health domain. Thus, by forming implementation intentions it is possible to foster the promotion of healthy ( healthy eati...
People may use the self-regulatory strategy of forming implementation intentions (i.e., if-then plans) to make better consumer decisions and facilitate the translation of those decisions into action. First, research on the mechanisms and effects of implementation intentions is reviewed. Second, we discuss how implementation intentions can be used t...
In everyday life, one can link anticipated specific cues (e.g. visiting a restaurant) with desired actions (e.g., ordering a healthy meal). Alternatively, intentions such as "I intend to eat more healthily" present the option to act when one encounters the same cue. In the first case, a specific cue triggers a specific action; in the second, one mu...
Based on Lewinian goal theory in general and self-completion theory in particular, four experiments examined the implications of other people taking notice of one's identity-related behavioral intentions (e.g., the intention to read law periodicals regularly to reach the identity goal of becoming a lawyer). Identity-related behavioral intentions th...
Forming implementation intentions (If I encounter cue X, then I will perform behavior Y!) is postulated to trigger action initiation without further conscious intent once the specified cue is encountered (Gollwitzer, 1999). In two experiments using an injustice paradigm or a categorization task, critical situations (specified in the if-component)...
Self-regulation of intention formation is pivotal for achieving behavior change. Fantasy realization theory (Oettingen, 2000) assumes that mentally contrasting a desired positive future with present negative reality turns high expectations of success into strong intentions to realize the desired future, while indulging in the positive future fails...
As implementation intentions are a powerful self-regulation tool for thought and action (meta-analysis by P. M. Gollwitzer & P. Sheeran, 2006), the present studies were conducted to address their effectiveness in regulating emotional reactivity. Disgust- (Study 1) and fear- (Study 2) eliciting stimuli were viewed under 3 different self-regulation i...
Although the relationship between goals and behavior is substantial (Webb & Sheeran, 2006), even very motivated individuals at times fail to act on their goals. In this chapter, we discuss the role of plans in linking goals with actual behavior. We focus specifically on a certain type of plan, an if-then planknown as an implementation intention, an...
commit to goals, and whether it infl uences the translation of set goals into action (i.e., goal striving). In the present chapter, we will address these questions starting with research on per-ceived desirability and feasibility, and ending with a focus on the role of culture in the formation of goal commitments and in the translation of set goals...
A physically active lifestyle during midlife is critical to the maintenance of high physical functioning. This study tested whether an intervention that combined information with cognitive-behavioral strategies had a better effect on women's physical activity than an information-only intervention.
A 4-month longitudinal RCT comparing two brief inte...
In the last decade, there has been a tremendous surge of research on the mechanisms of human action. This volume brings together this new knowledge in a single, concise source, covering most if not all of the basic questions regarding human action: what are the mechanisms by which action plans are acquired, mentally represented, activated, selected...
In the last decade, there has been a tremendous surge of research on the mechanisms of human action. This volume brings together this new knowledge in a single, concise source, covering most if not all of the basic questions regarding human action: what are the mechanisms by which action plans are acquired, mentally represented, activated, selected...
Introduction:
Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are impulsive and therefore have difficulties regulating complex behavior particularly in tasks that require executive functioning. A powerful self-regulation strategy that alleviates the need for conscious executive control by explicitly specifying when, where, and how a g...
The question-behavior effect is discussed by taking an action control perspective. With respect to the determinants of the effect, it is asked whether its strength is dependent on the features of the behaviors at issue (e.g., difficulty), how the question targets the critical behaviors (e.g., in terms of attitudes or intentions, frequency or intens...
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with action control problems such as failure to inhibit inappropriate responses. Two studies investigated whether self-regulation by implementation intentions (if-then plans; Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54, 4...
The authors investigated whether an implemental mind-set fosters stronger attitudes. Participants who made a decision about how to act (vs. those who held off) expressed a more extreme attitude toward an issue unrelated to the decision (Experiment 1). Participants who planned the implementation of a decision (vs. deliberated vs. control) exhibited...
Forming an implementation intention or "if-then plan" promotes the attainment of different types of goals (Gollwitzer, 1999; Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006). So far, research on implementation intentions has focused on the initiation of goal striving, whereas the issue of shielding of ongoing goal striving has been largely neglected. In two field exper...
Characteristics of the Action Perspective For Kurt Lewin (cf. Lewin, Dembo, Festinger,&Sears, 1944), there was never any doubt that motivational phenomena can only be properly understood and analyzed from an action perspective. Indeed, as he pointed out in support of this claim, processes of goal setting and goal striving are governed by distinct p...
A current focus in the prospective memory literature is the extent to which a prospective memory task (remembering to perform a future action) interferes with ongoing activities (defined in this study as lexical decision latencies). In the present study, participants had to detect one, two, three, four, five, or six prospective memory cues. Results...
Two tasks where failures of cognitive control are especially prevalent are task-switching and spatial Simon task paradigms. Both tasks require considerable strategic control for the participant to avoid the costs associated with switching tasks (task-switching paradigm) and to minimize the influence of spatial location (Simon task). In the current...
Im Jahre 1926 veröffentlichte Kurt Lewin einen umfangreichen Artikel in der Psychologischen Forschung mit dem Titel "Vorsatz, Wille und Bedürfnis". Die Intention dieses theoretischen Aufsatzes ist einerseits eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit der von NarziB Ach (1905, 1910; siehe zusammenfassend Ach, 1935) vetretenen Theorie der determinierenden...
In diesem Beitrag werden die willenspsychologischen Überlegungen der Würzburger Schule mit zeitgenössischen Antworten auf die Frage verglichen, wie Intentionen zum Handeln führen. Narziß Ach nützte zur Erklärung der Nachwirkungen von Willensakten das Konzept der Determination. Als zeitgenössischer Ansatz wird die Intentionstheorie Gollwitzers (1993...
Imagine the following scenario: You need to remember to execute an important intention, such as turning off your cell phone before an important meeting. In the past, you may have been embarrassed by the failure to complete such an intention, thereby disturbing an entire room of colleagues, not to mention the invited speaker. Therefore, you are espe...
In this chapter we focus on the determinants and processes of goal emergence and goal implememation. We first address personal and situational variables leading to the formation of behavioral goals and what kind of psychological processes help or hinder goal setting. In the second part of the chapter, we discuss how set goals of different qualities...
Three studies examined whether the self-regulation strategy of forming implementation intentions (i.e., if-then plans) facilitates the attainment of prosocial goals when a limited resource is to be distributed between two parties who hold adverse cognitive orientations. In three experiments, pairs of negotiators were assigned prosocial goals that e...
Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have difficulties with tasks that require response inhibition. We measured electroencephalographic data of nonmedicated children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and control children in two conditions: (a) a neutral condition without a self-regulation strategy and (b) a condition t...
The cognitive consequences of forming implementation intentions in controlling fear were addressed in the present study. Participants with an intense fear of spiders evaluated pictures of spiders, pleasant pictures, and neutral pictures under cognitive load. Regulatory control was measured by participants' self-report ratings of the pictures on the...
Past research has demonstrated that implementation intentions (i.e., ifthen plans) facilitate goal striving by two processes: increasing the activation of the anticipated situational cue (the ifprocess) and automating the goaldirected response to that cue (the thenprocess; Gollwitzer, 1999; Webb & Sheeran, in press). Two studies investigated th...
Despite major recent research advances, large gaps exist between accepted mental health knowledge and clinicians' real-world practices. Although hundreds of studies have successfully utilized basic behavioral science theories to understand, predict, and change patients' health behaviors, the extent to which these theories-most notably the theory of...
Randomized experiments, conducted during the 2006 US midterm election and the 2005 German federal election, examined the impact on voter turnout of two simple treatments. The effects of a mere measurement treatment (asking people if they intend to vote) and an implementation intentions treatment (asking people how they intend to vote), were estimat...
Implementation intentions are if-then plans that spell out when, where, and how a set goal has to be put into action: If situation x is encountered, then I will perform behavior y!, thereby linking a critical situation with a goal-directed behavior. Over the last fifteen years, implementation intentions, as compared to simple goal intentions (I int...
Mindset theory (Gollwitzer, 1990) proposes that deliberative mindsets are marked by more open-minded processing of information, whereas implemental mindsets are characterized by more closed-minded processing. Accordingly, deliberative and implemental mindsets should differ in selective processing of incidental information when performing a central...
Las intenciones de implementación: una mirada atrás a quince años de progreso. Las intenciones de implementación son planes si-entonces (if-then plans) que especifican cuándo, dónde y cómo se va a llevar a la acción una meta propuesta: (Si me encuentro con la situación x, entonces llevaré a cabo la conducta y!, ligando de esta manera una situación...
Children with attention deficit disorder have difficulties with tasks that require response inhibition. We measured EEG data of nonmedicated childen with ADHS and control children in two conditions, a neutral condition and a condition that involved making if-then plans. If-then plans improved response inhibition and increased the P300 inchildren wi...
We explored the consequences of forming implementation intentions that call for action (adjustment of chosen course of action) versus reflection (assessment of the appropriateness of chosen course of action) in situations that activate peoples tendency to remain committed to failing courses of action. In Study 1, when negative experiences preceded...
Goal-directed behavior possesses various observable features (Gollwitzer and Moskowitz, 1996). First and foremost, it is characterized by persistent striving until the goal is reached. Second, goal-directedness expresses itself in energization when situations or means that can be used to reach the goal are encountered. And third,goal-directed organ...
As both high self-efficacy beliefs (Bandura, 19975.
Bandura , A. 1997. Self-efficacy: The exercise of control, New York: Freeman. View all references) and forming implementation intentions (Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 200632.
Gollwitzer , P. M. and
Sheeran , P. 2006. Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and proces...
From a motivational-volitional perspective, a first prerequisite for medical adherence is that people walk away from a health care provider (or from medical instructions obtained elsewhere) with a strong intention (goal) to act on the advice or instructions given. Second, and equally important, people need to effectively translate their goals into...
Holding a strong goal intention ("I intend to reach Z!") does not guarantee goal achievement, because people may fail to deal effectively with selfregulatory problems during goal striving. This review analyzes wether realization of goal intentions is facilitated by forming an implementation intention that spells out the when, where, and how of goal...
Nonconsciously activated goals and consciously set goals produce the same outcomes by engaging similar psychological processes (Bargh, 1990; Gollwitzer & Bargh, 2005). However, nonconscious and conscious goal pursuit may have different effects on subsequent affect if goal pursuit affords an explanation, as nonconscious goal pursuit occurs in an exp...
Emotional reactions like anger can cause rejection of unfair ultimatums at a cost to oneself. A possible ameliorating strategy is self-regulation: there is evidence that binding goals are an effective tool for controlling emotions and successful goal pursuit. The present study tests the hypothesis that entering an ultimatum with the goal of control...
Philosophers, psychologists, neuroscientists, and psychiatrists examine the will and its pathologies from theoretical and empirical perspectives, offering a conceptual overview and discussing schizophrenia, depression, prefrontal lobe damage, and substance abuse as disorders of volition.
Science tries to understand human action from two perspective...
What can today's psychology of motivation reply to the layman's question of "How do I attain my goals?" Most importantly, nowadays, research on the psychology of goals suggests that this question needs to be broken down by differentiating between successful goal setting and successful goal implementation. The distinction between goal setting and go...
Die Studie "Lifestyle Intervention by Self-regulation of Action (LlSA)" prüift, wie effektiv ein neu entwickeltes Selbstregulations-Instrument Lebensstiländerungen in Richtung evidenzbasierter Verhaltensstandards unterstützt. Das Selbstregulationsinstrument kombiniert erstmals Mentales Kontrastieren (Oettingen, Pak & Schnetter, 2001) und Vorsätze (...
Two experiments explored the role of social motivation and perspective taking in integrative and distributive negotiations. It was tested whether perspective taking moderates the effect of social motivation on negotiation outcomes in integrative and distributive negotiations. In line with previous findings it was found that in an integrative negoti...
Research on mindset theory (Gollwitzer & Bayer 1999) observed that people in an implemental mindset show an orientation towards positive illusionary self-evaluations, whereas people in a deliberative mindset opt for accurate self-evaluations. In the present study, we tested whether these self-evaluative orientations and the associated search for ce...
Research on mindset theory (Gollwitzer & Bayer 1999) observed that people in an implemental mindset show an orientation towards positive illusionary self-evaluationsw, hereas people in a deliberative mindset opt for accurate self-evaluations. In the present study, we tested whether these self-evaluative orientations and the associated search for ce...
Two studies tested whether action control by implementation intentions is sensitive to the activation and strength of participants' underlying goal intentions. In Study 1, participants formed implementation intentions (or did not) and their goal intentions were measured. Findings revealed a significant interaction between implementation intentions...
To investigate how people anticipate and attempt to shape others' self-regulatory efforts, this work examined the impact of abstract and concrete mindsets on attention to goal-relevant aspects of others' situations. An abstract (relative to a concrete) mindset, by making accessible the cognitive operation of considering activities' purpose (versus...
Over the past two decades, a new picture of the cognitive unconscious has emerged from a variety of disciplines that are broadly part of cognitive science. According to this picture, unconscious processes seem to be capable of doing many things that were thought to require intention, deliberation, and conscious awareness. Moreover, they accomplish...
Six studies examined the goal contagion hypothesis, which claims that individuals may automatically adopt and pursue a goal that is implied by another person's behavior. Participants were briefly exposed to behavioral information implying a specific goal and were then given the opportunity to act on the goal in a different way and context. Studies...
In 3 studies, the authors analyzed whether projection occurs for both conscious and nonconscious goals. In Experiment 1, participants who were predisposed to hold a learning goal over a performance goal rated others as possessing more of a learning goal. In Experiment 2, participants who were either implicitly primed with or explicitly assigned to...
Intentions to do more good and less bad are reliably associated with actual efforts in the intended directions (Ajzen, 1991; Godin & Kok, 1996; Sheeran, 2002). However, intention-behavior relations are modest, largely due to the fact that people, despite having formed strang intentions, fail to act on them (Orbell & Sheeran, 1998). Given this predi...
Verhandlungsforschung wird heutzutage unter drei verschiedenen: Perspektiven betrieben: In kognitiven Ansätzen wird untersucht, wie unterschiedliche Konzeptualisierungen der Verhandlungssituation und des Verhandlungsgeschehen zu mehr oder weniger günstigen Verhandlungsergebnissen führen. Motivationale Ansätze versuchen dagegen herauszufinden, wie i...
Determining the factors that promote successful goal pursuit is one of the fundamental questions studied by self-regulation and motivation researchers (Gollwitzer & Moskowitz, 1996; Oettingen & Gollwitzer, 2001). A number of theories, and supporting empirical data, suggest that the type of goal chosen and the commitment to that goal are important d...
Gollwitzer and Kinney (1989) proposed the following hypothesis: People who ponder a goal decision (i.e., to either pursue Goal A or B, or to pursue either Goal A or stay passive) develop a deliberative mind-set that allows them to accurately assess whether a desired outcome can be controlled by their actions or not, whereas people who are planning...
Social-personality psychologists have traditionally devoted little attention to the theoretical and empirical analysis of the issue of voluntary action. We see two different reasons for this: 1 According to the behaviourist perspective (e.g. Tolman, 1925), purposeful or goaldirected behaviour was solely used as a descriptive category to refer to be...
Theorien des Zielsetzens und mehr noch Theorien des Zielstrebens sind in den letzten Jahren zunehmend in das Zentrum sozialpsychologischer Forschung gerückt. Die Veröffentlichung verschiedener Sammelbände (z.B. Frese & Sabini, 1985; Gollwitzer & Bargh, 1996; Martin & Tesser, 1996; Pervin, 1989) und Überblicksarbeiten (z. B. Austin & Vancouver, 1996...
Originally, motivation was analyzed as a singular determinant of human thoughts, feelings, and actions. It was quickly recognized, however, that motivation operates in concert with other determinants (e.g., cognition, affect, habits). This insight has allowed the psychology of motivation to progress to a very sophisticated level to answer to the qu...