Research
I
see myself mainly as a social psychologist with a strong focus on
self-control research. In
studying these issues, I'm interested in using lab studies, as well as field studies.
Desire and Desire Regulation
Past self-control research has
primilarly focused on the restrained part of self-control and has less
focused on bottom-up reward processes that have the potential to
trigger impulsive behavior. Thus, my
primary
research focus here is on how desire emerges and thus what
factors trigger
the (more or less) conscious experience of desire and cravings. Getting
a deeper understanding of how (unwanted) desires emerge does not only
help us to get a better understanding of the motivational underpinnings
of many daily behaviors but can further help to create self-control
interventions that try to change the maladaptive precursor processes of
unwanted desire emergence and thus help to proactively down-regulate
unwanted desires in a more efficiently manner.
Self-Control
Here, my research focus is on self-regulation and goal psychology in general. I’m
particularly interested in why certain people struggle with controlling their
impulsive action tendencies and why certain people succeed in fighting their impulses
and temptations, in the underlying conscious or automatic differences between
these people and in interventions tapping into more conscious or unconscious
processes to boost self-control in people suffering from low self-control
abilities. My interests involve situational variables, as well as dispositional
variables and the interplay between both variables that modulates whether lower
order temptations or higher order goals gain control of human behavior.
In applying
this self-control perspective, I’m interested in a wide range of problematic
behaviors, thoughts and feelings, that one strives to control, such as unwanted
cravings, overeating, consumption of unhealthy snacks, aggressive and sexual
impulses, stereotypical behavior and many more.
Overview of Research Interests:
- Desire and Desire Regulation
- Implicit self-regulation
- Counteractive Control Theory
- Self-regulation outside the Lab: Real-life Implications
- Restrained Eating
- Depletion of Willpower (Ego Depletion)
- Health behavior decision-making and self-control interventions
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