Career
His research centers on how goals and plans affect cognition, emotion, and behavior. Gollwitzer’s experimental research based on these models delineates the various underlying psychological mechanisms of action control, and it distills the respective moderators. His recent research uses previous insights on action control by if-then planning to develop powerful time and cost effective behavior change interventions.
This work is rooted in the mental contrasting theory of goal pursuit as proposed by Gabriele Oettingen.
Prior to coming to New York University in 1999, Gollwitzer held the following positions: assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, (1982-1983). Junior researcher, Max-Planck-Institute for Psychological Research, Munich (1984-1988).
And senior researcher, Max-Planck-Institute for Psychological Research (Coordinator of the Intention & Action Group), Munich (1989-1992). In 1993 he became the chair of the social psychology and motivation unit at the University of Konstanz, Germany.
Gollwitzer received his bachelor"s degree from Universitaet Regensburg (1973), a master"s degree from Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum (1977), a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Texas, Austin (1981), and a Doctor habilitatus degree from Munich’s Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (1987).
Gollwitzer is a Fellow of Academia Europaea and of the American Psychological Association as well as a Charter Fellow of the American Psychological Society.