Peter M Gollwitzer

Peter M. Gollwitzer is a Professor of Psychology at New York University (since 1999) and retired as Emeritus Professor from the University of Konstanz (2017). He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin (1981) and a Habilitation from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (1987). His research focuses on self-regulation mechanisms, particularly the role of goals and plans in shaping behavior, emotion, and cognition. He pioneered work on implementation intentions and mental contrasting, demonstrating how these strategies enhance goal pursuit.

Education: B.A. in Economics of Education (1972, University of Regensburg), B.A. and M.A. in Psychology (1973, 1977, Ruhr-Universität Bochum), Ph.D. in Psychology (1981, University of Texas at Austin), and Habilitation (1987, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München).

Research interests include the self-regulation of goal pursuit, identity goals (e.g., symbolic self-completion), emotion regulation (e.g., cross-cultural studies of fear, disgust), and clinical applications of self-regulation strategies. His work bridges social, cognitive, and clinical psychology.

Notable awards include the Max Planck Research Award (1990), election to the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (2017), and the Wilhelm Wundt-William James Award (2019). He has authored over 300 publications, including foundational papers on implementation intentions and edited volumes on motivation science.

Lab/Teams: Leads the Motivation Lab at NYU, collaborating on projects involving behavioral interventions, self-regulation strategies, and cross-cultural studies. His research has been applied to health behavior change, education, and organizational settings.