Mission Statement

In our research we focus on self-regulation strategies as well as motivational and cognitive processes of goal setting, goal striving, and goal disengagement. Using an array of different methodological approaches, we investigate, among other things, how thinking about the future affects cognition, emotion, and behavior. In our recent projects, for example, we are concerned with future thinking and the self-regulation of taking responsibility, of practicing social distancing, of conflict resolution, and of creating constructive interpersonal relationships. In addition, we analyze ontogenetic and situational origins of future thinking.

We apply the principles of self-regulation discovered in laboratory experiments to intervention studies in schools, clinics, and families. Here we investigate how one can teach strategies that can be used individually to achieve one's own goals but also that can be used to foster group cohesion and harmony.

We also invite doctoral, master, and undergraduate students to participate in the exchange program between the University of Hamburg and New York University. This offers a unique opportunity to gain access to research at the international level. The exchange serves the purpose of promoting the internationalization of research and teaching at the two universities and of establishing continuous cooperation through collaborative research projects.