My research focuses on self-regulation phenomena from the perspective of motivation as cognition. I am particularly interested in identifying and understanding the mechanisms that underlie goal pursuit and the management of multiple goals and goal conflict. My research investigates these basic mechanisms that govern human action in general, and in particular it attempts to understand their functioning in health-relevant judgment and behavior (e.g. dieting, substance use, HIV risk behavior).
In several projects, my current research attempts to address the following questions:
How do people juggle multiple goals and what are the consequences of pursuing multiple goals?
Why do people fail to pursue goals that are important for them (e.g. exercising more often, maintaining a healthy diet)?
Why do people decide to engage in health-compromising behaviors (HIV risk-behavior, drunk driving, smoking) despite their best intentions not to?
Could so-called “impulsive” behaviors (e.g. self-harm) be in fact strategic goal-pursuit whereby such behaviors represent means to individual’s chronic and momentary goals?
How social context (social rejection, early psycho-social deprivation) may influence individual’s vulnerability to risk behavior?
