Press
How People Make Their Wishes Come True. Psychology Today, August 2021
…Much like the masters of arts and letters, psychologists have long been captivated with the why and how of our dreams. For over two decades, NYU psychologist Gabriele Oettingen has been researching the curious mechanisms of wish fulfillment, from inception to realization.
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Tips to fight pandemic FOGO (fear of going out) and get back to life, according to psychologists. CNBC Make It, May 2021
…To fight FOGO, Oettingen suggests taking a few moments to visualize how wonderful it would be to finally be out, with others, in life again. Imagine how free and relieved you would feel, for instance. “Then ask yourself, ‘What is it in me that holds me back from getting into life again? What is my main inner obstacle to taking the first step?’”
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Covid brought ‘manifestation’ back. But you can`t simply will your way to a better life. The Washington Post, March 2021
..Gabriele Oettingen, a psychology professor at New York University, has spent decades studying the effect of positive thinking. Though it may seem counterintuitive, she says, such thoughts are often a hindrance, because they lead to complacency. In Oettingen’s research, the more positively that dieters fantasized about weight loss, the less likely they were to shed any pounds.
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‘I just want someone to spill a beer on me’. The Washington Post, February 2021
…fantasizing about something that’s out of our control, like your team winning the Super Bowl or the end of the pandemic, can create frustration, she says. Since it could be a while before we get to those packed dining rooms, Oettingen suggests that maybe we also try to daydream about food experiences we can achieve in the near term. “You could imagine setting a nice table for dinner or trying a new recipe,” she says. “It’s important to find daydreams for your daily life because on those, you can act.”
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How to escape your motivational trough when you`re flagging? BBC Worklife , February 2021
…Gabriele Oettingen, professor of psychology at New York University, says there are ways to combat ennui by picking something you want to achieve and identifying the obstacle standing in your way. Obviously, the pandemic is a substantial obstacle to many of our goals and aspirations, but Oettingen says how we respond to it is up to us. “You cannot do anything about the big picture, but you can fill your time in a purposeful way,” she says.
Manifesting, for the Rest of Us. The New York Times, January 2021
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…Gabriele Oettingen, a scholar and professor of psychology at New York University, underscores the point. “Dreamers are not often doers,” she writes in “Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation,” a study of the sources and perils, of unexamined optimism. “The pleasurable act of dreaming saps our energy to perform the hard work of meeting the challenges in real life.”
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How do you tell a narcissist that they didn’t win? Psychology Today. November 2020
… The study entitled, “The Best Words: Linguistic Indicators of Grandiose Narcissism in Politics,” was in fact inspired by another, earlier, speech by the 45th President; at a 2015 campaign event, Donald Trump claimed, “I have the best words.” This boast appears to have inspired the authors of this research, James Underberg, Anton Gollwitzer, Gabriele Oettingen, and Peter Gollwitzer, because it seemed the kind of bragging only a so-called “textbook” narcissist might be associated with.
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Why corona virus is killing more men than women. Washington Post, October 2020
Early in the coronavirus outbreak, hospital data from China revealed a startling disparity: Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, was killing far more men than women. That difference persisted in other Asian countries, such as South Korea, as well as in European countries, such as Italy. Then, it appeared in the United States.
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Women do better at mask wearing and other measures to stop spread of Covid-19, research suggests. CNN, October 2020
To reach their conclusions, the researchers at New York University and Yale University examined survey data, street observations and analysis of smartphone movements. Women aren’t just better at taking preventative measures, researchers said. They also found that women were also more likely to listen to experts and express alarm and anxiety in response to Covid-19, the study, which was published this week in the journal Behavioral Science & Policy, said.
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Men less likely to mask up, possibly thanks to ‘illusions of invulnerability,’ study finds. USA TODAY, October 2020
The message should be that wearing a mask and practicing social distancing is “not only for you but for the people around you,” the study’s lead author Irmak Olcaysoy Okten – a postdoctoral researcher in New York University’s psychology department – told USA TODAY. It helps when leaders – such as respected male politicians, athletes, or movie stars – support that message, Sanderson said. But local religious leaders, team captains or other community figures also hold tremendous influence.
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When will things go back to normal? USA TODAY, October 2020
For some Americans, a return to normal would mean restored health and financial stability. To others, it’s a world with concerts and gatherings, hugs and handshakes. There’s nothing wrong with hoping for a better, more stable future, New York University psychology professor Gabriele Oettingen told USA TODAY. But it’s important to realize that is likely a long-term fantasy, she said.
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‘I manifested my life on TikTok’. BBC, September 2020
Gabriele Oettingen, an academic and psychologist who has spent her career researching positive thinking, found in her research that it can offer short term benefits but actually be harmful in the long term. In one study where she monitored a weight-loss program, “the more positively people fantasize or dream about their success, the less well they do, meaning the fewer pounds they shed.”
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You 2.0: WOOP, WOOP! Hidden Brain, August 2020
“Positive fantasies and daydreams, as pleasurable they are, they have a problem when it comes to fulfilling our wishes and attaining our goals.”
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How to keep good habits post-lockdown. The New York Times, July 2020
Gabriele Oettingen, a professor of psychology at New York University, recommended interrogating what will be the most worthwhile for you through a process called WOOP, short for “wish, outcome, obstacle, plan.” You set a specific post-lockdown wish, and then vividly imagine the primary positive outcome of achieving it, as well as the potential obstacles to it, such as an old, pernicious habit.
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The learning opportunities hiding in our failures. BBC worklife, June 2020
… We also tend to neglect imagining what might go wrong when we look ahead toward attaining a goal, as research by psychologist Gabriele Oettingen at New York University and the University of Hamburg has shown. Yet when people are prompted to engage in ‘mental contrasting’ – anticipating the obstacles along the way to attaining their goal – they are more likely to persevere and succeed in their aims.
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How To Build Resilience During The Coronavirus Era And Other Times Of Uncertainty. Forbes, May 2020
… Gabriele Oettingen, a professor at New York University and the University of Hamburg, spent decades studying motivation with a specific focus on mental contrasting, a problem-solving approach through which individuals visualize their futures and identify all of the obstacles that could stand in the way of success. What she found is quite eye-opening: fantasizing about the future can help with problem-solving, but it’s the identification of obstacles that grounds us, enabling us to be more comfortable and relaxed when trying to address the challenge. You could think of it as the counterpoint to the reactive nature of mental toughness. Why? Once the obstacles are identified, the next step is to determine how to address them. That helps you create a plan, which reduces anxiety and enables greater focus on the effort.
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Personal Growth – Goal Setting and Achievement. Growth Habits , March 2020
… I was always interested in hope. I was interested in why people would not give up. And at first I thought, positive thinking is the answer to that. But then we learned from the data that it is not as simple. Well, positive thinking is great for exploring the possibilities of the future, it is good for your mood. But when it comes to actually attaining the desired future, then it is a real detriment.
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Bah, Humbug! Why positive thinking is overrated. BBC Science Focus Magazine, January 2020
… Practising positivity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be – in fact, sometimes it’s worth introducing a little pessimism into your life. One of the real dangers, it seems, in always being positive is that you just don’t get stuff done. As Dr Gabriele Oettingen, a psychology professor at New York University and the University of Hamburg said in a talk at an international conference: ‘Dreamers are often not doers’. It’s something she has evidenced through 20 years of research. ‘We have a whole line of findings showing that the more positively people fantasise or daydream into the future, the less well they do in trying to implement their desired future,’ Oettingen tells us.
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Choose the path of least friction to change your behavior. Psychology Today, January 2020
… Self-regulation plays an essential role in human behavior. It involves the ability to control one’s own thoughts, emotions, and actions in the pursuit of long-term goals. Psychologists have proposed the use of self-regulation strategies to proactively design behavior change. Two strategies in particular—mental contrasting and implementation intentions—have proven to be effective in promoting lasting behavior change.
Mental Contrasting is a powerful, visualization technique developed by psychologist, Gabriele Oettingen, that helps people fully commit to their goals by understanding how to overcome obstacles.
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