Guest Researcher Dr. rer. nat. J. Lukas Thürmer

Horizon 2020

How do teams reach their goals? This question inspires Lukas Thürmer’s research, with a current focus on collective planning, reactions to criticism within and between groups, and how groups deal with low performers. 

Since March 2019, Lukas works as an independent researcher at the Department of Psychology at Paris Lodron University Salzburg and as a guest researcher at the Chair for Economic- and Social Psychology at the University of Göttingen (Prof. Stefan Schulz-Hardt). Prior to this appointment, his Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowships allowed Lukas to work at the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh (Prof. John Levine) and the Chair for Organizational Studies at the Department of Politics and Public Administration (University of Konstanz, Prof. Florian Kunze). Lukas further investigated individual action control as a guest researcher with Prof Michael Scheier at Carnegie Mellon University. Lukas completed his PhD thesis in 2013 at the University of Konstanz and New York University (primary supervisors: Prof. Peter Gollwitzer and Prof. Frank Wieber) with honors (“summa cum laude”). He then assumed a Post-Doc position at the University of Konstanz where he later also served as an interim professor „Social Psychology and Motivation“ (2015/2016).

Research areas

• Action control and group performance

• Consumer- and group decision making

• Performance deviance and criticism in teams

Publications in peer-reviewed journals

• Wolff, W., Thürmer, J. L., Stadler, K.-M., & Schüler, J. (2019). Ready, set, go: Cortical hemodynamics during self-controlled sprint starts. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 41, 21-28. doi: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2018.11.002
• Thürmer, J. L., & McCrea, S. M. (2018). Beyond motivated reasoning: Hostile reactions to critical comments from the outgroup. Motivation Science, 4, 333-346. doi: 10.1037/mot0000097
• Thürmer, J. L., McCrea, S. M., & McIntyre, B. M. (in press). Motivated collective defensiveness: Group members prioritize counterarguing out-group Criticism over getting their work done. Social Psychological and Personality Science. doi: 10.1177/194855061876229
• Scheib, J. P. P., Stoll, S., Thürmer, J. L., & Randerath, J. (2018). Efficiency in rule- vs. plan-based movements Is modulated by action-mode. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00309

• Thürmer, J. L., Yedyenyova, A., & Spieß, E. (2017). Identifying barriers to continued training for older workers in a production plant: A mixed-methods approach. International Journal of Disability Management, 12, e4. doi: 10.1017/idm.2017.4

• Thürmer, J. L., Wieber, F., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2017). Planning and performance in small groups: Collective implementation intentions enhance group goal striving. Frontiers in Psychology, 8. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00603

• Thürmer, J. L., Wieber, F., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2016). Vom Wollen zum Handeln: Wie Sie Ihre Ziele in die Tat umsetzen. Das In-Mind Magazin, 3.

• Thürmer, J. L., Wieber, F., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2015). A self-regulation perspective on hidden profile problems: If-then planning to review information improves group decisions. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 28, 101-113. doi: 10.1002/bdm.1832

• Wieber, F., Thürmer, J. L., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2015). Attenuating the escalation of commitment to a faltering project in decision making groups: A self-regulation perspective. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 6, 587-595. doi: 10.1177/1948550614568158

• Wieber, F., Thürmer, J. L., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2015). Promoting the translation of intentions into action by implementation intentions: Behavioral effects and physiological correlates. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00395

• Thürmer, J. L., McCrea, S. M., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2013). Regulating self-defensiveness: If-then plans prevent claiming and creating performance handicaps. Motivation and Emotion, 37, 712-725. doi: 10.1007/s11031-013-9352-7

• Wieber, F., Thürmer, J. L., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2012). Collective action control by goals and plans: Applying a self-regulation perspective to group performance. American Journal of Psychology, 125, 275-290. doi: 10.5406/amerjpsyc.125.3.0275, invited contribution

• Martiny-Hünger, T., Thürmer, J. L., Issa, M., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2011). Über die Unterstützung reflektiver Verhaltensdeterminanten [On supporting reflective determinants of behavior]. Psychologische Rundschau, 62, 179-187. doi: 10.1026/0033-3042/a000087, invited commentary

Book chapters

• Thürmer, J. L., Wieber, F., & Schultze, T., & Schulz-Hardt, S. (in press). Hidden profile discussion coding: Tracing synergy in group decisions. In E. Brauner, M. Boos, & M. Kolbe (Eds.), Handbook of group interaction analysis.

• Thürmer, J. L., Wieber, F., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2015). Planning high performance: Can groups and teams benefit from implementation intentions? In M. Frese & M. D. Mumford (Eds.), Organizational planning: The psychology of performance (pp. 123-145). New York, NY: Routledge

• Wieber, F., Thürmer, J. L., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2013). Intentional action control in individuals and groups. In G. Seebaß, M. Schmitz, & P. M. Gollwitzer (Eds.), Acting intentionally and its limits: Individuals, groups, institutions. Interdisciplinary approaches (pp. 133-162). Berlin: De Gruyter.