James Shah
My current research focuses on how goals affect our perceptions, behavior and subjective experiences. In defining a positive future state of affairs, goals serve as both motivational points of reference for the fulfillment of different regulatory needs and knowledge structures that follow principles of acquisition, activation, organization, and change. My research attempts to integrate both perspectives. I am particularly interested in exploring the different regulatory functions of goals, how personal goal systems are cognitively structured, and how the regulatory and structural nature of goals affect how we feel and how we act.
Primary Interests:
- Emotion, Mood, Affect
- Interpersonal Processes
- Motivation, Goal Setting
- Self and Identity
- Social Cognition
Journal Articles:
- Higgins, E. T., Shah, J. Y., & Friedman, R. (1997). Emotional responses to goal attainment: Strength of regulatory focus as moderator. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 515-525.
- Shah., J. Y. (2005). The automatic pursuit and management of goals. Current Directions in Psychological Science,14, 10-13.
- Shah, J. Y. (2003). Automatic for the people: How representations of significant others implicitly affect goal pursuit. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 661-681.
- Shah, J. Y. (2003). The motivational looking glass: How significant others implicitly affect goal appraisals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 424-439.
- Shah, J. Y., Friedman, R., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2002). Forgetting all else: On the antecedents and consequences of goal shielding. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 1261-1280.
- Shah, J. Y., & Higgins, E. T. (2001). Regulatory concerns and appraisal efficiency: The general impact of promotion and prevention. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 693-705.
- Shah, J. Y., & Higgins, E. T. (1997). Expectancy x value effects: Regulatory focus as a determinant of magnitude and direction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 447-458.
- Shah, J. Y., Higgins, E. T., & Friedman, R. (1998). Performance incentives and means: How regulatory focus influences goal attainment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 285-293.
- Shah, J. Y., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2003). When opportunity knocks: Bottom-up priming of goals by means and its effects on self-regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1109-1122.
- Shah, J. Y., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2002). Priming against your will: How goal pursuit is affected by accessible alternatives. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 368-383.
Other Publications:
- Shah, J. Y., Brazy, P. B., & Higgins, E. T. (2004). Promoting us or preventing them: Regulatory focus and the nature of ingroup bias. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 433-446.
- Shah, J. Y., Kruglanski, A. W., & Friedman, R. (2002). A goal systems approach to self-regulation. In M. P. Zanna, J. M. Olson, & C. Seligman (Eds.), The Ontario Symposium on Personality and Social Psychology (pp. 247-276). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum
James Shah
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
Box 90085
Duke University
Durham, North Carolina 27708
United States of America
- Phone: (919) 660-5723
- Fax: (919) 660-5726