Our Research
Our research aims to identify and remove psychological barriers that limit the goals people pursue and their likelihood of achieving them. In doing so, we examine the roles of interest and passion, as well as the beliefs people hold (“mindsets”) that can help or hinder motivation, such as fixed and growth mindsets of interest and of opportunity.
Much of our current and future work leverages our findings on mindsets to design large-scale interventions, tested in randomized controlled field experiments, that promote interest, passion, innovation, and achievement. We tend to focus on work, organizational, and educational contexts, where motivation and achievement is highly consequential.
The greater purpose of this research is to empower people, particularly those from under-represented and marginalized backgrounds, to thrive in their goal pursuits. While recognizing structural inequalities, it aims to reduce gaps in achievement and opportunity and to increase diversity and inclusiveness.