Gabriele Oettingen

Professor of Psychology, New York University

Gabriele Oettingen is a professor of psychology at New York University and the University of Hamburg. Her latest book is Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation (2014)

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Written by Gabriele Oettingen

Black and white photo of two young women sitting at a cafeteria table, smiling, holding a photo of a young man.

essay

Self-improvement

Don’t think too positive

Fantasies about the future have a troubling effect on achieving actual goals. If positive thinking doesn’t work, what does?

Gabriele Oettingen