Paschal Sheeran
My main research interest is in self-regulation. In particular, my colleagues and I have examined how often people fail to translate their "good" intentions into action, and have analysed the types of self-regulatory problems (e.g., failures to initiate action or shield ongoing goal pursuit from unwanted influences) that give rise to the intention-behaviour "gap." My research also examines the effects of forming if-then plans or implementation intentions (Gollwitzer, 1993) in helping people to reach their goals.
Primary Interests:
- Attitudes and Beliefs
- Emotion, Mood, Affect
- Health Psychology
- Motivation, Goal Setting
- Persuasion, Social Influence
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Journal Articles:
- Achtziger, A., Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2008). Implementation intentions and shielding goal striving from unwanted thoughts and feelings. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 381-393.
- Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69-119.
- Gollwitzer, P. M., Sheeran, P., Michalski, V., & Seifert, A. E. (2009). When intentions go public: Does social reality widen the intention-behavior gap? Psychological Science, 20, 612-618.
- Gollwitzer, P. M., Sheeran, P., Troetschel, R., & Webb, T. L. (2011). Self-regulation of priming effects on behavior. Psychological Science.
- Martijn, C., Alberts, H., Sheeran, P., Peters, G. J. Y., Mikolajczak, Y., & de Vries, N. K. (2008). Blocked goals, persistent action: Implementation intentions engender tenacious goal striving. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 1137-1143.
- Martin, J., Sheeran, P., Slade, P., Wright, A., & Dibble, T. (2011). Durable effects of implementation intentions: Reduced rates of confirmed pregnancy at two years. Health Psychology, 30, 368-373.
- Sheeran, P. (2002). Intention-behavior relations: A conceptual and empirical review. European Review of Social Psychology, 12, 1-36.
- Sheeran, P., & Abraham, C. (2003). Mediator of moderators: Temporal stability of intention and the intention-behavior relation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 205-215.
- Sheeran, P., Aubrey, R., & Kellett, S. (2007). Increasing attendance for psychotherapy: Implementation intentions and the self-regulation of attendance-related negative affect. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75, 853-863.
- Sheeran, P., Webb, T. L., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2005). The interplay between goal intentions and implementation intentions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 87-98.
- Varley, R., Webb, T. L., & Sheeran, P. (2011). Making self-help more helpful: A randomized controlled trial of the impact of augmenting self-help materials with implementation intentions on promoting the effective self-management of anxiety symptoms. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79, 123-128.
- Webb, T. L., Miles, E., & Sheeran, P. (2012). Dealing with feeling: A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of strategies derived from the process model of emotion regulation. Psychological Bulletin, 138, 775-808.
- Webb, T. L., & Sheeran, P. (2007). How do implementation intentions promote goal attainment? A test of component processes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 295-302.
- Webb, T. L., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Does changing behavioural intentions engender behavior change? A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 249-268.
- Webb, T. L., & Sheeran, P. (2003). Can implementation intentions help to overcome ego-depletion? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 279-286.
Other Publications:
- Gollwitzer, P. M., Jaudas, A., Parks, E., & Sheeran, P. (2008). Flexible tenacity in goal pursuit. In J. Shah & W. Gardner (Eds.), Handbook of motivation science (pp. 325-341). New York: Guilford.
- Sheeran, P., & Webb, T. L. (2011) From goals to action. In H. Aarts & A. J. Elliot (Eds.), Goal-directed behavior. New York: Psychology Press.
Courses Taught:
- PSY110: Social Understanding and Social Communication
- PSY242: Social and Health Psychology
- PSY302: Social Psychology of the Self
Paschal Sheeran
Department of Psychology
University of Sheffield
Western Bank
Sheffield S10 2TN
United Kingdom
- Phone: +44 114 222 6578
- Fax: +44 114 276 6515