About this item
The solution isnt to do away with dreaming and positive thinking. Rather, its making the most of our fantasies by brushing them up against the very thing most of us are taught to ignore or diminish the obstacles that stand in our way.So often in our day-to-day lives were inundated with advice to think positively. From pop music to political speeches to commercials, the general message is the same look on the bright side, be optimistic in the face of adversity, and focus on your dreams. And whether were trying to motivate ourselves to lose weight, snag a promotion at work, or run a marathon, were told time and time again that focusing on fulfilling our wishes will make them come true.Gabriele Oettingen draws on more than twenty years of research in the science of human motivation to reveal why the conventional wisdom falls short.
About the Author
Gabriele Oettingen is a Professor of Psychology at New York University and the University of Hamburg. Her research focuses on how people think about the future, and how this impacts cognition, emotion, and behavior. Oettingen studied biology in Munich and subsequently worked at the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology in Seewiesen, Germany, and at the Medical Research Council, Unit on the Development and Integration of Behaviour, Madingley, Cambridge, England. Simultaneously she did her PhD at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. She was funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to conduct research at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA. She worked at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin while also gaining a Dr. habil. degree in psychology at the Free University Berlin. She accepted a professor of psychology position at University of Hamburg in 2000, and since 2002 is a professor of psychology at New York University. She lives in New York City and in Hamburg, Germany.
