McGill University's

motivation 

lab

The Human Motivation Lab at McGill University pursues two lines of research. The first explores how people determine which goals and guidelines to internalize from their social-cultural surroundings and how people motivate themselves to pursue valued goals. Research has focused on goal setting, self-regulation, internalization processes, and maladaptive consequences of extrinsic rewards or controlling introjections. The research also explores the whole lifecycle of personal goals - from goal setting and active pursuit to regulating conflict with goals and letting go of unfeasible pursuits.

More recently, the lab has expanded to conduct community-oriented research to better understand how racial and cultural inequities impact health behavior and well-being in ethnic minority groups. Research has involved local community collaborations, such as the Black Community Resource Centre. In both lines of research, our methods include self-report, experimental techniques, and longitudinal designs. Our research has been published in Journal of Personality, Health Psychology, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. For more information on our research, please refer to the Publications page.

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Check out our current  2022-23 GOAL STUDY