I am interested in human motivation. One area of research concerns our desire to understand and control our surroundings, and how experiences with lack of control affect the way we think and act in subsequent situations. A second area of interest concerns the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations toward activities. Generally, how does doing something (e.g., playing a game, interacting with another person) as an end in itself versus doing that same thing as a means to an end affect our performance on that activity and our interest in engaging with the activity in the future? Other motivational interests include the effects of the emotions and emotional expressions of regret and remorse as they affect the likelihood of future action and procrastination (inaction inertia), and reactions to moral transgressions (punishment desires, and the phenomenon of moral luck).

Primary Interests:

Attitudes and Beliefs
Causal Attribution
Ethics and Morality
Interpersonal Processes
Judgment and Decision Making
Law and Public Policy
Motivation, Goal Setting

Attitudes and Beliefs
Causal Attribution
Ethics and Morality
Interpersonal Processes

Judgment and Decision Making
Law and Public Policy
Motivation, Goal Setting

Research Group or Laboratory:

Social Motivation Laboratory
Interactive Map

Books:

Journal Articles:

Darley, J. M., & Pittman, T. S. (2003). The psychology of compensatory and retributive justice. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 7, 324-336.
Pittman, T. S., & D'Agostino, P. R. (1989). Motivation and cognition: Control deprivation and the nature of subsequent information processing. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 465-480.
Pittman, T. S., Tykocinski, O. E., Sandman-Keinan, R., & Matthews, P. (2008). When bonuses backfire: An inaction inertia analysis of procrastination induced by a missed opportunity. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 21, 139-150.
Swann, W. B., Stephenson, B., & Pittman, T. S. (1981). Curiosity and control: On the determinants of the search for social knowledge. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40, 635-642.
Tykocinski, O. E., Israel, R., & Pittman, T. S. (2004). Inaction inertia in the stock market. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34, 1166-1175.
Tykocinski, O. E., & Pittman, T. S. (1998). Inaction inertia: The role of avoidance in forgoing future benefits following an initial decision not to act. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 607-616.
Tykocinski, O., Pittman, T. S., & Tuttle, E. (1995). Inaction inertia: Foregoing future benefits as a result of illusory loss. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 793-803.

Other Publications:

Jones, E. E., & Pittman, T. S. (1982). Toward a general theory of strategic self-presentation. In J. Suls (Ed.), Psychological perspectives on the self (Vol 1, pp. 231-262). Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.
Pittman, T. S. (1998). Motivation. In D. Gilbert, S. Fiske, & G. Lindsay (Eds.), Handbook of Social Psychology (4th ed., pp. 549-590). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Pittman, T. S., & Heller, J. F. (1987). Social motivation. In M. Rosenzweig & L. Porter (Eds.), Annual Review of Psychology (Vol. 38, pp. 461-489). Palo Alto, CA: Annual Reviews, Inc.
Pittman, T. S., & Zeigler, K. R. (2007). Basic human needs. In A. Kruglanski & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Social Psychology: Handbook of basic principles, 2nd ed. New York: Guilford.

Thane S. Pittman
Department of Psychology
Mayflower Hill
Colby College
Waterville, ME 04901
United States

Phone: (207) 872-3912
Fax: (207) 872-3096
Email: tpittman@colby.edu