HirtLab

Welcome to the HirtLab at Indiana University, Bloomington! This lab is directed by Dr. Ed Hirt in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. 

Research in our lab generally concentrates on issues related to motivation and performance. The primary current lines of research in our lab focus on (1) the experience of mental depletion and its consequences for subsequent performance and acts of self-control; and (2) the role of political ideology and free will beliefs on various outcome variables, including attributions of responsibility, ascriptions of punishment, and potential for growth/change; and (3) how one's beliefs about the relational self affects social relationship maintenance and satisfaction.

Research Topics:

• Social cognition and social judgment
• Proactive and reactive forms of self-control
• Strategic indulgence as a form of self-regulation
• Self-protective strategies, particularly self-handicapping
• Close relationships and the relational self
• Gender differences in reliance on social norms
• Political ideology and free will beliefs 
• Social identity and allegiance, particularly fanship
• Judgment/decision making and debiasing effects 
• Mood effects, intrinsic interest and creativity