Professor Eric R. Igou is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology in the Education and Health Sciences Faculty at the University of Limerick. He received his PhD from the University of Heidelberg in 2000 under the supervision of Herbert Bless. Afterwards, he worked at the University of Mannheim, the New School University and New York University (post-doc fellowship 2002-2004), Tilburg University (tenured; 2004-2008), and - since 2008 - the University of Limerick. He served as Head of Department (2010-2013), developed two master programmes, and served as their course director. He is currently the department’s Academic Coordinator and the Academic Coordinator for International Exchange.

In research, Dr Igou investigates context effects in judgments and decision making from a social cognitive perspective. More specifically, he is interested in topics such as experimental existential psychology, person perception, and psychological processes focusing on the relationship between affect, cognition and behaviour, and on meta-cognitive processes in judgements and decisions. The current research projects are: the consequences of boredom; the nature of disillusionment and its consequences; inspiration from heroes and heroism; freedom escapes.

Publications

Van Tilburg W. A. P., & Igou, E. R. (2018). Dreaming of a brighter future: Anticipating happiness instils meaning in life. Journal of Happiness Studies. DOI:10.1007/s10902-018-9960-8. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-018-9960-8

Moynihan, A. B., Igou, E. R., & Van Tilburg, W. A. P. (2017). Boredom increases impulsiveness: A meaning-regulation perspective. Social Psychology, 48, 293-309. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000317

Moynihan, A. B., Van Tilburg, W. A. P., Igou, E. R., Wisman, A., Donnelly, A. E., & Mulcaire, J. B. (2015). Eaten up by boredom: Consuming food to escape awareness of the bored self. Frontiers in Psychology, 6:369. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00369

Igou, E. R. (2008). “How long will I suffer?” versus “How long will you suffer?” A self-other effect in affective forecasting. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 899-917. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0011619

Igou, E. R. (2004). Lay theories in affective forecasting: The progression of affect. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40, 528-534. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2003.09.004