Jutta Heckhausen

Jutta Heckhausen is a Distinguished Professor of Psychological Science in the Department of Psychology and Social Behavior at the University of California, Irvine's School of Social Ecology. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Great Britain, where she studied infants' development through interactions and joint activities with their mothers under advisor Dr. H. Rudolph Schaffer. In 1984, she joined the Center for Life-Span Psychology at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, advancing to senior scientist with her own research group. There, she expanded her research to development in adulthood and old age, formulating the life-span theory of control in collaboration with Dr. Richard Schulz of the University of Pittsburgh. During the 1995-1996 academic year, she served as a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. In 2000, she joined the Department of Psychology and Social Behavior at UC Irvine.

Heckhausen's research centers on life-span developmental psychology, motivational psychology, control behavior, psychological influences on health, and developmental regulation across the life span. Her ongoing studies examine the individual as an active agent in major life-course transitions, including social mobility during the transition to adulthood and educational/vocational careers; goal engagement, adjustment, and disengagement in school and college; and the role of implicit motives (achievement, power, affiliation) in regulating these processes. She has authored seminal works such as 'A Life-Span Theory of Control' (Psychological Review, 1995), 'A Motivational Theory of Life-Span Development' (Psychological Review, 2010), 'A Life Span Model of Successful Aging' (American Psychologist, 1996, with Richard Schulz), and edited 'Motivation and Action' (Springer, 2018). Her publications are widely cited, shaping research on healthy aging, goal regulation, and adaptation to life challenges. Heckhausen has received the Gerontological Society of America's Distinguished Career Contribution to Gerontology Award in the Behavioral and Social Sciences (2020), the Baltes Distinguished Research Achievement Award from APA Division 20 (2014), UCI's Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Fostering Undergraduate Research (2014), Fellow status from the Gerontological Society of America (2011), and the Max Planck Award for International Collaboration (1999).

Professional Email: heckhaus@uci.edu