Edward Tory Higgins (born March 12, 1946) is the Stanley Schachter Professor of Psychology and Business, and Director of the Motivation Science Center at Columbia University. Higgins' research areas include motivation and cognition, judgment and decision-making, and social cognition. Most of his works focus on priming, self-discrepancy theory, and regulatory focus theory. He is also the author of Beyond Pleasure and Pain: How Motivation Works, and Focus: Use Different Ways of Seeing the World for Success and Influence (with Heidi Grant Halverson).
Career
Higgins received a Joint Honors B.A. degree in sociology and anthropology from McGill University in 1967, an M.A. in social psychology from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1968, and a Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia University in 1973. His early work included the study of priming and accessibility, through which social judgment is influenced through the unconscious activation of social categories. In 1981, He was employed by New York University, where he collaborated with fellow colleagues to reconstruct the social/personality psychology program. In 1989, Higgins returned to Columbia and assumed the role of Chair of the psychology department from 1994 to 2001.
At Columbia University, Higgins conducted a research on the science of motivation and self-regulation. He further developed his previous research on self-discrepancy theory, , exploring the gaps individuals perceive between their actual selves and the standards set by their "ideal" or "ought" self-guides. Based on self-discrepancy theory, Higgins then developed regulatory focus theory, which posits two distinct self-regulatory systems for approaching goals: achieving gains (promotion) and avoiding losses (prevention). In 2000, Higgins developed regulatory fit theory, proposing that people experience fit when using means of goal pursuit that align with their regulatory orientation: vigilant or eager. Also in 2000, Higgins and Arie Kruglanski developed regulatory mode theory, which describes two complementary self-regulatory functions: assessment and locomotion. These theories have also informed the development of Higgins’ model of motivational effectiveness, which posits that motivation comprises distinct drives for value (achieving desired end-states), truth (understanding what's real), and control (managing what happens). Higgins has also studied shared reality, the motivation to create shared feelings, beliefs, and concerns with others.
Selected awards
Higgins is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He gave the University Lecture at Columbia University and received Columbia's Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching. He is a member of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Wall of Fame and was recently awarded the Ambady Award for Mentoring Excellence (Society for Personality and Social Psychology). Selected additional awards include: Lifetime Contribution Award (2005) from the International Society for Self & Identity Distinguished Scientist Award (2005) from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions (2000) from the American Psychological Association William James Fellow Award (2000) from the Association for Psychological Science for distinguished achievements in psychological science Thomas M. Ostrom Award (1999) from the Person Memory Interest Group for outstanding contributions to social cognition Donald T. Campbell Award (1996) from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology for outstanding contributions to social psychology
Selected publications
Books
Grant Halvorson, H., & Higgins, E. T. (2013). Focus: Use different ways of seeing the world for success and influence. New York: Penguin Press. Higgins, E. T., (2012). Beyond pleasure and pain: How motivation works. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.