Thomas Webb
Department of Psychology
University of Sheffield
Western Bank
Sheffield S10 2TP
United Kingdom
Home Page
Phone: (+44) (0)114 22 26516
Fax: (+44) (0)114 22 26515
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My research to date has focused on six main areas:1. Behaviour change theory How do people achieve their goals and make changes to their behaviour? The usual answer is that people need to be motivated. However, we've shown that even medium-to-large changes in people's intentions have only a small-to-medium effect on their behavior. In short, motivation is not enough. 2. Implementation intentions – theoretical development. Much of our research to date has investigated how the effects of motivation can be boosted by forming specific plans -- known as "implementation intentions" -- that link good opportunities to act with suitable responses to those opportunities. A number of studies have demonstrated that two cognitive processes (cue accessibility and the strength of cue-response linkages) underlie the beneficial effects of forming implementation intentions. 3. Implementation intentions – novel applications. ESRC funded research shows that forming implementation intentions can help people with high levels of social anxiety to control their attention and promote realistic appraisals of performance. We’ve also shown the efficacy of forming implementation intentions in an educational context (promoting class attendance). 4. Emotion regulation Our part of an ESRC large grant titled "Emotion Regulation in Others and Self" (EROS) investigates the efficacy of a number of affect regulation strategies as well as the neurophysiology of emotion regulation. 5. Stereotypes and prejudice We’ve shown that the communication of stereotypical information in non-fictional sources (e.g., newspaper articles) differs from that in fictional sources (e.g., stories). 6. Public engagement of science We applied an augmented Theory of Planned Behaviour to understand scientists’ decisions to participate in public engagement of science events. Although many scientists agreed that a lack of time and money were an issue, these factors did not influence their intentions to participate. Instead, it was scientists’ attitudes toward public engagement, perceptions of control, and descriptive (not subjective) norms that determined intentions.
 Journal Articles:
 Goodman, R. L., Webb, T. L., & Stewart, A. J. (2009). Communicating stereotype-relevant information: Is factual information subject to the same communication biases as fictional information? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 836-852.
- Poliakoff, E., & Webb, T. L. (2007). What factors predict scientists’ intentions to participate in public engagement of science activities? Science Communication, 29, 242-263.
- Sheeran, P., Webb, T. L., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2005). The interplay between goal intentions and implementation intentions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 87-98.
- Webb, T. L., Christian, J., & Armitage, C. J. (2007). Helping students turn up for class: Does personality moderate the effectiveness of an implementation intention intervention? Learning and Individual Differences, 17, 316-327.
- Webb, T. L., Joseph, J., Yardley, L., & Michie, S. (in press). Using the internet to promote health behavior change: A meta-analytic review of the impact of theoretical basis, use of behavior change techniques, and mode of delivery on efficacy. Journal of Medical Internet Research.
- Webb, T. L., Ononaiye, M. S. P., Sheeran, P., Reidy, J. G., & Lavda, A. (in press). Using implementation intentions to overcome the effects of social anxiety on attention and appraisals of performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
- Webb, T. L., & Poliakoff, E. (2008). It's time to take a psychological approach to understanding and promoting participation in public engagement activities. The Psychologist, 21, 680-681.
- Webb, T. L., & Sheeran, P. (2008). Mechanisms of implementation intention effects: The role of goal intentions, self-efficacy, and accessibility of plan components. British Journal of Social Psychology, 47, 373-395.
- Webb, T. L., & Sheeran, P. (2007). How do implementation intentions promote goal attainment? A test of component processes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 295-302.
- Webb, T. L., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Does changing behavioral intentions engender behavior change? A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 249-268.
- Webb, T. L., & Sheeran, P. (2005). Integrating concepts from goal theories to understand the achievement of personal goals. European Journal of Social Psychology, 35, 69-96.
- Webb, T. L., & Sheeran, P. (2004). Identifying good opportunities to act: Implementation intentions and cue discrimination. European Journal of Social Psychology, 34, 407-419.
- Webb, T. L., & Sheeran, P. (2003). Can implementation intentions help to overcome ego-depletion? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 279-286.
- Webb, T. L., Sheeran, P., & Luszczynska, A. (2009). Planning to break unwanted habits: Habit strength moderates implementation intention effects on behaviour change. British Journal of Social Psychology, 48, 507-523.
Other Publications:
- Webb, T. L., Sheeran, P., & Armitage, C. J. (2006). Implementation intentions: Strategic automatization of food choice. In R. Shepherd, & M. Raats (Eds.), The psychology of food choice (pp. 329-343). Oxford: CABI publishing.
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