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Ruth Kanfer, Professor of Psychology
Ph.D. (1981) Psychology
Arizona State University
Faculty Page for the School of Psychology

My research examines the role of motivation, personality, emotion, and self-regulation in training, performance, and work transitions across the lifespan. During the past few years, I have worked with other faculty and students on laboratory and field projects investigating the structure and influence of motivational traits (such as mastery, desire to learn, competitiveness, worry and emotionality) on goals and skill training, the personality-motivational determinants and consequences of job search behavior, and the predictive validity of traits for academic and job success. Current research interests also include emotion regulation, motivation in the aging workforce, and person determinants of contextual work behaviors. Support for this work has been provided by grants from the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

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Recent Professional Activities

Professional Appointments:

Academy of Management Governing Board representative (2004-2007)
APA, APS, and SIOP Fellow
Academy of Management Organizational Behavior Division Chair (2000)

Editorial Board Memberships:

Applied Psychology: An International Review
Human Performance
Journal of Management
Journal of Applied Psychology (1990-2001)
Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Frontier Series Advisory Board (1996-1999)
Academy of Management Learning and Education
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes (1989-1998)

Scholarly Honors and Awards:

2001 International Society for the Study of Individual Differences Best Paper Award

Affiliations

Fellow, American Psychological Association
Fellow, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Charter Fellow, American Psychological Society

Academy of Management Association
American Educational Research Association
International Association of Applied Psychology
Personnel and Human Resources Research Group
Psychonomic Society
Society of Organizational Behavior
Sigma Xi

Books and Selected Publications

Books:

• Kanfer, R., Chen, G., & Pritchard, R. (Eds.) (2008). Work Motivation: Past, Present, and Future. NY: Psychology Press. [SIOP Frontier Series Volume]
• Lord, R., Klimoski, R., & Kanfer, R. (Eds) (2002). Emotions in the Workplace: Understanding the Structure and Role of Emotions in Organizational Behavior. San Francisco, CA: Jossey- Bass.
• Kanfer, R., Ackerman, P. L., & Cudeck, R. (Eds.) (1989). Abilities, motivation, and methodology: The Minnesota Symposium on Learning and Individual Differences. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Publications:

• Kanfer, R. (2009). Work motivation: Identifying new use-inspired research directions. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 2, 77-93.
• Kanfer, R. (2009). Work motivation: Advancing theory and impact. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 2, 118-127.
• Kanfer, R., Chen, G., & Pritchard, R. D. (2008). The three C’s of work motivation: Context, content, and change. In R. Kanfer, G. Chen, & R. D. Pritchard (Eds), Work Motivation: Past, present, and future (pp. 1-16). NY: Psychology Press.
• Kanfer, R., & Stubblebine, P. (2008). Affect and work motivation. In N. M. Ashkansay & C. L. Cooper (Eds.), Research Companion to Emotions in Organizations (pp. 170-182). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.
• Kanfer, R., Chen, G., & Pritchard, R. D. (2008). Forging new perspectives and directions in the new millennium. In R. Kanfer, G. Chen, & R. D. Pritchard (Eds), Work Motivation: Past, present, and future (pp. 601-632). NY: Psychology Press.
• Wegge, J., Roth, C., Neubach, B., Schmidt, K. H., & Kanfer, R. (2008). Age and Gender diversity as determinants of performance and health in a public organization: The role of task complexity and group size. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 1301-1313.
• Chen, G., Kirkman, B. L., & Kanfer, R., Allen, D., & Rosen, B. (2007). A multilevel study of leadership, empowerment, and performance in teams. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 341-346.
• Kanfer, Ruth, and Paul Karoly. "Kanfer, Frederick H." Encyclopedia of Behavior Modification and Cognitive Behavior Therapy. 2007. SAGE Publications. 2 Apr. 2008. .
• Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P. L. (2007). Aging and work motivation. In C. Wankel (Ed.), 21st Century Management: A Reference Handbook (Vol. 2; pp. 160-169). Sage Publications.
• Chen, G., & Kanfer, R. (2006). Toward a systems theory of motivated behavior in work teams. Research in Organizational Behavior, 27, 223-267.
• Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P. L. (2005). Aging, adult development and work motivation. Academy of Management Review, 29, 1-19.
• Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P. L. (2005). Work competence: A person-oriented approach. In A. J. Elliot & C. S. Dweck (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation (pp. 336-353). New York: The Guilford Press.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Kanfer, R. (2005). Trait complexes, learning, and Brunswik symmetry. In A. Beuducel, B. Biehl, M. Bosniak, W. Conrad, G. Schonberger, & D. Wagener (Eds.), Multivariate Research Strategies: Festshrift in Honor of Werner W. Wittmann (pp. 21-38). Aachen, Germany: Shaker Verlag.
• Kanfer, R. (2005). When to leave the table. TIP. The Industrial/Organizational Psychologist. Bowling Green, Ohio: Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 74. 74-76.
• Kanfer, R. (2005). Self-regulation in work and I/O Psychology. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 54, 186-191.
• Heggestad, E. D., & Kanfer, R., (2005). The predictive validity of self-efficacy in training performance: Little more than past performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 11, 84-97.
• Chen, G., Kirkman, B. L., Kanfer, R., & Allen, D. (2005). A multilevel, quasi-experimental study of leadership, empowerment, and performance in teams. Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings.
• Kanfer, R. (2005). Emotions in the workplace. In R. D. Roberts & J. Minsky (Eds.), Proceedings from the ETS and ARI Emotional Intelligence Workshop (Vol. 3, pp. 98-136). Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
• Kanfer, R., & Karoly, P. (2005). Frederick H. Kanfer. In M. Herzen (Ed.), Encylopedia of behavior modification and cognitive behavior therapy, Vol. 1: Adult clinical applications. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
• Bennett, S., Miller Franco, L., Kanfer, R., & Stubblebine, P. (2004). Determinants and consequences of health worker motivation in hospitals in Jordan and Georgia. Social Science and Medicine, 58, 343-355.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Kanfer, R. (2004). Cognitive, affective, and conative aspects of adult Intellect within a typical and maximal performance framework. In D. Y. Dai & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.) Motivation, emotion, and cognition: Integrated perspectives on intellectual functioning (pp. 119-141). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
• Karoly, P., & Kanfer, R. (2003). Frederick H. Kanfer (1925-2002). American Psychologist, 58, 1095.
• Kanfer, R., & Klimoski, R. (2002). Workplace emotions: Looking back to the future. To appear in R. Lord, R. Klimoski, & R. Kanfer (Eds.), Emotions in the Workplace: Understanding the Structure and Role of Emotions in Organizational Behavior (pp. 473-490). San Francisco, CA: Jossey- Bass.
• Kanfer, R., and Kantrowitz, T. M. (2002). Emotion regulation: Command and Control of emotions in work life. In R. Lord, R. Klimoski, & R. Kanfer (Eds.), Emotions in the workplace: Understanding the structure and role of emotions in organizational behavior (pp. 443-472). San Francisco, CA: Jossey- Bass.
• Franco, L. M., Bennett, S., & Kanfer, R. (2002). Health sector reform and public sector health work motivation: A conceptual framework. Social Science and Medicine, 54, 1255-1266.
• Kanfer, R., & Kantrowitz, T. M. (2002). Ability and non-ability predictors of performance. In S. Sonnentag (Ed.), Psychological management of individual performance: A handbook in the psychology of management in organizations (pp. 27-50) England: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
• Lord, R., & Kanfer, R. (2002). Emotions and Organizational Behavior. In R. Lord, R. Klimoski, & R. Kanfer (Eds.), Emotions in the Workplace: Understanding the Structure and Role of Emotions in Organizational Behavior (pp.5-19). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Querido, J., Eyberg, S., & Kanfer, R. (2001). The process of the clinical child assessment interview. In C. E. Walker & M. C. Roberts (Eds.), Handbook of Clinical Child Psychology (3rd Edition, pp. 75-89). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
• Ackerman, P. L., Bowen, K. R., Beier, M. E., & Kanfer, R. (2001). Determinants of individual differences and gender differences in knowledge. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 797-825.
• Kanfer, R. (2001). Motivation and self-regulation: A trait-skill conceptualization. In Bericht uber den 42. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft fur Psychologie in Jena 2000. Berlin, Germany: Pabst Science Publishers.
• Kanfer, R., Wanberg, C., & Kantrowitz, T. M. (2001). Job search and employment: A personality-motivational analysis and meta-analytic review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 837- 855.
• Kanfer, R. (2001). I/O Psychology: Working at the basic-applied psychology interface. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 235-240.
• Heggestad, E., & Kanfer, R. (2000). Individual differences in trait motivation: Development of the Motivational Trait Questionnaire (MTQ). International Journal of Educational Research, 33,751-776.
• Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P. L. (2000). Individual differences in work motivation: Further explorations of a trait framework. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 49, 470-482.
• Wanberg, C., Kanfer, R., & Banas, J. T. (2000). Predictors and outcomes of networking behavior among unemployed job seekers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 491-503.
• Kanfer, R., & McCombs, B. L. (2000). Motivation: Applying current theory to critical issues in training. In S. Tobias & J. D. Fletcher (Eds.), Training and retraining: A handbook for business, government, and the military (pp. 85-108). New York: Macmillan.
• Miller-Franco, L., Kanfer, R., Milburn, L., Quarrin, R., & Stubblebine, P. (2000). Determinants of health worker motivation in Jordan: A 360 Degree Assessment in Two Hospitals. Major Applied Research 5 Working Paper 7. Bethesda, MD: Partnerships for Health Reform Project, Abt Associates, Inc.
• Kanfer, R. (1999). Measuring Health Worker Motivation in Developing Countries. Partnerships for Health Reform Project Technical Report. Bethesda, MD.
• Kanfer, R. & Heggestad, E. (1999). Individual differences in motivation: Traits and self-regulatory skills. In P. L. Ackerman, P. C. Kyllonen, and R. D. Roberts (Eds.), Learning and Individual Differences. Process, Trait, and Content Determinants (pp. 293-309). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
• Kanfer, R. (1999). Organizational Behavior Division Report to the Academy of Management Professional Division Review Committee. Atlanta, GA: Georgia Institute of Technology.
• Wanberg, C., Kanfer, R., & Rotondo, M. (1999). Unemployed individuals: Motives, job-search competencies, and job-search constraints as predictors of job seeking and reemployment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84, 897-910.
• Kanfer, R. & Heggestad, E. (1997). Motivational traits and skills: A person-centered approach to work motivation. In L. L. Cummings and B. M. Staw (Eds.) Research in Organizational Behavior (Vol. 19, pp. 1-57). JAI Press, Greenwich, CT.
• Vickers, R. R., Hervig, L.K., Walton, E., Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P.L. (1997). Personality change during military basic training. Naval Health Research Technical Report 97-34. San Diego, CA.
• Kanfer, R. (1996). Learning from failure: It's not easy. Psychological Inquiry, 7, 50-53.
• Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P. L. (1996). A self-regulatory skills perspective to reducing cognitive interference. In I. G. Sarason, B. R. Sarason, & G. R. Pierce (Eds.), Cognitive Interference: Theories, Methods, and Findings (pp. 153-171). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
• Kanfer, R. (1996). Self-regulatory and other non-ability determinants of skill acquisition. In J. A. Bargh & P. M. Gollwitzer (Eds.), The Psychology of Action: Linking Cognition and Motivation to Behavior (pp.404-423). New York: Guilford.
• Kanfer, R. (1996). Motivation and performance. In N. Nicholson (Ed.), The Blackwell Encyclopedic Dictionary of Organizational Behavior (pp.334-336). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. *Updated in N. Nicholson, P. Audia , & M. Pillutla (Eds.)(2005), Blackwell Encyclopedic Dictionary of Organizational Behavior (2nd ed, pp. 233-241).Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
• Kanfer, R., Ackerman, P. L., & Heggestad, E. (1996). Motivational skills and self-regulation for learning: A trait perspective. Learning and Individual Differences, 8, 185-209.
• Murtha, T. C., Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P. L. (1996). Towards an interactionist taxonomy of personality and situations: An integrative situational-dispositional representation of personality traits. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 193-207.
• Schneider, R. J., Ackerman, P. L., & Kanfer, R. (1996). To "Act wisely in human relations:" Exploring the dimensions of social competence. Personality and Individual Differences, 21, 469-481.
• Kanfer, R., Ackerman, P. L., Murtha, T., & Goff, M. (1995). Personality and intelligence in industrial and organizational psychology. In D. H. Saklofske & M. Zeidner (Eds.), International Handbook of Personality and Intelligence (pp. 577-602). New York: Plenum.
• Ackerman, P. L., Kanfer, R., & Goff, M. (1995). Cognitive and non-cognitive determinants of complex skill acquisition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 1, 270-304.
• Kanfer, R., Dugdale, B., & McDonald, B. (1994). Empirical findings on the Action Control Scale in the context of complex skill acquisition. In J. Kuhl & J. Beckmann (Eds.), Volition and personality: Action- and state-oriented modes of control (pp. 61-77). Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe & Huber Publishers.
• Leon, G., Kanfer, R., Hoffman, R. G., & Dupre, L. (1994). Group processes and task effectiveness in a Soviet-American expedition team. Environment and Behavior, 26, 149-165.
• Kanfer, R., Ackerman, P. L., Murtha, T. C., Dugdale, B., & Nelson, L. (1994). Goal setting, conditions of practice, and task performance: A resource allocation perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 826-835.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Kanfer, R. (1993). Integrating laboratory and field study for improving selection: Development of a battery for predicting Air Traffic Controller success. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 413-432.
• Corno, L., & Kanfer, R. (1993). The role of volition in learning and performance. In L. Darling-Hammond (Ed.), Review of Research in Education (Vol. 21, pp. 301-341). Itasca, IL: F.E. Peacock Publishers.
• Kanfer, R. (1993). Education from a workplace perspective: Issues of self-management. Resources in Education ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. 348-717.
• Kanfer, R., Eyberg, S., & Krahn, G. (1992). Interviewing strategies in child assessment. In M.C. Roberts & C. E. Walker (Eds.), Handbook of clinical child psychology (2nd Edition; pp. 49-62). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
• Kanfer, R. (1992). Work motivation: New directions in theory and research. In C. L. Cooper & I. T. Robertson (Eds.), International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (Vol. 7, pp.1-53). London: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
• Steele, D. J., & Kanfer, R. (1992). Goal-performance relations: The effects of initial task complexity and task practice. Motivation and Emotion, 16, 117-141.
• Kanfer, R., & Kanfer, F. H. (1991). Goals and self-regulation: Applications of theory to work settings. In M. L. Maehr & P. R. Pintrich (Eds.), Advances in Motivation and Achievement (Vol. 7, pp. 287-326). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
• Leon, G., Kanfer, R., Hoffman, R. G., & Dupre, L. (1991). Interrelationships of personality, coping, and group processes in a Soviet-American expedition team. Journal of Research in Personality, 25, 357-371.
• Kanfer, R. (1991). It's a goal, goal, goal setting world. Review of A theory of goal setting and task performanceby E. A. Locke and G. P. Latham. Contemporary Psychology, 36, 847-848.
• Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P. L. (1990). Ability and metacognitive determinants of skill acquisition and transfer. Air Force Office of Scientific Research Final Report, Minneapolis, MN.
• Kanfer, R. (1990). Motivation theory and Industrial/Organizational psychology. In M. D. Dunnette and L. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology. Volume 1. Theory in industrial and organizational psychology (pp.75-170). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
• Kanfer, R. (1990). Motivation and Individual Differences in Learning: An Integration of Developmental, Differential, and Cognitive Perspectives. Learning and Individual Differences, 2, 221-239.
• Lind, E. A., Kanfer, R., & Earley, P. C. (1990). Voice, control, and procedural justice: Instrumental and noninstrumental concerns in fairness judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 952-959.
• Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P. L. (1989). Motivation and cognitive abilities: An integrative/aptitude-treatment interaction approach to skill acquisition. Journal of Applied Psychology - Monograph, 74, 657-690.
• Paese, P. W., Lind, E. A., & Kanfer, R. (1989). Procedural fairness and work group responses to performance evaluation systems. Social Justice Research, 2, 193-205.
• Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P. L. (1989). Dynamics of skill acquisition: Building a bridge between abilities and motivation. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Advances in the psychology of human intelligence. Volume V (pp. 99-134). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. *Reprinted in C. L. Cooper (Ed.) (1991). Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Volume I (pp. 66-99). Hants, England: Edward Elgar Publishing.
• Kanfer, R. (1989). Non-cognitive processes, dispositions, and performance: Connecting the dots within and across paradigms. In R. Kanfer, P. L. Ackerman, & R. Cudeck (Eds.), Abilities, Motivation, and Methodology: The Minnesota Symposium on Learning and Individual Differences (pp. 375-388). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Ahrens, T., Zeiss, A., & Kanfer, R. (1988). Depressive deficits in interpersonal standards, self efficacy, and social comparison. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 12, 53 - 67.
• Ackerman, P. L., & Kanfer, R. (1988). Declarative and procedural knowledge in skill acquisition: An aptitude-treatment interaction framework for training. Proceedings of the 32nd annual meeting of the Human Factors Society, 1241-1245.
• Kanfer, R., Crosby, J. V., & Brandt, D. M. (1988). Investigating behavioral antecedents of turnover at three job tenure levels. Journal of Applied Psychology, 73, 331-335.
• Kanfer, R., Sawyer, J., Earley, C., & Lind, A. (1987). Fairness and participation in evaluation procedures: Effects on task attitudes and performance. Social Justice Research, 1, 235-249.
• Kanfer, R. (1987). Task specific motivation: An integrative approach to issues of measurement, mechanisms, processes, and determinants. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 5, 237-264.
• Kanfer, R., & Borman, W. C. (1986). Predicting salesperson performance: A review of the literature. (Army Project Number 2Q263731A792; ARI Technical Report) Minneapolis, MN: Personnel Decisions Research Institute.
• Drasgow, F., & Kanfer, R. (1985). Equivalence of psychological measurement in heterogeneous populations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 70, 662-680.
• Kanfer, R., & Hulin, C. L. (1985). Individual differences in successful job searches following lay off. Personnel Psychology, 38, 835-848.
• Kanfer, R. (1985). The influence of work attitudes on performance motivation. In H. T. Spitze (Ed.), Human Factors in Productivity. Proceedings of the sixth annual Rupert N. Evans symposium (pp. 11-30). Urbana-Champaign, IL: Office of Vocational Education Research.
• Earley, P. C., & Kanfer, R. (1985). The influence of component participation and role models on goal acceptance, goal satisfaction, and performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 36, 378-390.
• Kanfer, R., Sawyer, J., Earley, P. C., & Lind, E. A. (1984). Information exchange in evaluation procedures: The effects of input and knowledge on performance and attitudes. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 246 363.
• Barge, B. N., Hough, L. M., Dunnette, M. D., Kemery, E., & Kanfer, R. (1984) Behavioral reliability: A review of academic literature and organizational programs. Technical Report DNA TR 85-21. Minneapolis, MN: Personnel Decisions Research Institute.
• Kanfer, R., Eyberg, S., & Krahn, G. (1983). Interviewing strategies in child assessment. In E. Walker and R. Roberts (Eds.), Handbook of clinical child psychology (pp. 95-108). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
• Hulin, C. L., Roznowski, M., & Kanfer, R. (1983). A multidimensional scaling of 14 Navy ratings: Input for predicting effectiveness responses. (Tech. Rep. TR 83 1). Champaign, IL.: Department of Psychology, University of Illinois.
• Kanfer, R., & Zeiss, A. (1983). Interpersonal standard setting and self efficacy expectations in depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 92, 319 329.
• Jones, S. L., Kanfer, R., & Lanyon, R. I. (1982). Skill training with alcoholics: A clinical extension. Addictive Behaviors, 7, 285 290.

Frequently Taught Courses

Individual Behavior in Organizations
Workplace Motivation and Emotion

Contact Information

Office Location: 226 Psychology Building
Phone Number: 404/894-5674
FAX: 404/894-7347
E-mail: rk64@prism.gatech.edu

Last Revised: July 2009

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