Ruth Kanfer is a psychologist and professor at

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

in the area of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She is best known for her research in the fields of

motivation Motivation is the reason for which humans and other animals initiate, continue, or terminate a behavior at a given time. Motivational states are commonly understood as forces acting within the agent that create a disposition to engage in goal-dire ...

, goal setting,

self-regulation Self-regulation may refer to: *Emotional self-regulation *Self-control, in sociology/psychology *Self-regulated learning, in educational psychology *Self-regulation theory (SRT), a system of conscious personal management *Industry self-regulation, ...

, job search,

adult learning Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...

, and future of work. Kanfer has received numerous awards for her research contributions including the American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution in

Applied Research Applied science is the use of the scientific method and knowledge obtained via conclusions from the method to attain practical goals. It includes a broad range of disciplines such as engineering and medicine. Applied science is often contrasted ...

in 1989, the

Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) is a professional organization that promotes the "science, practice, and teaching" of industrial and organizational (I/O) psychology. SIOP is also known as Division 14 of the America ...

(SIOP) William R. Owens Scholarly Achievement Award in 2006 and the SIOP Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award in 2007. Ruth Kanfer has authored influential papers on a variety of topics including the interaction of cognitive abilities and motivation on performance, the influence of personality and

on job search and

employment Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

. and a review chapter on

in an organizational setting.

Biography

Ruth Kanfer is the oldest child of Frederick and Ruby Kanfer. As the child of an academic, she lived in a number of places throughout her childhood. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from

Miami University of Ohio Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

in 1976. Under the direction of Antonette Zeiss, Ruth completed her thesis in 1981 on the topic of self-efficacy and depression. After graduating, Ruth decided to pursue an academic career in

Work Psychology Industrial and organizational psychology (I-O psychology), an applied discipline within psychology, is the science of human behavior in the workplace. Depending on the country or region of the world, I-O psychology is also known as occupational ...

, and took a NIH post-doc in Quantitative Psychology and retooled wit
Chuck Hulin
at the University of Illinois from 1981 to 1984. She took her first position at the University of Minnesota. During her 14 years at Minnesota, she collaborated wit
Phillip Ackerman
on a resource allocation theory of motivation and abilities and co-developed an air traffic controller simulation to test basic tenets of the theory. She was promoted to Professor in 1991. In 1997, she moved to the

Professional Affiliations

Ruth Kanfer has been on the editorial boards of the following journals
Work, Aging, and Retirement
(2016 - ), European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology (2013 - ),

Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology The ''Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the British Psychological Society. It covers all aspects of Occupational psychology, occupationa ...

(2004 - ),

Human Performance ''Human Performance'' is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band Parquet Courts, released on April 8, 2016 on Rough Trade Records. The album was preceded by the singles "Dust", "Berlin Got Blurry", "Outside", and "Human Performance ...

(1997 - ), Applied Psychology: An International Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and

Basic and Applied Social Psychology ''Basic and Applied Social Psychology'' (''BASP'') is a bi-monthly psychology Scientific journal, journal published by Taylor & Francis. The journal emphasizes the publication of empirical research articles but also publishes literature reviews, cr ...

. She has also been the Chair of the Academy of Management Organizational Behavior Division (1997 - 2001) and on the Board of Governors for the Academy of Management (2004-2007). She has also been a member of th
Sloan Research Network on Aging & Work Steering
committee, the Scientific Advisory Board of th
Jacobs Center for Lifelong Learning
(Bremen University, Germany), and is the founding Director of th
Work Science Center
at the

Awards

''Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award'',

''William R. Owens Scholarly Achievement Award'' (wit
Phillip Ackerman
,

''Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology'' (in Applied Research)'','' American Psychological Association ''Elected Fellow:'' Academy of Management, American Psychological Association,

Association for Psychological Science The Association for Psychological Science (APS), previously the American Psychological Society, is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to promote, protect, and advance the interests of scientifically oriented psychology in ...

Influential Publications

The following publications each have over 1,000 citations according to Google Scholar. * Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P. L. (1989). Motivation and cognitive abilities: An integrative/aptitude-treatment interaction approach to skill acquisition. ''Journal of Applied Psychology, 74''(4), 657–690. *Kanfer, R. (1990). Motivation theory and industrial and organizational psychology. In M. D. Dunnette & L. M. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (p. 75–170). Consulting Psychologists Press * Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P. L. (2004). Aging, adult development, and work motivation. ''The Academy of Management Review, 29''(3), 440–458. * Kanfer, R., Wanberg, C. R., & Kantrowitz, T. M. (2001). Job search and employment: A personality–motivational analysis and meta-analytic review. ''Journal of Applied Psychology, 86''(5), 837–855. * Ageless Talent: Maximizing Talent in an Age-Diverse Workforce. L. Finkelstein, L., D. Truxillo, F. Fraccaroli, & R. Kanfer. (2021). NY: Psychology Press.

Published books

The following are books that have been written and edited by Ruth Kanfer:
Facing the Challenges of a Multi-Age Workforce: A Use-Inspired Approach
- Finkelstein, L., Truxillo, D., Fraccaroli, F., & Kanfer, R. (Eds.), (2015). Facing the Challenges of a Multi-Age Workforce. A Use-Inspired Approach. NY: Psychology Press
Work Motivation: Past, Present and Future
- Kanfer, R., Chan G., & Pritchard, R.D. (Eds.). (2008)''Work motivation: Past, present, and future''. New York, NY: Routledge.
Emotions in the Workplace: Understanding the Structure and Role of Emotions in Organizational Behavior
- Lord, R.G.; Klimoski, R.J.; and Kanfer, R. (Eds.). (2002). ''Emotions in the workplace: Understanding the structure and role of emotions in organizational behavior''. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Abilities, Motivation and Methodology: The Minnesota Symposium on Learning and Individual Differences
- Kanfer, R., Ackerman, P.L., & Cudeck, R. (Eds.). (1989). ''Abilities, motivation and methodology: The Minnesota symposium on learning and individual differences''. New York, NY: Routledge.

References

External links

* http://www.psychology.gatech.edu/people/faculty/363 * http://kanfer-ackerman.gatech.edu/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Kanfer, Ruth 1955 births Living people 21st-century American psychologists Georgia Tech faculty Arizona State University alumni 20th-century American psychologists