Nanna Notthoff

Nanna Notthoff, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor for Exercise Psychology. Her research focuses on understanding the bi-directional relationship between motivational and emotional processes and the adoption and effectiveness of health promoting behaviors (physical activity; reduction of sedentary behavior) throughout the adult life span. In her work, she relies on a multi-method approach that includes the assessment of behavior and subjective experience in interventions and lab experiments. Ultimately, she hopes to understand how individual-level emotional and motivational factors relate to health behaviors in the context of people’s social and physical environments. She received a B.S. in Psychology and in Anthropology from the University of Michigan and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology from Stanford University. She completed Postdoctoral training at the University of California, Berkeley and at the Humboldt University Berlin (funded by a Horizon2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship).

Professional career

since 05/2018 Assistant Professor for Exercise Psychology: Leipzig University

08/2014 - 04/2018 Research Scientist: Humboldt University Berlin, Institute of Psychology

10/2017 - 01/2018 Visiting Researcher: University Medicine Greifswald Institute for Community Medicine, Section Clinical Epidemiological Research

04/2015 - 05/2015 Visiting Scholar: The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USADepartment of Human Development and Family Studies

09/2013 - 07/2014 Postdoctoral Scholar: University of California at Berkeley Institute of Personality & Social Research/ Behavior Change Research Network

09/2007 - 06/2013 Graduate Student Researcher: Life-span Development Lab, Stanford University

01/2007 - 06/2007 Project Coordinator: Max Planck Institute for Human Development, BerlinIndependent Junior Research Group Neurocognition of Decision Making

09/2005 - 12/2006 Research Assistant: Cognitive Neuroimaging Lab, University of Michigan

05/2006 - 08/2006 Research Assistant: Max Planck Institute for Human Development, BerlinCenter for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition

06/2005 - 08/2005 Project Assistant: Institut für Gesundheits- und Sozialforschung (IGES), Berlin

05/2004 - 05/2005 Research Assistant: E. Ginsberg Center for Community & Service Learning, University of Michigan

06/2004 - 08/2004 Project Assistant: Institut für Gesundheits- und Sozialforschung (IGES), Berlin

09/2003 - 05/2005 Lab Manager: Psycholinguistics Lab, University of Michigan

Education

09/2007 - 06/2013 Stanford UniversityPh.D. in PsychologyPh.D. Thesis: Motivating Older Americans to Walk: An Application of Socioemotional Selectivity Theory

09/2007 - 08/2009 Stanford UniversityM.A. in Psychology

04/2007 - 07/2007 Technische Universität Berlin, GermanyCourses in the M.A. Degree Program Human Factors Engineering

09/2003 - 12/2006 University of Michigan, Ann ArborB.S. in Psychology (with High Distinction and High Honors) Thesis: Memory Skills and Cognitive Performance in Experienced Actors and ControlsB.S. in Anthropology (with High Distinction) Academic Minor: Applied Statistics

Selected publications

Reichert, M.; Giurgiu, M.; Koch, E. D. et al. Ambulatory assessment for physical activity research: State of the science, best practices and future directions Psychology of Sport and Exercise. 2020.

Notthoff, N.; Gerstorf, D.; Reisch, P. Individual characteristics and physical activity in older adults: A systematic review Gerontology. 2017. pp. 443-459

Notthoff, N.; Drewelies, J.; Kazanecka, P.; Steinhagen-Thiessen, E.; Düzel, S.; Norman, K.; Daumer, M.; Lindenberger, U.; Demuth, I.; Gerstorf, D. Feeling older, walking slower – but only if someone’s watching. Subjective age is associated with walking speed in the laboratory, but not in real life European Journal of Ageing. 2014. pp. 425-433

Klusmann, V.; Notthoff, N. Motivational barriers and resources for physical activity among older people In: Nyman, S. R.; Barker, A.; Haines, T.; Horton, K.; Musselwhite, C.; Peeters, G.; Victor, C.R.; Wolff, J. K. (Eds.) Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. 2018. p. 251

Klusmann, V.; Notthoff, N.; Beyer, A.-K.; Blawert, A.; Gabrian, M. The assessment of views on ageing: A review of self-report methods and innovative extensions European Journal of Ageing. 2020. pp. 403-433

Research Focus

Development of physical activity and sedentary behavior across the life span

Motivational processes that contribute to the initiation, increase, and maintenance of physical activity and the reduction of sedentary behavior. Development, implementation, and evaluation of interventions.

Views on aging (self-perceptions and perceptions of others) and their role for physical activity in older adults.