Rate My Professor Eric Igou

Eric Raymond Igou is Professor of Psychology and Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Limerick, serving in this leadership role since 2020 and previously from 2010 to 2013. He completed his PhD at the University of Heidelberg, with a dissertation on the impact of conversational rules on order effects in one- and two-sided communications. Following his doctorate, Igou held a two-year postdoctoral fellowship from 2002 to 2004 at New York University, collaborating with Yaacov Trope on affective influences on self-regulation, and at The New School University. He then served as Lecturer at Tilburg University from 2004 to 2008, where he founded the Social Cognition and Decision Making Lab and supervised students including Wijnand A. P. van Tilburg. Upon joining the University of Limerick in 2008, he developed and directed the MSc in Psychological Science (2010–2013) and the MA in Psychology (Conversion) programs (since 2011), and established the SOCOUL Lab.

As a social psychologist, Igou's research centers on social cognition and self-regulation, with specific interests in existential concerns, perceptions of meaning in life, boredom, disillusionment, affective forecasting, heroism, and meaning-regulation strategies in response to affective experiences such as boredom and loneliness. He has supervised numerous PhD students to completion, maintaining long-term collaborations, notably with van Tilburg on approximately 50 joint publications exploring boredom's role in meaning-motivated cognition. Key works include 'The persistence of boredom: Boredom as a promoter of meaning-motivated cognition' (Van Tilburg & Igou, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2017), 'Disillusionment and meaning in life' (Maher, Van Tilburg, & Igou, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2019), 'On boredom and social identity: A pragmatic perspective' (Van Tilburg & Igou, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2011), and 'Narcissism and the self as a symbol' (Van Tilburg, Igou, & Sedikides, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2013). With over 7,200 citations, an h-index of 46, and recognition in the Stanford/Elsevier Top 2% Scientists rankings (2024 data), Igou has organized key events including the first Conference on Social Psychology in Ireland (2009) and European Social Cognition Network meetings, and holds memberships in the European Association of Social Psychology, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and others.