Sports psychology pioneer Jürgen Maxeiner celebrates his 85th birthday!

Sports psychology pioneer Jürgen Maxeiner celebrates his 85th birthday!

Dr. Jürgen Maxeiner, an important name in sports psychology, will celebrate his 85th birthday in Munich on October 13, 2025. Born in Koblenz, Maxeiner enjoyed an outstanding academic career that took him to renowned institutions in Cologne, Berlin and London, where he studied psychology, physiology and philosophy. After starting out as an assistant at the Berlin University of Education and as a research assistant at the Federal Employment Agency in Nuremberg, he received his doctorate from the University of Erlangen in 1970 with a dissertation on the influence of communication on attitudes.

In 1975, Maxeiner became a professor of education at the Saarbrücken University of Education. In 1979 he was integrated into Saarland University, where he focused on educational-psychological issues in sports science. In his role as deputy head of the Sports Science Institute, he contributed to the development of the institute from 1979 to 1981 and again from 1987 to 1999. Until his retirement in 2006, his research focused on information processing in sport, particularly the topics of perception, memory and attention.

Scientific contributions and influence

Maxeiner looked after numerous competitive athletes throughout his career, including at the Olympic training center and at elite sports schools. He has also published several significant works dealing with the psychology of sport. These include, among others:

• „Für eine sozialpädagogische Schule“ (1977)
• „Lehrer-Schüler-Interaktion und Schulerfolg“ (1979)
• „Wahrnehmung, Gedächtnis und Aufmerksamkeit im Sport“ (1989)
• „So trainieren Sie Ihr Gehirn auf Erfolgskurs“ (1993)
• „Informationsverarbeitung im Sport“ (1996)
• „Der Fakes-Index – ein computergesteuertes Messverfahren der emotionalen Sensibilität“ (2003)
• „Emotion und sportliche Leistung“ (2004)

Particularly noteworthy is the book “Information processing in sport: the model of functional regulation of information processing”, published in 1996. Together with his co-authors, Werner Pitsch and Matthias Schwinn, Maxeiner examines the importance of perception for top sporting performance and offers a model for the functional regulation of information processing. The publication covers topics such as action psychology, information absorption and the special challenges that competitive athletes have to face under stress and time pressure uni-saarland.de reports that....

Professional in-depth knowledge

“Information processing in sport” also presents empirical studies that shed light on the role of the “eye” in fast actions in a sporting context. The book is based on diagnostic procedures and offers valuable information on selection and allocation in stressful situations. Maxeiner's work is of central importance to many sports psychologists and competitive athletes as it provides deeper insights into the cognitive processes behind sporting performance bisp-surf.de provides further information about….

In summary, Dr. Jürgen Maxeiner has had a lasting influence on sports psychology through his extensive research and teaching activities. His life's work is an example of the integration of theoretical knowledge and practical applications in sport, inspiring both academics and athletes unipub.uni-graz.at looks at the impact of his work in a broader context....