Ethical Behavioral Intention in an Academic Setting: Models and Predictors

This study examines the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the multidimensional ethics scale (MES). Variables from both are included to determine which ones significantly correlate with student ethical behavioral intention in an academic setting. Using a survey, responses are collected from undergraduate business students from two southwestern universities in the United States using a scenario-based approach, looking at individual situations and group situations. SmartPLS was used to assess the results for four scenarios. From the theory of planned behavior, attitude was a significant predictor of behavioral intention across all four scenarios while subjective norm was significant in one scenario. From the multidimensional ethics scale, moral equity and relativism were significant in one group scenario while moral equity and utilitarianism were each significant in an individual scenario. The findings indicate support for the use of the TPB and the MES when exploring ethics in an academic setting and for the need to study both individual and group situations. A discussion of the findings and implications is given.     

An Examination of the Determinants of Intention and Behavior: A Comparison of Two Models

Two behavioral prediction models were compared. The behavior used was church attendance, and the models used were those proposed by Triandis (1977) and Fishbein (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). The results indicated that both models were effective in the prediction of intention and behavior. However, while Triandis' model accounted for a greater percent of the variance in the prediction of intention, Fishbein's model did better in predicting behavior.     

Women's Eating Problems: An Analysis of a Coping Mechanism

Women's eating problems are complex and related to a variety of emotional and social issues. How women use food as a coping mechanism is discussed.     

Heavenly Bodies: Religious Issues in Cognitive Behavioral Treatment of Eating Disorders

Minimal attention has been given to the role that religion may play in the development, maintenance, and treatment of eating disorders. Many religions espouse specific doctrines about the nature and purpose of the body as well as prescribe particular body grooming and eating practices. These doctrines and practices influence individuals' schemas and experiences of the body and eating, which can either contribute to or provide protection from eating disorders. This paper describes pathways through which religious beliefs and practices may impact risk for and maintenance of eating disorders. Methods for integrating religious concepts, practices, and resources into standard cognitive-behavioral treatment for eating disorders are discussed, including interventions that address purported religiously oriented contributory and protective factors. Treatment of a religious client with an eating disorder is described to illustrate the incorporation of religiously oriented interventions in practice.     

The Job Search Process: An Attitudinal and Behavioral Analysis

Job search attitudes and behaviors among college students were studied. Major job-seeking factors were identified and discussed in relation to job search experience.     

Behavioral economics: An overview

This article reviews the emerging literature in behavioral economics from the standpoint of discoveries of interest to business practitioners. Behavioral economics is a new branch of the discipline which has become prominent only within the last decade. In spite of its short life span, behavioral economics has already produced insights into consumer behavior, the behavior of labor, managerial behavior and business ethics. The major findings are covered in this article.     

Eating and drinking: An economic analysis

Food-deprived rats were exposed to various schedules of food delivery; water-deprived rats were exposed to various schedules of water delivery. Eating and drinking were measured over sessions and at points throughout sessions. The symmetries and asymmetries of food and water consumption were explored in terms of: (1) substitutability of food versus water, and of food and water on the one hand versus leisure on the other, (2) constraints imposed by various schedules of food and water, and (3) the tendency of rats to maximize utility within the imposed constraints.     

Developing an Acceptance-Based Behavioral Treatment for Binge Eating Disorder: Rationale and Challenges

Binge eating disorder (BED), characterized by recurrent eating episodes in which individuals eat an objectively large amount of food within a short time period accompanied by a sense of loss of control, is the most common eating disorder. While existing treatments, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), produce remission in a large percentage of individuals with BED, room for improvement in outcomes remains. Two reasons some patients may continue to experience binge eating after a course of treatment are: (a) Difficulty complying with the prescribed behavioral components of CBT due to the discomfort of implementing such strategies; and (b) a lack of focus in current treatments on strategies for coping with high levels of negative affect that often drive binge eating. To optimize treatment outcomes, it is therefore crucial to provide patients with strategies to overcome these issues. A small but growing body of research suggests that acceptance-based treatment approaches may be effective for the treatment of binge eating. The goal of the current paper is to describe the development of an acceptance-based group treatment for BED, discuss the structure of the manual and the rationale and challenges associated with integrating acceptance-based strategies into a CBT protocol, and to discuss clinical strategies for successfully implementing the intervention.     

Understanding Women's Experiences of Defending Against Eating Disorder Symptoms: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis

Body dissatisfaction predicts eating disorder symptomatology for some women but not for others. To better understand this disparity, the authors interviewed 7 college women who reported body dissatisfaction and no engagement in eating disorder symptoms. The authors identified 4 factors that may protect body‐dissatisfied women from engaging in eating disorder symptoms.     

Analyzing Job Analysis Data Using Mixture Rasch Models

An important piece of validity evidence to support the use of credentialing exams comes from performing a job analysis of the profession. One common job analysis method is the task inventory method, where people working in the field are surveyed using rating scales about the tasks thought necessary to safely and competently perform the job. This article describes how mixture Rasch models can be used to analyze these data, and how results from these analyses can help to identify whether different groups of people may be responding to job tasks differently. Three examples from different credentialing programs illustrate scenarios that can be found when applying mixture Rasch models to job analysis data. Discussion of what these results may imply for the development of credentialing exams and other analyses of job analysis data is provided.     

Ends Over Means: Self-Affirmation Strengthens Attitudinal and Weakens Perceived Control Effects on Behavioral Intention

ABSTRACT

Self-affirmation research suggests that allowing people to affirm important values can improve acceptance of health messages. However, how self-affirmation improves message acceptance is not fully understood. Integrating construal level theory and reasoned action theory, this research tested two hypotheses: first, self-affirmation affects the abstractness of how people construe behavioral choices, and second, self-affirmation influences the associations between intention and its key determinants. Data were obtained from two studies on sunscreen use and flossing (n = 123 college students, and n = 294 adults). Our findings confirmed that self-affirmation induced abstract, high level construals of behaviors in terms of ends rather than means, and that self-affirmation strengthened the impact of attitude on intention and weakened the impact of perceived control.     

Intention to Migrate: A Psychological Analysis1

A sample of 102 male East Indians intending to immigrate to Canada was compared on several personality and nonpersonality variables with a matched sample of 114 Indians who planned to remain in India. A mail questionnaire procedure was used. Discriminant analyses indicated that personality factors alone accounted for 27% of the variance and that inclusion of nonpersonality factors raised this to 38%. The most important variables separating the groups are occupational satisfaction, sensation seeking, interest in world news, and a locus-of-control component. The findings indicate the sizeable role of personality factors in the decision to migrate and illustrate the utility of a multifaceted approach in understanding complex phenomena such as migration.     

The Variability and Flexibility of Gender-Typed Toy Play: A Close Look at Children's Behavioral Responses to Counterstereotypic Models

Gender differences in play behavior are well documented. However, little work has examined the issue of variability of gender-typed behaviors within individuals or within genders. We investigated whether children's gender-typed toy play behavior is (a) variable across time within individuals, and (b) variable in response to exposure to counterstereotypic models. Extensive observations (N=203) were made of 8 highly gender-typed preschool children over 4 months. Variability was assessed by examining changes in the percentage of masculine and feminine toy play across successive days in which (a) gender neutral stories were read (within-individual variability) and (b) gender counterstereotypic stories were introduced (environmental variability). Variability of gender-typed play within individuals and in response to environmental stimuli was found among girls, but not among boys.     

Testing Process Factor Analysis Models Using the Parametric Bootstrap

Process factor analysis (PFA) is a latent variable model for intensive longitudinal data. It combines P-technique factor analysis and time series analysis. The goodness-of-fit test in PFA is currently unavailable. In the paper, we propose a parametric bootstrap method for assessing model fit in PFA. We illustrate the test with an empirical data set in which 22 participants rated their effects everyday over a period of 90 days. We also explore Type I error and power of the parametric bootstrap test with simulated data.     

Mindfulness and Eating Disorders: A Network Analysis

Higher trait mindfulness may be protective against eating disorder (ED) pathology. However, little is understood about which specific mindfulness processes connect to specific ED symptoms. This study (N = 1,056 undergraduates) used network analysis at the symptom/process level to identify: (1) central nodes, or symptoms/processes with the greatest collective connection with all other symptoms/processes; and (2) bridge nodes, or symptoms/processes driving interconnection between mindfulness processes and ED symptoms. We conducted analyses both with and without food- and body-related mindfulness items. Central nodes included: describing how one feels in detail, expressing how one feels in words, and feeling guilty about eating due to shape/weight. Bridge nodes connecting higher mindfulness processes with lower ED symptoms included: the eating disorder symptom, being uncomfortable about others seeing one eat, and the mindfulness process, not criticizing oneself for having irrational/inappropriate emotions. Bridge nodes connecting higher mindfulness processes with higher ED symptoms included: noticing sensations of the body moving when walking and noticing how food/drinks affect thoughts, bodily sensations, and emotions. Findings suggest that future research should explore whether mindfulness-based interventions for EDs may be more effective by targeting mindfulness processes related to describing, expressing, and accepting emotions, accepting discomfort when eating with others, and reducing hyper-focus on and reactivity to food-and-body related sensations.