Social Control of Health Behaviors in Marriage1

Married couples (N= 69) reported on their use of social control strategies in attempting to modify each other's health behaviors, as well as their affective and behavioral responses to experiencing health‐related social control. Experiencing more negative social control was associated with the tendency to engage in potentially health‐compromising behaviors, whereas experiencing positive social control was associated with attempts to engage in the desired behavior. Most associations between experiencing social control and the target's behavioral responses could be accounted for, at least partially, by the target's affective responses to the social control attempts. These results suggest that current conceptualizations of the health‐relevance of social control are in need of revision. Implications of these results for social control measurement and theory are discussed.     

Depressive symptoms and attribute type moderate effects of partner feedback among college couples

Previous findings on the effects of partner feedback (about the self) have been mixed, potentially due to moderating roles of individuals' prior well‐being and the type of attributes appraised. This experimental study of 118 college‐student couples examined whether depressive symptoms moderated responses to partner feedback that was either enhancing or verifying of either social (communion‐related) or personal (agency‐related) attributes. Results showed that individuals with fewer depressive symptoms reported higher relationship quality after receiving partner feedback (particularly when it was enhancing) on their personal (vs. social) attributes. Conversely, individuals with more depressive symptoms reported higher relationship quality after receiving social partner feedback (particularly when it was enhancing). Thus, individuals' prior well‐being and communion‐related versus agency‐related attributes should be considered in studies of interpersonal feedback.     

Child's Physical Activity Lapses: Parents' Intended Use of Social Control1

This study explored parents' intention to use social control following a hypothetical lapse in their child's activity. Also examined was the role of parent and child activity as predictors of parental social control use. Parents (N = 140) were presented with 2 activity lapse vignettes (health consequences and no health consequences) and reported their intention to use social control after reading each. Results revealed greater parental intention to use social control following the health‐consequences lapse. Active parents reported greater intentions of using positive and collaborative social control tactics. Findings provide preliminary evidence that parents, especially those who are active, may attempt to regulate their child's activity following a failure to engage in a health‐enhancing behavior (i.e., lapse in physical activity).     

Social Control Behavior: The Effects of Social Situations and Personal Implication on Informal Social Sanctions

Social control is the generic term used to refer to reactions to counter‐normative behaviors and to informal social sanctions that can be attributed to deviant individuals. This review of theories and experimental findings addresses the determinants of social control reactions. First, we examine researches in experimental social psychology that show how people's reactions can be inhibited by the presence of others; a phenomenon known as the ‘Bystander effect’. Next, we examine the extent to which group membership factors affect social control. According to the ‘Black Sheep effect’, people are more severe with a deviant when they share their social identity than when he is a member of an out‐group. Even though these processes appear as good predictors for social control reactions, other findings highlight that social control and the previous processes could be associated to self‐related motivations that are encouraging people to defend themselves through the protection of their group's norms.     

Attachment styles in dating couples: Predicting relationship functioning over time

This study examined the associations between self‐reported attachment style dimensions and romantic relationship functioning over 1 year in a sample of heterosexual dating couples between the ages of 18 and 25 (115 dyads at T1, 57 dyads at T2; 74% Caucasian). Relationship functioning was assessed at multiple levels of analysis via self‐reports of interpersonal functioning, observers' ratings of dyadic interactions, and measures of autonomic responding during the interactions. No significant cross‐sectional associations were found between attachment style dimensions and interpersonal functioning. However, individuals who reported greater attachment‐related anxiety at T1 described their relationships as being of lower quality, were rated by observers as interacting less positively, and exhibited greater electrodermal reactivity during interactions 1 year later.     

Trait Agreeableness and Social Status Moderate Behavioral Responsiveness to Communal Behavior

The present study examined the influence of trait Agreeableness and its interaction with social role status on interpersonal correspondence as reflected in the within‐person relation between a person's communal (agreeable‐quarrelsome) behavior and perceptions of the interaction partner's communal behavior. We used a sample of working adults (original data set: 113 participants and 12,303 interpersonal events; constrained data set in the work setting: 109 participants and 3,193 interpersonal events) and an event‐contingent recording procedure to assess behavior in naturalistic interpersonal events. The results of multilevel modeling indicated that interpersonal correspondence was lower for high trait Agreeableness persons than for low trait Agreeableness persons, apparently due to less responsiveness to more disagreeable behavior by the other person in an interaction. High Agreeableness persons manifest greater interpersonal correspondence when in a high‐status role than when in a low‐status role, apparently by increasing responsiveness to disagreeable behavior from others. The results imply that high social role status may influence the effortful control process of high trait Agreeableness persons over their behavioral reactions to others' disagreeable behavior during interpersonal interactions.     

Behavioral and emotional responses to diet‐related support and control among same‐sex couples

Members of 63 lesbian and 72 gay couples reported how frequently their partners engaged in diet‐related social support and control (persuasion and pressure) and how they responded behaviorally and emotionally to such attempts. Although lesbian women received more frequent diet‐related social support than gay men, there were no gender differences in the receipt of diet‐related social control. Results of multilevel models that controlled for body mass index revealed that all participants responded to all types of involvement with guilt and to support and persuasion with appreciation. Responses to pressure differed for lesbian women and gay men and acted as a function of relationship quality. Findings from this study may increase awareness of the importance of same‐sex partners' involvement in eating behaviors.     

Infant irritability and early mother–infant reciprocity patterns

This study investigated how various forms of neonatal irritability (at 3 days) and irritability at 10 weeks are related to reciprocal interactions between mothers and their infants. Fifty‐six fullterm, first‐born male infants were examined using the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS‐K) at 3 days postpartum. Each infant was rated for irritability to aversive stimuli, general irritability, consolability and responsiveness to visual–auditory stimuli. At 10 weeks of age, during a home visit, mother–infant reciprocity was scored for gaze, smile, vocalization and hold behaviors. Based upon maternal reports and behavioral observations, infant irritability was scored at 10 weeks using the NBAS‐K scoring system. Findings revealed that: (1) there were two distinct forms of reciprocity: social and physical; (2) general irritability at 3 days was negatively related to reciprocal hold interaction and positively related to reciprocal social interaction at 10 weeks, and (3) neonatal irritability to aversive stimuli (at 3 days) was positively related to subsequent reciprocal social interaction. Regression analyses showed that neonatal variables were the foremost predictors of reciprocal hold at 10 weeks. Findings are discussed in terms of (1) the need to differentiate between social and physical behavioral patterns, and (2) time‐lag effects with respect to mother–infant interactions. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Infant–mother and infant–father synchrony: The coregulation of positive arousal

To examine the coregulation of positive affect during mother–infant and father–infant interactions, 100 couples and their first‐born child were videotaped in face‐to‐face interactions. Parents' and infant's affective states were coded in one‐second frames, and synchrony was measured with time‐series analysis. The orientation, intensity, and temporal pattern of infant positive arousal were assessed. Synchrony between same‐gender parent–infant dyads was more optimal in terms of stronger lagged associations between parent and infant affect, more frequent mutual synchrony, and shorter lags to responsiveness. Infants' arousal during mother–infant interaction cycled between medium and low levels, and high positive affect appeared gradually and was embedded within a social episode. During father–child play, positive arousal was high, sudden, and organized in multiple peaks that appeared more frequently as play progressed. Mother–infant synchrony was linked to the partners' social orientation and was inversely related to maternal depression and infant negative emotionality. Father–child synchrony was related to the intensity of positive arousal and to father attachment security. Results contribute to research on the regulation of positive emotions and describe the unique modes of affective sharing that infants coconstruct with mother and father. ©2003 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Staying or returning: Pre‐migration influences on the migration process of German migrants to New Zealand

Changes in migrants' backgrounds and societies sending and receiving migrants might increase adaptation issues and reduce retention. To enhance migrants' well‐being/health and their likelihood of staying it is necessary to gain an understanding of psychological and social factors that contribute to resilience and adaptation. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study that investigated the experiences, interpretations and actions of German migrant couples to New Zealand throughout the whole migration process to identify these factors. In depth, episodic interviews were conducted with four couples who decided to stay in New Zealand and four couples who decided to return to Germany. Interview data were complemented with participant observation. This paper provides insights into how the pre‐migration experiences, interpretations and actions of German migrants to New Zealand influenced their establishment, their interpretations and actions and consequently adaptation, well‐being/health and the decision whether to stay in New Zealand or to return to Germany. The findings illuminate the influence of psychological and social factors on migration experiences, interpretations and actions throughout the migration process. The paper offers some solutions for addressing the identified barriers to successful migration and integration into host societies. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Relations Between Children's Past Experiences,Social Knowledge,and Memories for Social Situations

This study explored the relations between 5- and 6-year-olds' (N = 40) past social experiences, social knowledge, and interpretation and recall of social situations. Children were read stories depicting a fictional child's behaviors, and path analyses related children's impressions of the story character and story recall to their expectations about social situations and parent reports of their behavioral histories. Children's behavioral histories predicted their social expectations, which predicted their impressions of the character, and their impressions shaped their memories of the character's behaviors. These links, however, varied according to the complexity of social knowledge. The findings suggest that individual differences in children's interpretation and recall of identical events may be partially explained by variations in past experience and background knowledge.     

The role of attachment‐related individual differences in goal adoption for serial arguments

This study investigated the relations between attachment‐related individual differences and the adoption of interpersonal goals for conflict in romantic relationships. Additionally, it used the truth and bias model to examine how biased and accurate people are in judging their partner's endorsement of conflict goals, as well as how attachment‐related individual differences moderate this bias and accuracy. Ninety‐four romantic couples completed a measure of attachment‐related individual differences and self ‐ and informant reports of interpersonal conflict goals. Results revealed that individuals endorsed conflict goals consistent with their attachment orientations. Furthermore, they displayed biases when estimating their partner's goals, with some of these biases relating to attachment orientations. These results suggest that attachment‐related individual differences may partially guide conflict‐related goals and partner perceptions.     

Wives' and Husbands' Cortisol Reactivity to Proximal and Distal Dimensions of Couple Conflict

Poor marital quality has been linked repeatedly to spouses' health problems, with alterations to physiological stress response systems, such as the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenocortical (HPA) axis, as one putative mechanism. This study assessed wives' and husbands' HPA axis (i.e., cortisol) reactivity to marital criticism during laboratory‐based conflict discussions, in the context of marital aggression experienced during the previous year. Ninety‐five couples provided one saliva sample prior to—and three samples following—a triadic family conflict discussion involving their teenage child. Marital criticism during the conflict discussion was related to heightened HPA reactivity for husbands only. For wives, an interaction emerged between criticism during the conflict and previous‐year marital aggression: only those wives who had experienced high levels of marital aggression demonstrated a positive association between criticism and cortisol output. Husbands thus appeared to be more physiologically reactive to the in‐the‐moment critical behaviors, whereas wives' responses to proximal conflict were related to previous and perhaps more chronic experiences of marital aggression. These findings shed light on ways in which within‐couple processes during family conflicts involving children contribute to individual physiological functioning, enhancing our understanding of the role of family relationships in physical health outcomes.     

Self‐Regulation: Relations with Theory of Mind and Social Behaviour

It is argued that self‐regulation skill is necessary both for displaying constructive behaviour and for controlling negative social behaviour, and self‐regulation might affect social behaviours by increasing the ability to understand others' minds. In this research, in order to examine different aspects of self‐regulation and their similarities and differences in terms of their relations with other constructs, we focused on both effortful control and executive function and investigated their concurrent associations with socially competent and aggressive behaviours and theory of mind (ToM). The participants were 212 preschool children in Turkey. We assessed executive functions with behavioural measures and effortful control with mother reports. We used six tasks for comprehensive assessment of mental state understanding. Children's social competency and aggressive behaviour were assessed with teacher reports. Structural equation modelling results showed that when age and receptive language were controlled, ToM was significantly associated with social competence but not aggressive behaviour. Both effortful control and executive functions were significantly related to social competency and ToM; the pathways from each self‐regulation skill were similar in strength. ToM was linked with social competence, but it did not have a mediating role in the relations of self‐regulation with social competence. The findings highlighted the importance of self‐regulation for socio‐cognitive and social development in the preschool years. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of consumers' corporate social responsibility‐related activities in social media on brand attitude,electronic word‐of‐mouth intention,and purchase intention: A study of Chinese consumer behavior

This study examines how consumers' corporate social responsibility (CSR)‐related activities in social media affect their responses to brands. We defined consumers' CSR‐related activities in social media as the extent to which consumers use social media to engage in CSR communication by companies. An online survey was conducted to examine social media users in China, the largest consumer market in today's global economies. This study developed a theoretical model and empirically tested the relationships between consumers' CSR‐related activities in social media, identification with the brand, and three consumer behavior outcomes: electronic word‐of‐mouth (eWOM) intention, brand attitude, and purchase intention. The results suggested that consumers' CSR‐related activities in social media significantly impacted eWOM intention and purchase intention through enhancing identification with the brand and positive brand attitude. This study provides important insights on consumer behavior and CSR by investigating social media, an important and emerging marketing platform. Moreover, this study fills in the research gap about the association between consumers' CSR‐related activities in social media and their responses to brands. Theoretical and managerial implications for CSR strategies in social media are discussed.     

Marital Interactions,Family Intervention,and Disagreements: A Daily Diary Study in a Low‐income Sample

Little research has examined associations between low‐income married couples’ daily interactions and severity of disagreements. Similarly, few researchers have considered how family‐strengthening interventions for low‐income couples may affect the quality of daily interactions and associations between interactions and conflict experiences. This study aims to fill these gaps in the literature by leveraging daily diary data from a random assignment study of a family‐strengthening intervention with low‐income husbands and wives 30 months postenrollment. Married couples randomly assigned to the intervention participated in 10 weeks of relationship education services. Control group couples received no services. Thirty months postrandom assignment, participants reported on the severity of daily marital disagreements over a 15‐day period, as well as their positive and negative emotions during inter‐spousal interactions. Multi‐level models demonstrated associations between reports of emotions in interactions and severity of disagreements. In addition, wives assigned to the family strengthening program reported fewer negative emotions during interactions at follow‐up than wives in the control condition. Finally, negative associations between positive emotions in interactions and severity of disagreements were stronger for wives assigned to the intervention, while positive associations between negative emotions in interactions and severity of disagreements were weaker for wives assigned to the intervention. Implications for future research and intervention development are discussed.     

Antisocial Behavior: Exploring Behavioral,Cognitive, and Environmental Influences on Expulsion

We investigated the role of three significant potential contributors to antisocial behavior (ASB)—behavior, cognitive, and environmental influences—and their impact on expulsion. The following measures were administered to a community sample of antisocial adolescents: nonverbal ability and working memory, behavioral profile (rated by the social worker and self‐rated), and environmental background (socio‐economic background and family structure). The data indicated that their working memory performance was in the average range; however, group means were significantly lower in the nonverbal ability test. Although social workers' assessments of the adolescents' behavior were closely related to their self‐reports, it was the latter that was best able to correctly classify those who had been expelled from their non‐expelled ASB peers. Environmental background did not appear to have a strong role in expulsion rates. The results are discussed in the context of persistency of ASB and ways forward to provide support and intervention for adolescents. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating the effects of physical reactions on aggression via concurrent‐operant analyses

Under naturally occurring conditions, the individual who is the target of aggression is likely to physically react to evade the aggressor and avoid physical harm. Like other forms of attention that occur following problem behavior, physical reactions may maintain problem behavior. However, evaluating the effects of physical reactions is complicated by issues related to therapists' ability to consistently and safely control their reactions, which may prove difficult to achieve in functional analyses. We evaluated the utility of a concurrent‐operant analysis to test behavioral sensitivity to physical reactions. The results suggest that the concurrent‐operant analysis may be useful when therapists cannot consistently refrain from responding contingent on problem behavior in the control condition of a more typical functional analysis.     

Investigating mechanisms of social support effectiveness: The case of locomotion motivation

Although social support can entail costs, individuals with a higher locomotion orientation, who are motivated to move and take action, benefit from support. Two dyadic studies tested whether perceived movement toward important goals would mediate the effect of recipients' locomotion motivation on positive outcomes in support contexts. In Study 1, couples completed a 10‐day diary and then recalled support interactions with their partner after the diary period. In Study 2, couples engaged in laboratory support interactions for important goals. Perceived goal movement mediated the effect of higher (vs. lower) locomotion on self‐reported ratings and coder ratings of support outcomes. Higher locomotion recipients may benefit in support contexts because they perceive they can move smoothly toward their goals.     

Attachment insecurities and interpersonal processes in Spanish couples: A dyadic approach

Several attachment‐related phenomena in Spanish couples using dyadic‐level analyses were examined. A sample of 295 heterosexual couples completed measures of attachment‐related anxiety and avoidance, self‐esteem, social self‐efficacy, and relationship satisfaction. Results, analyzed from a dyadic perspective using the actor–partner interdependence model (APIM), indicate that (a) there are actor but no partner effects of attachment insecurities on intrapersonal variables such as self‐esteem and social self‐efficacy, (b) there are actor and partner effects of avoidant attachment on relationship satisfaction, and (c) actor anxiety is associated with partner avoidance, and actor avoidance is associated with partner anxiety. Overall, the results reveal the importance of a dyadic perspective on couple members' attachment insecurities and their associations with intrapersonal and interpersonal processes and relationship adjustment. They also show that attachment variables and correlates studied mainly in English‐speaking countries are useful in understanding Spanish couple dynamics.