Predicting male and female contraceptive behavior: a discriminant analysis of groups high, moderate, and low in contraceptive effectiveness

An exploratory, multivariate study was carried out to assess (a) whether three contraceptive-effectiveness groups (high, moderate, and low) could be differentiated on the basis of variables that have been theoretically and empirically associated with contraceptive behavior and (b) whether an identified set of discriminating variables could accurately classify sexually active college students into these groups. Three hundred sixty-five sexually active, never-married college students (211 males and 154 females) completed instruments measuring variables related to contraception. Four separate discriminant analyses were performed, one for each sex for both their initial sexual encounter and their current sexual interactions. Discrimination and classification of the three contraceptive groups for both males' and females' initial sexual experience was not very successful. Moderate discrimination was achieved for the female current sexual activity subsample and good discrimination and classification was made for the currently sexually active male subsample. The results are discussed in terms of the implications of the findings for understanding contraceptive behavior of males and females, problems with the dependent variable of contraceptive use, and the mounting evidence that emotional orientation to sexuality influences contraceptive behavior.     

Matching the message to the process: the relative ordering of knowledge,attitudes, and practices in behavior change research

The authors empirically investigated the relative ordering of knowledge, attitudes, and practices in behavior change models and its relation to communicating health-related information. Considerable research has been conducted in the area of behavior change to identify and measure the presence of knowledge, attitudinal, and practice levels for many behaviors. The literature is reviewed. The authors' investigation consisted of interviewing 1680 men and women in Lima, Cusco, Huaraz, Puno, and Chimbote--5 large Peruvian cities--in 3 urban probability household surveys conducted in August 1994, January 1995, and January 1996. Six possible knowledge, attitude, and practice permutations are developed with regard to contraception in Peru. People may use contraceptive methods before they become fully knowledgeable about their chosen methods. In so doing, these users may become misinformed about contraceptive practice and become dissatisfied contraceptive users who discontinue contraceptive use. Media campaigns designed to inform the public can help produce a more satisfied and sustainable contraceptive user base. The informed choice approach can be the basis for effective communication strategies.     

Predicting Adolescents' Initiation of Intercourse and Contraceptive Use

This paper examines whether variables consistent with problem behavior theory predict grade of onset of first intercourse and adoption of effective contraception. A total sample of 3,419 Wisconsin adolescents in Grades 7, 9, and 11 participated in a survey of health-related behaviors administered 3 times across a 6-year period. The sample is 87% White. Multiple regression methods generated different models for onset of sexual intercourse vs. contraceptive adoption. Consistent with problem behavior theory, sexual onset is predicted by the adolescent's behavioral system, perceived peer substance use/abuse, importance of friends, and extent to which the adolescent felt harried and believed it was okay to break laws. Contraceptive adoption is predicted by family structure, socioeconomic variables, and self-esteem. Age and gender model differences emerged.     

Attitudes and behavior: An information integration perspective

The relationship between attitudes, beliefs, and behavior was investigated in the context of a behavioral alternative model of attitudes and Anderson's information integration theory. Forty teenagers indicated their attitudes toward using each of seven methods of birth control. The attitudes were used to predict self-reports of contraceptive behavior. Functional measurement methodology was applied to understand the informational bases of the attitudes. In general, the data were supportive of the theoretical framework.     

相对剥夺感:概念、测量、影响因素及作用

相对剥夺感(relative deprivation,RD)是指个体或群体通过与参照群体比较而感知到自身处于不利地位,进而体验到愤怒和不满等负性情绪的一种主观认知和情绪体验。目前,相对剥夺感的测量模型主要有个体–群体RD与认知–情感RD的二维垂直结构模型、认知–情感RD的双维结构模型、个体–群体RD的双维结构模型以及RD的三维结构模型。影响相对剥夺感的相关因素主要包括人口统计学变量、个体特征变量和社会环境变量。影响效应方面,相对剥夺感与心理健康、个体行为等个体水平变量以及群际态度、集群行为等群体水平变量的关系是当前关注的焦点。今后研究的重点应包括完善相对剥夺感的概念与结构、注重青少年及特殊群体研究、丰富研究内容和视角、强化纵向干预研究以及本土化和跨文化研究等。     

Predicting the Vote through Implicit and Explicit Attitudes: A Field Research

Using the data collected by Itanes on a sample of the Italian population, representative according to the main sociodemographic variables, we analyzed the relations between voting intention, explicit and implicit political attitudes, and voting behavior. Participants (N = 1,377) were interviewed twice, both before and after the 2006 Italian National Election. The implicit attitudes (measured using the IAT) were substantially as effective as voting intention, and more effective than the explicit attitudes towards the main Italian political leaders, in forecasting the Election official results. When used to predict participants' voting behavior, the IAT added a significant, although slight, power to voting intention and explicit attitude. Inconsistency between explicit and implicit attitudes exerted a negative influence on the probability of having decided one's voting behavior in the preelectoral poll; however, among undecided participants, it did not significantly influence the probability of delaying one's voting decision and that of actually casting a valid vote. Limits and possible developments of this research are discussed.     

Attitudes toward sex, arousal, and the retention of contraceptive information

Previous research has suggested that women with a negative emotional orientation toward sexuality (i.e., erotophobia) have difficulty learning and retaining sexually relevant material such as contraceptive information. It has been hypothesized that these women become aroused by this material and that this arousal interferes with their ability to learn it. The importance of this issue led us to conduct the current study. Erotophobic and erotophilic women viewed presentations about contraception while their physiological responses were being monitored. In addition, they were tested on the information contained in the presentation before, immediately after, and again 4-6 weeks after the presentation. The results indicated that the erotophobic women knew less contraceptive information before the presentation and were more aroused by the presentation. This arousal, however, did not interfere with retention of the material. These results are discussed in terms of individual differences in reactions to sexual material and the ability to learn, retain, and use contraceptive information.     

The Neural Basis of Implicit Attitudes

ABSTRACT— Evidence that human preferences, beliefs, and behavior are influenced by sources that are outside the reach of conscious awareness, control, intention, and self-reflection is incontrovertible. Recent advances in neuroscience have enabled researchers to investigate the neural basis of these implicit attitudes, particularly attitudes involving social groups. From this research, a model with three identified neural components related to the automatic activation and regulation of implicit attitudes is beginning to emerge. The amygdala is implicated in the automatic evaluation of socially relevant stimuli, while the anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices are involved in the detection and regulation, respectively, of implicit attitudes. Further support for this model comes from the inclusion of these regions in current models concerning the cognitive regulation of emotion and the detection of conflict. The identification of a putative neural substrate for implicit attitudes has had a direct impact on psychological research into their nature and operational characteristics. We discuss how this emerging neural model has influenced current research on implicit attitudes and describe the importance of such models for directing future research.     

Personality and job stress: a comparison of direct effects on parenting

The impact of personality and job characteristics on parental rearing styles was compared in 353 employees. Hypotheses concerning the relationships between personality and job variables were formulated in accordance with findings in past research and the Belsky's model (1984). Structural equation nested models showed that Aggression-hostility, Sociability and job Demand were predictive of Rejection and Emotional Warmth parenting styles, providing support for some of the hypothesized relationships. The findings suggest a well-balanced association of personality variables with both parenting styles: Aggression-Hostility was positively related to Rejection and negatively to Emotional Warmth, whereas Sociability was positively related to Emotional Warmth and negatively related to Rejection. Personality dimensions explained a higher amount of variance in observed parenting styles. However, a model that considered both, personality and job dimensions as antecedent variables of parenting was the best representation of observed data, as both systems play a role in the prediction of parenting behavior.     

Thurstonian-Based Analyses: Past, Present, and Future Utilities

Current psychometric models of choice behavior are strongly influenced by Thurstone’s (1927, 1931) experimental and statistical work on measuring and scaling preferences. Aided by advances in computational techniques, choice models can now accommodate a wide range of different data types and sources of preference variability among respondents induced by such diverse factors as person-specific choice sets or different functional forms for the underlying utility representations. At the same time, these models are increasingly challenged by behavioral work demonstrating the prevalence of choice behavior that is not consistent with the underlying assumptions of these models. I discuss new modeling avenues that can account for such seemingly inconsistent choice behavior and conclude by emphasizing the interdisciplinary frontiers in the study of choice behavior and the resulting challenges for psychometricians. The author would like to thank R. Darrell Bock whose work inspired many of the ideas presented here. The paper benefitted from helpful comments by Albert Maydeu-Olivares and Rung-Ching Tsai. The reported research was supported in parts by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.     

Attitudes Toward Industrial Pollution, Strategies for Protecting the Environment, and Environmental-Economic Trade-offs

Attitudes toward industrial pollution, environmental-economic trade-offs, and endorsement of various strategies and activities to protect the environment were examined in a community sample. Environmental attitudes were measured using seven distinct factors organized around four cognitive themes: commercialist-expansionist-emphasizing industrial concerns even at the expense of environmental considerations; reformist-emphasizing the need and possibility of environmental quality; radical-emphasizing pessimism over the possibility of environmental quality, given the present economic and policital system; and finally, denial that the community has been harmed by pollution. Examination of the relationship between pollution attitudes and endorsement of the various proenvironmental activities yielded a pattern consistent with a cognitive, syllogistic model of the organization of attitudes. Those emphasizing a commercialist position neither favored nor regarded the various environmental activities as effective. Those who emphasized reform endorsed the various activities as both favorable and effective. Denial was associated with opposition to the various activities. Finally, those taking a radical position favored the various strategies but were not convinced of their efficacy.     

Is Teenage Sexual Behavior Rational?1

We evaluate the applicability of a decision making framework to the teenage contraceptive and sexual behavior of 1032 Philadelphia teenagers. We examine three reasons why the decision making perspective may not apply in this domain: (a) because the decision makers are teenagers, (b) because the decision concerns sexual behavior, and (c) because the costs of contraception and abstinence are immediate and certain, while the benefits are delayed and uncertain. Using multiple regression, we examine the predictors of sexual activity and contraceptive use. We find support for the decision making model in that the variables ordinarily included in decision analyses do significantly predict behavior. But respondents seem to place disproportionate weight on some considerations, such as the discomfort of using birth control, and very little on others, such as the effectiveness of birth control or their attitude toward motherhood.     

Young adults' contraceptive practices: an investigation of influences

This study investigated young adults' contraceptive behaviors and attitudes through application of a comprehensive, theoretical framework. Specifically, a social-psychological approach to understanding preventive behaviors (e.g., contraceptive practices), was developed, incorporating the Health Belief Model and other factors, which offered a means for evaluating the extent to which contraceptive behaviors were influenced by individual and group characteristics. The study group consisted of 283 unmarried students at several schools who were, on average, 19 years of age. Results suggested that effective contraceptive behavior associated most strongly with respondents' perceiving relatively few barriers to their use of contraception, their maintenance of extensive interpersonal skills, and their regarding peer norms as consistent with effective contraceptive behavior. Findings also underlined a need for continuing education about sexuality and contraception. Dangerous misinformation prevailed regarding respondents' knowledge of areas that include anatomy, physiology, and appropriate use of effective contraceptive methods. Finally, results implied a need to consider broad behavioral, social, and interpersonal issues as they relate to young adults' effective contraceptive behavior. Future studies of contraceptive risk taking are encouraged to examine both individual and social factors affecting sexual and contraceptive practices if unplanned pregnancy is to be minimized, if not eliminated.     

Prediction and Intervention in Health-Related Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review of Protection Motivation Theory

Protection motivation theory (PMT) was introduced by Rogers in 1975 and has since been widely adopted as a framework for the prediction of and intervention in health-related behavior. However. PMT remains the only major cognitive model of behavior not to have been the subject of a meta-analytic review. A quantitative review of PMT is important to assess its overall utility as a predictive model and to establish which of its variables would be most useful to address health-education interventions. The present paper provides a comprehensive introduction to PMT and its application to health-related behavior, together with a quantitative review of the applications of PMT to health-related intentions and behavior. The associations between threat- and coping-appraisal variables and intentions, and all components of the model and behavior were assessed both by meta-analysis and by vote-count procedures. Threat- and coping-appraisal components of PMT were found to be useful in the prediction of health-related intentions. The model was found to be useful in predicting concurrent behavior, but of less utility in predicting future behavior. The coping-appraisal component of the model was found to have greater predictive validity than was the threat-appraisal component. The main findings are discussed in relation to theory and research on social cognition models. The importance of the main findings to health education is also discussed, and future research directions are suggested.     

Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Cheating: The Influence of Direct Knowledge and Attitudes on Academic Dishonesty

What effect does witnessing other students cheat have on one's own cheating behavior? What roles do moral attitudes and neutralizing attitudes (justifications for behavior) play when deciding to cheat? The present research proposes a model of academic dishonesty which takes into account each of these variables. Findings from experimental (vignette) and survey methods determined that seeing others cheat increases cheating behavior by causing students to judge the behavior less morally reprehensible, not by making rationalization easier. Witnessing cheating also has unique effects, controlling for other variables.     

Social cognitive models of health and exercise behavior: An introduction and review of conceptual issues

Abstract

This article reviews the major social cognitive models of adherence or compliance in health and exercise behavior and attempts to show that these models are more similar to each other than different from each other. Self-efficacy theory and the theory of reasoned action/planned behavior have guided most of the theory-based research on exercise behavior. Two other models, protection motivation theory and the health belief model, have guided much research on the role of social cognitive factors in other health behaviors. These models are comprised largely of the same basic set of social cognitive variables: self-efficacy expectancy, outcome expectancy, outcome value, and intention. Two other factors, situational cues and habits, although not common to all the models, round out the theoretical picture by explaining how the relationship between the major social cognitive variables and behavior may change with repeated performance of a behavior over time.An integration of these models is offered using the theory of planned behavior as a foundation. It is suggested that research on health and exercise behavior that pits one model against another to determine which one is the better predictor of behavior is likely to be unproductive due to the striking similarities of the models. It is suggested instead that theorists and researchers focus their efforts on integration of the major social cognitive models and on determining the relative predictive utility of the various social cognitive factors with various health behaviors and in various contexts.     

Donor and recipient: Social development,social interaction,and evolutionary processes

This review examines recent books on altruism and prosocial behaviour. Psychological approaches, biological approaches, and economic approaches are covered. The list of variables known to influence prosocial behaviour includes situational determinants, motivational orientations, and personality variables. Psychological theories emphasizing norms, cost-benefit calculations, and developmental factors have been used successfully to explain prosocial behaviour. Attention is given to models of helping and social and therapeutic treatment programmes. Genetic variables in prosocial behaviour are also reviewed.     

An Examination of the Relationships Between Personality,Attitudes, and Cognitions Relevant to Alcohol-Impaired Driving Tendencies1

Previous research has explored the domain of legal and educational prevention in regard to the phenomena of accidents and injuries caused by drinking and driving. Most investigations of psychological factors attempt to distinguish characteristics of drunk drivers relative to the general driving population or controls matched on driving risk variables. In contrast, the present research concentrated on the examination of the process by which empirically derived personality and general attitudinal constructs operate within a cognitive framework to influence the decision to drive. Four conceptual models were proposed that suggested the presence of direct, indirect, and moderated effects of personality and general attitudinal constructs on cognitions relevant to drunk-driving tendencies. Support was observed for a model suggesting the presence of indirect, direct, and moderating effects for the general attitudinal construct driving aggression, and support for an indirect effects model for the personality variable emotional control. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of utilizing personality and general attitudinal constructs to improve short term cognitive-based interventions.     

Predicting Health Behaviors From Attitudes and Subjective Norms: Between-Subjects and Within-Subjects Analyses

Much previous research (Trafimow & Fishbein, 1994a, 1994b) indicates that some behaviors are mostly under attitudinal control and some are mostly under normative control. Further, other research (Trafimow & Finlay, 1996) demonstrates that people, as well as behaviors, can be generally under attitudinal or normative control. The present research applies these ideas to the domain of health behaviors. Analyses conducted between-subjects for each behavior, and within-subjects across all of the behaviors, demonstrate that both behaviors and people can be under attitudinal or normative control when responding to items pertaining to health.     

External Variables,Subjective Expected Utility,and Adolescent Behavior with Alcohol and Cigarettes1

A classic social psychological model is that external variables influence behavior through their impact on subjective expected utility, the extent to which more good or harm is expected from behavior. The purpose of this research was to determine whether subjective expected utility is a major intervening variable that links external variables and the onset of alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking. The data are from two longitudinal studies of adolescents. The findings suggest that subjective expected utility does not account for the relationship between external variables and behavior.