Cognitive orientation and the prediction of decisions in a medical examination context

From the theory of cognitive orientation (Kreitler and Kreitler 1976, 1982) we derived that scores of cognitive orientation would predict the decision of women to go or not to go to a medical examination for cancer. We tested three alternative methods in addition to the standard method recommended by Kreitler and Kreitler. These four methods represent different assumptions which one can derive from the theory. On the basis of 25 interviews we developed the preliminary questionnaire of beliefs associated with the examination for early detection of cancer. The data of Study 1(N = 72) were used for item analysis as well as testing retest reliability and predicting decisions. In Study 2 (N = 142) the results could be replicated. The Likert-scales for assessing the four components of cognitive orientation proved to be highly retest reliable. Predictions of decisions could be made nearly equally well by each of the four methods derived from the theory of cognitive orientation.     

Peer group processes and adolescent health-related behaviour: More than ‘peer group pressure’?

This paper argues that ‘peer group pressure’ conveys an individualistic and hence inadequate account of the group processes involved in adolescents' adoption of health-related behaviours such as smoking and drinking. We describe traditional analyses of adolescent peer processes, illustrate how these contain a series of individualistic assumptions about peer interactions/social influence processes, and describe how these structure the analysis of adolescent health-related behaviour and health education interventions. We highlight the inadequacies of these analyses, outline an alternative and draw out its implications for health education.     

Personality variables and cognitive inconsistency

The present research studied the relationships between personality variables and cognitive inconsistency. Cognitive inconsistency was defined on the basis of the cognitive orientation theory of Kreitler and Kreitler (1972, 1976) as inconsistency and three personality variables: Extraversion, Cattell's factor “Independence” and Cattell's factor “Radicalism- Conservatism”. The implications of these results to Eysenck's and Cattell's theories were discussed.     

Clustering of diet,physical activity and smoking and a general willingness to change

Addressing multiple health behaviours are important in preventing disease and mortality. The present study investigated the clustering of health behaviours, cognitive determinants and stages of change in 2827 adults for the lifestyle factors of physical activity, fruit, vegetable and fat consumption and smoking. The results showed that only 3% of the total population met recommended guidelines for all of the five behaviours. Behaviours were found to be weakly associated. Behaviour-specific cognitions and stages of change for the behaviours clustered more strongly, however. With respect to diet and physical activity, respondents in the preparation stage for one behaviour were likely also to be preparing to change another behaviour. Possible mechanisms for the apparent general willingness to change multiple behaviours are discussed, as well as potential implications for health promotion practice.     

Personality Dispositions and Health-related Habits and Attitudes: a Cross-sectional Study

We examined the relations between the Big-Five personality dimensions, Health Locus of Control, and health-related behaviours and attitudes. We focused on the question of potential advantages of the five-factor model as an integrated framework for personality and health research. Fifteen health habits and attitudes (including smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, a variety of dietary practices, current stressors, and attitudes toward smoking and alcohol consumption) were used to operationalize the subjects’ lifestyle. The study involved 1184 students from twelve different university schools. Although our results resembled those of other studies, we found that Conscientiousness and Agreeableness were particularly noteworthy as predictors of health behaviours and cognitive attitudes and tendencies. Our results also suggest that both factors should be included as explanatory constructs in personality–disease models that may indirectly affect disease proneness via unhealthy behaviours. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

From health beliefs to self-regulation: Theoretical advances in the psychology of action control

Abstract

The paper reviews the theoretical concepts included in a range of social cognitive models which have identified psychological antecedents of individual motivation and behaviour. Areas of correspondence are noted and core constructs (derived primarily from the theory of planned behaviour and social cognitive theory) are identified. The role of intention formation, self-efficacy beliefs, attitudes, normative beliefs and self-representations are highlighted and it is argued that these constructs provide a useful framework for modelling the psychological prerequisites of health behaviour. Acknowledging that intentions do not translate into action automatically, recent advances in our understanding of the ways in which prior planning and rehearsal can enhance individual control of action and facilitate the routinisation of behaviour are considered. The importance of engaging in preparatory behaviours for the achievement of many health goals is discussed and the processes by which goals are prioritised, including their links to self-representations, are explored. The implications of social cognitive and self-regulatory theories for the cognitive assessment of individual readiness for action and for intervention design in health-related settings are highlighted.     

Regulation of behaviour in pursuit of health goals

Abstract

Prediction of health related behaviours and the specification of cognitive processes which might guide development of effective interventions may be promoted by the identification of processes which mediate between intentions and health behaviour. The present commentary addresses theoretical developments concerning the role of cognitive and personality processes in volitional pursuit of health related goals and in the maintenance of behavioural change.     

Stability and changes in health behaviours in young adults over a one year period

Abstract

Data concerning 19 health-related behaviours and associated beliefs were collected by questionnaire from 282 students in the Netherlands on two occasions over one year. While all behaviours showed moderate stability, there were variations in the degree of change. The highest stability was reported for sleep time, tooth brushing frequency, seat belt usage and health care service utilization. The least stable behaviours included regular exercise and various dietary measures. Predictors of changes in smoking, dietary fat intake, alcohol consumption and regular exercise were analysed in detail. Beliefs assessed at year 1 in the importance of these activities for health predicted changes in behaviour over the study year independently of prior behaviour levels. Awareness of the risks associated with behaviours, and explicit wishes to modify behaviour patterns (eg stop smoking, exercise more), did not predict change from year 1 to year 2. The results indicated that health behaviours vary in their stability, and that health beliefs may predict future health behaviour changes.     

Resisting Moralisation in Health Promotion

Health promotion efforts are commonly directed towards encouraging people to discard ‘unhealthy’ and adopt ‘healthy’ behaviours in order to tackle chronic disease. Typical targets for behaviour change interventions include diet, physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption, sometimes described as ‘lifestyle behaviours.’ In this paper, I discuss how efforts to raise awareness of the impact of lifestyles on health, in seeking to communicate the (perceived) need for people to change their behaviour, can contribute to a climate of ‘healthism’ and promote the moralisation of people’s lifestyles. I begin by summarising recent trends in health promotion and introducing the notion of healthism, as described by Robert Crawford in the 1980s. One aspect of healthism is moralisation, which I outline (alongside the related term moralism) and suggest is facilitated by efforts to promote health via information provision and educational strategies. I propose that perceived responsibility plays a role in mediating the tendency to moralise about health and behaviour. Since I argue that states ought to avoid direct and indirect moralisation of people’s health-related behaviour, this suggests states must be cautious with regard to the use of responsibility-indicating interventions (including informational and educational campaigns) to promote health.     

Investigating the predictive validity of implicit and explicit measures of motivation on condom use, physical activity and healthy eating

The literature on health-related behaviours and motivation is replete with research involving explicit processes and their relations with intentions and behaviour. Recently, interest has been focused on the impact of implicit processes and measures on health-related behaviours. Dual-systems models have been proposed to provide a framework for understanding the effects of explicit or deliberative and implicit or impulsive processes on health behaviours. Informed by a dual-systems approach and self-determination theory, the aim of this study was to test the effects of implicit and explicit motivation on three health-related behaviours in a sample of undergraduate students (N?=?162). Implicit motives were hypothesised to predict behaviour independent of intentions while explicit motives would be mediated by intentions. Regression analyses indicated that implicit motivation predicted physical activity behaviour only. Across all behaviours, intention mediated the effects of explicit motivational variables from self-determination theory. This study provides limited support for dual-systems models and the role of implicit motivation in the prediction of health-related behaviour. Suggestions for future research into the role of implicit processes in motivation are outlined.     

Investigating the predictive validity of implicit and explicit measures of motivation on condom use,physical activity and healthy eating

The literature on health-related behaviours and motivation is replete with research involving explicit processes and their relations with intentions and behaviour. Recently, interest has been focused on the impact of implicit processes and measures on health-related behaviours. Dual-systems models have been proposed to provide a framework for understanding the effects of explicit or deliberative and implicit or impulsive processes on health behaviours. Informed by a dual-systems approach and self-determination theory, the aim of this study was to test the effects of implicit and explicit motivation on three health-related behaviours in a sample of undergraduate students (N?=?162). Implicit motives were hypothesised to predict behaviour independent of intentions while explicit motives would be mediated by intentions. Regression analyses indicated that implicit motivation predicted physical activity behaviour only. Across all behaviours, intention mediated the effects of explicit motivational variables from self-determination theory. This study provides limited support for dual-systems models and the role of implicit motivation in the prediction of health-related behaviour. Suggestions for future research into the role of implicit processes in motivation are outlined.     

Practicing and arguing for abstinence from smoking: A test of the double forced compliance paradigm

An experiment was conducted within a new paradigm for Festinger's theory of dissonance (1957): the double forced compliance paradigm (Joule, 1986a). Double compliance was used to test dissonance reduction following the execution of not just one, as in the classical paradigm, but two forced compliance behaviours. The first behaviour involved abstinence from smoking, and the second, writing a text for or against smoking. Based on the radical conception of the theory of dissonance (Beauvois and Joule, 1981; Joule, 1986b), subjects were expected to find tobacco deprivation more difficult after having written a text against smoking than before, and easier after having written a text in favour of smoking. The results confirmed these predictions.     

Positive affective processes underlie positive health behaviour change

Positive health behaviours such as physical activity can prevent or reverse many chronic conditions, yet a majority of people fall short of leading a healthy lifestyle. Recent discoveries in affective science point to promising approaches to circumvent barriers to lifestyle change. Here, we present a new theoretical framework that integrates scientific knowledge about positive affect with that on implicit processes. The upward spiral theory of lifestyle change explains how positive affect can facilitate long-term adherence to positive health behaviours. The inner loop of this spiral model identifies nonconscious motives as a central mechanism of behavioural maintenance. Positive affect experienced during health behaviours increases incentive salience for cues associated with those behaviours, which in turn, implicitly guides attention and the everyday decisions to repeat those behaviours. The outer loop represents the evidence-backed claim, based on Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory, that positive affect builds a suite of endogenous resources, which may in turn amplify the positive affect experienced during positive health behaviours and strengthen the nonconscious motives. We offer published and preliminary evidence in favour of the theory, contrast it to other dominant theories of health behaviour change, and highlight attendant implications for interventions that merit testing.     

The good,the bad and the effective: a meta-analytic examination of selling orientation and customer orientation on sales performance

The concept of customer orientation (CO) is a focal construct in marketing and sales literature. Saxe and Weitz introduced CO to contrast the traditional high-pressure approach to sales (selling orientation). This study synthesizes empirical evidence from 1982 to 2013 to provide insight into the antecedents and consequences of both CO and selling orientation (SO). A conceptual meta-analytic model based on research into interpersonal motive models is proposed and tested using effect sizes from 126,790 salesperson survey responses to advance theory development on our understanding of how SO and CO behaviours affect organizations. Findings show that adaptive selling mediates the impact of both SO and CO which has important practical implications for hiring and training salespeople. Furthermore, this study shows that goal orientations are antecedents of SO and CO and that the impact of SO on job performance varies by customer type.     

Mind Reading Skills and Empathy: Evidence for Nice and Nasty ToM Behaviours in School-Aged Children

We investigated the social use of theory of mind in school-aged children. The expressions Nice Theory of Mind and Nasty Theory of Mind are used to differentiate behaviours requiring a prosocial use and an antisocial use of ToM abilities respectively. Our goals was to investigate whether and how mind reading abilities and empathy affect nice and nasty ToM behaviours. One hundred and ninety-seven children who were fourth and fifth graders took part in this study. Participants were administered stories that assessed cognitive, affective or moral mental state reasoning abilities and they also completed a self-report measure of empathy. Teachers’ rating on children’s prosocial and antisocial behaviours that underpin ToM abilities led us to identify nice and nasty ToM behaviours. We found that children who engage in nasty ToM behaviour showed good abilities to understand others’ thoughts and beliefs. However, children with nice ToM behaviour showed more moral and emotional sensitivity as compared to children who engage in nasty ToM behaviour. Furthermore, the hot component of empathy is stronger in fostering prosocial behaviours and inhibiting antisocial acts than cognitive component.     

Risk-appraisal,outcome and self-efficacy expectancies: Cognitive factors in preventive behaviour related to cancer

Abstract

Health education often attempts to influence or persuade through risk-appraisal of impending danger or harm. Risk: appraisal implies cognitive processes concerning the severity of the threatening event and the probability of its occurrence. In two studies we investigated whether risk factors could adequately predict preventive behaviour with respect to cancer. The tint study concerned the health belief model. the second study the protection motivation theory. Protection motivation theory includes the health belief factors but also self-efficacy expectancy. The most important finding is that risk-appraisal does not predict preventive behaviour adequately: outcome expectancy and self-efficacy expectancy should be included in the prediction of preventive behaviour. In general, our findings suggest the superiority of the protection motivation theory to the health belief model in predicting preventive behaviour with respect to cancer.     

Individual Differences in Decision Making Depend on Cognitive Abilities,Monitoring and Control

Decision making is the process by which actions are constructed and initiated. Across many research streams, this can be explained in terms of three broad cognitive processes: cognitive abilities that construct judgements and potential courses of action, and interacting monitoring and control processes that determine when to initiate them as behaviour. The aim of this research was to investigate the generality of individual differences in these processes, and their power to predict patterns of decision behaviour identified in our previous research. Undergraduate participants (N = 364) completed nine tests assessing cognitive abilities, monitoring confidence, control thresholds and various patterns of decision behaviour. The tests differed in their cognitive ability requirements and the nature of the payoffs associated with decisions. Cognitive abilities were a strong predictor of individuals' decision competence and optimality, while monitoring confidence and control thresholds were strong and unique predictors of their overall decisiveness, and reckless and hesitant errors. These results were strongest when the measures of cognitive abilities and monitoring confidence were derived from tests with the same cognitive requirements as the tests used to derive the decision behaviours and when the control threshold measure was derived from tests with the same decision payoffs as the test used to derive the decision behaviours. This effect was particularly pronounced for control thresholds, highlighting the domain‐specific nature of cognitive control processes. These findings demonstrate how cognitive abilities, monitoring output and control thresholds interact with cognitive requirements and context‐specific payoffs to drive individual differences in decision‐making behaviour. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does impaired socioemotional functioning account for behavioral dysexecutive disorders? Evidence from a transnosological study

Behavioral dysexecutive disorders are highly prevalent in patients with neurological diseases but cannot be explained by cognitive dysexecutive impairments. In fact, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Given that socioemotional functioning underlies appropriate behavior, socioemotional impairments may contribute to the appearance of behavioral disorders. To investigate this issue, we performed a transnosological study.

Seventy-five patients suffering from various neurological diseases (Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), frontotemporal lobar degeneration, and stroke) were included in the study. The patients were comprehensively assessed in terms of cognitive and behavioral dysexecutive disorders and socioemotional processes (facial emotion recognition and theory of mind). As was seen for cognitive and behavioral dysexecutive impairments, the prevalence of socioemotional impairments varied according to the diagnosis. Stepwise logistic regressions showed that (i) only cognitive executive indices predicted hypoactivity with apathy/abulia, (ii) theory of mind impairments predicted hyperactivity–distractibility–impulsivity and stereotyped/perseverative behaviors, and (iii) impaired facial emotion recognition predicted social behavior disorders. Several dysexecutive behavioral disorders are associated with an underlying impairment in socioemotional processes but not with cognitive indices of executive functioning (except for apathy). These results strongly suggest that some dysexecutive behavioral disorders are the outward signs of an underlying impairment in socioemotional processes.     

Family characteristics and health behaviours of adolescents and families

Abstract

The relationship between general family characteristics, represented by family cohesion and adaptability, and health behaviours (smoking, alcohol use, food choice, sleeping, Body Mass Index, and physical activity) is studied in a first study of 429 adolescents and young adults, and in a second study of 522 family triads (adolescent-mother-father). Using cluster analysis, adolescent groups with four different profiles of health behaviour were identified. Very similar results were found in the two studies. The health behaviour patterns in the different subgroups show that forms of (un)desirable health behaviours are interrelated in some clusters. Adolescents in the most healthy clusters, consistently reported highest levels of family cohesion. The relationship between family adaptability and health behaviours showed only limited significance. In families characterised by a high level of emotional bonding between family members together with stability and regularity in roles rules and power structure, adolescents' behaviour is the most healthy. The findings suggest that parental involvement is desirable in health promotion intervention. Further, it seems possible that health behaviours originate from a relatively small set of family Characteristics and that modifying family interactions might be powerful, albeit very difficult to do so, in changing a variety of health behaviours in adolescents.     

Resisting temptation: alcohol specific self-efficacy mediates the impacts of compensatory health beliefs and behaviours on alcohol consumption

Awareness of health risks linked with excessive alcohol consumption appears to have little influence on how much some people drink. Compensatory health beliefs (CHBs), in which the consequences of unhealthy behaviour are considered to be neutralised by additional healthy behaviours, are one way of justifying poor health choices. Currently, the role of CHBs within the context of drinking behaviour is not well understood. This research examined associations between alcohol specific compensatory health beliefs (ACH-Beliefs) and behaviours (ACH-Behaviours), alcohol consumption and alcohol specific self-efficacy (ASE), via an online survey completed by 249 participants, aged 18 + years (63.1% female; M age = 41.62 years; SD = 14.80). Higher ACH-Beliefs were associated with increases in ACH-Behaviours. While both predicted alcohol consumption, a greater proportion of variance was explained by ACH-Behaviours. ASE was a significant mediator of those relationships, suggesting that those with higher ASE may be better equipped to regulate drinking behaviour. Recommendations for future research include measuring both CHBs and behaviours within an experimental design, and further investigation of related cognitions such as compensatory behaviour intentions. Alcohol misuse interventions may wish to consider the potential roles of CHBs and behaviours in facilitating maladaptive coping strategies, and how addressing these may reduce harms.