Qualitative elicitation of affective beliefs related to physical activity

ObjectivesBased on previous research that has identified affective attitude as a distinct predictor of physical activity (PA) behavior, the purpose of this pilot study was to elicit affective beliefs toward physical activity using qualitative data generated through specific open-ended questions.MethodsA sample of 126 undergraduate students participated in this study. Four open-ended questions based on the theory of planned behavior were posed to elicit affective beliefs. A content analysis was used to categorize and code data by theme based on common responses that emerged in the elicitation. A frequency count of the responses falling into each category was then conducted to establish which affective beliefs were the most common. The themes were established by two researchers and reviewed for internal homogeneity and external heterogeneity by a third party.ResultsThe results highlight key beliefs related to affective attitude. In descending rank order; Social Involvement, Pleasant Body States, Esteem, Improved Psychological Outcome, and General Enjoyment were the most common affective beliefs for PA involvement. Feelings arising from Time Issues/Conflict, Physical Unpleasantness, PA Environment, and Necessity/Obligation were the most common negative affective beliefs.ConclusionsThe results suggest that promoting enjoyment rather than necessity of PA and encouraging variety in PA may be effective. Addressing the importance of aesthetically pleasing environments and highlighting social interaction as a strategy rather than merely a norm or a form of support in behavioral research may be important.     

The structure of affective action representations: temporal binding of affective response codes

Two experiments examined the hypothesis that preparing an action with a specific affective connotation involves the binding of this action to an affective code reflecting this connotation. This integration into an action plan should lead to a temporary occupation of the affective code, which should impair the concurrent representation of affectively congruent events, such as the planning of another action with the same valence. This hypothesis was tested with a dual-task setup that required a speeded choice between approach- and avoidance-type lever movements after having planned and before having executed an evaluative button press. In line with the code-occupation hypothesis, slower lever movements were observed when the lever movement was affectively compatible with the prepared evaluative button press than when the two actions were affectively incompatible. Lever movements related to approach and avoidance and evaluative button presses thus seem to share a code that represents affective meaning. A model of affective action control that is based on the theory of event coding is discussed.     

Control of a continuous response dimension by a continuous stimulus dimension

Pigeons were trained to respond to stimuli from a continuous stimulus dimension (tonal frequency) with response values from a continuous response dimension. Both the number of points of correspondence and problem difficulty were varied. After training, subjects were tested with stimulus values intermediate to those trained. During these test tones, subjects emitted only those response values reinforced during training. The study suggested that if there are fast and efficient methods to obtain control of a continuous response dimension by a continuous stimulus dimension, these methods must depend on factors other than simple generalization.     

The phobic stimuli response scales: a new self-report measure of fear

Data from two large undergraduate samples were used to develop the phobic stimuli response scales (PSRS). Factor analyses of data from the first sample (N = 380) led to the creation of several scales, two of which (Social and Blood-Injection Fears) demonstrated good reliability and convergent validity. Analyses of data from a second sample (N = 330) were used to modify the three remaining scales (Animal, Bodily Harm, and Physical Confinement Fears), which also showed sound psychometric properties. As predicted, the PSRS were differentially correlated with neuroticism and extraversion, which may represent predisposing factors for these phobic responses. These new scales improve our understanding of the individual differences that are associated with various fears.     

Frames and brains: elicitation and control of response tendencies

Using magnetic resonance imaging, De Martino and colleagues investigated the neural signature that is associated with decisions between small sure amounts of money and large riskier amounts when the framing of the outcomes is varied. We interpret their results within a dual-system framework, in which different frames evoke distinct emotional responses that different individuals can suppress to various degrees. The study advances the integration of brain imaging results into cognitive theory.     

The effect of behavioral response on affective evaluation

In the present research we investigated how action influences affective evaluation. In three experiments, participants conducted a sequence of go/no-go tasks, then evaluated the pleasantness of a novel shape. The results of Experiments 1 and 2 show that participants evaluated the shapes that appeared in the go trials more positively than the shapes that appeared in the no-go trials. In Experiment 3, the go/no-go task was conducted without the to-be-evaluated shapes present in the display. The results show that the shape stimuli following the go trials were evaluated more positively than the shape stimuli following the no-go trials, even when the shapes were not directly associated with the go/no-go task. Based on the present study, we suggest that activating or inhibiting a motoric action may play a critical role in modifying one's affective evaluation. Additionally, the present results suggest that effortful and non-default responses can negatively modulate affective evaluation by taxing an individual's cognitive load. Furthermore, we argue that individuals can potentially control their affective states through behavioral activation and inhibition.     

The power motive and affective response to assertiveness

Hypothesizing that persons high in power motivation experience cardiovascular stress in circumstances that simultaneously arouse and thwart the power need, McClelland, 1976, McClelland, 1982 formulated the concept of power stress. An experiment explored the reactions of college men high and low in power motivation to a hypothetical candidate for appointment to a research position at a biotech company. We measured need for power using (Winter’s, 1973) Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) measure. Half the participants viewed a videotape of an interview in which an actor portrayed himself as highly assertive. The other half saw the actor portray himself as moderately but not excessively compliant. Participants high in power motivation exhibited high electromyographic responsivity from the brow supercilli (frown muscles) when exposed to the assertive candidate, higher than participants low in power motivation and higher than all participants who viewed the compliant candidate (p < .05). Scores on the Affective Attitudes Scale (Crites, Fabrigar, & Petty, 1994) assumed the same pattern (p < .01). We interpret these findings as consistent with McClelland’s formulation of the power-stress concept and suggest possible relevance to observations that one might apply to power-motivated political figures.     

A projective measure for the concept of locus of control

The construction and validation of a projective type I-E Scale was devised to measure locus of control. This scale was designed specially to suit the age and culture of a population of school-going children in Sri Lanka. Results indicate that the general feeling of being in control of one's circumstances rather than that of being controlled by outside factors is related to the attitudes one brings to bear on academic achievement and on other achievement related situations. In addition, there was an overall tendency among these subjects towards greater internality. This was interpreted to support the concept of the moral value and the efficacy of effort and hard work.     

The point correlation dimension: Performance with nonstationary surrogate data and noise

The dynamics of many biological systems have recently been attributed to low-dimensional chaos instead of high-dimensional noise, as previously thought. Because biological data are invariably nonstationary, especially when recorded over a long interval, the conventional measures of low-dimensional chaos (e.g., the correlation dimension algorithms) cannot be applied. A new algorithm, the point correction dimension (PD2_i) was developed to deal with this fundamental problem. In this article we describe the details of the algorithm and show that the local mean PD2_i will accurately track dimension in nonstationary surrogate data.