Predicting increases in readiness to quit smoking: A prospective analysis using the contemplation ladder

Abstract

Most smokers are not motivated to quit. The transtheoretical model posits mechanisms (processes of change and pros and cons) by which smokers might increase their stage of readiness to quit. While cross-sectional relationships among the stages of change, processes of change, and pros and cons are well established, there is little evidence that processes of change and pros and cons predict progressive stage movements. This study uses data from a large worksite-based cancer prevention study (the Working Well Trial) to test the hypothesis that processes of change and the pros and cons of smoking predict progressive movement up the contemplation ladder, which is an alternative measure of motivation to quit smoking based on social cognitive theory. The results indicate that experiential processes of change promote increases in readiness to quit smoking. This study provides further evidence for the predictive validity of the contemplation ladder and sheds light on how unmotivated, nonvolunteer smokers can be motivated to consider cessation.     

Improving intergroup attitudes and reducing stereotype threat: An integrated contact model

In this chapter we develop an intergroup contact model of stereotype threat effects. We review research on improving intergroup relations and reducing stereotype threat. We then propose an integrated model that specifies the processes through which both actual and imagined intergroup contact reduce the impact of stereotypes on behaviour. We discuss support for this model and, drawing on social identity theory, how changing intergroup relations produces interrelated effects on perceptions of the self, ingroup, and outgroup. This review documents an emerging, wider range of benefits that accrue from intergroup contact. It illustrates how such interventions not only challenge prejudiced attitudes, but can also free individuals from the negative impact of stereotypes in a range of other domains. Finally we discuss the practical benefits of taking this integrated perspective and outline an agenda for future work.     

Transformative Learning: A Case for Using Grounded Theory as an Assessment Analytic

Transformative Learning Theory and pedagogies leverage disruptive experiences as catalysts for learning and teaching. By facilitating processes of critical analysis and reflection that challenge assumptions, transformative learning reframes what counts as knowledge and the sources and processes for gaining and producing it. Students develop a broader range of perspectives on and entry points for learning and behavior change engaging cognition, embodiment, aesthetics, emotions, and ethics (see Mezirow 1991 and Figures 1 and 2). The open‐inquiry, multi‐modal nature of transformative learning defies most traditional assessment strategies. This article demonstrates that grounded theory offers the rigorous qualitative analysis needed to document and track transformative learning outcomes in practice. By applying a grounded theory approach to data from over eighty student portfolios across several iterations of a Religion and Ecology course at Emory University, this article demonstrates a successful and replicable assessment of transformative learning pedagogies.     

Will to live in older people's medical decisions: immediate and delayed effects of aging stereotypes

This research explores the duration of age stereotype priming effects on individuals' will to live when faced with a medical terminal illness decision. Study 1 established the content of the stereotype of the older age group in Portugal. Study 2 tested the effects of priming positive or negative age stereotypes on older and younger individuals' will to live, immediately after priming or after a delay. Results showed significant effects of stereotype valence on older people's will to live. As expected, immediate and delayed will‐to‐live scores were both lower in the negative than in the positive condition. In contrast, among younger people there were no significant effects of stereotype valence. These findings demonstrate the robustness of these types of unconscious influences on older people's fundamental decisions.     

Out of control: attentional selection for orientation is thwarted by properties of the underlying neural mechanisms

To avoid sensory overload, people are able to selectively attend to a particular color or direction of motion while ignoring irrelevant stimuli that differ from the desired one. We show here for the first time that it is also possible to selectively attend to a specific line orientation-but with an important caveat: orientations that are perpendicular to the target orientation cannot be suppressed. This effect reflects properties of the neural mechanisms selective for orientation and reveals the extent to which contingent capture is constrained not only by one's top-down goals but also by feature preferences of visual neurons.     

Social connectedness, discrimination, and social status as mediators of acculturation/enculturation and well-being

The present study proposed and tested a conceptual model of acculturation/enculturation and subjective well-being (SWB) by including social connectedness in mainstream society, social connectedness in the ethnic community, perceived discrimination, and expected social status as mediators. Survey data from 273 Asian American college students in the midwest were analyzed by using structural equation modeling. Results indicated that the effect of acculturation on SWB was mediated by social connectedness in mainstream and ethnic communities and expected social status, whereas the effect of enculturation on SWB was mediated by social connectedness in the ethnic community and expected social status. Contrary to the authors' hypothesis, perceived discrimination did not mediate the relation of acculturation and SWB, but indirectly influenced SWB via a lowered sense of connectedness to mainstream society. Approximately 46% of the variance in SWB was accounted for by the variables included in this model. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.     

Why men (and women) do and don't rebel: effects of system justification on willingness to protest

Three studies examined the hypothesis that system justification is negatively associated with collective protest against ingroup disadvantage. Effects of uncertainty salience, ingroup identification, and disruptive versus nondisruptive protest were also investigated. In Study 1, college students who were exposed to an uncertainty salience manipulation and who scored higher on system justification were less likely to protest against the governmental bailout of Wall Street. In Study 2, May Day protesters in Greece who were primed with a system-justifying stereotype exhibited less group-based anger and willingness to protest. In Study 3, members of a British teachers union who were primed with a "system-rejecting" mind-set exhibited decreased system justification and increased willingness to protest. The effect of system justification on nondisruptive protest was mediated by group-based anger. Across very different contexts, measures, and methods, the results reveal that, even among political activists, system justification plays a significant role in undermining willingness to protest.     

CONTEMPORARY SEXISM

Previous research has examined the relationship between the Modern Sexism Scale (Swim, Aikin, Hall & Hunter, 1995) and the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI; Glick & Fiske, 1996) or the relationship between the Modern Sexism Scale and the Neosexism Scale (Campbell, Schellenberg, & Senn, 1997; Tougas, Brown, Beaton, & Joly, 1995). The present study examined the relationship between the ASI and the Neosexism Scale. Across three samples ( N = 907), neosexism was found to be associated primarily with the hostile rather than the benevolent component of ambivalent sexism. Hostile sexism, benevolent sexism, and neosexism were all significantly associated with attitudes toward lesbians' and gay men's rights, and both hostile sexism and neosexism were significantly associated with attitudes toward women's rights. Neosexism and hostile sexism were negatively associated with a humanitarian-egalitarian orientation, whereas benevolent sexism was positively associated with a Protestant-ethic orientation. It is concluded that, although both the Neosexism Scale and ASI measure contemporary sexism, only the Benevolent Sexism subscale of the ASI taps the subjectively positive side of contemporary sexism.