Comparing different boosters of planning interventions on changes in fat consumption in overweight and obese individuals: A randomized controlled trial

Single planning interventions have been found to promote short‐term dietary change. Repeated planning interventions may foster long‐term effects on behavior change. It remains unknown whether there is a critical number of boosters to establish long‐term maintenance of behavioral changes. This study aimed at investigating what social‐cognitive variables mediate the effects of the interventions on dietary behavior change. Overall, 373 participants (n = 270 women, 72.4%; age M = 52.42, SD = 12.79) were randomly allocated to one of five groups: a control group, a single planning group, and three groups with 3, 6, or 9 weeks’ repeated planning interventions. Follow‐ups took place 4, 6, and 12 months after baseline. Change in fat consumption was not promoted by any of the interventions. In terms of social‐cognitive variables, intentions, self‐efficacy and coping planning displayed a time × group interaction, with the 9 weeks’ planning group showing the most beneficial effects. Effect sizes, however, were very small. None of the tested planning interventions successfully promoted change in fat consumption across the 12 month period. This, however, could not be explained by problems with adherence to the intervention protocol. Potential explanations for this unexpected result are discussed.     

Age‐related differences in everyday prospective memory tasks: The role of planning and personal importance

The aim of the present studies was to investigate whether age‐related improvement found in naturalistic but experimenter‐given prospective memory (PM) tasks can be generalized to real‐life intentions. In Study 1, younger, middle‐aged, and older adults generated a list of intended activities for the following week; one week later they marked the tasks that they had performed. The participants were also asked to rate the importance of each listed intention and to describe the circumstances of completion that were already known to them. We found that, compared with younger adults, older adults attributed a higher degree of importance to their intentions and had the circumstances of their completion better planned. However, the age‐related benefit in the PM performance for all listed intentions was not present for the very important and well‐planned tasks. In Study 2 we manipulated whether younger adults engaged or not in the detailed planning of when their intentions could be completed. It was demonstrated that younger adults who had to perform detailed planning completed their intended activities more often than those who did not plan for their intentions. The results support explanations of the age‐related benefit in everyday PM that highlight the role of importance and planning.     

The interplay of received social support and self-regulatory factors in smoking cessation

Objective: In smoking cessation, individual self-regulation and social support have both proven to be useful. However, the roles of self-regulatory processes and social support are mostly examined separately. The present study aims at examining the unique and joint interactive effects of self-regulation as specified in the health action process approach (HAPA) and social support on smoking cessation. The study tested whether social support can compensate for low levels of self-regulation or whether synergistic effects emerge.

Design & Measures: Around a self-set quit date, 99 smokers completed baseline questionnaires on HAPA-variables, smoking-specific received social support and smoking cessation (continuous abstinence and point prevalence), with a follow-up Cpproximately 29?days after the quitdate.

Results: Social support moderated the association between volitional self-efficacy and smoking, as well as coping planning and smoking but not between action planning and smoking. No compensatory effect of social support for lower levels of individual regulation emerged but the combination of high levels of the individual variables and social support was related to successful smoking cessation, indicating a synergistic effect.

Conclusions: The results confirm the importance of examining both self-regulation and social factors in smoking cessation. This should be considered when developing future interventions for smoking cessation.     

Planning and Self-Efficacy in the Adoption and Maintenance of Breast Self-Examination: A Longitudinal Study on Self-Regulatory Cognitions

Many women may be reluctant to perform breast self-examination (B.S.E.) regularly due to motivational or self-regulatory deficits. The Health Action Process Approach (Schwarzer, R. (1992). Self-efficacy in the adoption and maintenance of health behaviors: theoretical approaches and a new model. In: Schwarzer, R. (Ed.), Self-efficacy: Thought Control of Action , pp. 217-243. Hemisphere, Washington DC; Schwarzer, R. (2001). Social-cognitive factors in changing health-related behavior. Current Directions in Psychological Science , 10 , 47-51.), a health behavior change model that advocates the separation of motivation and action phases, such as goal setting and goal pursuit, was applied to data from 418 young women whose risk perceptions, outcome expectancies, self-efficacy, intention to perform B.S.E., planning, and reported examination behaviors were examined at two points in time. Risk perception was found to have a negligible influence in a path analysis, whereas self-efficacy emerged as the best predictor of intention and planning. Planning, in turn, appeared to be the best predictor of B.S.E. behaviors, followed by self-efficacy. The results point to the influential role that self-regulatory strategies (such as planning) play in translating goals into action. The study contributes to the current debate on stage theories of health behavior change and the orchestration of self-beliefs and strategies in the context of goal-directed behaviors.     

Mispredicting and misremembering: patients with renal failure overestimate improvements in quality of life after a kidney transplant

OBJECTIVE: People tend to overestimate the impact that future events will have on their quality of life. In the case of a medical treatment like kidney transplant, this should result in biased predictions--overestimates of how much the transplant will benefit quality of life. The authors surveyed kidney transplant patients, both before and after transplant, to test whether they would overestimate the benefits of a successful transplant for their quality of life. DESIGN: The authors interviewed 307 patients on a waiting list for cadaveric renal or renal-pancreatic transplant, and 195 patients one year after a successful transplant. A sub sample of patients were interviewed both before and after transplant. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The survey included measures of quality of life, both in terms of an overall estimate (0-100), and across sub domains, including health, employment, and travel. RESULTS: Cross-sectional results suggested that overall quality of life improved after transplant, but the predictions of pretransplant patients overestimated the magnitude of the improvement (p < .01). In addition, patients predicted large improvements in specific life domains that did not change. These results were confirmed in longitudinal, prospective analyses. Additional analyses showed that posttransplant patients recalled their pretransplant quality of life to be much lower than what they had reported at the time. CONCLUSION: Consistent with an impact bias, patients substantially overestimated the benefits of a successful kidney transplant, both in terms of predictions of life after treatment, and in their memories of QOL before the transplant.     

‘They will not control us’: Ingroup positivity and belief in intergroup conspiracies

This research examined the role of different forms of positive regard for the ingroup in predicting beliefs in intergroup conspiracies. Collective narcissism reflects a belief in ingroup greatness contingent on others’ recognition. We hypothesized that collective narcissism should be especially likely to foster outgroup conspiracy beliefs. Non‐narcissistic ingroup positivity, on the other hand, should predict a weaker tendency to believe in conspiracy theories. In Study 1, the endorsement of conspiratorial explanations of outgroup actions was positively predicted by collective narcissism but negatively by non‐narcissistic ingroup positivity. Study 2 showed that the opposite effects of collective narcissism and non‐narcissistic ingroup positivity on conspiracy beliefs were mediated via differential perceptions of threat. Study 3 manipulated whether conspiracy theories implicated ingroup or outgroup members. Collective narcissism predicted belief in outgroup conspiracies but not in ingroup conspiracies, while non‐narcissistic ingroup positivity predicted lower conspiracy beliefs, regardless of them being ascribed to the ingroup or the outgroup.     

Associations between job burnout and self-efficacy: a meta-analysis

Background and Objectives: This study aimed at systematically reviewing and meta-analyzing the strength of associations between self-efficacy and job burnout (the global index and its components). We investigated whether these associations would be moderated by: (a) the type of measurement of burnout and self-efficacy, (b) the type of occupation, (c) the number of years of work experience and age, and (d) culture. Design and Methods: We systematically reviewed and analyzed 57 original studies (N?=?22,773) conducted among teachers (k?=?29), health-care providers (k?=?17), and other professionals (k?=?11). Results: The average effect size estimate for the association between self-efficacy and burnout was of medium size (?.33). Regarding the three burnout components, the largest estimate of the average effect (?.49) was found for the lack of accomplishment. The estimates of the average effect were similar, regardless of the type of measures of burnout and self-efficacy measurement (general vs. context-specific). Significantly larger estimates of the average effects were found among teachers (compared to health-care providers), older workers, and those with longer work experience. Conclusions: Significant self-efficacy–burnout relationships were observed across countries, although the strength of associations varied across burnout components, participants' profession, and their age.     

Understanding defensive and secure in-group positivity: The role of collective narcissism

Integrating psychoanalytic ideas of group idealisation with social identity and categorisation theories, this article discusses the distinction between secure and defensive in-group positivity. Narcissistic in-group positivity captures a belief in in-group greatness that is contingent on external validation. It reflects defensive in-group positivity, insofar as it stems from the frustration of individual needs, and predicts increased sensitivity to threats as well as undesirable consequences for out-groups and the in-group. Secure in-group positivity—that is, in-group positivity without the narcissistic component—is a confidently held positive evaluation of one’s in-group that is independent of the recognition of the group in the eyes of others. It stems from the satisfaction of individual needs, is resilient to threats and has positive consequences for the in-group and out-groups. I review evidence for these two distinct ways people relate to their social groups and discuss theoretical and practical implications for understanding intra- and intergroup relations.