The impact of self-efficacy on behavior change and weight change among overweight participants in a weight loss trial.

Despite considerable clinical interest, attempts to link perceived self-efficacy with successful weight control have had mixed success. Definitive data on prospective associations between self-efficacy and weight loss are particularly sparse. This study examined relationships between self-efficacy beliefs, weight control behaviors, and weight change among individuals participating in a weight loss trial (N = 349, 87% women). Cross-sectionally, eating and exercise self-efficacy beliefs were strongly associated with corresponding weight loss behaviors. Self-efficacy beliefs prospectively predicted weight control behavior and weight change during active treatment but not during follow-up. Mediational models indicate that people's weight control behaviors mediate the impact of self-efficacy on weight change.     

Anticipating Alternative National and Regional Futures in Energy Efficiency

Thirty-five stakeholder representatives and six observers from thirty organizations, interested in anticipating the adoption of energy efficiency for the Pacific Northwest, identified and described one hundred and seventy-eight national and regional trends extending to the year 2015 impacting energy efficiency, and proposed more than ninety actions for addressing these trends at the regional level. The representatives were engaged in a collaborative action planning workshop that was facilitated with the CogniScope methodology founded in the systems sciences. Convergence was achieved on eight highly influential actions as the highest priority.     

Viewpoint-dependent recognition of scenes

Three experiments investigated scene recognition across viewpoint changes, involving same/different judgements on scenes consisting of three objects on a desktop. On same trials, the comparison scene appeared either from the same viewpoint as the standard scene or from a different viewpoint with the desktop rotated about one or more axes. Different trials were created either by interchanging the locations of two or three of the objects (location change condition), or by rotating either one or all three of the objects around their vertical axes (orientation change condition). Response times and errors increased as a function of the angular distance between the standard and comparison views, but this effect was bigger for rotations around the vertical axis than for those about the line of sight or horizontal axis. Furthermore, the time to detect location changes was less than that to detect orientation changes, and this difference increased with increasing angular disparity between the standard and comparison scenes. Rotation times estimated in a double-axis rotation were no longer than other rotations in depth, indicating that alignment was not necessarily simpler around a "natural" axis of rotation. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that scenes, like many objects, may be represented in a viewpoint dependent manner and recognized by aligning standard and comparison views, but that the alignment of scenes is not a holistic process.     

When planning is needed: Implementation intentions and attainment of approach versus avoidance health goals

OBJECTIVE: This study tested whether forming implementation intentions is an effective strategy for attaining health goals focused on trying to avoid a negative state. DESIGN: Participants chose to either eat more healthy snacks (i.e., an approach goal) or eat fewer unhealthy snacks (i.e., an avoidance goal) over two weeks and were randomly assigned to create an implementation intention to do this or not. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The authors measured fat and calorie intake after one week and after two weeks. RESULTS: After two weeks, the participants who ate most unhealthily were those who pursued an avoidance goal and did not form an implementation intention. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that forming implementation intentions for avoidance goal pursuit can help people attain important health goals.     

Does Avatar Appearance Matter? How Team Visual Similarity and Member–Avatar Similarity Influence Virtual Team Performance

This multimethod study investigated how avatar appearance influences virtual team performance. This study is the first to integrate the framework of social identity model of de‐individuation effects (SIDE) and Self‐Identification theory, using “morphing” techniques. Results were obtained from a 2 (team visual similarity: dissimilar vs. similar team avatars) × 2 (member–avatar similarity: cartoon avatars vs. avatar similar to self) experiment (N = 240). The findings indicated that teams using “morphed team avatars,” which combined both a high degree of team visual similarity and member–avatar similarity in their appearances, performed best on the task, and showed greater social attraction than teams in the other conditions. Moreover, content analysis of the chat conversations revealed that these teams interacted more strategically and expressed a greater motivation to solve the task.     

Specifying the determinants of the initiation and maintenance of behavior change: an examination of self-efficacy, satisfaction, and smoking cessation.

Using data from smokers (N = 591) who enrolled in an 8-week smoking cessation program and were then followed for 15 months, the authors tested the thesis that self-efficacy guides the decision to initiate smoking cessation but that satisfaction with the outcomes afforded by quitting guides the decision to maintain cessation. Measures of self-efficacy and satisfaction assessed at the end of the program, 2 months, and 9 months were used to predict quit status at 2, 9, and 15 months, respectively. At each point, participants were categorized as either initiators or maintainers on the basis of their pattern of cessation behavior. Across time, self-efficacy predicted future quit status for initiators, whereas satisfaction generally predicted future quit status for maintainers. Implications for models of behavior change and behavioral interventions are discussed.