Decisions to donate bone marrow: The role of attitudes and subjective norms across cultures

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a field investigation of the determinants of decisions to donate bone marrow. Predictions are made on the basis of a modification of the theory of reasoned action wherein attitudes are operational-ized in separate affective and evaluative components. Boundary conditions of the theory of reasoned action are further explored by examining the effects of culture (Hong Kong Chinese, N= 190; American Chinese, N = 107; black Americans, N = 124; and white Americans N = 122) on decisions to donate for each of four targets: Immediate Family Members (TFM), Close Relatives (CR), Ethnic Strangers (ES), and Total Strangers (TS). For this life or death decision, the willingness to give is hypothesized to vary as a function of the so-called fitness value of the recipients (i.e., their capacity to contribute to the donor's inclusive fitness), as modified by cultural differences between group- versus independent-based cultures. Among other results, the following gradient was found in attitudes, subjective norms, and intentions for Chinese: IFM > CR > ES > TS; for Americans the pattern was IFM = CR > ES = TS. American Chinese showed stronger attitudes and felt norms, but not intentions, to give to close relatives than did Hong Kong Chinese, reflecting differential in-group/out-group pressures. Black and White Americans showed stronger attitudes, subjective norms, and intentions to donate to strangers than did Chinese.     

Structural equation models are modelling tools with many ambiguities: Comments acknowledging the need for caution and humility in their use

My goal is to provide background and perspective on the use and interpretation of structural equation models (SEMs). SEMs are complex procedures with many assumptions, intricacies, and pitfalls. I hope to give a commentary that complements the primers done by Iacobuci and deepen the users' knowledge of the procedures. But I acknowledge that this effort is at best an incomplete introduction into SEMs and cannot do justice to the many issues (and controversies) associated with it.     

The role of desires in sequential impulsive choices

The present research provides evidence for a sequential mitigation effect, which is the phenomenon that participation in a prior impulsive choice task significantly reduces the decision maker’s likelihood of choosing impulsively in a subsequent task. The results of five experiments: (a) provide evidence for the Sequential Mitigation Effect using different study materials and contexts (Experiments 1–3), (b) show that prior impulsive (as opposed to non-impulsive) choice is required for the effect to occur (Experiment 4), and (c) find that the decision maker’s chronic sensitivity to positive and negative outcomes moderates the effect (Experiment 5). The results support the notion that desire for impulsive options functions as a limited motivational resource, and being consumed in the first task, is experienced to a lesser extent in the second task. The sequential mitigation effect may be characterized as a motivational contextual influence on decision making, complementing existing research showing that cognitive context effects influence sequential choices.     

On the nature and direction of relationships between constructs and measures

Theory development typically focuses on relationships among theoretical constructs, placing little emphasis on relationships between constructs and measures. In most cases, constructs are treated as causes of their measures. However, this causal flow is sometimes reversed, such that measures are viewed as causes of constructs. Procedures have been developed to identify and estimate models that specify constructs as causes or effects of measures. However, these procedures provide little guidance for determining a priori whether constructs should be specified as causes or effects of their measures. Moreover, these procedures address few of the possible causal structures by which constructs and measures may be related. This article develops principles for specifying the direction and structure of relationships between constructs and measures. These principles are illustrated using examples from psychological, sociological, and organizational research.     

The Role of Culture and Gender in the Relationship between Positive and Negative Affect

An integrative explanation proposes that culture and gender interact to produce fundamentally different patterns of association between positive and negative emotions. People in independent-based cultures (e.g. the United States) experience emotions in oppositional (i.e. bipolar) ways, whereas people in interdependent-based cultures (e.g. China) experience emotions in dialectic ways. These patterns are stronger for women than men in both cultures. In support of the theory, Study 1 showed that positive and negative emotions are strongly correlated inversely for American women and weakly correlated inversely for American men, but strongly correlated positively for Chinese women and weakly correlated positively for Chinese men. In Study 2, findings for Koreans, although mixed, were closer to the results for Chinese.     

Alternative approaches for thinking about and modeling consumer decisions in relationships

Simpson, Griskevicius, and Rothman identify an understudied area in consumer research (namely, decision making in social relationships), propose an important starting point for enquiry (a dyadic framework), and suggest many fruitful moderators for study that can be incorporated in their framework. After pointing out some boundary conditions and opportunities for future research concerning their suggestions, I consider a recent approach in psychology that applies to a relatively circumscribed domain of social relationships (i.e., the social relations model) and then briefly review an emerging approach (plural subject theory applied to goal-directed behavior) that goes beyond the social relations model and better fits certain psychological and social psychological phenomena in consumer behavior.     

Self-Control and the Self-Regulation of Dieting Decisions: The Role of Prefactual Attitudes,Subjective Norms,and Resistance to Temptation

This article investigates cognitive and motivational decision processes in the pursuit of dieting goals and implements the theory of trying in a field study. The theory of trying is an extension of the theory of planned behavior and investigates the effects on intentions of (a) 3 prefactual attitudes (attitudes toward success, failure, and the process of goal striving), (b) subjective norms, and (c) perceived behavioral control (i.e., resistance to temptation). Dieting decisions of 609 adult women were studied. Perceived behavioral control in the form of resistance to temptation was found to interact with subjective norms to influence intentions, and the 3 forms of prefactual attitudes had additive effects on intentions.     

An investigation of the relationship between work and family size decisions over time

This longitudinal study finds that wife's labor force participation and family size are spuriously correlated. Research data are from the Panel Study of Young Married Couples collected by the Survey Research Laboratory of the University of Illinois. The sample represents a marriage cohort. In 1972, a list of couples married in August of that year and residing in the Chicago metropolitan area was provided by the Illinois Office of Vital Records. Only those couples in which the husband was aged 30 or less were considered. A random sample of 400 couples was drawn from this group. At the start of the survey, the average age of the women was 21 and men 23. Data used in the study consisted of information collected in 1978 and 1980, after 6 and 8 years of marriage. 2 measures of actual labor force behavior of the wife were taken at each of the 2 points in time. Family size was indicated through 3 measures at each point in time, and achievement motivation of the wife was measured with a 5-point bipolar very positive/very negative scale asking for the evaluation of the wife's attitude toward work. Responses from both the husband and wife served as 2 measures of a latent achievement motivation variable in the key informant methodology. 3 dimensions of sex role norms were measured with Scanzoni's Wife's Self-actualization Scale, Traditional Wife Role Scale, and Problematic Husband Alterations Scale. Responses from both spouses were used. Findings indicate that, except for certain special cases, wife's work and family size are not causally related. Although negatively correlated between themselves, wife's work and family size appear to be mutually dependent on achievement motivation of the wife, sex role norms, and the felt value of children. Thus, when the effects of these antecedents are partialled-out, no evidence for causality exists between wife's work and family size outcomes. Evidence suggests that the spouses in a marriage socially construct their role relationships and this then serves as a common antecedent influencing work and family size choices.     

Testing the equivalence of the socialization factor structure for criminals and noncriminals

Considerable evidence supports the criterion-related validity of the Socialization (So) scale of the California Psychological Inventory (Gough, 1948, 1994, 1996) for the prediction of antisocial and prosocial behavior. However, no research has examined the similarity of the So construct for the two populations. Meaningful interpretation of So scores is possible if the factor structure is equivalent for antisocial and prosocial groups.     

The level of effort required for behaviour as a moderator of the attitude–behaviour relation

It was hypothesized that the manner in which attitudes influence behaviour is moderated by the level of effort required to perform a behaviour. The effort needed was manipulated in a field experiment by varying the difficulty of getting access to the attitude object. When the behaviour required substantial effort, the mediating role of intentions was strong, and attitudes had only indirect effects on behaviour, consistent with the theory of reasoned action. When the behaviour required little effort, however, attitudes had a significant direct effect on behaviour, and the mediating role of intentions was reduced. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.