Herscovitch and Meyer’s Three-Component model of commitment to change: Meta-analytic findings

Commitment to change has been subject to several qualitative reviews in recent years. As a response to an associated lack of consensus in construct definition, Herscovitch and Meyer introduced a three-component model demonstrating affective commitment to change (i.e., ACC), normative commitment to change (i.e., NCC) and continuance commitment to change (i.e., CCC). Given the growing literature on organizational change, the aim of this paper is to take stock of a decade of research that uses Herscovitch and Meyer’s instrument to measure these three components. To determine the tool’s discriminant validity we conducted meta-analyses evaluating the strength of relations among ACC, NCC and CCC; the relations among the three components and behavioural support for change; and the moderating role of North American context versus non-North American context in shaping these relationships. Findings based on data collected from 17 studies indicate notable differences in the strength of relationships among ACC–NCC, ACC–CCC and NCC–CCC. Also the pattern of the correlations among the three components and behavioural support reveals interesting extensions and insights for further research into the robustness of this model, and on hitherto under-acknowledged discrepancies in behavioural support for commitment to change research.     

Integrating temporal biases: the interplay of focal thoughts and accessibility experiences

We provide an integrative account of temporal biases (confidence changes, planning fallacy, impact bias, and hindsight bias). Students listed either 3 or 12 thoughts about success or failure before an upcoming real-life exam or immediately after learning their grades. Previous explanations had focused on how thought content alone (what comes to mind) influences temporal biases. We found, however, an interaction between thought content and accessibility experiences (how easily or difficultly thoughts come to mind). Thinking about 3 ways to succeed (success was easy to bring to mind) was equivalent to thinking about 12 ways to fail (failure was difficult to bring to mind), and conversely, thinking about 3 ways to fail was equivalent to thinking about 12 ways to succeed. In no case was thought content alone sufficient to predict the biases. These results have implications for debiasing strategies and other judgments over time.     

Communication of Genetic Information by Other Health Professionals: The Role of the Genetic Counsellor in Specialist Clinics

Many children with chronic genetic diseases are followed by specialty clinics that provide genetic information as part of the care. Health services restrictions in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) can make the wait for an appointment with a genetic counsellor long. We examined whether genetic information was being adequately understood when presented by medical, but non-genetics staff to long term patients, using our national metabolic service as an example. The aim was to inform health professionals about the need or role of a genetic counsellor in a specialist setting. A questionnaire was used to assess knowledge among parents and patients affected by galactosaemia and Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD). Twenty seven families with galactosemia and 10 with MSUD were interviewed in clinic. Comparative analysis showed significant differences in knowledge between parents of children with galactosemia and adult patients (p = 0.001) and between ethnicities (p > 0.05). While parents are well informed, the majority expressed a wish for more information about the condition and its transmission. Adult patients with galactosemia and parents from certain ethnic backgrounds could especially benefit from genetic counselling. This study highlights the need for a genetic counsellor in specialist clinics.     

Psychodynamik und Psychotherapie psychotischer St?rungen

This article gives a review of the options for psychodynamic treatment of patients with psychoses. The various settings for individual treatment as well as group and family therapy will be presented with a special emphasis on modified analytical long-term therapy. For a psychodynamic understanding, which is the basis for this treatment, the most important psychoanalytical models for psychotic disorders will be presented. In addition the current empirical results of non-explicit psychodynamic-oriented research will be referred to, which emphasize the significance of traumatic events in the early phases of life and the importance of narrative elements, whereby the psychodynamic approach experiences both complementation and confirmation.     

Effects of Perceptual Fluency on Affective Judgments

According to a two-step account of the mere-exposure effect, repeated exposure leads to the subjective feeling of perceptual fluency, which in turn influences liking. If so, perceptual fluency manipulated by means other than repetition should influence liking. In three experiments, effects of perceptual fluency on affective judgments were examined. In Experiment 1, higher perceptual fluency was achieved by presenting a matching rather than nonmatching prime before showing a target picture. Participants judged targets as prettier if preceded by a matching rather than nonmatching prime. In Experiment 2, perceptual fluency was manipulated by figure-ground contrast. Stimuli were judged as more pretty, and less ugly, the higher the contrast. In Experiment 3, perceptual fluency was manipulated by presentation duration. Stimuli shown for a longer duration were liked more, and disliked less. We concluded (a) that perceptual fluency increases liking and (b) that the experience of fluency is affectively positive, and hence attributed to positive but not to negative features, as reflected in a different impact on positive and negative judgments.     

Gender concept development of preschool-aged children in the United States and Egypt

Thirty-one American and 31 Egyptian children were given the Slaby-Frey Gender Concept Test to measure gender understanding of children from two cultures assumed to differ in level of androgyny. The subject's sex, age, parent's education, and siblings' sex and age were explored in relation to gender concept. A multivariate analysis of variance (Nationality × Sex of Subject) yielded a significant nationality effect. American children had a higher mean score on gender identity than Egyptian children. In addition, a Pearson product-moment correlation revealed significant positive relationships between the age of the subject and two gender constructs, identity and stability. Future research on specific cognitive, developmental, and cultural influences on the gender development of young children was proposed.     

Judgments of relationship satisfaction: Inter- and intraindividual comparisons as a function of questionnaire structure

Two experiments demonstrate that individuals use an interindividual comparison strategy to evaluate a specific life-domain if their attention is drawn to only one aspect of that domain, that has either positive or negative evaluative implications. If their attention is drawn to two aspects with opposite implications, however, an intraindividual strategy, based on the comparison of both aspects, is preferred. Whether one or two aspects bearing on a specific domain are salient is, among other conditions, a function of the number of aspects assessed in a questionnaire. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed.     

Attribution of Arousal as a Mediator of the Effectiveness of Fear-Arousing Communications1

Before watching a fear-arousing antismoking movie, male smokers were administered a placebo pill that was said to have either arousing, tranquilizing, or no side effects. Subjects reported less intention to reduce smoking when they could attribute their arousal to the presumably arousing pill, and greater intention to do so when they expected the pill to be tranquilizing, than when they expccted no side effects. The self-reported number of cigarettes smoked during a two-week period following the experiment decreased in both the tranquilizing and no side-effects conditions, but not in the arousing side-effects condition. The data on subjects' i]ntentions are consistent with predictions derived from Kelley's discounting and augmentation principles and demunstrate informational functions of affective states. Several explanations concerning the differences between intentions and behavior are discussed, and implications concerning strategies for behavior change are explored.