Knowledge and the Prediction of Behavior: The Role of Information Accuracy in the Theory of Planned Behavior

The usefulness of a combined protection motivation and self-efficacy theory as a model of health enhancement was investigated via a persuasive communications paradigm. Self-efficacy expectancy, outcome expectancy (i.e., perceived response efficacy) and outcome value (i.e., perceived social value) of a health-enhancing behavior were manipulated. As predicted, both self-efficacy expectancy and response efficacy had significant main effects on subjects' intentions to perform the health-enhancing behavior. Outcome value had no significant effect on behavioral intentions. Correlational data indicated that response efficacy was the best single predictor of intentions and that self-efficacy expectancy was also a significant predictor of intentions. Outcome value added no predictability. These results support the utility of the combined protection motivation and self-efficacy theory as a model of health enhancement.     

The effects of metabolic stress and vagotomy on emotional learning in an animal model of anxiety

The aim of the present study is to evaluate the role of the blood glucose (BG) level in emotional learning in the elevated plus maze (EPM), an animal model of anxiety. In Experiment 1, male Wistar rats were submitted to different EPM trial lengths (1- or 5-min). Blood samples were withdrawn before and after the maze exploration, through a polyethylene cannula chronically implanted into the jugular vein. In Experiment 2, the animals received either saline or 2-deoxy-D-glucose, a glucoprivic drug (2-DG, 250 or 500 mg kg(-1)) by i.p. route, 30 min before a 5-min EPM exposure and were retested in the maze (Trial1/Trial2 EPM procedure) 24 h later. In an independent group of rats, blood samples were withdrawn 0, 5, 15, and 30 min after 2-DG administration, through the jugular vein, to determine BG. In Experiment 3, the animals underwent a vagotomy and were tested in a Trial1/Trial2 EPM procedure four weeks later. The results showed that rats exploring the EPM for 5 min displayed increased fear and higher hyperglycemia than those exploring the EPM for 1 min. In addition, rats submitted to 5-min EPM Trial1 length displayed higher level of fear on Trial2, as well as higher percentage of shortening of the %Open arm entries and %Open arm time from Trial1 to Trial2, which characterizes the occurrence of emotional learning. In contrast, rats previously vagotomized or treated with 2-DG (500 mg kg(-1)) showed the same level of fear on both EPM trials and a low percentage of shortening, from Trial1 to Trial2, of the %Open arm entries and %Open arm time, indicating poor emotional learning. The data is discussed regarding the role of glycaemia in emotional learning in the EPM.     

Auditory and visual hallucinations in a sample of severely mentally ill Puerto Rican women: an examination of the cultural context

The content, interpretation, and structure of hallucinations experienced by individuals with severe mental illness are influenced by the culture of the individuals who experience them. We analyzed the content of visual and auditory hallucinations of 53 Puerto Rican women in northeastern Ohio with a diagnosis of a severe mental illness (SMI) who were participating in a study of HIV risk among Hispanic women with SMI. Compared to non-hallucinators, hallucinators had lower global assessment of functioning scores and greater suicidality. Hallucinations reflected three themes: religious themes, command hallucinations, and unidentifiable voices. Hallucinators’ subjective experience of their hallucinations ranged from a sense of security to significant distress. Participants developed a wide range of strategies to deal with threatening hallucinations. Provider response to individuals’ experience appeared to impact the quality of the patient–provider relationship. We recommend the inclusion of religious history in the initial assessment of individuals. This will assist the provider in making an accurate diagnosis, distinguishing between religious beliefs and those that reflect underlying pathology, and in increasing the level of cultural competence of the care provided. Religious and spiritual beliefs that provide a source of hope and strength for the patient can be utilized to expand and enhance the patient's coping strategies.     

Action versus inaction: anticipated affect in the theory of planned behavior

Theory of planned behavior (TPB) variables and anticipated affect were assessed in relation to drinking and avoiding alcohol and in relation to eating and avoiding fast food. It was shown that previously reported residual effects of anticipated affect in the prediction of intentions are obtained only when the TPB variables are assessed with respect to one behavior (action or inaction) and anticipated affect is measured in relation to the alternative behavior. When all variables were assessed with respect to the same behavior, anticipated affect made no independent contribution to the prediction of intentions, nor did anticipated affect retain a residual effect when the TPB constructs in relation to the alternative action were included in the prediction equation.     

Future of Victimized Employees: A Model Based on Long-Run Cascading Effects of Experienced Victimization

ABSTRACT

Victimization has been one of the key research areas in the field of organizational behavior; however, current literature on organizational behavior has not sufficiently discussed the underlying processes that lead to changes in victim's behavior and their life. Proposed framework in this paper discusses long-term effects of victimization in two phases. Phase I elaborates the process through which victimization experiences lead to different emotional responses including anger, fear, and sadness in victimized employees. Phase II discusses the long-run cascading effects of emotions on victim's behavior and health. Overall this study suggests that continuous victimization leads to long-lasting devastating effects on victim's life through development of abusive leadership traits, as well as through destructive effects on their physical and mental health.     

Work–family conflicts,cognitive appraisal,and burnout: Testing the mediation effect with structural equation modelling

Work–family conflict constitutes an important source of occupational stress predicting teachers’ burnout, and cognitive variables have shown to be core structures in explaining human adaptation to stress. Nevertheless, the role of cognitive appraisal needs to be fully analysed to comprehend how it can mediate the relationship between stress and burnout. In order to understand the potential mediation of cognitive appraisal in the relationship between stress and burnout, we adopted conceptual models of stress that highlighted the value of cognitive appraisal on positive and negative reactions to work demands. Also, we analysed the potential moderation of sex and age in the relationship between work–family conflict, cognitive appraisal, and burnout due to inconsistent findings on how these personal variables can interfere on these relations. In this study, we used structural equation modelling (SEM) to test the mediating of cognitive appraisal in the relationship between work–family conflicts and burnout. A survey with measures of work–family conflicts, cognitive appraisal, and burnout was administered to the participants consisting of 438 Portuguese teachers from kindergarten through high school, aged between 28 and 67 years (M = 46.85; SD = 7.88), 304 of whom were females (69.41%). The results confirmed that cognitive appraisal partially mediated the relationship between work–family conflict and burnout. The mediation effect of cognitive appraisal on the relationship between work–family conflict and burnout was invariant regardless of teachers’ sex or age. In sum, cognitive appraisal should be considered in order to understand teachers’ adaptation to work.     

Effective use of the blank comparison procedure in simple discrimination by infant capuchin monkeys: A methodological note

In studies of simple and conditional discrimination, procedures are needed to measure those aspects of stimuli that control behavior. The blank comparison procedure is one such procedure. It was designed explicitly for assessing S+ and S- functions when discriminative stimuli are presented simultaneously. In this procedure, a neutral stimulus serves sometimes as S+ and sometimes as S-. Its discriminative function is defined in relation to other stimuli in the display. The present study aimed to prepare 2 infant female capuchin monkeys for the effective use of the blank comparison procedure in a simple discrimination task. First, simple discrimination training was applied up to a stable accuracy criterion of ≥90%. This training was followed by the replacement of S+ and then of S- stimuli with new stimuli. Ultimately, trials with the blank comparison were introduced. Following this sequence, both monkeys immediately displayed highly accurate blank-comparison performances without the need for stimulus control shaping or other preparatory discrimination training. Thus, this procedure sequence may be an efficient, effective method for establishing blank-comparison baselines for experimental analyses of S+/S- discriminative functions and perhaps for other applications in teaching simple and conditional discrimination performances to this species and others.