Neuroticism,conscientiousness and fruit consumption: Exploring mediator and moderator effects in the theory of planned behaviour

Integrating the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) with the five-factor model (FFM) of personality may provide insight into the cognitive and motivational mechanisms linking personality with health behaviour, but this issue has received very little attention regarding fruit consumption. Mediator effects of TPB concepts in the personality–fruit consumption link, as well as moderator effects of personality in the intention–fruit consumption link, were therefore investigated in the present study. Data on fruit consumption, TPB concepts and FFM dimensions were gathered among 405 respondents in face-to-face interviews using questionnaires. Structural equation modelling was used to investigate the mediator and moderator effects. The direct effect of conscientiousness on fruit consumption was mediated by attitude and perceived behavioural control, while no direct effect of neuroticism on fruit consumption was found. Neuroticism moderated the intention–fruit consumption relationship with the weakest relationship for those scoring high on neuroticism. Conscientiousness did not moderate the intention–fruit consumption relationship. TPB variables are mediators in the conscientiousness–fruit consumption link. Whether fruit consumption is intentional may be dependent upon the personality dimension neuroticism. Personality dimensions may be a useful addition to the TPB and should be considered in health behaviour change interventions.     

The Letter and the Witness: Agamben,Heidegger, and Derrida

In Remnants of Auschwitz, Agamben introduces a particular conception of bearing witness to overcome the problems contained in an account of language that depends on the voice or the letter. From his earlier work, it is clear that his critique of the voice and the letter is not only directed to ancient and medieval metaphysics, but also concerns Heidegger's account of the voice and Derrida's account of the letter and writing. Yet, if Agamben is correct in claiming that bearing witness offers an alternative to Heidegger's voice and Derrida's letter, it is remarkable – a fact unnoticed in the available literature – that Agamben does not discuss how these conceptions of the voice and the letter are intrinsically connected to the problem of testimony for Heidegger as well as Derrida. To show how this lack of attention to bearing witness in Heidegger and Derrida affects Agamben's critique, this article proceeds as follows. First, we interpret Agamben's critique of Heidegger's conception of the voice and Derrida's conception of writing in terms of the presuppositional constitution of metaphysics. Second, we describe Agamben's concept of the witness and indicate how it offers an alternative to this presuppositional constitution of metaphysics. Finally, we show which role bearing witness plays in Heidegger's voice and Derrida's letter, and how our analysis presents a more precise version of Agamben's critique.     

Effects of Affordance Perception on the Initiation and Actualization of Action

Studies have shown information specifying some affordances may be faster or easier to perceive than others. This article investigates the effect of affordance perception on the time taken to initiate and perform an action. In particular it focuses on how action timing varies as a function of a continuum of afforded action, that is, around an action-boundary. In Experiment 1, participants made judgments regarding whether they could fit a small ball through a series of different size apertures. Judgments were quick and accurate at the extremes of the affordance scale; however, at the perceived action-boundary longer, more variable initiation times (ITs) were observed. Trials repeated over 3 consecutive days revealed a systematic change in the IT distribution and demonstrated that IT is highly sensitive to changes in location of the perceived action-boundary. In Experiment 2 effects of action-scaling were observed on IT and movement time of afforded actions: around the perceived action-boundary the afforded action took longer to be both perceived and acted upon. The results highlight that affordance perception influences not only action selection and preparation but also the action itself. The findings are discussed in terms of the informational basis of action responses.     

Online communication, compulsive Internet use, and psychosocial well-being among adolescents: a longitudinal study

The present study investigated the relationships between adolescents' online communication and compulsive Internet use, depression, and loneliness. The study had a 2-wave longitudinal design with an interval of 6 months. The sample consisted of 663 students, 318 male and 345 female, ages 12 to 15 years. Questionnaires were administered in a classroom setting. The results showed that instant messenger use and chatting in chat rooms were positively related to compulsive Internet use 6 months later. Moreover, in agreement with the well-known HomeNet study (R. Kraut et al., 1998), instant messenger use was positively associated with depression 6 months later. Finally, loneliness was negatively related to instant messenger use 6 months later.     

The role of haptic exploration of ground surface information in perception of overhead reachability

The authors performed an experiment in which participants (N = 24) made judgments about maximum jump and reachability on ground surfaces with different elastic properties: sand and a trampoline. Participants performed judgments in two conditions: (a) while standing and after having recently jumped on the surface in question and (b) while standing on a third control surface, eliminating haptic exploration of the surface in question. There was a high correlation between perceived maximum reachable height and actual maximum reachable height in all conditions. Judging performance on the basis of visual and haptic exploration of ground surface information was slightly overestimated, whereas performance on the basis of visual information alone was underestimated and variable for the different surfaces. The authors discuss possible causes for the observed errors. They emphasize that there is a considerable nonvisual aspect to the nature of the information specifying affordances for overhead reach and jumping and that perceptual performance is degraded when spontaneous exploratory movement is restricted.     

Joseph schumpeter and his legacy in innovation studies

Inspired by the recent rediscovery of work of Schumpeter in science and policymaking the author reviews and appraises Schumpeterian theory and that of his followers in innovation studies. Although Schumpeter’s vision suffers from some defects, I argue that there is more to learn from this author than his well-known idea of “creative destruction”. In particular, Schumpeter’s view on innovation policy is something that may have vital relevance to today’s increasingly policy-dominated world. We therefore conclude that besides his key ideas on innovation-led development also his policy view should be regarded as a significant legacy in innovation studies.     

Disappointed in you, angry about your offer: Distinct negative emotions induce concessions via different mechanisms

Does it help or hurt to communicate negative emotions in bargaining? In this article, we propose that behavioral effects are dependent on the type of negative emotion that is communicated and whether such emotions are directed at the offer or the person. We show that the two negative emotions anger and disappointment have opposing effects in negotiations: anger pays when it is directed at the offer, but disappointment pays when it is directed at the person. Offer-directed anger elicits higher offers than person-directed anger, because people infer higher limits from opponents who communicate offer-directed anger. Person-directed disappointment elicits higher offers in others than offer-directed disappointment, because it evokes higher feelings of guilt. Our findings thus show that the interpersonal effects of anger and disappointment in negotiation depend critically on the target of the emotion, and that their effects can be explained by different processes.     

Antecedents of self identity and consequences for action control: An application of the theory of planned behaviour in the exercise domain

ObjectivesTo study whether exercise action control profiles should be usefully extended to include exercise identity. Further, this study investigated theory of planned behaviour antecedents of exercise identity.DesignProspective data from 413 undergraduate students (M age = 21.4; 73.5% females).MethodValidated questionnaires were used at baseline and follow-up two weeks later to assess exercise behaviour, intention, self-identity, and theory of planned behaviour concepts. Research questions were analysed using chi-square analysis, discriminant function analysis and structural equation modelling. Results were interpreted using p-values and effect sizes.ResultsThere was a higher proportion of exercise intenders in the strong exercise identity group than in the weak exercise identity group (81.9% vs. 14.5%) and a higher proportion of successful intenders in the high exercise identity group than in the low exercise identity group (45.5% vs. 18.2%). Affective attitude and perceived behavioural control (PBC) were the most important predictors of exercise action control. Regarding the antecedents of identity, results showed significant and small-sized associations for baseline affective attitude and perceived behavioural control and large-sized association for baseline self-identity.ConclusionExercise identity should be usefully employed to understand exercise motivation and action control. Affective attitude and perceived behavioural control facilitate action control and exercise identity development and are suggested to be taken into account when developing exercise interventions.     

Base on balls for the Chapman strategy: Reassessing Brouwer, Brenner, and Smeets (2002)

A true understanding of skilled behavior includes the identification of the information that underlies the perception?Caction cycle at work. Often, observers?? sensitivity to perceptual variables is established in laboratory-situated simulation-based psychophysical experiments. The observers?? sensitivity thus determined is then used to draw conclusions that will generalize the findings to natural behavior. Focusing on the example of running to catch fly balls, the present contribution takes the study of Brouwer, Brenner, and Smeets (Perception & Psychophysics 64:1160?C1168, 2002) to illustrate how common assumptions in the steps from psychophysical experiments to natural behavior can result in ungrounded conclusions. These authors built an argument to reject the use of the Chapman strategy of zeroing out optical acceleration. For this argument, they determined the sensitivity of the visual system to acceleration, assuming that acceleration is detected as a velocity ratio. Next, they showed that catchers started running earlier than could be expected on the basis of sensitivity thresholds for this velocity ratio, concluding that running initiation could not have been based on optical acceleration. In the present study, we argue that important assumptions in the Brouwer et al. (Perception & Psychophysics 64:1160?C1168, 2002) line of argument are incorrect. First, we show how the assumption of parabolic ball flight trajectories, although convenient, biased Brouwer et al.??s (Perception & Psychophysics 64:1160?C1168, 2002) conclusion. Next, we present an experiment revealing that observers do not base their judgments of acceleration on the velocity ratio. Thus, we demonstrate that Brouwer et al.??s (Perception & Psychophysics 64:1160?C1168, 2002) argument that optical acceleration cannot serve as the information for running to catch fly balls does not hold.