Predicting parental sunscreen use: Disentangling the role of action planning in the intention–behavior relationship

Structural equation modeling was used to examine antecedents of parental sunscreen use (N = 436) in a longitudinal design. The influence of a volitional planning cognition was assessed in several path models, investigating potential mediation and moderation of the intention–behavior relationship. Premotivational and motivational variables accounted for 55.1% of the variance in intention to use sunscreen. Intention emerged as the most powerful predictor of behavior, followed by action planning and self-efficacy expectations, together explaining 35.4% of parental sunscreen use after five months. Strong support was found for both mediating and moderating influences of action planning on the intention–behavior relationship. Action planning also partially mediated the impact of self-efficacy on behavior. The results support theoretical considerations to add postintentional cognitions to current health behavior models. Although action planning is an important component in the transition from intention to behavior, the impact of intention and of other premotivational and motivational variables should not be overlooked when developing health educational interventions.     

The role of risk perception in explaining parental sunscreen use

Objective: This study assessed: (1) whether risk perceptions about skin cancer were related to parent's use of sunscreen on their children; (2) which combination of assessments susceptibility and severity best explain parental sunscreen protection behaviours and (3) whether risk perceptions influence behaviour directly through intentions or through attitudes, subjective norms and self-efficacy.

Design: Two longitudinal studies assessed sunscreen protection behaviours of parents for their toddlers (N?=?391) and young children (N?=?436).

Main outcome measure: Parent's use of sunscreen on their children.

Results: Risk perceptions correlated with future sunscreen protection behaviours of parents but were lower than those of attitude, social influence and self-efficacy. Treating susceptibility and severity as an additive function resulted in the best model fit. Risk perceptions were related with future intention and future sunscreen protection behaviour, but the effects were mediated through attitude, social influence and self-efficacy.

Conclusions: Our path analyses suggest treating susceptibility and severity as an additive function. A multiplicative model without main effects – although often used – had the poorest fit. Risk perceptions influence behaviour by influencing attitudinal and self-efficacy beliefs. Addressing risk perceptions in health communication programs is relevant when the purpose is to increase awareness and to influence attitudes and self-efficacy.     

Women Stay Local, Men Go National and Global? Gender Differences in Political Interest

This study challenges the idea that women are less interested in politics than men by arguing that women are not less interested in politics but, rather, are interested in different issues. I decompose the concept of general political interest into interest in local, national and international issues and investigate gender differences in interest in these different issues, as well as in politics in general. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analyses, based on data collected in 2011 (British Participation Survey) on a representative sample of British citizens (N?=?1,353), reveal no substantial gender difference in interest in local issues. Once political efficacy is controlled for, however, women are more likely than men to be interested in local issues. Furthermore, women are less likely to be interested in national and international issues, as well as politics in general, than men. Further analyses demonstrate that part of the gap in general political interest may be explained by the fact that interest in politics is primarily understood as interest in national politics, an issue in which men are more likely to be interested than women. In summary, the results highlight the need to clarify the concept of ‘politics’ and to move towards the notion that women and men are interested in different issues, rather than the notion that women are less politically interested than men.     

Are smokers interested in genetic testing for smoking addiction? A socio-cognitive approach

Genetic advances have made genetically tailored smoking cessation treatments possible. In this study, we examined whether smokers are interested in undergoing a genetic test to identify their genetic susceptibility to nicotine addiction. In addition, we aimed to identify socio-cognitive determinants of smokers' intention to undergo genetic testing. Following the protection motivation theory (PMT), we assessed the following constructs using an online survey among 587 smokers: threat appraisal (i.e. susceptibility and severity), fear, coping appraisal (i.e. response efficacy and self-efficacy), response costs and intention. In addition, knowledge, social norms and information-seeking behaviour were measured. Mean intention rates were 2.57 on a 5-point scale. Intention was significantly associated with threat appraisal and coping appraisal, as predicted by the PMT. Fear of the outcome was negatively associated with the intention to undergo genetic testing, but response costs, knowledge and social influence were not. Intention to undergo genetic testing in turn was positively related to seeking information about genetic testing and genetically tailored smoking cessation treatments. Smokers seem ambivalent or 'on the fence' with regard to undergoing a genetic test for smoking addiction. Socio-cognitive concepts such as susceptibility, severity, response efficacy and self-efficacy may be used to inform or educate smokers about the value of genetically tailored smoking cessation treatments.     

Specifying theories of developmental dyslexia: a diffusion model analysis of word recognition

The nature of word recognition difficulties in developmental dyslexia is still a topic of controversy. We investigated the contribution of phonological processing deficits and uncertainty to the word recognition difficulties of dyslexic children by mathematical diffusion modeling of visual and auditory lexical decision data. The first study showed that poor visual lexical decision performance of reading disabled children was mainly due to a delay in the evaluation of word characteristics, suggesting impaired phonological processing. The adoption of elevated certainty criteria by the disabled readers suggests that uncertainty contributed to the visual word recognition impairments as well. The second study replicated the outcomes for visual lexical decision with formally diagnosed dyslexic children. In addition, during auditory lexical decision, dyslexics presented with reduced accuracy, which also resulted from delayed evaluation of word characteristics. Since orthographic influences are diminished during auditory lexical decision, this strengthens the phonological processing deficit account. Dyslexic children did not adopt heightened certainty criteria during auditory lexical decision, indicating that uncertainty solely impairs reading and not listening.     

Teacher–child conflict and aggressive behaviour in first grade: the intervening role of children's self‐esteem

High levels of teacher–child conflict have repeatedly been found to amplify children's aggressive behaviour. Up to now, however, research on possible mechanisms explaining this link is largely lacking. The current study aimed to test whether children's self‐esteem is an intervening mechanism. Participants were 139 children (70 boys, M age = 6.18 years) and their teachers from 35 classes in 19 schools who were followed longitudinally throughout first grade. Teacher–child conflict was measured during the first trimester (October to December), children's self‐esteem (three child interviews) during the second trimester (January to March) and children's aggressive behaviour during the first and third trimester (April to June). Teacher–child conflict had a significant indirect effect on changes in children's aggressive behaviour across first grade through its effect on children's self‐esteem. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gender ratio,societal culture,and male and female leadership

Top management teams are worldwide largely composed of men, with relatively few female members. The gender ratio in top management is indicative of the position of women in management within the organization, as well as related to leadership behaviours of male and female managers. In the present study, the relative importance of societal culture, organizational, and individual characteristics in explaining leadership behaviours and the associations of gender and gender ratio with leadership behaviours are studied. Hypotheses are tested with multi‐level analyses using a dataset with information from subordinates rating leadership behaviours of 12,546 managers in 437 organizations in 32 countries. The results show that in a three‐level model (i.e., societal, organizational, and individual level) to explain leadership behaviours, differences in leadership behaviours are predominantly explained by individual differences, followed by organizational and societal differences. Further, after controlling for societal influences, a higher gender ratio (relatively more female managers), was positively associated with consideration and negatively related to initiating structure. Moreover, for male managers, there was a negative association between gender ratio and initiating structure, indicating that male managers in organizations with more female managers tend to engage less in initiating structure, whereas the leadership behaviours of female managers were not associated with the gender ratio.     

The Role of Teacher Behavior Management in the Development of Disruptive Behaviors: An Intervention Study with the Good Behavior Game

The role of teacher behavior management for children’s disruptive behavior development (hyperactive and oppositional behavior) was investigated using a universal classroom preventive intervention study. Five-hundred seventy children were followed from second to third grade of elementary school. Observations of teacher behavior management and children’s on-task and off-task classroom behavior and peer reports of hyperactive and oppositional behavior were available. Results showed that the reduced use of negative remarks of intervention teachers predicted children’s increase in on-task behavior and decrease in talking-out behavior. These improved children’s classroom behaviors in turn mediated the impact of the intervention on the development of hyperactive and oppositional behavior over the studied period. These results were similar for girls and boys. The results underscore the role of teachers’ classroom management strategies in improving children’s classroom behavior, which, in turn is an important component in the reduction of disruptive behavior development.