Illness Identity in Adults with a Chronic Illness

The present study examines the concept of illness identity, the degree to which a chronic illness is integrated into one’s identity, in adults with a chronic illness by validating a new self-report questionnaire, the Illness Identity Questionnaire (IIQ). Self-report questionnaires on illness identity, psychological, and physical functioning were assessed in two samples: adults with congenital heart disease (22–78 year old; n?=?276) and with multisystem connective tissue disorders (systemic lupus erythematosus or systemic sclerosis; 17–81 year old; n?=?241). The IIQ could differentiate four illness identity states (i.e., engulfment, rejection, acceptance, and enrichment) in both samples, based on exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. All four subscales proved to be reliable. Rejection and engulfment were related to maladaptive psychological and physical functioning, whereas acceptance and enrichment were related to adaptive psychological and physical functioning. The present findings underscore the importance of the concept of illness identity. The IIQ, a self-report questionnaire, is introduced to measure four different illness identity states in adults with a chronic illness.     

The Happiness of Giving: Evidence from the German Socioeconomic Panel That Happier People Are More Generous

This study explores the causal direction between happiness and charitable giving. Through the application of Cohen’s path analysis, the main purpose of the study is to find evidence which of the possible causal directions—the one from giving to happiness or from happiness to giving—is the more dominant one. To that aim the authors use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel 2009/10. In a sample of 6906 donors, the relationships between monetary giving and life satisfaction were assed. Furthermore, we controlled for different variables such as age, gender, and marital status. Contradictory to the hypotheses development, the results of the Cohen’s path analysis indicate that the causal direction from happiness to charitable giving is the more dominant one. Through the study and our initial results we contribute to theory by highlighting the ambiguous causal relationship between the focal constructs and provide a statistical method to investigate such unclear causal relationships. We discuss how happiness, particularly the affective aspect, can be utilized by nonprofit managers to raise fundraising effectiveness and suggest areas for further research.     

Implementation intention and planning interventions in Health Psychology: Recommendations from the Synergy Expert Group for research and practice

The current article details a position statement and recommendations for future research and practice on planning and implementation intentions in health contexts endorsed by the Synergy Expert Group. The group comprised world-leading researchers in health and social psychology and behavioural medicine who convened to discuss priority issues in planning interventions in health contexts and develop a set of recommendations for future research and practice. The expert group adopted a nominal groups approach and voting system to elicit and structure priority issues in planning interventions and implementation intentions research. Forty-two priority issues identified in initial discussions were further condensed to 18 key issues, including definitions of planning and implementation intentions and 17 priority research areas. Each issue was subjected to voting for consensus among group members and formed the basis of the position statement and recommendations. Specifically, the expert group endorsed statements and recommendations in the following areas: generic definition of planning and specific definition of implementation intentions, recommendations for better testing of mechanisms, guidance on testing the effects of moderators of planning interventions, recommendations on the social aspects of planning interventions, identification of the preconditions that moderate effectiveness of planning interventions and recommendations for research on how people use plans.     

Fair and dependent versus egoistic and free: effects of semantic and evaluative priming on the ‘Ring Measure of Social Values’

Two experiments investigated the influence of priming trait concepts associated with cooperation versus competition on cooperative choices in the ‘Ring Measure of Social Values’. While models of associative memory explain priming effects on immediate associative responses, they fail to provide a sufficient account for the impact of priming on deliberate, voluntary behaviours, because the same activated concepts (e.g. ‘strong’, ‘profit’, ‘success’) may foster opposite behavioural tendencies (i.e. raise competitive impulses or remind the individual of a cooperation norm). The hypothesis is proposed and tested that the evaluative component of the prime stimuli moderates the behavioural tendency (approach versus avoidance) elicited by the semantic priming component. Accordingly, Experiment 1 shows that both positively toned concepts linked to cooperation as well as negatively toned concepts linked to competition lead to increased cooperative choices. Experiment 2 demonstrates that simple, invariant properties of the prime stimuli are more readily extracted than more complex, interactive prime relations. In general, the priming effects are confined to subjects who lack a consistent, pre-experimental value orientation. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The socioecological model of procommunity action: the benefits of residential stability

The authors conducted 3 studies to test a socioecological model of procommunity action. Study 1 showed that residents of stable communities purchased a "critical habitat" license plate to support preservation of the environment in their home state more often than did residents of mobile communities. Study 2 demonstrated that home game baseball attendance was less dependent on the team's record in stable cities than in mobile cities. Study 3, an experiment, showed that residential stability had a causal impact on procommunity behavior. Moreover, the effect of stability was partially mediated by identification with the "community." Together, these studies indicate that residential stability can lead to stronger identification with one's community, which, in turn, leads to more procommunity behaviors.     

Diminished plantar cutaneous sensation and postural control

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of diminished plantar cutaneous sensation induced by cooling on postural control during double- and single-limb quiet standing. 32 healthy adults were tested on an intervention day and control day. The intervention consisted of 10 min. of ice immersion of the plantar aspect of the feet prior to balance testing. Dependent variables were center of pressure velocity and area during double- and single-limb stance with eyes open and closed. Significant interactions were found between sensation and vision for double-limb center of pressure area, with a significant reduction in area of center of pressure excursions after reducing sensation with eyes closed but not with eyes open. The area of center of pressure excursions may have been reduced in an effort to curtail exploratory postural behavior given the altered afferent input from plantar receptors. There were no significant differences for plantar hypoesthesia in single-limb stance.     

Why the way we consider the body matters – Reflections on four bioethical perspectives on the human body

Background  

Within the context of applied bioethical reasoning, various conceptions of the human body are focused upon by the author in relation to normative notions of autonomy.     

The "spare parts person"? Conceptions of the human body and their implications for public attitudes towards organ donation and organ sale

Background  

The increasing debate on financial incentives for organ donation raises concerns about a "commodification of the human body". Philosophical-ethical stances on this development depend on assumptions concerning the body and how people think about it. In our qualitative empirical study we analyze public attitudes towards organ donation in their specific relation to conceptions of the human body in four European countries (Cyprus, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden). This approach aims at a more context-sensitive picture of what "commodification of the body" can mean in concrete clinical decisions concerning organ donation.