Resolving the theory of planned behaviour's ‘expectancy-value muddle’ using dimensional salience

The theory of planned behaviour is one of the most widely used models of decision-making in the health literature. Unfortunately, the primary method for assessing the theory's belief-based expectancy-value models results in statistically uninterpretable findings, giving rise to what has become known as the ‘expectancy-value muddle’. Moreover, existing methods for resolving this muddle are associated with various conceptual or practical limitations. This study addresses these issues by identifying and evaluating a parsimonious method for resolving the expectancy-value muddle. Three hundred and nine Australian residents aged 18–24 years rated the expectancy and value of 18 beliefs about posthumous organ donation. Participants also nominated their five most salient beliefs using a dimensional salience approach. Salient beliefs were perceived as being more likely to eventuate than non-salient beliefs, indicating that salient beliefs could be used to signify the expectancy component. The expectancy-value term was therefore represented by summing the value ratings of salient beliefs, an approach that predicted attitude (adjusted R ²?=?0.21) and intention (adjusted R ²?=?0.21). These findings suggest that the dimensional salience approach is a useful method for overcoming the expectancy-value muddle in applied research settings.     

Introducing Assertiveness Training in Hungary

Abstract

The preliminary results of an evaluation of a systematic assertiveness training programme (based on a cognitive-behavioural approach) in psychiatric care in Hungary are presented. The method adopted was specific to the Hungarian/Middle-European circumstances since people had difficulty in exercising their personal rights in the past. In groups of “neurotic” patients and comparison subjects three questionnaires (the Rathus-scale (R), the Assertiveness Inventory (AI) and the Uncertainty Questionnaire (UQ)) were administered at the beginning and at the end of the treatment. The training programme consisted of eight sessions with an emphasis on education about assertiveness and on the practice of skills such as saying “no” or standing up for oneself. A statistical analysis indicated significant improvement in the social skills of the participants, while an item analysis showed high internal consistency in all three questionnaires, and a concurrent validity analysis revealed a strong correlation between the Rathus-scale and the Assertiveness Inventory. The results indicate that assertiveness training can be used effectively in mental health care in Hungary.     

Determinants of coach motivation and autonomy supportive coaching behaviours

ObjectiveThe objective of the present study is to build upon the existing literature examining the coaching context and how it relates to coaches' use of autonomy-supportive interpersonal behaviours (i.e. Stebbings, Taylor, Spray, & Ntoumanis, 2012) by identifying additional environmental factors and exploring the role of coach motivation.DesignAn academic model designed by Pelletier, Seguin-Levesque, and Legault (2002) to predict teacher motivation and autonomy-supportive styles in academic settings, was adapted to the coaching context.MethodsThe influence of pressure from above (sport administrations) and pressure from below (athlete motivation) on coach motivation and autonomy-supportive coaching behaviours was tested using structural equation modeling.ResultsResults support the fit of the model in a sport context.ConclusionsPressure from above, pressure from below, and coach motivation predict coaches’ reported use of autonomy-supportive behaviours.     

亲社会视频游戏对国外青少年行为的影响

视频游戏对青少年行为影响的研究焦点主要集中在暴力视频游戏带来的消极影响上。随着研究的深入以及积极心理学的兴起,研究者开始关注亲社会视频游戏对青少年行为的积极影响,并进行了相关的研究,研究大多以一般学习模型为理论框架。一般学习模型认为亲社会视频游戏通过影响与亲社会相关的认知、情感和生理唤醒而对亲社会行为产生作用。已有研究显示,亲社会视频游戏会促进青少年的亲社会行为,同时减少青少年的攻击性行为。研究者们采用多种方法探索亲社会视频游戏影响青少年行为的心理机制,证明了一般学习模型的理论构想。未来研究需要进一步研究性别、人格、文化等因素的影响,并开展相关的认知神经机制研究。     

Graduate employment status and health: a longitudinal analysis of the transition from student

The prevalence of unemployment and underemployment was explored longitudinally in 248 recent graduates (73 males and 175 females) over an 18–24 month transition from final year student to 9–12 months post-graduation. Over this period changes in levels of psychological distress, health behaviours, social support, optimism and achievement motivation were measured. Results show that both unemployment and underemployment have deleterious effects on psychological and physical health, social support, optimism and achievement motivation.

Safety behaviour: a reconsideration

There is ample evidence that the use of safety behaviour can interfere with the progress of therapy, particularly if exposure is involved. As a result, it is widely asserted that safety behaviour is anti-therapeutic. However, an unqualified rejection of safety behaviour should be reconsidered because we now have theoretical justification, experimental evidence and clinical observations showing that the judicious use of safety behaviour, especially in the early stages of treatment, can be facilitative. Experiments in which escape behaviour facilitated fear reduction, and others in which the use of safety gear facilitated fear reduction, are reviewed. It also appears that safety behaviour does not necessarily prevent disconfirmatory experiences. We propose that additional investigations of the judicious use of safety behaviour will help to elucidate therapeutic uses of safety behaviour in the treatment of anxious and related types of psychopathology.     

Enhanced recognition of emotional stimuli in the chimpanzee (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pan troglodytes</Emphasis>)

Humans often have a better memory of emotional events than neutral events. From the comparative-cognitive perspective, we explored the enhancement of recognition memory by emotion in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) using a serial probe recognition task. In this task, we sequentially presented a list of pictures to subjects and then tested their recognition of specific pictures from within the list. We selected pictures of aggressive chimpanzees as emotional stimuli and less tensed, relaxed chimpanzees as neutral stimuli. In Experiment 1, we gave four-item lists to two young chimpanzees; one showed significantly greater recognition of pictures depicting aggressive chimpanzees than neutral ones. In Experiment 2, this chimpanzee was further tested using a recognition task with eight-item lists. The subject again showed better recognition of emotional stimuli than neutral. Furthermore, the presence of an emotional stimulus in the list also facilitated recognition of the neutral item immediately following it. Overall, although only one of the two chimpanzees showed enhanced recognition memory by emotional stimuli, this is the first demonstration of such a response in the chimpanzee. The findings are discussed in comparison with those of human studies.     

Socially oriented values and reciprocity norm predict organizational commitment

The current research concerns the predictors and organizational outcomes of normative commitment in Chinese companies. In Study 1, using a semi-structured interview, we identified internalization of socially oriented value and reciprocity norm as two possible predictors of normative commitment. Survey results confirm the factorial independence of these two predictors. Study 2 examined the predictive relationship of these predictors with employee job satisfaction, turnover intention, in-role performance, and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB). The results showed that value internalization predicts higher job satisfaction and weaker turnover intentions via normative commitment, whereas reciprocity predicts higher job satisfaction, weaker turnover intention, and more frequent display of OCB via normative commitment. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for future research and management practices.     

Growth and social behavior of previously undernourished mice

Developing mice were growth-retarded by underfeeding of their mothers during lactation. Control mothers were well nourished throughout. All offspring were fed ad libitum from weaning till their behaviour was tested in adulthood. The undernourished mice had weight deficits at weaning of 49% compared with controls. Nevertheless, they showed partial catch-up growth thereafter, in that their absolute weight deficits decreased between weaning and adulthood. Social behaviour observations were made on pairs of mice of the same treatment group. Previously undernourished mice were slower to start attacking one another, spent more time near or in contact with one another and did less tail-rattling than their controls.     

The impact of feedback from job and task autonomy in the relationship between dispositional resistance to change and innovative work behaviour

Building on an interactionist approach, the present study investigated the moderating role of two task design characteristics, namely task autonomy and feedback from job, in the relationship between dispositional resistance to change and innovative work behaviour. Consistent with a trait activation perspective, it was specifically hypothesized that dispositional resistance to change would have a stronger, positive association with innovative performance when autonomy and feedback were high than when they were low. In a sample of 270 employees from the public sector, task autonomy was found to significantly interact with both composite resistance to change and with three of the four dimensions (routine seeking, short-term thinking, and emotional reaction). Simple slope analyses specifically revealed that individuals high in short-term thinking and emotional reaction exhibited positive relationships with innovative behaviour only in the case of high task autonomy, whereas in the case of low autonomy the relationship was nonsignificant. Furthermore, feedback from job was found to moderate the relationship between overarching dispositional resistance to change, short-term thinking, and emotional reaction, on one hand, and innovative performance, on the other, such that a positive and significant association emerged only in the case of high feedback.