The psychological construal of health behaviors

IntroductionIn order to optimize the effectiveness of behavior change interventions, we need to understand how the construal level – how we mentally represent or construe events or behaviors – influences health-related choices.ObjectiveTo examine the impact of mental construal on health decisions. Based on the Construal Level Theory, we predicted that people would give more weight to “cognitive considerations” when making a choice after being primed with the high-level perspective, whereas they would give higher weights to “sensory considerations” after being primed with the low-level perspective.MethodIn the first experiment, ninety-nine participants were primed with either high-level or low-level perspective across decision scenarios about vaccination and physical safety. The second experiment investigated nutrition decisions, which asked seventy participants to taste food that either had no label or was labelled “organic”. Organic label should prime high-level construal as it implies outcomes (e.g., product quality and healthiness) that are more distant in time and uncertain, in contrast with sensory dimensions (e.g. taste and appearance), which are immediately present. Participants rated cognitive and sensory considerations as well as action intentions.ResultsThe first study revealed that after the priming with the high-level construal, cognitive considerations became more important than sensory considerations in predicting protective action intentions, whereas after priming with the low-level construal, sensory considerations became more important. The second study revealed that only sensory considerations predicted decisions to consume the non-labelled product and only the cognitive score predicted decisions to consume the organic-labelled product.ConclusionWe demonstrated a moderating effect of construal-level mindset in health-protective decisions. We also discuss the implications for health promotion and policy, such as optimizing the effectiveness of behavior change interventions.     

Die Therapeutische Allianz

Zusammenfassung Ausgehend von frühen Konzeptionen der therapeutischen Allianz wird die Entwicklungsgeschichte des Konstrukts verfolgt. Es wird die Behauptung aufgestellt, dass seine Attraktivität in der Psychotherapieforschung vor allem von der Beziehung zum Therapieerfolg herrührt. Es gibt aber durchaus auch kritische Stimmen, denen die vorherrschende Auffassung zu positivistisch ist. Von einem Forschungsgesichtspunkt aus werden verschiedene Vorgehensweisen betrachtet, mit einer Zusammenfassung von Ergebnissen zur Perspektive der therapeutischen Allianz als Patienten- beziehungsweise therapeutenzentrierte Persönlichkeitsvariable, als Interaktions- oder Kommunikationsvariable. Da die therapeutische Allianz ursprünglich ein psychoanalytisches Konzept ist, und ihre Beziehung zur Übertragung ein immer wiederkehrendes Thema darstellt, wird auch hier diesem Aspekt besondere Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet. Die Darstellung schließt auch den Versuch ein, den Stellenwert der therapeutischen Allianz in verschiedenen Therapierichtungen und verschiedenen therapeutischen Settings zu erfassen. Es werden häufiger verwendete Skalen beschrieben und Versuche, ihre Ähnlichkeit nachzuweisen, zusammengefasst. Auch die mit Hilfe dieser Skalen erreichten Aussagen über typische Verläufe von Allianz kommen zur Sprache.     

Le rôle de la mémoire de travail dans la production écrite de textes

Integration of capacity (Just and Carpenter, 1992) and componentiel (Baddeley, 1986) conceptions of working memory in models of text composition (Hayes, 1996 ; Kellogg, 1996 ; McCutchen, 1996) has allowed studying several facets of the role of working memory in writing acquisition and in expert management of the writing processes. This article presents these two conceptions and examines their respective contribution in the field of writing research from two perspectives: The demands of the writing processes (in terms of processing and transient storage) and the influence of working memory capacity on the control of production. The conclusion underlines the importance of investigating the on-line management of text production, the role of the visuo-spatial sketchpad, and to link strategies for allocating the working memory resources with text quality.     

Équité, Solidarité et Justice Perçue des Décisions de Recrutement Professionnel : Effets du Point de Vue de l'Observateur,de la Valence de la Décision et du Caractère contrôlable de la Cause du Besoin

The experience tested the effects of the observer’s point of view, of the valence of the decision, and of the controllable causality of the need on the consideration of the contributions and of the needs in the fairness perceptions from a decision of recruitment. Some recruiters and job- seekers judged the fairness of decisions of the recruitment of applicants which were described by their performance during a work sample test and by their professional position. The results showed that both variables had an effect on the judgments. Nevertheless the recruiters attached more importance to the performance and less to the professional position and to the hiring decision than the job seekers. Some implications in terms of affirmative action policies and communication were discussed.     

Approche dynamique et temporalité en psychologie sociale

The purpose was to specify the advantages and limits of the dynamical perspective proposed by Nowak et Vallacher (1998) for social psychology studies. This perspective contributes massively to new knowledge in economy, biology and motor control. Theoretical models, methods, self-assessment tools, and time series analyses are now available for addressing hypotheses that nomothetical approach has let unanswered, and to determine the impact of daily events on self-perception.     

Partage des tâches parentales au sein des couples de mères lesbiennes françaises ayant eu recours à une insémination artificielle avec donneur anonyme

This study, based on a questionnaire survey, examines the division of labor within 52 lesbian couples in France raising at least one child between 6 months and 5 years of age, conceived by anonymous donor insemination. Biological mothers showed slightly more involvement in childcare than non-biological mothers who spent more time in paid employment. The couples’ satisfaction with this asymmetry could be explained by their oscillation between biocentered and/or gendered representations of family and an egalitarian ideal. The link between social support and recognition on one hand, and on the other hand, the modalities of division of labor and related satisfaction seems to show, in a context of legal, judicial and symbolic precariousness, that these couples need parental and familial legitimization.     

Représentations sociales des compétences et processus d'évaluation

In this paper, the results of two sets of studies show the impact that social representations of competences may have on professional assessment processes. People who belong to different occupational categories make different inferences about the competences required by activities submitted to them for analysis. Differences are also found when respondents analyse the activities of their own occupational category vs another category. The assessment of motivation letters to get a job is correlated with the beliefs of the writer that intrinsic or extrinsic motives would be better assessed. These beliefs are supposed to be some kinds of representations of competences. Implications of these results for assessment practices are given.     

Le bien-être psychologique au travail des professionnels du médical et du paramédical : rôles des échanges leader-membres,du soutien organisationnel perçu,du sentiment d’efficacité et médiations par la satisfaction des besoins psychologiques

This research aims to study the relationships between the perceived organizational support, the leader-member exchange (LMX), and the feeling of general self-efficacy with the psychological well being at work (PWBW) in the medical and para-medical environment. We also tested the indirect effects of satisfaction psychological of autonomy, competence and affiliation in the relationship between these predictors and PWBW. A total of 175 participants from the medical and para-medical sectors completed a questionnaire. The results showed that all predictors positively correlated with PWBW. Mediation analyzes showed that need satisfaction had a mediating effect on the relationships between inductors and PWBW. Finally, leader-member exchanges (LMX) and general self-efficacy promoted PWBW, and the satisfaction of the three psychological need systematically played a mediating role.     

Le modèle d’acceptation des technologies depuis 1986 : 30 ans de développement

This article is a theoretical analysis of the use of the technology acceptance model (TAM) and synthesizes the results of twelve literature reviews and meta-analyses. We analyzed their content according to four thematic axes: the validity of the TAM, the evaluation of the role of each of its variables, the influence of external variables and moderators and the intellectual development of the TAM. The literature globally confirms the reliability of each of the variables in the TAM and the relevance of the relationships between these variables. However, weaknesses are noted and recommendations made for future research, such as the inclusion of more contextual information on the use of technologies and on participant characteristics, as well as additional various measurement methods of use and their benefits. A notable difference has been identified in the relationship between TAM's variables and the objective and subjective measures of the actual use of technologies. In addition, objective measures have been included in few practical studies, but have generally included small samples. Another weakness of the TAM is its significantly lower capacity to predict the volume (time spent on use over a given period), as well as the frequency of use (number of uses over a given period) of a technology, compared to the simple prediction of use.