Cognitive mediation of intervention effects on physical exercise: Causal models for the adoption and maintenance stage

Objective: To investigate how the effects of a group-based intervention program (MoVo-LISA) on exercise behaviour were mediated by cognitive variables. Different causal models mapping the short-term (adoption) and long-term (maintenance) intervention effects were tested using path analyses.

Design: N?=?220 in-patients of a rehabilitation clinic were assigned to an usual care or intervention group (quasi-experimental design). Questionnaire-based assessment was conducted at baseline; discharge; and at six weeks, six months and 12 months post discharge.

Measures: The potential mediator variables were outcome expectations, self-efficacy, strength of goal intention (intention strength), self-concordance, action planning and barrier management.

Results: Observed intervention effects on exercise behaviour (p?<?0.05) were mediated by intention strength at the adoption and maintenance stages, by action planning only at the adoption, and by barrier management only at the maintenance stage. Self-efficacy and outcome expectations were only indirectly involved in these mediations by affecting intention strength and self-concordance.

Conclusion: This is the first study to track the cognitive mediation processes of intervention effects on exercise behaviour over a long time-period by differentiating the adoption and maintenance stages of behaviour change. The findings emphasise the importance of deconstructing intervention effects (modifiability vs. predictive power of a mediator) to develop more effective interventions.     

Am I Abnormal? Relative Rank and Social Norm Effects in Judgments of Anxiety and Depression Symptom Severity

Overdetection and underdetection of depression and anxiety in primary care are common and may partly reflect individuals' misperceptions of the severity of symptoms they experience. Here, we explore how people's judgments about the severity of their own symptoms are influenced by their beliefs about the distribution of symptoms experienced by the rest of the population. We apply the rank‐based decision by sampling cognitive model of judgment to symptom severity. The model proposes that judgments depend on the relative rank of an item within a mental sample of comparable items. It is predicted that judgments of symptom severity will be context dependent and more specifically that an individual's judgments will be invalid to the extent that the individual has inaccurate beliefs about the relevant social context. Two studies found that participants' assessments of symptom severity were rank based. Study 1 elicited participants' beliefs about the social distribution of symptoms and found that participants' judgments of whether they were depressed or anxious were mainly predicted not by their symptoms' objective severity but rather by where participants ranked the severity of their symptoms in comparison with the believed symptoms of others. Study 2 varied symptom distributions experimentally and again found relative rank effects as predicted. It is concluded that the real‐world application of contextual models of judgment requires investigation of individual differences in participants' background beliefs. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The dynamics of deferred decision

Decision makers are often unable to choose between the options that they are offered. In these settings they typically defer their decision, that is, delay the decision to a later point in time or avoid the decision altogether. In this paper, we outline eight behavioral findings regarding the causes and consequences of choice deferral that cognitive theories of decision making should be able to capture. We show that these findings can be accounted for by a deferral-based time limit applied to existing sequential sampling models of preferential choice. Our approach to modeling deferral as a time limit in a sequential sampling model also makes a number of novel predictions regarding the interactions between choice probabilities, deferral probabilities, and decision times, and we confirm these predictions in an experiment. Choice deferral is a key feature of everyday decision making, and our paper illustrates how established theoretical approaches can be used to understand the cognitive underpinnings of this important behavioral phenomenon.     

Value Concern of Ecological Rationality and Exploration of the Chinese Path to Modernization

The COVID-19 pandemic has raged around the world over the recent years, raising the global community’s awareness of the interconnection of human civilizations and urging the reconsideration of the humannature relationship. The escalating worldwide ecological crises are putting human survival and development at risk. The phenomenon has aroused the awareness of “ecological rationality,” consciousness of “economic value” and appeal for “ecological justice” in the universal sense. The endeavor of promoting ecological civilization has been included as part of the fivesphere integrated plan for building socialism with Chinese characteristics since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). General Secretary Xi Jinping’s thought on ecological civilization has fully manifested the value and goal of comprehensively promoting ecological civilization and adhering to the Chinese path to modernization. The Chinese path to modernization, which has reflected on and outclassed the Westernstyle logic for modernization, shows a unique horizon and independent wisdom. Focusing on addressing the uncertainties facing human survival in the New Era and aiming at embracing the future, the Chinese path to modernization has shifted the mindset from economic rationality to ecological rationality, abandoned anthropocentrism, and firmly upheld and fulfilled the code of conduct for rational “economic man.” The endeavor of building an eco-friendly society and an ecological community has showcased the favorable institutional practice in Chinese modernization and China’s wisdom, demonstrated rational planning, prudential design and effective implementation for the prospect of mankind and highlighted a progressive trend in human civilization.     

Can low Behavioral Activation System predict depressive mood?: An application of non‐normal structural equation modeling

Previous studies have reported a negative correlation between the Behavioral Activation System (BAS) and the depressive mood. However, which is the cause and which is the effect cannot be determined simply by evaluating the correlation coefficients. In a series of this study, we used non‐normal structural equation modeling, which could provide a statistically plausible answer to the question on the path direction. We tested for the path direction between the variables of interest by statistically comparing all possible models. The models assuming a unidirectional path from the BAS to the depressive mood were consistently supported. This suggested that low BAS could be a predisposition to developing the depressive mood. These findings could enhance our understanding of the mechanism underlying the development of the depressive mood.     

Application of signature strengths at work: A dual-level analysis

ABSTRACT

Each individual possesses character strengths, the most significant of which are classified as signature strengths. With a sample of 164 individuals who were employed at least part-time in a variety of industries, we examined application of signature strengths and well-being both between-persons (global) and within-persons (daily). Global application of signature strengths was associated with global job satisfaction and strain; however, no significant mediation effects on intent to turnover were found. We also found that daily variations in application of signature strengths were related to daily job satisfaction and strain. Common method bias associated with trait positive and negative affect differed by level of analysis: At the between-person (global) level, trait affect produced substantial inflation of estimates, but at the within-person (daily) level, inflation was negligible. The results suggest the importance of daily opportunities to apply signature strengths and of accounting for variance attributable to trait affect in between-person analyses.     

Ant Colony Optimization and Local Weighted Structural Equation Modeling. A Tutorial on Novel Item and Person Sampling Procedures for Personality Research

Measurement in personality development faces many psychometric problems. First, theory‐based measurement models do not fit the empirical data in terms of traditional confirmatory factor analysis. Second, measurement invariance across age, which is necessary for a meaningful interpretation of age‐associated personality differences, is rarely accomplished. Finally, continuous moderator variables, such as age, are often artificially categorized. This categorization leads to bias when interpreting differences in personality across age. In this tutorial, we introduce methods to remedy these problems. We illustrate how Ant Colony Optimization can be used to sample indicators that meet prespecified demands such as model fit. Further, we use Local Structural Equation Modeling to resample and weight subjects to study differences in the measurement model across age as a continuous moderator variable. We also provide a detailed illustration for both tools with the Neuroticism scale of the openly available International Personality Item Pool – NEO inventory using data from the UK sample (N = 15 827). Combined, both tools can remedy persistent problems in research on personality and its development. In addition to a step‐by‐step illustration, we provide commented syntax for both tools. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology