Predicting land use voting behavior: expanding our understanding of the influence of attitudes and social norms

Voting to tax oneself in the current economic climate seems improbable. Framed in theories of normative influence and behavior change, this study tests the factors that predict voting for a county‐level millage (i.e., tax) to fund land preservation. Behavioral beliefs that contribute to people's attitudes toward the millage are identified and a model is tested with an expanded normative component. Results indicate that attitudes and subjective norms significantly predict voting intentions, and injunctive norms (i.e., people's perceptions of others' approval of taking an action) add significantly to the model's predictive power. Findings are reinforced by election results in which the millage proposal passed and can contribute to the applied literature by identifying social‐psychological factors that can be targeted with campaign messages.     

Semantic-context effects on word recognition: Influence of varying the proportion of items presented in an appropriate context

Several recent experiments have shown that an appropriate semantic context facilitates word recognition. Lexical (word/nonword) decisions about a word such as "nurse" are faster when it follows a related word such as "doctor". The present experiment examines the consequence of varying the proportion of semantically related adjacent words. The effect of semantic context is found to depend on the overall proportion of related word pairs. More facilitation occurs when there is a greater proportion of related word pairs. This finding contradicts theories of word recognition which account for context effects solely by postulating transient increases in the aecessibility of only those words semantically related to the particular preceding stimuli encountered by the observer. An adequate theory must include an account of strategic or adaptive processes in which the past usefulness of contextual information modulates its influence in the word recognition process.     

Crafting messages to promote water conservation: Using time‐framed messages to boost conservation actions in the United States and China

Grounded in construal‐level theory (CLT), this experiment examines how messages with different temporal frames (i.e., present‐ vs. future‐framed) influence individuals' perceptions of, and reactions to, water conservation. One hundred ninety‐three participants, 99 from China and 94 from the United States, participated in this study. Results indicated that a present‐framed message results in more positive attitudes toward water conservation than the future‐framed message. Participants who scored higher on individual future‐time orientation show stronger behavioral intention to conserve water than participants who scored lower. A significant interaction between temporal message framing and country emerged such that the future‐framed message resulted in greater behavioral intention for Chinese participants than their U.S. counterparts whereas the present‐framed message did not differentially influence Chinese and U.S. participants. Implications of findings for theory‐building and application are discussed.     

Behavior therapy for drug abuse: A controlled treatment outcome study

82 Ss were studied in a comparative evaluation of a behavioral vs supportive treatment for illegal drug use. Behavioral treatment included stimulus control, urge control, contracting/family support and competing response procedures for an average of 19 sessions. 37% of Ss in the behavioral condition were drug-free at 2 months, 54% at 6 months, and 65% at 12 months vs 20 ± 6% for the alternative treatment during all 12 months. The behavioral treatment was more effective across sex, age, educational level, marital status and type of drug (hard-drugs, cocaine, and marijuana). Greater improvement for this condition was also noted on measures of employment/school attendance, family relationships, depression, institutionalization and alcohol use.     

Changes in Behaviour and Body Weight Following a Single or Double Social Defeat in Rats

In a series of experiments, the consequences of a single and double social conflict on various behaviours and body weight in rats were studied. Animals were subjected to social defeat by placing them into the territory of an aggressive male conspecific for one hour, either once, or twice at the same time on two consecutive days. To assess the consequences of social defeat, three experiments were performed with independent groups of rats. In the first experiment, an open field test was performed two days after the last conflict. Locomotor activity was strongly reduced after social defeat. There were no differences between the single and double defeat group. To assess the effects of social defeat on subsequent social behaviour, a second experiment was performed in which experimental animals were confronted with an unfamiliar non-aggressive rat two days after a single or double conflict. Social defeat resulted in a reduction of social contact with the unfamiliar conspecific. There was no difference between the single and double conflict group. In the third experiment, the effects of social conflict on food intake, body weight and saccharine preference were measured. Food intake was not affected after a single conflict, but in the double conflict group food intake was decreased for several days. Body weight gain was decreased after both single and double social defeat. The decrease was stronger in the double conflict group. Water intake and saccharine preference were not significantly affected. This study revealed that social defeat in rats causes pronounced changes in various behaviours and body weight. Different aspects of behaviour are differentially affected by defeat with respect to the magnitude and time course of the changes induced. Moreover, different behavioural parameters are differentially sensitive to repetition of the stressor.     

Facilitating word recognition: Evidence for strategic and automatic factors

An appropriate semantic context has been demonstrated to facilitate word recognition in a variety of paradigms. The present experiment examined the consequences of varying the probability that word pairs presented in a lexical decision task would be related in meaning. Early in the 20-min session, the recent density of semantic relationships between words had little influence on the size of the contextual facilitation effect, but later the influence was marked. The results suggest that the processing facilitation provided by an appropriate semantic context consisted of both a relatively automatic component and a labile strategic component with an influence that was modulated by the recent usefulness of the information provided by semantic context.     

Fear Appeals and Persuasion: A Review and Update of the Extended Parallel Process Model

The Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM; Communication Monographs, 59, 1992, 329) is a predominant message design theory in the social science fear appeal literature that provides a framework for effective communication of health‐related information. This paper provides a review and update of the theory and the use of fear appeals in persuasion. First, a brief overview of the EPPM is provided. Then, Littlejohn and Foss (Theories of Human Communication, 2005, Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth) criteria for evaluation of theory are used as a guide for reviewing research guided by the EPPM in terms of the consistency of data with theoretical predictions, how it has been adjusted and extended through research findings, and a discussion of future research to expand social scientific knowledge about fear appeals and persuasion. It is concluded that the EPPM has advanced our understanding of how fear appeals operate and continues to generate questions for research in risk messaging.     

Self‐Construal Scales Lack Validity

Self‐construal is thought to mediate and explain the effects of culture on a wide variety of outcome variables. A meta‐analysis of published cross‐cultural self‐construal research is reported in this article, and the results across studies suggests that the evidence for the predicted cultural differences is weak, inconsistent, or nonexistent. The results of 3 priming experiments (N = 121, N = 99, and N = 361) suggest that (a) priming does not account for the inconsistent results observed in the meta‐analysis, (b) that scores on a self‐construal scale appear to be measuring trait‐like constructs that are not sensitive to priming, and (c) that measures of self‐construals lack convergent validity. The results of several measurement studies (N = 121, 223, 230, 323, 214, 206, 126, 204, 148, 141, and 150) were inconsistent with the a priori two‐factor measurement model in every case. Self‐construal scales were found to be radically multidimensional and highly unstable within and across cultures. These results lead us to conclude that catastrophic validity problems exist in research involving the use of self‐construal scales in cross‐cultural research.