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Results for “Social Control, Informal”

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At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

PubMed2000

Mutability and propensity in causal selection.

We examined differences in causal ratings of 1 factor depending on the mutability (defined as the ease with which a factor can be imagined to be different) and causal propensity (defined as the likelihood that the event would occur in the presence of a factor) of another factor that conjoined to produce the event. In 3 studies, causal ratings of the target factor depended on the interaction of mutability and propensity of the other factor. When the other factor was high in mutability, ratings of the target decreased as the propensity of the contributing factor increased, but when the other was low in mutability, ratings of the target increased as the propensity of the contributing factor increased. Mediation analysis indicated that mutability and propensity affected causal ratings by determining the comparison against which the event was considered. Comparison judgments also mediated beliefs about which factor should have adjusted to the other.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Social control in personal relationships: impact on health behaviors and psychological distress.

This study examines associations among social control, health behavior change, and psychological distress. Social control refers to interactions between social network members that entail regulation, influence, and constraint. Social control is predicted to have dual effects leading to better health practices while also arousing psychological distress. A random sample of 242 individuals answered questions about health practices, overall exposure to social control in their networks, and social control attempts made by a specific network member. Analyses yielded mixed support for the hypotheses, but analyses of responses to the social control attempts of a specific network member did reveal that social control predicted less health-compromising behavior and more health-enhancing behavior as well as more distress. The results suggest that social control warrants greater attention in efforts to understand how personal relationships influence health.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Effects of gender in social control of smoking cessation.

This study of 93 men and 117 women smokers during an ongoing quit attempt examined the roles of gender and social network influences on quitting. For men, social influences appeared to positively affect their ability to reduce their smoking but were less effective for women. Specifically, increased reports of a spouse or partner's influence, and family and friends' influence, were associated with greater reductions in men's smoking 2 days and 4 months post quit date, respectively. In contrast, for women, greater reports of spouse or partner influence and of family and friends' influence were associated with smaller reductions in smoking. Sex differences in social control strategies and perceived autonomy supportiveness of those strategies are discussed as possible explanations for these results.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Age differences in response to conformity pressure for emotional and nonemotional material.

Most theories of social influence do not consider adult development. Theoretical and empirical work in life span developmental psychology, however, suggests that age may reduce susceptibility to social influence. The present study examined age differences in social conformity for 2 classes of stimuli: judgments of geometric shapes and emotional facial expressions. As predicted, older people, compared with their younger counterparts, displayed lower rates of social conformity, and this age difference was most evident when judging emotional facial expressions.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Finding "meaning" in psychology: a lay theories approach to self-regulation, social perception, and social development.

Much of psychology focuses on universal principles of thought and action. Although an extremely productive pursuit, this approach, by describing only the "average person," risks describing no one in particular. This article discusses an alternate approach that complements interests in universal principles with analyses of the unique psychological meaning that individuals find in their experiences and interactions. Rooted in research on social cognition, this approach examines how people's lay theories about the stability or malleability of human attributes alter the meaning they give to basic psychological processes such as self-regulation and social perception. Following a review of research on this lay theories perspective in the field of social psychology, the implications of analyzing psychological meaning for other fields such as developmental, cultural, and personality psychology are discussed.

Humans↗

PubMed2003

Missing the mark: effects of time and causal attributions on goal revision in response to goal-performance discrepancies.

In an attempt to extend past goal setting research, the present study examined the influence of goal-performance discrepancies (GPDs), causal attributions, and temporal factors on the process of dynamic self-regulation. Goal revision processes were examined longitudinally in a sample of 100 varsity-level college track and field athletes over the course of an 8-week competitive season. The results indicate that an individual's GPD significantly predicted the amount of goal revision engaged in by the athletes, such that participants were more likely to lower their competition (proximal) and season (distal) goals when they failed to reach these goals and their respective GPDs were large. However, as hypothesized, this relationship was moderated by stability attributions and the temporal location of the individual with respect to the time period allotted for goal attainment. Implications for future research in the area of goal setting and dynamic self-regulation are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

From automatic antigay prejudice to behavior: the moderating role of conscious beliefs about gender and behavioral control.

Two experiments tested whether the relation between automatic prejudice and discriminatory behavior is moderated by 2 conscious processes: conscious egalitarian beliefs and behavioral control. The authors predicted that, when both conscious processes are deactivated, automatic prejudice would elicit discriminatory behavior. When either of the 2 processes is activated, behavioral bias would be eliminated. The authors assessed participants' automatic attitudes toward gay men, conscious beliefs about gender, behavioral control, and interactions with gay confederates. In Experiment 1, men's beliefs about gender were heterogeneous, whereas women's beliefs were mostly egalitarian; men's responses supported the predictions, but women's responses did not. In Experiment 2, the authors recruited a sample with greater diversity in gender-related beliefs. Results showed that, for both sexes, automatic prejudice produced biased behavior in the absence of conscious egalitarian beliefs and behavioral control. The presence of either conscious process eliminated behavioral bias.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Drugs and the law: a psychological analysis of drug prohibition.

There is an ongoing American policy debate about the appropriate legal status for psychoactive drugs. Prohibition, decriminalization, and legalization positions are all premised on assumptions about the behavioral effects of drug laws. What is actually known and not known about these effects is reviewed. Rational-choice models of legal compliance suggest that criminalization reduces use through restricted drug availability, increased drug prices, and the deterrent effect of the risk of punishment. Research on these effects illustrates the need for a more realistic perspective that acknowledges the limitations of human rationality and the importance of moral reasoning and informal social control factors. There are at least 7 different mechanisms by which the law influences drug use, some of which are unintended and counterproductive. This framework is used to explore the potential behavioral effects of decriminalization and legalization.

Drug and Narcotic Control↗

PubMed2000

Culpable control and the psychology of blame.

A culpable control model is advanced to describe the conditions that encourage as well as mitigate blame and to assess the process by which blame and mitigation occur. The fundamental assumptions of the model are that evidence concerning harmful events is scrutinized for its contribution to personal control and spontaneously evaluated for its favorableness or unfavorableness. Spontaneous evaluations encourage a blame-validation mode of processing in which evidence concerning the event is reviewed in a manner that favors ascribing blame to the person or persons who evoke the most negative affect or whose behavior confirms unfavorable expectations. The author delineates the elements of perceived control and then discusses spontaneous evaluation influences on control and blame assessments. The blame-validation process is described next. Finally, the culpable control model is compared with extant theories of blame and responsibility and its basic tenets summarized.

Humans↗

PubMed2006

Social-cognitive determinants of physical activity: the influence of social support, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and self-regulation among participants in a church-based health promotion study.

A social-cognitive model of physical activity was tested, using structural equation analysis of data from 999 adults (21% African American; 66% female; 38% inactive) recruited from 14 southwestern Virginia churches participating in the baseline phase of a health promotion study. Within the model, age, race, social support, self-efficacy, and self-regulation contributed to participants' physical activity levels, but outcome expectations did not. Of the social-cognitive variables, self-regulation exerted the strongest effect on physical activity. Independent of self-regulation, self-efficacy had little effect. Social support influenced physical activity as a direct precursor to self-efficacy and self-regulation. The model provided a good fit to the data and explained 46% of the variance in physical activity among the diverse group of adults.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Evaluating social-cognitive mechanisms that regulate self-efficacy in response to provocative smoking cues: an experimental investigation.

Smokers' self-efficacy appraisals strongly predict smoking outcomes. However, the cognitive structures that regulate smokers' self-efficacy appraisals have not yet been identified. Knowledge of such structures could assist in designing treatments that target self-efficacy appraisals to improve smoking outcomes. This study evaluated whether 2 abstinence-related self-schemas, the abstainer ideal- and abstainer ought-possible selves, regulated self-efficacy to resist smoking when smokers were exposed to provocative smoking cues. Craving responses to the cues were a secondary outcome. Cognitively priming both of these abstainer selves increased self-efficacy and decreased craving compared with when a smoking-related self-schema was cognitively primed under the same provocative cue conditions. Higher levels of self-efficacy were consistently associated with decreased craving. These results have both theoretical and clinical implications for smoking cessation.

Adult↗

PubMed1969