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The authors tackle three psychometric challenges to measuring implicit bias in crowds. They loon into the problem of arbitrary metrics and its relation to situational screening, as well as the problem of model misspecification when measuring implicit racial attitude using Implicit Association Test (IAT) to predict discriminatory behavioral outcomes. They discuss the problem of confounded assessment of associations between races.

With the general public spending increasing amounts of time in virtual gaming worlds, it is relevant to explore social influence dynamics that can occur in virtual reality settings. Three studies tested the hypothesis that transportation into a virtual game heightens susceptibility to influence from in-game health communications. Study 1 participants played a first-person shooter game that had either landscape paintings or graphic anti-DUI (drive under the influence of alcohol) messages embedded in the background of scenes. Results indicated that, to the extent gamers were transported into the virtual experiences in the game, willingness to DUI was reduced by the presence of anti-DUI graphic messages. Study 2 explored potential mechanisms driving this effect and revealed evidence that transportation disrupts counter-arguing among individuals who might otherwise resist real-world influence attempts. Study 3 replicated Studies 1 and 2 findings but also pointed to a potential “boomerang effect” that can occur when transportation is not achieved in a game. Discussion focused on the potential positive and negative consequences of embedding persuasive health communications into the background of virtual gaming worlds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many social psychological models propose that positive self-conceptions promote self-esteem. An extreme version of this hypothesis is advanced in “pro-anorexia” communities: identifying with anorexia, in conjunction with disordered eating, can lead to higher self-esteem. The current study empirically tested this hypothesis. Results challenge the pro-anorexia hypothesis. Although those with higher levels of pro-anorexia identification trended towards higher self-esteem with increased disordered eating, this did not overcome the strong negative main effect of pro-anorexia identification. These data suggest a more effective strategy for promoting self-esteem is to encourage rejection of disordered eating and an anorexic identity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Psychometricians strive to eliminate random error from their psychological inventories. When random error affecting tests is diminished, tests more accurately characterize people on the psychological dimension of interest. We document an unusual property of the scoring algorithm for a measure used to assess a wide range of psychological states. The “D-score” algorithm for coding the Implicit Association Test (IAT) requires the presence of random noise in order to obtain variability. Without consequential degrees of random noise, all individuals receive extreme scores. We present results from an algebraic proof, a computer simulation, and an online survey of implicit racial attitudes to show how trial error can bias IAT assessments. We argue as a result that the D-score algorithm should not be used for formal assessment purposes, and we offer an alternative to this approach based on multiple regression. Our critique focuses primarily on the IAT designed to measure unconscious racial attitudes, but it applies to any IAT developed to provide psychological assessments within clinical, organizational, and developmental branches of psychology—and in any other field where the IAT might be used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation of common language toward inclusion of all people is the mechanism by which many aim to alter attitudes and beliefs that stand in the way of more meaningful social change. The term for this motivated concern for language is “political correctness” or “PC.” The current project seeks to introduce a new tool for investigations into this phenomenon, the concern for political correctness (CPC) scale. CPC assesses individual differences in concern for politically correct speech. Exploratory and confirmatory structural equation modeling showed consistent factor structure of the two subscales; an emotion subscale measuring negative emotional response to hearing politically incorrect language, and an activism subscale measuring a willingness to correct others who use politically incorrect language. Correlational analyses suggested that concern for political correctness is associated with more liberal beliefs and ideologies and less right-wing authoritarianism. The emotion subscale was also found to be associated with lower emotional well-being and the activism subscale with more frequent arguments. Laboratory-based criterion validation studies indicated that the two subscales predicted negative reactions to politically incorrect humor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implicit attitude construct has captured researchers' imaginations and dramatically shifted research priorities in the attitude field. It is likely that these measures will be increasingly utilized by researchers studying media-related phenomena. We review the psychometric foundations of current implicit measures and introduce what we view as 10 pressing psychometric, methodological, and conceptual challenges facing the implicit attitude field today. We call for research that revises current empirical approaches to better address these challenges and provide recommendations for media psychologists who might incorporate these measures into their research programs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Five studies examined whether the concern for self-other distinction is moderated by self-guide activation, with the predictions based on deviance regulation theory that distinctiveness striving is amplified by activation of ideal self-guides and diminished by activation of ought self-guides. In Study 1, trait differences in self-guides predicted trait differences in self-reported distinctiveness motives. In Studies 2–5, state activation of ought versus ideal self-guides led to shifts in participants' self-reported interest in distinctiveness (Study 2), identification with common versus uncommon social groups (Study 3), preferences for common versus rare consumer products (Study 4), and emotional reactions to distinctiveness versus similarity feedback (Study 5). These findings suggest that self-guide activation can complement known cultural, dispositional, and contextual influences on distinctiveness striving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Graphic warnings (GWs) on cigarette packs are widely used internationally and perhaps will be in the US but their impact is not well understood. This study tested support for competing hypotheses in different subgroups of young adults defined by their history of cigarette smoking and individual difference variables (e.g., psychological reactance). One hypothesis predicted adaptive responding (GWs would lower smoking-related intentions) and another predicted defensive responding (GWs would raise smoking-related intentions). Methods: Participants were an online sample of 1,169 Americans ages 18–24, who were randomly assigned either to view nine GWs designed by the FDA or to a no-label control. Both the intention to smoke in the future and the intention to quit smoking (among smokers) were assessed before and after message exposure. Results: GWs lowered intention to smoke in the future among those with a moderate lifetime smoking history (between 1 and 100 cigarettes), and they increased intention to quit smoking among those with a heavy lifetime smoking history (more than 100 cigarettes). Both effects were limited to individuals who had smoked in some but not all of the prior 30 days (i.e., occasional smokers). No evidence of defensive “boomerang effects” on intention was observed in any subgroup. Conclusion: Graphic warnings can reduce interest in smoking among occasional smokers, a finding that supports the adaptive-change hypothesis. GWs that target occasional smokers might be more effective at reducing cigarette smoking in young adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health interventions often draw attention to the risks associated with unhealthy choice but in the process produce a boomerang effect such that those targeted become more committed to risky behavior. In 2 studies designed to promote condom use among sexually active college students, the authors document strategies for highlighting risk while promoting healthy choices. Study 1 demonstrated that optimistic perceptions regarding the likelihood of contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) can be counteracted by drawing attention to the emotional consequences of contracting STDs, instead of its likelihood. Rather than promoting condom use, however, this procedure generated a boomerang effect: It decreased commitment to using condoms, especially among high self-esteem individuals. Study 2 showed that this unwanted effect could be reversed when emotional vulnerability was paired with a self-affirmation. This finding suggests that there can be benefits to adding threatening content to health interventions, provided that the message also contains elements designed to protect feelings of self-worth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports a meta-analysis of studies examining the predictive validity of the Implicit Association Test (TAT) and explicit measures of bias for a wide range of criterion measures of discrimination. The meta-analysis estimates the heterogeneity of effects within and across 2 domains of intergroup bias (interracial and interethnic), 6 criterion categories (interpersonal behavior, person perception, policy preference, microbehavior, response time, and brain activity), 2 versions of the TAT (stereotype and attitude TAT5), 3 strategies for measuring explicit bias (feeling thermometers, multi-item explicit measures such as the Modem Racism Scale, and ad hoc measures of intergroup attitudes and stereotypes), and 4 criterion-scoring methods (computed majority-minority difference scores, relative majority-minority ratings, minority-only ratings, and majority-only ratings). IATs were poor predictors of every criterion category other than brain activity, and the IATs performed no better than simple explicit measures. These results have important implications for the construct validity of IATs, for competing theories of prejudice and attitude-behavior relations, and for measuring and modeling prejudice and discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partisan effects on media consumption have been widely documented, with considerable attention given to partisan influences on selective exposure. Although researchers have debated the degree to which selective exposure drives media consumption in general and partisan consumption of the news in particular, one of the hypothesized mechanisms linked to this phenomenon seems inherently plausible: Exposure to disliked news coverage can generate psychological discomfort. The physiological effects of this hypothesized discomfort were examined by determining how political partisanship influences release of the stress hormone, cortisol, following exposure to news coverage of a presidential election. The study was conducted in the week following the 2008 election. Participants were students at a large, mostly conservative state university who read news coverage about the election victory of Barack Obama or a set of control news stories. Results indicated that conservative political identification was associated with more negative and less positive emotional responses and with a spike in salivary cortisol levels. Contrary to predictions, however, the cortisol spikes appeared to operate independent of self-reported emotional distress. The implications of these results are considered as they relate to selective exposure and the physical health of partisans who follow political news. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gaining insight into the nature and consequences of people's global self-evaluations (i.e., their self-esteem) has been fraught with difficulty. Nearly 2 decades ago, researchers suggested that such difficulties might be addressed by the development of a new class of measures designed to uncover implicit self-esteem. In this article, we evaluate the construct validity of the 2 most common measures of implicit self-esteem, the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and Name-Letter Test (NLT). Our review indicates that the research literature has not provided strong or consistent support for the validity of either measure. We conclude that both tests are impoverished measures of self-esteem that are better understood as measures of either generalized implicit affect (IAT) or implicit egotism (NLT). However, we suggest that there surely are aspects of self-esteem that people are unwilling or unable to report and suggest a general approach that may allow researchers to tap these unspoken aspects of self-esteem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of negative stereotypes can be harmful and, as a result, stereotype targets are often motivated to deny their accuracy. However, at times, targets of even the most unflattering stereotypes embrace them as valid. We identify the underlying reasons why people might embrace negative self-stereotypes and also examine the various outcomes that result from these reasons. Our discussion highlights the fact that although these outcomes are often negative, there is a growing body of work that demonstrates how these processes can also benefit the stereotype target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is common in scientific and popular discussions to claim that unconscious racism is both prevalent and potent in modern societies. We review the theoretical models that posit different forms of unconscious racism and evaluate the empirical evidence for them. Our analysis suggests that people may sometimes lack knowledge of and control over the causes and consequences of their racial biases. However, there is little evidence to support the more provocative claim: that people possess unconscious racist attitudes. Many of the arguments to the contrary rest on strong interpretations of response patterns on implicit attitude measures. Although advances in implicit measurement can improve our understanding of racial bias, at present their use as tools for rooting out unconscious racism is limited. We describe research programs that might move these constructs to firmer scientific footing, and we urge inferential caution until such research programs are carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several theoretical perspectives predict that social comparisons lead to simple, default-driven effects when triggered outside of conscious awareness. These theoretical perspectives differ, however, in the default effects they predict. Some theories argue for self-evaluative contrast, whereas others argue for self-evaluative assimilation. The current studies tested the prediction that the default effect would vary as a function of the social context and the type of self-concept activated. When attention was focused on the personal self, contrast effects emerged. When attention was focused on collective or possible selves, assimilation effects emerged. These findings suggest that a wide range of comparison effects can be triggered spontaneously and outside of conscious awareness. However, some results also show ways in which social comparison processes simplify when deliberate reflection is lacking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors reflect on the article in this issue of "Psychological Inquiry" by P.J. Henry about using student samples in a study of prejudices. They distinguish between two strategies for drawing inferences from study samples. The first uses sampling to establish the population it represents. They comment on identifying boundary conditions, promoting representativeness rather than generalizability, and the mentality of theoretical innovation.

Abstract: This work examined if stigmatized targets will embrace negative in-group stereotypes in order to protect their self-esteem from the threat of stereotypic failures. All studies focused on the stereotype that women have lower math ability than men. In Study 1, women who failed a math test showed buffered self-esteem if they were first given the opportunity to endorse this stereotype. Study 2 replicated this effect and showed that women, but not men, increased their endorsement of this stereotype following math failure. Study 3 showed that the tendency to embrace this stereotype in response to failure was most pronounced among women with high trait self-esteem. Together, these findings suggest that there are contexts in which stigmatized individuals can protect their self-esteem in the face of stereotypic failures by embracing the very stereotypes that would have predicted their failure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In a recent article, we described psychometric limitations to the Implicit Association Test (IAT). These limitations restrict the utility of this measure and render it problematic for testing many psychological theories that posit a causal role for implicit attitudes. Past failures to recognize this may have promoted faulty conclusions in the literature. In a critique of our article, Nosek and Sriram rejected our entire analysis. They asserted that our original article was based on faulty assumptions and argued that the IAT performs nicely when these assumptions are replaced by other, more plausible assumptions. We show that these plausible assumptions have all the hallmarks of post hoc rationalizations. They make little theoretical sense, are buttressed by deceptive statistical practices, contradict statements these same researchers have made in the past and do little to advance research and theory on implicit attitudes. We close by considering the vigor with which IAT researchers have dismissed meaningful criticisms of their measure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The implicit association test (IAT) is believed to measure implicit evaluations by assessing reaction times on two cognitive tasks, often termed “compatible” and “incompatible” tasks. A common rationale for studying the IAT is that it might improve our prediction and understanding of meaningful psychological criteria. To date, however, no clear psychometric theory has been advanced for this measure. We examine the theory, methods and analytic strategies surrounding the IAT in the context of criterion prediction to determine measurement and causal models a researcher embraces (knowingly or unknowingly) by using the test. Our analyses reveal that the IAT revolves around interpretation of two distinct relative constructs, one at the conceptual level and one at the observed level. We show that interest in relative implicit evaluations at the conceptual level imposes a causal model that is restrictive in form. We then examine measurement models of the IAT and show how computing a difference score at the observed level may lack empirical justification. These issues are highlighted in a study replicating an effect established in the literature (Study 1). We then introduce a new variant of the IAT and use it to evaluate the reasonableness of traditional IAT methods (Study 2). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Theories that posit multiplicative relationships between variables are common in psychology. A. G. Greenwald et al. (2002) recently presented a theory that explicated relationships between group identification, group attitudes, and self-esteem. Their theory posits a multiplicative relationship between concepts when predicting a criterion variable. Greenwald et al. suggested analytic strategies to test their multiplicative model that researchers might assume are appropriate for testing multiplicative models more generally. The theory and analytic strategies of Greenwald et al. are used as a case study to show the strong measurement assumptions that underlie certain tests of multiplicative models. It is shown that the approach used by Greenwald et al. can lead to declarations of theoretical support when the theory is wrong as well as rejection of the theory when the theory is correct. A simple strategy for testing multiplicative models that makes weaker measurement assumptions than the strategy proposed by Greenwald et al. is suggested and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing the arbitrariness of a metric is distinct from the pursuit of validity, rational zero points, data transformations, standardization, and the types of statistical procedures one uses to analyze interval-level versus ordinal-level data. A variety of theoretical, methodological, and statistical tools can assist researchers who wish to make their metrics less arbitrary. These approaches can be combined with perspectives from classic test theory, item response theory, or other scaling models. The importance of considering arbitrary metrics for some applied areas of research is reemphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many psychological tests have arbitrary metrics but are appropriate for testing psychological theories. Metric arbitrariness is a concern, however, when researchers wish to draw inferences about the true, absolute standing of a group or individual on the latent psychological dimension being measured. The authors illustrate this in the context of 2 case studies in which psychologists need to develop inventories with nonarbitrary metrics. One example comes from social psychology, where researchers have begun using the Implicit Association Test to provide the lay public with feedback about their "hidden biases" via popular Internet Web pages. The other example comes from clinical psychology, where researchers often wish to evaluate the real-world importance of interventions. As the authors show, both pursuits require researchers to conduct formal research that makes their metrics nonarbitrary by linking test scores to meaningful real-world events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tendency to view the self as a prototypic member of a group is thought to be at the foundation of many social psychological phenomena. Two opposing accounts of perceived prototypicality have been suggested in the psychological literature. The self-justification account portrays this as a defensive tendency that occurs in response to threatened group status. The self-enhancement account portrays this as a strategic tendency to associate the self with positively viewed groups. These competing views were tested using both a minimal group (Study 1) and a naturalistic group (Study 2). Both studies showed that perceived prototypicality increased with increasing group status. Moreover, the effect of status was moderated by group importance (Study 1) and behavioral choice (Study 2). Both interaction patterns supported the self-enhancement view, suggesting that people view themselves as prototypic group members when doing so will promote a positive identity. These findings contradict common statements in the social identity literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a pretest-posttest design, subscribers to women's magazines were mailed a high-versus low-power message arguing a radical feminist view. Uninvolved women changed their opinions more after the high-power-style message, and involved women more after the low-power-style message. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-sectional research suggests that peer influence has a moderate to strong impact on adolescent risk behavior. Such estimates may be inflated owing to third-variable confounds representing either friendship selection effects or the operation of parallel events. Approximately 1,700 peer, dyads in Grades 7 to 11 were studied over a 1-year period to estimate the influence of closest friends on sexual activity and binge drinking. Analyses suggested that peer influence was small but reliable when both selection effects and parallel events were taken into account. Peer influence varied as a function of individual-peer similarity and maternal relations but not in accord with other theoretical predictions. It is suggested that the magnitude of peer effects in previous research may be overestimated in many contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors hypothesize that social comparisons can have automatic influences on self-perceptions. This was tested by determining whether subliminal exposure to comparison information influences implicit and explicit self-evaluation. Study I showed that subliminal exposure to social comparison information increased the accessibility of the self. Study 2 revealed that subliminal exposure to social comparison information resulted in a contrast effect on explicit self-evaluation. Study 3 showed that subliminal exposure to social comparison information affects self-evaluations more easily than it affects mood or evaluations of other people. Studies 4 and 5 replicated these self-evaluation effects and extended them to implicit measures. Study 6 showed that automatic comparisons are responsive to a person's perceptual needs, such that they only occur when people are uncertain about themselves. Implications for theories of social cognition, judgment, and comparison are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on attribution theory and the logic of conversational norms, we predicted that image-based health communications can alter prevalence estimates for health behaviors. In two studies, participants were exposed either to a positively-framed or negatively-framed communication advocating for specific health behaviors. As predicted, participants who read a health communication rated healthy behaviors as less common when positive attributes were associated with healthy choices than when negative attributes were associated with unhealthy choices. The second study revealed that this pattern was most pronounced among participants who reported initial uncertainty about behavioral norms. These findings suggest that positively-framed influence attempts can promote prevalence assumptions that work against the influence attempt. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determines the role of stereotype in social identity. Factors influencing negative gender stereotype; Function of stereotype salience; Comparison between stereotype offense and stereotype personalizing.

Explores a motivated account of overconfidence and argues that overconfidence can result from a desire to see the self as knowledgeable and competent. Factors influencing the relation between accuracy and confidence; Important connection between cognitive dissonance and overconfidence.

Those who are historic targets of discrimination seem surprisingly likely to accept their situation, a phenomenon Jost and Banaji (1994) call system justification. One assumption in system justification theory, however, is that the need to justify builds over time as individuals develop an investment in the system they have implicitly helped to perpetuate. This possibility was tested as it relates to social comparison of pay. An experimental study involving 100 participants (50 men and 50 women) found that women made intragroup comparisons with other women to gauge their satisfaction with a pay rate when it was framed as compensation for past work but they made intergroup comparisons with men to gauge their satisfaction with a pay rate when it was framed as part of an offer for future employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the negativity bias in person perception, we argue that behavioral decisions related to condom use are influenced by the social images that an individual has of people who do not use condoms, but that they are not influenced by the social images that an individual has of people who do use condoms. Three studies with college student samples indicated that the negative evaluations of people who do not use condoms predicts willingness to have sex without condoms. In contrast, positive evaluations of people who do use condoms showed no unique predictions. A fourth study demonstrated that a health message emphasizing the negative social consequences of having sex without condoms decreased willingness to have unsafe sex in comparison to a control, whereas a message that emphasized the positive social consequences of using condoms had no such effects on willingness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demonstrates the effects of the social comparison between in-group versus out-group on self-esteem in the context of a negative stereotype. Contrast effect among White confederates; Assimilation effect when the confederate was African American; Inconsistency with self-evaluation maintenance model; Implications for self-evaluation and task performance.

Social comparison theory has linked improved performance to both the tendency to compare with others who are performing well and the tendency to view the self as better than others. However, little research has investigated the effects of either variable outside of a controlled laboratory environment. Moreover, there is reason to believe that the 2 tendencies would be in opposition to one another, because people who compare upward might subsequently view themselves as relatively less competent. The results of a longitudinal study of 876 students in their 1 st year of secondary education indicated that both variables independently predicted improved academic performance and that these 2 tendencies did not conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research and theory suggest that adolescents often experiment with substances to acquire desired social images. However, little research has addressed the developmental precursors leading to favorable evaluation of substance users. This study tested a model of parental and peer influence on adolescent prototypes using a longitudinal data set of 463 rural adolescents. For both drinking and smoking, positive-prototypes of substance users were best predicted by peer affiliations. Adolescents who affiliated with peers who practiced and encouraged substance use developed more positive prototypes of people who drink and smoke. These social images, in turn, predicted subsequent use of alcohol and cigarettes. In contrast to peers, parents had little direct influence on prototypes but did indirectly affect images through the adolescents' choice of peers. Unexpectedly, there was evidence of a negative modeling effect of parental substance use, such that parental smoking predicted more negative prototypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greenwald, Banaji, and Nosek (2015) present a reanalysis of the meta-analysis by Oswald, Mitchell, Blanton, Jaccard, and Tetlock (2013) that examined the effect sizes of Implicit Association Tests (IATs) designed to predict racial and ethnic discrimination. We discuss points of agreement and disagreement with respect to methods used to synthesize the IAT studies, and we correct an error by Greenwald et al. that obscures a key contribution of our meta-analysis. In the end, all of the meta-analyses converge on the conclusion that, across diverse methods of coding and analyzing the data, IAT scores are not good predictors of ethnic or racial discrimination, and explain, at most, small fractions of the variance in discriminatory behavior in controlled laboratory settings. The thought experiments presented by Greenwald et al. go well beyond the lab to claim systematic IAT effects in noisy real-world settings, but these hypothetical exercises depend crucially on untested and, arguably, untenable assumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is robust evidence for a relationship between regulatory focus and creative cognition, with prevention states undermining creative insight and promotion states facilitating it. We tested whether similar effects occur as a result of priming goal standards related to prevention focus (ought standards) versus promotion focus (ideal standards). A pilot study established that the importance placed on ought versus ideal self-standards predicted the desire to be creative, with the strongest creativity orientation observed among participants who placed a high value on achieving goals related to ideal standards and a low value on achieving goals related to ought standards. Two experiments then demonstrated that goal priming influenced the novelty of responses to a word association task, with activation of ought standards decreasing and activation of ideal evaluative standards increasing novelty. Study 2 revealed that the influence of goal priming was eliminated when participants were put under time pressure, suggesting that this manipulation exerted influence on response novelty through a controlled (as opposed to spontaneous) process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two studies tested an interdependence model of trust development and the links between trust and influence in the in extremis environment of combat, and a non-combat replication. Structural equation modeling was used to test the model. Results from both studies suggested that a modified interdependence model provided a plausible explanation for how leaders may earn subordinate trust, through fostering the establishment of cooperative interdependence and being perceived as credible. Credibility was demonstrated through both competence and good character, and organizational structures that were in place contributed to trust by encouraging leaders to behave cooperatively toward group members. Most importantly, the level of trust subordinates had in their leaders determined the amount of leader influence subordinates accepted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explores a new framework for conceptualizing possible selves for the prediction of behavior. The framework uses decision theory, attitude theory, and classic expectancy-value models. The focus is on using possible-self constructs that (a) correspond to behavioral alternatives, (b) focus on self dimensions directly tied to the behavioral criterion, and (c) use expectancy-value constructs to assess the core features of a given possible self-dimension. A study of 305 college students was undertaken to predict alcohol use from possible self constructs using the framework. Results affirmed the utility of the approach, showing that possible-self constructs predicted behavior over and above current self-image and constructs in the Theory of Planned Behavior. Possible-self constructs associated with negative attributes of both binge drinkers and nonbinge drinkers were predictive of behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilizing a 2 x 2 design, the present study examined the effect of a female's physical attractiveness and dominance on men's sexual motivation and sexually transmitted disease (STD) risk perceptions in a sample of 72 heterosexual male college students. As predicted, participants were more motivated to have sex with more physically attractive women. Nonetheless, they also believed that the more physically attractive women had been more promiscuous in the past, and believed that unprotected sex with a physically attractive woman implied a relatively somewhat higher risk of contracting an STD. In contrast, the more socially dominant women were perceived as having practiced safer sex more regularly and as having had less risky sexual partners in the past. Practical implications of this study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Although college students have higher rates of e-cigarette use compared with non-college-attending young adults, e-cigarette-abstaining college students are an understudied population. The present study was designed to create a scale assessing current e-cigarette abstainers' motives to abstain from or initiate e-cigarette use.Method: Participants from two universities who had never used e-cigarettes (n = 281) completed an online survey. Participants indicated their e-cigarette abstention and initiation motives, and their perceived vulnerability to, willingness to use, and intentions to use e-cigarettes.Results: Analyses revealed three factors of abstention motives (avoiding health outcomes, low incentive to initiate, and concerns regarding social approval of use) and three factors of initiation motives (tobacco alternatives, social reasons, and coping with negative emotions). When demographics were controlled for, only coping motives significantly positively related to abstainers' willingness and intentions for future e-cigarette initiation. Furthermore, only the avoiding health outcomes abstention motive was positively related to participants' perceived vulnerability to the negative health effects of e-cigarettes.Conclusions: This study provides initial support for a scale to assess what motives abstainers may have to initiate e-cigarette use. Results indicated that coping motives may be indicators of readiness to initiate e-cigarettes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three studies are described that assess elements of a new model of adolescent health-risk behavior, the prototype/willingness (P/W) model (F. X. Gibbons & M. Gerrard, 1995, 1997). The 1st analysis examined whether a central element of the prototype model, behavioral willingness, adds significantly to behavioral expectation in predicting adolescents' smoking behavior. The 2nd set of analyses used structural-equation-modeling procedures to provide the 1st test of the complete model in predicting college students' pregnancy-risk behavior. Finally, the 3rd study used confirmatory factor analysis to assess the independence of elements of the model from similar elements in other health behavior models. Results of the 3 studies provided support for the prototype model and, in particular, for 2 of its primary contentions: (a) that much adolescent health-risk behavior is not planned and (b) that willingness and intention are related but independent constructs, each of which can be an antecedent to risk behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two studies examined the relationship between the content of a self-threat and the attractiveness of available self-affirmations (C. M. Steele, 1988). After self-threat was induced by means of a cognitive dissonance procedure, participants' choices for affirmations were examined in order to explore whether the attractiveness of a given affirmation depends on its relevance to the threatened domain of the self-concept. The authors hypothesized that when faced with a threat to a specific self-conception or standard, individuals may forego affirmations within the threatened self-concept domain in favor of affirmations of unrelated, compensatory domains. Both studies supported this hypothesis and further suggested that such selective self-affirmation can lead individuals to modify their self-concepts by identifying with self-aspects that justify dissonant behavior and by disidentifying with the standards that such behavior violates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Deviance Regulation Theory (DRT) proposes that individuals regulate their behavior to be in line with the behaviors of others. Specifically, individuals desire to stand out in positive way and not stand out in a negative way. DRT has been successfully applied to encourage other health behaviors and offers a unique method to utilize both injunctive norms in combination with descriptive norms in brief alcohol interventions. This randomized controlled trial evaluated a computer-delivered, norms-based personalized feedback intervention which systematically varied the focus on whether specific drinking behaviors were described as common or uncommon (a descriptive norm), whether the drinking behaviors were healthy versus unhealthy, and whether the drinking behaviors were positively or negatively framed (an injunctive norm). Nine-hundred and fifty-nine college drinkers completed baseline, three-month, and six-month follow-up assessments. Results indicated messages focusing on unhealthy drinking behaviors, particularly when described as uncommon, were most effective in reducing drinking and alcohol-related problems over time. This research utilizes deviance regulation theory as a way of improving personalized normative feedback by elucidating how to construct messages for brief interventions based on descriptive characteristics associated with specific target drinking behaviors in combination with perceptions of prevalence and acceptability of such drinking behaviors (an injunctive norm). Highlights • This RCT applied deviance regulation theory to a personalized feedback intervention. • Common versus uncommon and healthy versus unhealthy conditions were examined. • Messages also framed specific drinking behaviors positively or negatively. • Uncommon, unhealthy messages were effective in reducing drinking outcomes. • Findings suggest how to incorporate both injunctive and descriptive norms in PFIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has identified an important role for task switching, a cognitive control process often associated with executive functioning, in the Implicit Association Test (IAT). However, switching does not fully account for IAT effects, particularly when performance is scored using more recent d-score formulations. The current study sought to characterize multiple control processes involved in IAT performance through the use of event-related brain potentials (ERPs). Participants performed a race-evaluative IAT while ERPs were recorded. Behaviorally, participants experienced superadditive reaction time costs of incongruency and task switching, consistent with previous studies. The ERP showed a marked medial frontal negativity (MFN) 250–450 ms post-stimulus at midline fronto-central locations that were more negative for incongruent than congruent trials but more positive for switch than for no-switch trials, suggesting separable control processes are engaged by these two factors. Greater behavioral IAT bias was associated with both greater switch-related and congruency-related ERP activity. Findings are discussed in terms of the Dual Mechanisms of Control model of reactive and proactive cognitive control. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Blanton, Buunk, Gibbons, and Kuyper (1999) and Huguet, Dumas, Monteil, and Genestoux (2001) found that children nominated a social comparison target who slightly outperformed them in class with a beneficial effect on course grades — an assimilation effect, but with no effects on self-evaluation. However, big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) research has shown that attending a high-ability school has a negative effect on academic self-concept - a contrast effect. To resolve this apparent conflict, the present investigation (1) tested the BFLPE in the Netherlands and France, using nationally representative samples (Study 1) and (2) further analysed (using more sophisticated analyses) the Dutch (Blanton et al.) study (Study 2) and the French (Huguet et al.) study including new French data (Study 3), to examine whether the BFLPE coexisted with, or was moderated by, the beneficial impact of upward comparisons. In support of the BFLPE, all studies found the negative effects of school-or class-average ability on self-evaluation, demonstrating that these assimilation and contrast effects can coexist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although often credited with prompting a paradigm shift in social comparison theory, T. A. Wills's (1981) downward comparison (DC) theory has received some criticism recently. In particular, several recent studies have failed to find support for T. A. Wills's (1981) contention that threat and accompanying negative affect lead to a desire for DC. These apparent failures have led some investigators to question basic principles of the theory. To resolve this controversy, 5 studies were conducted examining preferred comparison level (PCL) after performance; 4 of the studies also assessed change in this preference. Results supported DC theory, but with modifications. Specifically, individuals who performed poorly lowered their PCLs. Under some circumstances, this "downward shift" included an increased interest in "true" DC--comparing with worse-off others. A reconciliation of these results with those of previous studies is offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]