Socio-cognitive Models Research Articles

Analyzing early childhood allergy prevention motivation of mothers of infants and its predictors using latent class analysis and structural equation modelling

BackgroundAllergic diseases are among the most common chronic diseases in childhood. Early childhood allergy prevention (ECAP) behaviors of those caring for the infant during pregnancy and the first months of life may influence the risk of allergy development over the life course. Motivation and intention to use appropriate primary ECAP measures are thus of critical importance.AimsTo characterize parental ECAP motivation, (a) valid indicators will be developed and (b) typical parental characteristics will be identified. (c) According to socio-cognitive models, the predictive value of parental risk perception, control belief and self-efficacy for parental ECAP motivation shall be determined.MethodA sample of N = 343 (expectant) mothers of infants completed a questionnaire on self-reported ECAP motivation, risk perception, control belief, and self-efficacy. The cross-sectional data were analyzed using latent class analysis and structural equation modelling including nominal regression models.ResultsFour typical maternal response profiles (motivated to a customary degree, 70%; motivated to use primary preventive measures, 17.8%; reluctant towards new prevention measures, 6.4%; highly motivated to apply preventive measures in case of an existing allergy, 5.8%) could be identified for the items on ECAP motivation. After splitting the model variables “risk perception” (allergy vs. allergy-associated general health problems) and “self-efficacy” (trust vs. insecurity) a satisfactory model-fit was achieved (CFI = .939; RMSEA = .064). Particularly, increased “risk perception-allergy” (OR = 1.655) and “self-efficacy-insecurity” (OR = 2.013) as well as lower “risk perception-general health” (OR = 0.555) and “control belief” (OR = 0.217), respectively, are associated with higher ECAP motivation.ConclusionThe use of ECAP-measures by parents to protect their newborns from allergies is important, but there are deficiencies in their implementation. Based on a social cognitive model approach, predictive characteristics could be identified, which are associated with increased motivation to implement ECAP-measures. For public health our findings provide a promising basis for conception of behavioral and environmental ECAP prevention measures and their motivated implementation by parents.

Sectoral and institutional characteristics of acquirers and targets: a dyadic approach to deal completion

PurposeThis study takes a dyadic approach to explaining merger and acquisition (M&A) deal outcomes. Acknowledging the socio-cognitive (e.g. intangible and macro-environmental) idiosyncrasies, the authors theorize that some acquirer–target dyads have a superior ability to complete complex relational transactions in an M&A deal. Specifically, deals are successful when an acquirer and a target: are similar considering their sectoral characteristics, have contextually-informed deal-making competencies, and are familiar with one another given their sectoral and institutional features.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses logistic regression analysis to examine how sectoral and institutional characteristics in the acquiring and target company dyads relate to the likelihood of merger and acquisition deal completion.FindingsAnalyzing a sample of 37,560 M&A deals, the authors find empirical evidence in support of the dyadic to deal completion. The authors find that sectoral similarity and institutional familiarity in an M&A dyad can predict the likelihood of deal completion. Specifically, service multinational acquirers are more competent than their manufacturing counterparts in general, and in same-sector and same-country deals in particular. In contrast, service sector acquirers also are at a relative disadvantage vis-à-vis their manufacturing counterparts in cross-national deals.Research limitations/implicationsConsidering the theoretical and managerial implications, the authors identify new avenues for future research on service and manufacturing M&A dyads that can deepen the knowledge of inter-firm transaction processes.Originality/valueFirst, the authors draw on the socio-cognitive, behavioral, and relational models to explain M&A deal process in both domestic and cross-border settings. Drawing on service vis-à-vis manufacturing sector business models, the authors predict deal completion. Second, the authors propose that familiarity between the acquiring and target companies in the form of sectoral and cross-national factors becomes pivotal to the inter-firm processes. Finally, the authors empirically demonstrate how inter-firm dynamics in a dyad can pose complex deal-making challenges, which make some acquirers especially susceptible to contextual shocks.

To be or not to be confident in medicine: that's the question! An explorative study on consumer information inferences toward food supplements consumption

PurposeThis study investigated how consumers' confidence in medicine and health information seeking and usage could be related to purchase intentions and satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachA panel of 18 food supplements consumers were interviewed using soft laddering. Qualitative data were coded and used to develop a structured survey. Participants (N = 363) were recruited on a voluntary basis among the customers of an Italian company in this sector. Hypotheses were tested by linear regressions and generalized models.FindingsResults showed that consumers' confidence in medicine interacted with health information seeking and usage influencing both purchase intention and satisfaction. Consumers with high confidence behave differently from those with low confidence.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors used a sample based on one company's customer base.Practical implicationsCompanies should segment their customers based on their level of confidence in medicine and adopt different marketing strategies for different segments.Social implicationsA broader knowledge of consumers' attitudes towards food supplements and medicines can improve the public policies aimed at increasing quality of life.Originality/valueFrom a theoretical viewpoint, findings suggest to consider consumers' confidence in medicine along with other subjective and contextual variables in socio-cognitive models aimed at explaining food supplements' consumer behavior. From a marketing viewpoint, results suggest to consider confidence in medicine as a precious variable in segmentation strategies. While some communication strategies are valid for all customers (i.e. using experts as advisors, using scientific contents in ads), others (i.e. relying on the advice of trustworthy people, explaining the consequences of consumption) were proved to have different impact on consumers depending on their degree of confidence in medicine.

Evaluating Theory-Based Correlates of Dissociation: A Nomological Network Study

Informed by the transtheoretical/transdiagnostic model (TTM) of dissociation, we tested the nomological network of dissociation by evaluating the unique relations among dissociation and its facets (i.e., depersonalization, amnesia, absorption, taxon) with variables pertinent to competing dissociation theories (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD] symptoms, resilience, fantasy proneness, cognitive failures, sleep) while controlling for neuroticism, affect, and social desirability. Self-report measures were administered online to undergraduate students ( N = 352). We found robust relations among dissociation and sociocognitive variables (i.e., fantasy proneness, cognitive failures, thought control) and correlations among dissociation and trauma-related variables (e.g., PTSD symptoms, resilience). Variables relevant to different dissociation theories uniquely related to distinct dimensions of dissociation. We observed significant indirect effects on dissociation for sleep, cognitive failures, and fantasy proneness. Results support the sociocognitive and posttraumatic models of dissociation, thereby highlighting nuances in dissociation's nomological network and confirming the value of the TTM as an integrative model.

Modeling Mobile Writing: Applying Sociocognitive Models of Writing to Mobile Contexts

Current cognitive and sociocognitive models of writing conceptualize writing processes as complex interactions between multidimensional mechanisms that activate a writer’s social motivations, psychomotor processes, and cognitive resources in order to engage in writing. These models have been developed through years of empirical research employing a variety of data channels, such as keystroke logging; however, research about mobile writing processes have been understudied. This paper presents a study of mobile writing processes that used keystroke-logging methods in order to expand scholarship of writing processes into the realm of mobile writing. By examining how participants ( N = 10) wrote on mobile devices at the keystroke level, as well as combining textual and keystroke analysis to examine context text-message (SMS) composition, this study argues for theoretically framing mobile writing as an embodied performance.

Dissociation and Dissociative Disorders Reconsidered: Beyond Sociocognitive and Trauma Models Toward a Transtheoretical Framework.

For more than 30 years, the posttraumatic model (PTM) and the sociocognitive model (SCM) of dissociation have vied for attention and empirical support. We contend that neither perspective provides a satisfactory account and that dissociation and dissociative disorders (e.g., depersonalization/derealization disorder, dissociative identity disorder) can be understood as failures of normally adaptive systems and functions. We argue for a more encompassing transdiagnostic and transtheoretical perspective that considers potentially interactive variables including sleep disturbances; impaired self-regulation and inhibition of negative cognitions and affects; hyperassociation and set shifts; and deficits in reality testing, source attributions, and metacognition. We present an overview of the field of dissociation, delineate uncontested and converging claims across perspectives, summarize key multivariable studies in support of our framework, and identifyempirical pathways for future research to advance our understanding of dissociation, including studies of highly adverse events and dissociation.

Cognitive Control Processes and Defense Mechanisms That Influence Aggressive Reactions: Toward an Integration of Socio-Cognitive and Psychodynamic Models of Aggression.

Research on cognitive processes has primarily focused on cognitive control and inhibitory processes to the detriment of other psychological processes, such as defense mechanisms (DMs), which can be used to modify aggressive impulses as well as self/other images during interpersonal conflicts. First, we conducted an in-depth theoretical analysis of three socio-cognitive models and three psychodynamic models and compared main propositions regarding the source of aggression and processes that influence its enactment. Second, 32 participants completed the Hostile Expectancy Violation Paradigm (HEVP) in which scenarios describe a hostile vs. non-hostile social context followed by a character's ambiguous aversive behavior. The N400 effect to critical words that violate expected hostile vs. non-hostile intent of the behavior was analyzed. Prepotent response inhibition was measured using a Stop Signal task (SST) and DMs were assessed with the Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ-60). Results showed that reactive aggression and HIA were not significantly correlated with response inhibition but were significantly positively and negatively correlated with image distorting defense style and adaptive defense style, respectively. The present article has highlighted the importance of integrating socio-cognitive and psychodynamic models to account for the full complexity underlying psychological processes that influence reactive aggressive behavior.

The Role of Moral Foundations, Anticipated Guilt and Personal Responsibility in Predicting Anti-consumption for Environmental Reasons

In response to the growing importance of environmental issues, more and more consumers are turning to anti-consumption by reducing, rejecting, or avoiding consumption. Covering the intersection of sustainable consumption and anti-consumption, previous studies relied on socio-cognitive models to explain this decision. In order to extend their findings, we consider the moral and emotional perspectives to examine reducing consumption for environmental reasons in a particular context, i.e. air travel. It is against this backdrop that we propose a conceptual model that includes moral foundations as the main antecedent, followed by anticipated guilt and personal responsibility, while intention to reduce consumption (i.e. air travel) for environmental reasons, positive word of mouth about reducing air travel (WOM) and environmental activism represent the outcomes. The proposed model is tested on a sample of 511 respondents from a UK online consumer panel. Our results confirm the importance of moral foundations, anticipated guilt and personal responsibility and their interplay in the prediction of intention to reduce consumption for environmental reasons. Anticipated guilt influences WOM, while personal responsibility influences activism. In addition, intentions to reduce consumption for environmental reasons have a positive impact on WOM and environmental activism. There are several implications for public policy makers and NGOs that fight against climate change that derive from these findings, as well as research opportunities for academics interested in this topic.

Teaching Introductory Chemistry Online: The Application of Socio-Cognitive Theories to Improve Students’ Learning Outcomes

The purpose of this randomized experimental study is to apply two socio-cognitive models to understand possible ways to improve students’ learning outcomes in an online introductory chemistry learning environment. Specifically, the social presence theory suggested that students’ sense of relatedness and learning motivation can be increased by a real or imagined interaction with others. On the other hand, self-regulated learning theory and self-determination theory both suggested that students learn best when they direct their focus to self, rather than others. Using these two theoretical perspectives as the basis, two experimental conditions (social presence vs. self-regulated) were developed in the context of chemistry learning. Participants of the study were randomly assigned to one of the experimental conditions. Both groups were presented with a pre-test, an online micro-lecture on balancing equations, i.e., a subtopic of stoichiometry, and a post-test. Linear mixed model analysis revealed that participants in the self-regulated learning condition had higher improvement in quiz scores than had participants in the social presence condition. Implications of the study and future directions were discussed.

A flood-risk-oriented, dynamic protection motivation framework to explain risk reduction behaviours

Abstract. Private risk reduction behaviours can significantly reduce the negative impacts of flooding and flash floods. Over the past decades, researchers have used various socio-cognitive models or threat and coping mechanisms to explain individual protective behaviours. However, these models ignore the fact that people are not equally ready to act upon a danger, and they (the models) give limited insights into the effectiveness of communication strategies to foster risk reduction behaviours. Therefore, we explored the current state of homeowners' readiness to undertake risk reduction behaviours in flood risk areas by applying a dynamic protection motivation framework. We conducted a survey in an Italian municipality that experienced severe flash flooding in September 2018. The results show that people are motivated by different factors in prompting risk reduction behaviour based on their chosen types of protective measures. For example, people that undertook structural or avoidance measures are more likely to be motivated to protect themselves by increased perceptions of vulnerability and response efficacy and are less worried about expected flood losses compared to people that undertook only basic emergency measures. In this paper, we argue how these new insights contribute to targeting flood risk communication strategies to groups of individuals characterized by different readiness stages and motivations to protect themselves.

Nonsubstance or behavioral addictions: Neuropsychological underpinnings and psychosocial interventions

This review article focuses on a number of behavioral addictions that involve the use of technology, rather than the use of substances or drugs of abuse. Much debate has evolved around the overuse of social media and the Internet, smartphones and screens of all sorts, addiction to pornography, online gaming, gambling, and even shopping. The article outlines neuropsychological studies which explain the brain basis of these addictions and focuses on psychosocial interventions which may provide relief to the addict. Dopamine and serotonin are seen to play a major role in addictive disorders, and dopaminergic mesolimbic pathway involved in gambling addiction is similar to those involved in substance-based addictions. Impulsive behaviors that are characteristic of gambling disorder can be due to changes in the fronto-striatal circuits. The ventral striatum is seen to drive behavior and the prefrontal components involving ventromedial prefrontal cortex fail to control inhibitions. Altered activity in the midbrain and striatum is also observed during the making of impulsive choices, which are often at the heart of behavioral addictions. Some studies show that individuals addicted to social networking sites and those showing screen dependence, behaviors that often involve value-based decisions, are seen to have smaller areas of striatum and amygdala. Impaired executive functioning and inhibitory control, both of which are typical to addiction, are connected to lower functional connectivity in fronto-striatal circuits. The article goes on to review psychosocial interventions that can be explored, including behavioral, cognitive behavioral, and sociocognitive models.

Gramática, cognição e sociedade: para uma gramática de significados, usos e variações

This study aims to highlight the relationship between grammar, cognition and society, identifying cognitive and social processes applied to grammatical constructions in Portuguese and their correlations. First, we will characterize certain cognitive operations that play an important role in grammar and that make it an efficient conceptual structuring and communication system: construal (our ability to view, conceive and portray the same situation in alternate ways); objectivity vs. subjectivity (the construal of a scene as detached or not from the conceptualizer); prominence (the focusing of attention on some aspects of a situation); mental spaces (packages of encyclopedic knowledge built and evoked in the current discourse); and inferences about the speaker’s intended meanings. Then, we will show how these cognitive operations (which are common to language and other cognitive faculties, such as perception, attention, and memory) are configured and conditioned by sociocultural factors and communicative efficiency processes – hence the importance of intersubjectivity and cultural conceptualization, and the need for systematically including intralinguistic variation in grammar. The answer to the question of the correlation between cognitive processes and social processes in grammar is based on the cognitive science notion of social cognition and on multivariate and sociocognitive grammar models. A usage-based grammar implies a deconstruction of the linguistic system in favor of a view of language in its inevitable variability as a complex dynamic system and the construction of a multifactorial grammar model that may adequately unravel, through multivariate quantitative methods, the interplay between conceptual, structural and social factors. Finally, we will illustrate these principles of a grammar of meanings, uses and variations (in contrast with traditional perspective of a grammar of forms, structures and rules) with three studies on constructional variation in Portuguese. They are part of our sociocognitive and sociolectometrical research into convergence and divergence between European and Brazilian Portuguese: se constructions (reflexive, reciprocal, middle, anticausative, passive, impersonal) and the null se constructions; prepositional relative constructions and their chopping and resumptive counterparts; and the alternation between inflected and uninflected infinitival constructions.

Shifting the focus from motivated learners to motivating distributed environments: a review of 40 years of published motivation research in Distance Education

ABSTRACTThis article reviews motivation research published in Distance Education since 1980, highlighting the major foci of investigation and reflecting on past findings. A major trend was that past research has focused predominantly on learners’ motivational attributes using sociocognitive models of motivation. We therefore have developed a good understanding of motivating variables such as self-efficacy and their power in engaging learners. However, this can be problematic because sociocognitive research situates motivation within an individualistic paradigm with limited attention given to examining whether learning supports and instructional designs in open and distance learning mediate and motivate learning engagement. Building on the review, this article seeks to shift the research attention from whether learners are motivated to crafting an open and distance learning system that is motivating and engaging by tapping into multiple motivation sources available beyond the confines of an individualistic frame.

Visual analysis of socio-cognitive crowd behaviors for surveillance: A survey and categorization of trends and methods

Monitoring and inferring socio-cognitive behaviors through crowd analysis can help us to understand many processes. Be it people in crowded environments, road traffic or even a flock of fish, situational awareness becomes critical for creating adequate disaster response, providing incident management, exercising control, etc. Recent researches have indicated that crowd modeling is conventionally based on density analysis. However, socio-cognitive behavior studies have demonstrated that crowds often display a wide variety of behaviors that arise spontaneously from the collective motions of unconnected individuals. Therefore, behavior analysis employing physics-based approaches only, thereby neglecting the socio-psychological aspects, may present diverse challenges to accurate inference. This means that by identifying and modeling some of the interacting agents that underpin the evolution of such behaviors, we can deliver contexts that can help in the autonomous analysis of social and antisocial behaviors in crowded environments. This paper discusses these issues from the machine vision perspective. In particular, socio-cognitive models of crowds are linked to low-level mechanisms of crowd modeling and feature extraction. A survey of recent works on crowd behavior analysis is conducted under a proposed behavioral categorization based on the level of the performed analysis and identified behaviors. Finally, discussions and recommendations are provided toward the advancement in the field.

Predicting Condom Use: A Comparison of the Theory of Reasoned Action, the Theory of Planned Behavior and an Extended Model of TPB

ABSTRACT It was our goal to give a contribution to the prediction of condom use using socio-cognitive models, comparing classic theories to an extended model. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire of self-reported measures. From the students who agreed to participate in the study, 140 were eligible for the full study. A confirmatory analysis was used to assess the predictive value of the researched model. The model tested had slightly better fit indexes and predictive value than classic Theories of Reasoned Action and Planned Behaviour. Although the results found, discussion continues to understand the gap between intention and behaviour, as further investigation is necessary to fully understand the reasons for condom use inconsistency.

Dissociative identity disorder: Fact, fantasy or invalid?

Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a rare, complex and controversial mental health presentation, characterised by two or more distinct personality states and recurrent gaps in memory. Mental health practitioners currently rely on their own assessment of the available literature to conceptualise the presentation of DID as a result of lack of guidelines from the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence. This article presents the key findings of a systematic literature search and narrative synthesis of the conceptualisations of DID. This aims to offer an overview of current thought to support practitioners in their understanding, assessment, formulation and approach to working with this population. Three key approaches to the conceptualisation of DID were identified as dominant discourses in the literature: trauma-based models, sociocognitive models and invalid diagnosis theories. This review identified the need for a more collaborative approach to research between the different schools of thought and for more flexibility in approach from those working in the field.

The adoption of physical activity and eating behaviors among persons with obesity and in the general population: the role of implicit attitudes within the Theory of Planned Behavior

Obesity can be prevented by the combined adoption of a regular physical activity (PA) and healthy eating behaviors (EB). Researchers mainly focused on socio-cognitive models, such as the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), to identify the psychological antecedents of these behaviors. However, few studies were interested in testing the potential contribution of automatic processes in the prediction of PA and EB. Thus, the main objective of this study was to explore the specific role of implicit attitudes in the pattern of prediction of self-reported PA and EB in the TPB framework, among persons with obesity and in adults from the general population. One hundred and fifty-three adults participated to this cross-sectional study among which 59 obese persons (74% women, age: 50.6 ± 12.3 years, BMI: 36.8 ± 4.03 kg m–²) and 94 people from the general population (51% women; age: 34.7 ± 8.9 years). Implicit attitudes toward PA and EB were estimated through two Implicit Association Tests. TPB variables, PA and EB were assessed by questionnaire. Regarding to the prediction of PA, a significant contribution of implicit attitudes emerged in obese people, β = .25; 95%[CI: .01, .50]; P = .044, beyond the TPB variables, contrary to participants from the general population. The present study suggests that implicit attitudes play a specific role among persons with obesity regarding PA. Other studies are needed to examine which kind of psychological processes are specifically associated with PA and EB among obese people.

Structuration Theory: A Conceptual Framework for HIV/AIDS Stigma.

The continuing paucity of effective interventions to reduce HIV/AIDS stigma is troubling, given that stigma has long been recognized as a significant barrier to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support. Ineffectual HIV/AIDS stigma-reduction interventions are the product of inadequate conceptual frameworks and methodological tools. And while there is a paucity of effective interventions to reduce stigma, there is no shortage of conceptual frameworks intending to offer a comprehensive understanding of stigma, ranging from sociocognitive models at the individual level to structural models at the macrolevel. Observations highlighting inadequacies in the individualistic and structural models are offered, followed by the theory of structuration as a possible complementary conceptual base for designing HIV/AIDS stigma-reduction interventions.

Representação social do sexo nos jovens adultos portugueses

Foi nosso objetivo medir a representacao social do sexo atraves das evocacoes livres de 1138 jovens adultos portugueses, com idades entre os 18 e os 25 anos, explorando uma abordagem explicativa da possivel influencia desta representacao social nos comportamentos sexuais de risco observados nesta faixa etaria. As evocacoes foram recolhidas atraves de um questionario online, divulgado pelas universidades e escolas profissionais portuguesas. Foi realizada uma analise prototipica de representacoes sociais. Os resultados sugerem uma representacao social do sexo romantizada, com um nucleo central baseado na ideia de amor e prazer, em que aspetos relacionados com o risco, como preservativo ou infecoes sexualmente transmissiveis, pertencem apenas ao sistema periferico, considerando-se que ai sao integrados como uma forma de preservar o nucleo central, mas sem interferir na forma como os participantes vivem as suas experiencias sexuais. A associacao entre a ideia de amor e preservativo parece estar mais associada a heuristica de quem ama protege o que facilita a nao utilizacao do preservativo, em vez de a aumentar. A representacao social do sexo, centrada no amor e no prazer, podera enquadrar as questoes cognitivas, afetivas e comportamentais presentes na explicacao e predicao da utilizacao do preservativo, complementando os modelos sociocognitivos ja conhecidos.

Guilt and ethical choice in consumption

Research into consumer ethics has grown substantially since the 1990s. However, it is predominantly influenced by socio-cognitive and attitudinal models that treat everyday consumer decisions as the outcome of carefully weighting abstract moral principles against utilitarian outcomes. This article counter-proposes a psychoanalytic approach to consumer guilt and moral choice that draws on Freudian and Kleinian contributions. In particular, conceptualisations of unconscious (rather than conscious) guilt, the notion of guilt being the cause rather than outcome of moral behaviour, and the distinction between persecutory and reparative anxieties. In doing so, it corroborates a view of everyday morality as less rational, less deliberate and firmly embedded in psychodynamic processes that largely escape individual awareness. Potential implications and avenues for more psychoanalytically inspired treatments of consumer ethics are discussed.