Structure, Content and Inter‐relationships between Self‐aspects:Integrating Findings from the Social Identity and Self Complexity Traditions

The “social cure” literature from the social identity approach, and the self‐complexity literature are both concerned with the structure and content of the self, and their relationship to wellbeing. Our work seeks to integrate these two approaches by investigating the exact characteristics of the self concept that are associated with wellbeing, focusing in particular on self‐aspects that are supportive, positive, representative and compatible (“superaspects”). In a pre‐registered correlational study (n=640) we found that the number of collective superaspects was positively associated with affect balance and quality of life (H1a), but the number of non‐collective superaspects was positively associated only with affect balance (H1b). We found no evidence that similarity between self‐aspects was negatively associated with wellbeing (H2), or that a self‐reported measure of positivity was more strongly associated with wellbeing than a calculated measure (H3). These findings suggest potential avenues for an integrated measurement of the self‐concept and its association with wellbeing

Calculating self-concept structure indices, including Linville’s H : toward standardization and replication

The structure of the self and its relationship with wellbeing are of interest to researchers in many areas of psychology, including social, clinical and differential. Psychologists seeking to calculate the self-concept structure indices associated with the self-complexity framework have long been faced with a computation bottleneck. The complex formulae, variable approaches and lack of availability of ready-to-use programs that allow streamlined calculation of dimensionality (Linville’s H), complexity (Sakaki’s SC), overlap (OL) and compartmentalisation (Shower’s Phi) means that the research area has been limited in both research speed and participation. The low volume of studies and the computational disincentive for replications have led to a situation where the evidence on self-complexity and related constructs is equivocal. In this article, we discuss approaches to calculating self-concept structure, providing a practical guide for researchers who would like to implement the published formulas or use existing computational tools, made available by the authors. This tutorial will allow both efficiency and broader access for researchers seeking to examine constructs related to self-concept structure. We hope that these contributions might foster a new wave of data collection in this area, allowing for clarity on the utility and implications of dimensionality and complexity in the self-concept.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Environmental interventions for altering eating behaviours of employees in the workplace:A systematic review

Environmental, or ‘choice-architecture’, interventions aim to change behaviour by changing properties/contents of the environment and are commonly used in the workplace to promote healthy behaviours in employees. The present review aimed to evaluate and synthesize the evidence surrounding the effectiveness of environmental interventions targeting eating behaviour in the workplace. A systematic search identified 8157 articles, of which 22 were included in the current review. All included studies were coded according to risk of bias and reporting quality and were classified according to the emergent typology of choice-architecture interventions. More than half of included studies (13/22) reported significant changes in primary measures of eating behaviour (increased fruit/veg consumption, increased sales of healthy options and reduction in calories purchased). However, only one study produced a small significant improvement in weight/body mass index. Many studies had a high or unknown risk of bias; reporting of interventions was suboptimal; and the only trial to measure compensatory behaviours found that intervention participants who ate less during the intervention ate more out with the workplace later in the day. Hence, we conclude that more rigorous, well-reported studies that account for compensatory behaviours are needed to fully understand the impact of environmental interventions on diet and importantly on weight/body mass index outcomes

Breaking the Binary:Conceptions of Sex and Gender in Undergraduate Science

The need to make higher education curricula gender-inclusive is increasingly pressing as student cohorts diversify. We adopted a student-staff partnership approach to design, integrate, and evaluate a module that taught first-year science students the difference between biological sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation in the context of genetics concepts at an Australian university. This module aimed to break the binary in misconceptions of both sex and gender, emphasising that both exist on separate spectra. Data triangulation was used to evaluate students’ attitudes towards the module and their learning of module concepts. Students’ attitudes were positive overall, and evaluation of students’ learning indicated that the majority of students understood and retained key concepts, while also identifying common misconceptions. Perhaps the most important finding was that students who identified as belonging to a minority group had significantly more positive attitudes towards the module than non-minority students. This finding supports previous research that has found inclusive curricula have greater benefit for students from minority backgrounds, indicating the importance of making such curriculum enhancements. Our results speak to both the co-creation process and students’ learning outcomes, providing valuable insights for practitioners both within science and beyond

How conceptualising obesity as a disease affects beliefs about weight, and associated weight stigma and clinical decision-making in health care

Objectives: This study empirically investigated how conceptualizing obesity as a disease (i.e., pathologizing obesity) affects beliefs about weight, and weight stigma and discrimination among health professionals. Design: An experiment that manipulated the pathologization of obesity was completed by a multi-nation sample of health professionals from Australia, UK, and USA (N = 365). Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions where they were asked to conceptualize obesity as a disease or not a disease; then presented with a hypothetical medical profile of a patient with obesity who was seeking care for migraines. We measured biogenetic causal beliefs about obesity, endorsement of weight as a heuristic for health, negative obesity stereotypes, and treatment decisions. Results: Participants in the disease (vs. non-disease) condition endorsed biogenetic causal beliefs more strongly and made more migraine-related treatment recommendations. No effect of the manipulation was found for the remaining outcomes. Biogenetic causal beliefs about obesity were associated with less weight stigma. Endorsing weight as a heuristic for health was associated with greater weight stigma and differential treatment recommendations focused more on the patient's weight and less on their migraines. Conclusions: Pathologizing obesity may reinforce biogenetic explanations for obesity. Evidence demonstrates complex associations between weight-related beliefs and weight stigma and discrimination. Biogenetic causal beliefs were associated with less weight stigma, while endorsing weight as a heuristic for health was associated with greater weight stigma and differential treatment. Further research is needed to inform policies that can promote health without perpetuating weight-based rejection in health care

When group members go against the grain:An ironic interactive effect of group identification and normative content on healthy eating

Three studies were conducted to examine the effect of group identification and normative content of social identities on healthy eating intentions and behaviour. In Study 1 (N = 87) Australian participants were shown images that portrayed a norm of healthy vs. unhealthy behaviour among Australians. Participants’ choices from an online restaurant menu were used to calculate energy content as the dependent variable. In Study 2 (N = 117), female participants were assigned to a healthy or unhealthy norm condition. The dependent variable was the amount of food eaten in a taste test. Social group identification was measured in both studies. In Study 3 (N = 117), both American identification and healthiness norm were experimentally manipulated, and participants’ choices from an online restaurant menu constituted the dependent variable. In all three studies, the healthiness norm presented interacted with participants’ group identification to predict eating behaviour. Contrary to what would be predicted under the traditional normative social influence account, higher identifiers chose higher energy food from an online menu and ate more food in a taste test when presented with information about their in-group members behaving healthily. The exact psychological mechanism responsible for these results remains unclear, but the pattern of means can be interpreted as evidence of vicarious licensing, whereby participants feel less motivated to make healthy food choices after being presented with content suggesting that other in-group members are engaging in healthy behaviour. These results suggest a more complex interplay between group membership and norms than has previously been proposed

A demonstration of the collaborative replication and education project:Replication attempts of the Red-Romance effect

International audienc