Role of social psychology in protecting native values in the process of globalization

AbstractThis review intends to respond to a few questions about the expected influences of globalization on changing attitudes, values, and beliefs of developing communities, especially those from the East. Considering the goal of preserving social and personal values, various themes have been explained, including changing attitudes, persuasion and propaganda from social psychology. We have addressed McGuire and Papageorgis ‘(1961) inoculation effect. Taking the assumption that globalizing of information is inevitable, we discussed the importance of inoculation methods to resist unwanted cultural alienations. We also discussed the importance of teaching critical thinking via formal and informal educational systems; instead of passively accepting or aggressively rejecting all aspects of globalization

Nonconscious Motivational Influences on Cognitive Processes in Addictive Behaviors

This chapter presents the motivational and goal theory of current concerns in relation to addiction and choice. A current concern is an individual’s motivational state from the point of becoming committed to pursuing a particular goal until the goal is reached or the pursuit is relinquished. During this time, the current concern guides the person’s cognitive processes, including attention, memory, thoughts, and dreams. What is true of goals in general is true of the goal of drinking alcohol or using another addictive substance. We hold that the decision to use a substance is voluntary; thus, the choice to use is subject to the person’s conscious control. Nevertheless, implicit processes influence the decision. One of these processes is addiction-related attentional bias. We describe (1) the research on attentional bias and (2) interventions for helping drinkers overcome the attentional and motivational influences on their addictive behavior

Restraint, disinhibition and food-related processing bias

This study examined associations between restraint, disinhibition and food-related processing bias (FPB, assessed by the emotional Stroop task) in males and females in the UK, Greece and Iran. Results showed high restraint was associated with higher FPB. However, high restrained current dieters showed lower FPB that high restrained non-dieters. There was no significant difference in FPB for those showing high versus low disinhibition. Results are discussed in relation to theories of incentive salience and current concerns

Adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder among the prison inmates: An investigation of the executive function differences and comorbidity effects

Objective Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders that often persist into adulthood. ADHD is associated with a high percentage of comorbid psychiatric disorders. Studies indicate that ADHD is prevalent among inmates. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the executive functions (EFs), that is, inhibition and working memory among inmates with and without ADHD after controlling for comorbidity effects. Method Through stratified sampling method, 60 adult male inmates (30 with ADHD and 30 without ADHD) were selected on a voluntary basis and were matched for age and education. We compared the groups on measures of neuropsychological tests battery and self‐rated comorbidities. Results Prior to controlling for the effects of comorbid disorders, the ADHD and non‐ADHD groups showed significant differences on several measures of attention; however, only the classic Stroop test interference score remained significant after controlling for the effect of the comorbid disorders. The group comparisons on the measures of memory remained unaffected from before to after controlling for the effects of the six comorbid disorders. Conclusions Specific comorbid disorders may exacerbate the poor performance of prison inmates with ADHD on the tests of attention, but their performance on the tests of memory could remain unaffected by their comorbidity symptoms. We recommend replicating the study with ADHD participants with no criminal history

Do I Really Want to Change? The Effectiveness of Goal Ambivalence Feedback on Dieters’ Motivation

Becoming committed to a new health-related goal and pursuing it is difficult for many people. The present study (a) developed and tested the psychometric properties of a brief Goal Ambivalence Scale (GAS) in a sample of dieters and (b) tested the effectiveness of providing dieters with feedback on their scores on the GAS. In Study 1, dieters (n = 334, 74% females) completed the GAS and a measure of Health-Related Concerns and Actions (HRCA). The standardization of the GAS was supported by CVR and CVI, the results of a PCA, and strong reliability and validity statistics. In Study 2, the experimental group of dieters (n = 107; 67.50% female) received feedback on their GAS scores, but the control group did not (n = 111; 62.30% female). Compared with the control group, the experimental group reported a greater need for information, greater readiness to change, and higher perceived situational confidence in resisting food that was inconsistent with their dieting goals. To conclude, the GAS could be used in health settings to provide clients and providers with an objective, fast measure of commitment to achieving health-related goals. Moreover, immediate feedback on health-related goals may improve change motivation