Open-mindedness can decrease persuasion amongst adolescents: The role of self-affirmation

Objectives Self-affirmation (e.g., by reflecting on important personal values) has been found to promote more open-minded appraisal of threatening health messages in at-risk adults. However, it is unclear how self-affirmation affects adolescents and whether it has differential effects on the impact of these messages amongst those at relatively lower and higher risk. The current study explored moderation by risk. Design Participants were randomly assigned to either a self-affirmation or a control condition before receiving a health message concerning physical activity. Methods Older adolescents (N = 125) completed a self-affirmation or control writing task before reading about the health consequences of not meeting recommendations to be physically active for at least 60 min daily. Most of the sample did not achieve these levels of activity (98%, N = 123). Consequently, the message informed these participants that – unless they changed their behaviour – they would be at higher risk of heart disease. Participants completed measures of responses to the message and behaviour-specific cognitions (e.g., self-efficacy) for meeting the recommendations. Results For relatively inactive participants, self-affirmation was associated with increased persuasion. However, for those who were moderately active (but not meeting recommendations), those in the self-affirmation condition were less persuaded by the message. Conclusions Whilst self-affirmation can increase message acceptance, there are circumstances when the open-mindedness it induces may decrease persuasion. The evidence provided in this study suggests that caution may be needed when recommendations are challenging and it could be considered reasonable to be sceptical about the need to change behaviour

Sense-giving in health care: the relationship between the HR roles of line managers and employee commitment

In this article, we examine line manager prioritisation of HR roles and the consequences for employee commitment in a health-care setting. Our analysis is based on a quantitative, multi-actor study (509 employees and 67 line managers) in four Dutch hospitals. Using sense-giving as a theoretical lens, we demonstrate that, in addition to the effects of high commitment HRM, prioritising the Employee Champion role alone and the Employee Champion and Strategic Partner roles in combination is associated with higher employee commitment. We argue that through performing roles that are evocative of deep-seated values, such as excellent patient care and concern for others, line managers can have a positive effect on staff attitudes. In a sector often beleaguered by staff turnover, exhaustion and burnout, we offer an important, empirically based framework that has the potential to improve employee commitment and, from there, enhance performance

Direct contact and authoritarianism as moderators between extended contact and reduced prejudice: Lower threat and greater trust as mediators

Using a representative sample of Dutch adults (N = 1238), we investigated the moderating influence of direct contact and authoritarianism on the potential of extended contact to reduce prejudice. As expected, direct contact and authoritarianism moderated the effect of extended contact on prejudice. Moreover, the third-order moderation effect was also significant, revealing that extended contact has the strongest effect among high authoritarians with low levels of direct contact. We identified trust and perceived threat as the mediating processes underlying these moderation effects. The present study thus attests to the theoretical and practical relevance of reducing prejudice via extended contact. The discussion focuses on the role of extended contact in relation to direct contact and authoritarianism as well as on the importance of trust in intergroup contexts

Is sexism a gender issue? A motivated social cognition perspective on men’s and women’s sexist attitudes toward own and other gender

The present research investigated the antecedents of ambivalent sexism (i.e., hostile and benevolent forms) in both men and women toward own and other gender. In two heterogeneous adult samples (Study 1: N = 179 and Study 2: N = 222), it as revealed that gender itself was only a minor predictor of sexist attitudes compared to the substantial impact of individual differences in general motivated cognition (i.e., Need for closure). Analyses further showed that the relationship between Need for closure and sexism was mediated by social attitudes (i.e., right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation), which were differently related to benevolent and hostile forms of sexism. In the discussion it is argued that sexism primarily stems from individual differences in motivated cognitive style, which relates to peoples? perspective on the social world, rather than from group differences between men and women

An Investigation of Coach Behaviors, Goal Motives, and Implementation Intentions as Predictors of Well-Being in Sport

The present study aimed to expand upon Smith, Ntoumanis, and Duda’s (2007) research by investigating the influence of coach behaviors and implementation intentions on goal striving in sport. Structural equation modeling analysis with a sample of 108 athletes revealed coach behaviors as predictors of goal motives, which in turn predicted psychological well-being after 8 weeks. Supplementary regression analyses showed no interaction between autonomous goal motives and implementation intentions; however, a synergistic effect was identified for controlled goal motives such that controlled motives furnished with implementation intentions resulted in lower well-being than controlled motives alone. In further analyses, the motives underlying an implementation intention were found to mediate the paths from goal motives to well-being. The findings are discussed in terms of the roles played by goal motives, implementation intentions, and implementation intention motives during goal striving

Post‐traumatic stress disorder\u27s relation with positive and negative emotional avoidance: The moderating role of gender

Post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by avoidance of trauma‐related emotions. Research indicates that this avoidance may extend to any emotional experience that elicits distress, including those that are unrelated to the trauma. Literature in this area has been limited in its exclusive focus on negative emotions. Despite evidence of gender differences in PTSD and emotional avoidance separately, no studies to date have examined gender as a moderator of their association. The goal of the current study was to extend research by exploring the moderating role of gender in the relation between PTSD symptom severity and positive and negative emotional avoidance. Participants were 276 trauma‐exposed individuals (65.9% female, 65.6% White, Mage = 19.24) from a university in the north‐eastern United States. Moderation results indicated a main effect for PTSD symptom severity on both positive (b = 0.07, p \u3c .001) and negative (b = 0.04, p = .03) emotional avoidance. The interaction of gender and PTSD symptom severity was significant for positive emotion avoidance (b = 0.97, p = .01). Analysis of simple slopes revealed that PTSD symptom severity was significantly associated with positive emotional avoidance for males (b = 0.13, p \u3c .001) but not females (b = 0.03, p = .08). Results suggest the importance of gender‐sensitive recommendations for assessment and treatment of emotional avoidance in PTSD

Age influence in gender stereotypes related to Internet use in young people

[EN]The existence of gender stereotypes in relation to the use of the Internet led to the need to carry out the present study, which approaches young people perception of the use of the Internet and technologies. Based on knowledge of the existence of gender stereotypes in relation to the use of the Internet, the objective of the study is to detect whether the age of young people, with some previous experience on the Internet, marks differences in relation to the use they make of the Internet; in other words, whether the use made of the world network and the existing stereotypes may or may not have some type of dependent relationship with the age of the subjects. The study was applied in a group of the University of Salamanca (Spain) during the academic year 2018/2019, after the previous realization of activities during four months of sensitization, under the European project WYRED (netWorked Youth Research for Empowerment in the Digital). The final sample was composed by 48 subjects. For this purpose, a questionnaire was applied with 40 final items, which collected different activities that can be carried out on the Internet in order to find out what trend of use they presented in relation to the Internet, in comparison to their age. The two groups consisted of 26 people aged 20 or younger, and 22 people aged 20 or older. By means of a descriptive analysis, and the application of normality tests and non-parametric tests, no dependent relationships were detected between the use of the Internet after carrying out the survey and the age group in which the subject belonged. For the future it would be of special interest to be able to repeat the study comparing the opinion and use of young people on the Interne

Recovery of Yearling Calves from Fescue Toxicosis

Tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) S.J. Darbyshire) is widely utilized for grazing in the transition zone between the temperate and subtropical regions of the eastern U.S.A. Cattle grazing tall fescue frequently exhibit fescue toxicosis, a malady caused by consumption of toxins produced by the endophyte, Neotyphodium coenophialum. Symptoms of fescue toxicosis include retention of rough hair coat, increased body temperature and laboured respiration. Heat stress may be severe at onset of high ambient temperature and humidity. Transporting cattle exhibiting toxicosis can therefore be difficult because combined stresses of the toxicosis and transporting often result in high mortality. An experiment was conducted to measure trends in rectal temperatures for yearling steers following removal from tall fescue and placement on a fescue-free diet

Power Moderates the Effects of Social Dominance Orientation on Punishment: An Experimental Analysis

In this study, it was hypothesized that experimentally manipulated levels of power would moderate the association of dispositional social dominance orientation (SDO) with preferences for harsh punishment. In particular, we expected to detect a stronger effect for dispositional SDO in the low-power condition, relying on the notion that low power enhances sensitivity to threats to the status quo, and that high SDO individuals are particularly motivated to enforce hierarchy-enhancing measures as punishment. SDO scores were measured two months prior to the experiment, and then immediately after the experimental session. As expected, preexperimental SDO interacted with the power manipulation. We found stronger preexperimental SDO effects on punishment among low-power participants. We also anticipated and found that individuals high in SDO increased further their postexperimental SDO scores if assigned to a high-power condition. The discussion focuses on the importance of SDO effects among low-status groups and on how situational roles shape dispositional self-descriptions