<p>Motivation deficits remain an unmet treatment need in schizophrenia. Recent preclinical research has identified novel mechanisms underlying motivation deficits, namely impaired effort-cost computations and reduced future reward-value representation maintenance, that may serve as more effective treatment targets to improve motivation. The main aim of this study was to test the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a translational mechanism-based intervention, MEMS (Mobile Enhancement of Motivation in Schizophrenia), which leverages mobile technology to target these mechanisms with text-messages. Fifty-six participants with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder were randomized to MEMS (<i>n</i> = 27) or a control condition (<i>n</i> = 29). All participants set recovery goals to complete over eight-weeks. The MEMS group also received personalized, interactive text-messages each weekday to support motivation. Retention and engagement in MEMS was high: 92.6% completed 8 weeks of MEMS, with an 86.1% text-message response rate, and 100% reported that they were satisfied with the text-messages. Compared to the control condition, the MEMS group had significantly greater improvements in interviewer-rated motivation and anticipatory pleasure and obtained significantly more recovery-oriented goals at the end of the 8-week period. There were no significant group differences in performance-based effort-cost computations and future reward-value representations, self-reported motivation, quality of life, functioning, or additional secondary outcomes of positive symptoms, mood symptoms, or neurocognition. Results suggest that MEMS is feasible as a relatively brief, low-intensity mobile intervention that could effectively improve interviewer-rated motivation, anticipatory pleasure, and recovery goal attainment in those with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. </p>

This study examined the beliefs about religion and spirituality among substance abuse counselors. The data was gathered using an explorative qualitative design by interviewing substance abuse counselors in the field and asking questions related to the religion, spirituality, and the influence on their practice. This research highlighted the impact of substance abuse as a spiritual disease that affects the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of the client’s life. The key findings were related to the responses from the participants because it highlighted the importance of meeting the client where they are (motivational congruence), tolerance, acceptance, and the impact of agency policies. The second key finding is the substance counselor’s beliefs have no bearing in their practice because they operate under the philosophy of motivational congruence which is meeting the client where they are. Even though they have personal beliefs they are able to implement the professional use of self-focusing more on the client’s needs as opposed to theirs. The implication for future research is the contribution to extant literature by emphasizing the importance of religious or spiritual practices in the recovery process.

In this study an empirical investigation is conducted of the factors affecting moral choice, a necessary antecedent to moral behaviour (or action). The theoretical framework has drawn upon Rest's (1983, 1986) model of moral behaviour, with particular interest in the components motivation and moral judgment. The theoretical framework also integrates agency theory, with its emphasis on the individual as a psychological egoist, as a perspective from which to test hypotheses about determinants of moral choice and the motivational typologies arising from moral choice. Such hypothesis testing is undertaken in the setting of the banking and financial services industry in the People's Republic of China.The development and empirical testing of a set of motivational typologies is a major focus of this study. Such a set of typologies effectively replaces the singular concept of the agent as a self-serving individual. It enables the identification of other realist moral predispositions that may strongly influence the choices business operatives make. These predispositions range from altruism to thinly disguised self-interest. An individual's predisposition to be altruistic or to display strongly disguised self-interest has long been recognized in the ethics literature, but these notions have received little attention in agency theory testing. In addition, an attempt was made to incorporate human judgment theory, including Simon's (1992) concept of "bounded rationality", as a basis for decision making as part of the proposed model.This research study has been conducted in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone of the People's Republic of China during the period 1999 to 2001 and has involved a sample of 400 business operatives employed within national state-owned banks, regional commercial banks, insurance companies and securities companies. Use has been made of a modified ++ / experimental design that involves operatives listening to a culturally adapted audiotaped business dilemma (involving an agency problem) and making moral responses that are recorded on an accompanying questionnaire. The latter has been designed to collect data used to construct motivational typologies. In addition, various personal and contextual data have been collected as part of the research agenda. Of particular interest has been the collection of personal data that permits the author to investigate the impact of both Chinese cultural values and the moral judgment ability of the respondents.After considering the literature pertinent to this study, a number of hypotheses have been developed and tested using the instruments referred to above. The results of these tests can be summarized into three parts.The first set of tests has involved the effects of various personal and organizational factors in the agency-based experiment. After confirming the veracity of the standard agency model as a predictor of moral choice, it was then found that differences in age, gender, employment status and religious affiliation act to significantly affect moral choice, whereas differences in business experience, and education level do not affect choice. The investigation has provided clear evidence that female operatives, within the age group of 26-30 years, who occupy clerical positions within the tested institutions, display a significant adversity to risk when making moral choices in situations that involve moral hazard, including the presence of adverse selection criteria.In comparison, the effects of size and type of institution have provided rather mixed results when tested as organizational factors influencing moral choice within an agency framework. A further analysis of the related data, however, points to other variables such as differences in ethical climate type and ++ / cultural orientation being significantly associated with moral choice. There is also some evidence that age acts to influence the extent to which business operatives apply traditional Chinese cultural orientations.The second part of the data analysis has involved the use of appropriate multivariate statistics in order to establish the existence of a mutually exclusive set of motivational typologies (involving concern for self and/or management within an agency context). The pattern of membership across the typologies does not change significantly when agency conditions altered. This outcome provides evidence that, in relation to the field experiment used in this study, respondents have used informational heuristics that are consistent and logically applied.Financial sector operatives, who identify with a particular typology, are found to respond to moral issues in specific ways. For example, altruists hold high moral positions regardless of the agency conditions facing them, while operatives adopting a thinly disguised form of egoism are likely to be less supportive of management. Further, the study demonstrates that operatives, who displayed strongly disguised egoism/enlightened self-interest positions in situations where an agency problem is not excessive, are likely to be replaced by psychological egoists when faced with a significant moral hazard and adverse selection criteria.Again, by applying multivariate statistical analysis, it has been possible to identify those personal and contextual factors that discriminate between the various typologies. Of the personal characteristics, the Chinese cultural value orientations, integration and human heartedness have been identified as relatively strong discriminators of motivational typology group membership regardless of the agency conditions. The role that traditional value orientations play as discriminators of group ++ / membership become even more significant for operatives aged 30 years and older.The discriminating influence of the contextual factors, namely elements of ethical work climate and job satisfaction, has been somewhat less definitive and has tended to depend on the nature of the agency conditions. The ethical work climate perception, instrumentalism is seen to display a significant influence on the way that the job satisfaction variables of pay and conditions, co-workers and work itself discriminate between the motivational typologies. However, these perceptions do not necessarily influence moral choice depending on the typology adopted by the financial operatives.The third part of the analysis has examined the direct influence of various personal and contextual factors on moral choice. A linear multiple regression analysis of data has revealed that certain factors affected moral choice depending on the nature of the agency conditions defined within the experimental design. The value orientation, integration, arises as a major predictor when adverse selection criteria is absent from the field experiment, whereas the contextual variables instrumentalism and employment status emerge when such conditions are present. In this study it appears evident that operatives expressing strong collectivist views are more likely to be supportive of management when agency conditions minimize the degree of personal conflict. Instrumentalism is identified as a widespread condition in the financial sector and influences moral choice when moral hazard, including adverse selection criteria, is present. Employment status, as a workplace demographic is found to be associated with adversity to risk, impelling junior employees to avoid supporting management in situations that might affect their employment or promotion prospects.The widely accepted component of moral behaviour, namely moral ++ / judgment ability, has been thoroughly tested within the terms of the hypotheses developed for this study. The variable did not emerge as a statistically significant factor influencing moral choice and its role as a discriminator of the motivational typologies was limited. However, its application within an oriental setting produced some interesting outcomes, including evidence that all stages of moral development exist amongst the respondents and that levels of principled reasoning (as identified by the standard p-score (Rest, 1983, 1986)) are on average lower than for equivalent tests conducted in western societies.This research study contributes significantly to the body of knowledge about morality of business agents employed in the financial sector and permits investigators to look beyond the simplistic assumptions associated with the classical principal-agency model. The study's originality as contained in the derivation of motivational typologies and the factors discriminating between them, provides a fresh stepping off point for further studies seeking to refine the understanding of moral choice in business organizations. The fact that the study was conducted in a rapidly developing sector of the People's Republic of China provided additional insights into how people in this environment view moral issues and how traditional cultural values impact on their thinking.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-105).

Based on Self-Determination Theory (e.g., Deci & Ryan, 1985a, 2000; Ryan & Deci, 2002) this research focused on the motivation of ten elite Ethiopian male and female long distance runners. The semi-structured interview guide based on the SDT was transcribed verbatim and subjected to an inductive-deductive analysis approach based on the methodological guidance provided by Maykut & Morehouse (1994). Results revealed the integrated type of motivation to be the most evident among the runners. The data were organized into three broad categories that emerged through the interviews. The three categories are nationalism, economics and fame. Within each category there are themes or subcategories that emerged across various perceptions of the Ethiopian runners. The data revealed that among different types of motivation classified by the Self-Determination Theory (e.g., Deci & Ryan, 1985a, 2000; Ryan & Deci, 2002) there are multiple social factors that influence Ethiopian runners as well.

No description available.

Bakgrund: Anledningen till att människor söker sig till sjukvården beror ofta på deras hälsobeteende. De behöver göra en förändring, men vad är det som får människor att göra förändringar? Syfte: Syftet med studien var att beskriva på vilka sätt motiverande samtal (MI) varit en användbar metod för att främja livsstilsförändringar. Metod: Studien utfördes som en allmän litteraturstudie. Åtta empiriska studier ingick. Sammankopplingar gjordes med tre teorier som MI bygger på Bems självuppfattningsteori, Roger´s teori om "non-directive counselling" samt "The transteoreticial model of behavior change". Resultat: Sjuksköterskans användbarhet bestod i att använda sig av MI:s tekniker genom att lyssna aktivt, ställa öppna frågor samt att uppmuntra patienten till ett eget ansvar. Begränsningar ur sjuksköterskans perspektiv var svårigheter med nytt tänkande. Utvidgad utbildning och handledning i MI var viktigt vid implementeringen i verksamheterna. De studier som ingick visade i de flesta fall inte att MI som metod skulle vara effektivare än annan typ av rådgivning. Slutsats: I MI samtalet är det viktigt att sätta patienten i fokus, att hjälpa patienten att hitta motivationen samt självförtroende att genomföra förändringar. Vid implementeringen av MI är det viktigt med utbildning och handledning samt att praktik och teori går hand i hand. / Background: The reason of people visiting health care centers often depends on their health behavior. They often need to make a change. The aim of the study: The aim of the study was to describe in which way motivational interviewing has been successful to make lifestyle changes. Method: The study was carried out as a literature review. Associations were made with three of the theories which motivational interviewing is based upon: Bem’s "Self perception theory", Roger’s "Non-directive counseling theory" and "The transtheoretical model of behavior change". Result: The nurse made use of the MI techniques by actively listening, asking open questions and encouraging the patients to take their own responsibility. The limitations, from the nurse’s point of view were problems with the new way of thinking. Extended training and coaching in MI were important for the implementation activities. The studies included showed in most cases that MI as a method wasn´t more effective than any other type of counseling. Conclusion: In MI it´s crucial to put the focus on the patient, to help the patient find the motivation and confidence to make changes. For the implementation of MI it is important to include education, practice and coaching sessions.

Flertal tidigare studier har visat på både positiva och negativa resultat av motiverande samtal (MI) för att få patienter att sluta röka. MI används idag av sjuksköterskor i slutenvården såväl som i primärvården för att skapa beteendeförändringar som exempelvis till tobaksrökstopp. Syftet med studien var att undersöka varför det är oklart om motiverande samtal är en metod som kan leda till tobaksrökstopp. Studien gjordes som en litteraturöversikt och sökningarna gjordes i Cinahl, Oxford Journals, PsycINFO, PubMed och SveMed+. Sökningarna resulterade i 15 utvalda artiklar. Flertal av resultatartiklarna visade signifikanta resultat att MI vid tobaksrökstopp har effekt men det fanns också studier där ingen effekt kunde påvisas. Resultatartiklarnas resultat visade på att MI kan vara till hjälp för att få patienter att minska tobaksrökningen. Några resultatartiklar visade på att studiedeltagare med lägre motivation lyckades sämre med ett tobaksrökstopp än studiedeltagare med hög motivation. Slutsatsen är att mer forskning behövs om sambandet mellan MI och motivation för att uppnå tobaksrökstopp, aktsamhet ska tas då MI vid tobaksrökstopp ska appliceras i vården. / Several earlier studies on MI as a method to smoking cessation shows positive and negative results to help smokers quit. MI is used by nurse’s today inpatients and in primary care to create behavior changes for instance smoking cessation. The aim of this study was to examine why it´s obscure if motivational interviewing (MI) is a method that can result to smoking cessation. The study was made as a literature review. Searches were made in Cinahl, Oxford Journals, PsycINFO, PubMed and SveMed+ and resulted in 15 selected articles. Several studies showed significant results that MI as a method for smoking cessation had effect but there were studies where MI showed negative effect. In the studies there are significant results that MI can help patients reduce smoking. The results of a few articles showed that participants with lower motivation didn´t succeed in smoking cessation. The conclusion is that more research on MI must be conducted on the connection between MI and motivation in smoking cessation. Caution must be taken if MI should be applied in care as a method for smoking cessation.

Syftet med denna studie var att genom intervjuer beskriva olika betingelser som motiverar män att söka hjälp för sitt våldsutövande i nära relationer samt beskriva olika betingelser som är avgörande för om man fullföljer den planerade behandlingen eller inte. Den tredje frågeställning var om de här beskrivningarna kunde ge idéer om vilka behandlingsinslag som bidrar till att män fullföljer behandlingen som syftar till att man slutar använda våld. Tre män intervjuades tre gånger under sin behandling, det vill säga i början, i mitten och i slutet av behandlingen. Intervjuerna genomfördes under sammanlagt sex månader. Intervjuerna följde en intervjuguide och var halvstrukturerade. Gemensamt för alla tre män som är avgörande för att de söker hjälp och fullföljer sin behandling är när de upplevde att deras våldshandlingar fick allvarliga konsekvenser både för sig själva och för sin omgivning. En annan avgörande motiverande faktor för dessa män var att de upplevde att gruppledarna för behandlingsgruppen gav utrymme för allas berättelser. Männen uttrycker att de får ett utrymme för att själva reflektera över den situation som de befinner sig i utan en alltför styrande, kontrollerande attityd från gruppledarna. Detta förhållningssätt från gruppledarna verkar stärka männens motivation till att fortsätta behandlingen och därmed göra förändringen möjligt.  Mötet med de andra deltagarna är en central motivationsfaktor för att genomföra behandlingen. Känslan att man inte är ensam, att man delar med sig av sina egna erfarenheter, att man känner igen sig, att se värre konsekvenser för andra deltagare är viktiga faktorer i förändringsarbetet. Motivationen verkar vara motorn eller drivkraften i själva förändringsarbetet. Denna undersökning pekar i riktning att motivationen verkligen är en dynamisk och föränderlig process som påverkas av många olika komponenter, inte minst i relation till andra människor.

I defend a version of cognitivist motivational internalism which I call belief internalism. The constitutive claim of any version of cognitivist motivational internalism is that moral belief entails motivation. But, while this internalist thesis captures the practical nature of morality, it is in tension with the dominantly held Humean theory of motivation. The constitutive claim of the Humean thesis is that no belief could entail motivation. In defence of this internalist it is tempting to argue either that the Humean constraint only applies to non-moral beliefs or that moral beliefs only motivate ceteris paribus. But, while succumbing to the first temptation places one under an ultimately insurmountable burden to justify the motivational exceptionality of moral beliefs, succumbing to the second temptation saddles one with a thesis that fails to do justice to the practical nature of morality. I avoid the temptation to defend this thesis in either of these flawed ways by defending a more radical departure from the Humean theory of motivation. I avoid the first temptation by arguing for a motivationally efficacious conception of belief. I start the defence by demonstrating that it is conceptually coherent for belief to entail motivation. I then argue that all beliefs have behavioural dispositional properties that are not predicated on desire; in particular, all beliefs can motivate assent without the assistance of a conceptually independent desire. I then develop a unified and inclusive account of cognitive motivation, according to which unqualified normative cognition—which includes moral cognition—motivates normative actions without the assistance of such a desire. Beliefs of the form ‘I ought to ф’, in other words, motivate the believer to ф. I avoid the second temptation by arguing that moral belief motivates simpliciter as opposed to ceteris paribus. There are, however, both commonsense and scientifically informed counterexamples which prima facie demonstrate that it is possible to both fully believe and fully understand one’s first person cognitive moral judgement and yet not motivated by that judgement. I argue that the commonsense prima facie counterexamples are not decisive; and I argue that the scientifically informed prima facie counterexamples misinterpret the empirical research on salient psychological conditions.