The primary focus of this thesis was to examine the relationship of reward sensitivity and outcome expectancies, variables traditionally associated with alcohol use, to cannabis use behaviour and to explore the relationship of affect and locus of control to alcohol and cannabis use. It was hypothesised that hazardous alcohol and cannabis use would be related to higher levels of reward sensitivity and to the endorsement of more positive outcome expectancies. It was also hypothesised that positive outcome expectancies would mediate the relationship between reward sensitivity and cannabis use, and that the relationship between reward sensitivity and both alcohol and cannabis use would be moderated by punishment sensitivity. No specific hypotheses were formulated for the relationship of negative outcome expectancies, affect and locus of control of reinforcement to substance use. A total of 465 young adults aged between 18 and 35 years completed a questionnaire which assessed substance use patterns, reward and punishment sensitivity, outcome expectancies, locus of control, and affect. Results indicated that higher levels of reward sensitivity reliably distinguished hazardous from non-hazardous alcohol and cannabis users as well as cannabis users from cannabis non-users. The relationship between reward sensitivity and substance use was partially mediated by outcome expectancies, but not moderated by punishment sensitivity. An exploratory factor analysis demonstrated a high rate of concordance between alcohol and cannabis outcome expectancies. Locus of control of reinforcement was found to be unrelated to alcohol and cannabis use behaviour. There was little commonality in the relationship of sensitivity to punishment, negative outcome expectancies, and affect to alcohol and cannabis use. The second focus of this thesis was to pilot an intervention aimed at reducing alcohol use via the challenging of expectations regarding the rewarding outcomes associated with alcohol use in a group of young adult Australian males. A three session intervention was completed by three males aged between 19 and 31 years. The results demonstrated no reduction in hazardous alcohol use or global positive alcohol outcome expectancies at the completion of the intervention program or at a 3-month follow-up. Furthermore, there was no reduction in expectancies of increased sexual interest for any of the participants at the 3-month follow-up compared to baseline, despite a reduction in these expectancies for one of the three participants at the completion of the intervention. A reduction in monthly drinking levels and in expectancies of increased confidence compared to baseline was noted for two of the three participants at the 3-month follow-up. It was concluded overall that there is consistency between the relationships of reward sensitivity and positive outcome expectancies to alcohol and cannabis use and that outcome expectancies may be a proximal mechanism through which reward sensitivity influences alcohol and cannabis use. It was further concluded that whilst causal inferences regarding the effectiveness of the intervention could not be made, the results provide some evidence for the usefulness of this treatment in changing a proportion of the studied outcomes. This potentially provides an incentive for future controlled design research in larger samples and with alternate substances.

Humboldt-Univ., Diss.--Berlin, 1998.

abstract: Positive alcohol outcome expectancies (AOEs) are consistent longitudinal predictors of later alcohol use; however, exclusion of solitary drinking contexts in the measurement of AOEs may have resulted in an underestimation of the importance of low arousal positive (LAP) effects. The current study aimed to clarify the literature on the association between AOEs and drinking outcomes by examining the role of drinking context in AOE measurement. Further, exclusion of contextual influences has also limited understanding of the unique effects of AOEs relative to subjective responses (SR) to alcohol. The present study addressed this important question by exploring relations between AOEs and SR when drinking context was held constant across parallel measures of these constructs. Understanding which of these factors drives relations between alcohol effects and drinking behavior has important implications for intervention. After conducting confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and tests of measurement invariance for the AOE and SR measures, 4 aims collectively examined the role of context in reporting of AOEs (Aims 1 and 2), the extent to which context specific AOEs uniquely relate to drinking outcomes (Aim 3), and the importance of context effects on correspondence between AOEs and SR (Aim 4). Results of Aims 1 and 2 demonstrated that participants are imagining contexts when reporting on measures of AOEs that do not specify the context, and found significant mean differences in high and low arousal positive AOEs across contexts. Contrary to the hypotheses of Aim 3, context-specific AOEs were not significantly associated with drinking behavior. Results of Aim 4 indicated that while LAP AOEs for both unspecified and solitary contexts were associated with LAP SR in a solitary setting, unspecified context AOEs had a stronger relation than the solitary context AOEs. No significant relations between high arousal positive (HAP) AOEs and HAP SR emerged. The findings suggest that further investigation of the relation between context-specific AOEs and drinking outcomes/SR is warranted. Future studies of these hypotheses in samples with a wider range of drinking behavior, or at different stages of alcohol involvement, will elucidate whether mean level differences in context specific AOEs are important in understanding alcohol related outcomes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Psychology 2016

Laboratory-based tasks of impulsivity and related constructs can be useful in predicting alcohol use. Performance on these tasks is generally assumed to reflect traits that remain stable across situations. However, several studies have indicated that manipulations of state-like variables (e.g., mood or stress) can influence levels of impulsivity demonstrated on the tasks. Furthermore, environmental context (in the form of physical setting, or contextual cues) has a demonstrable effect on tasks relevant to alcohol-related risky behaviors (e.g., ad lib drinking tasks). Importantly, this effect of context on behavior is dependent on the individual's alcohol expectancies. It is unknown, however, whether alcohol-related cues would lead to greater risk taking on a commonly used laboratory-based risk task, and whether this effect would be moderated by alcohol expectancies. These hypotheses were tested in a sample of undergraduate social drinkers. Results indicated that participants who viewed an alcohol prime did not perform significantly more riskily on the Balloon Analogue Risk Task than those who viewed a non-alcohol prime. While mean levels of risk taking were higher following the alcohol prime, the difference did not approach significance; the priming condition-by-expectancy interaction was also not significant.

As relações entre pessoas e organizações podem ser baseadas em aprendizagem organizacional e, a partir das teorias sobre gestão do conhecimento, clima organizacional e expectativas, este estudo procurou analisar tais relações. Para cumprir com esse objetivo, foram identificados o grupo das pessoas mais motivadas por aprendizado e o grupo das organizações mais fortemente orientadas para promover desenvolvimento e aprendizagem. Buscou-se também saber se as características desses grupos podem ser consideradas diferenciadas quanto ao perfil das pessoas e das organizações. Do ponto de vista metodológico, foi realizada uma pesquisa descritiva com métodos estatísticos para processamento e análise quantitativa dos dados, que foram coletados por meio de dois formulários de pesquisa: 1) numa amostra de 124.635 empregados que atuam em 488 empresas brasileiras, foram identificados os indivíduos que privilegiam expectativas de aprendizado nas suas relações organizacionais, e 2) dentre essas empresas todas candidatas a um prêmio anual dado às de melhor clima organizacional , foram selecionadas aquelas que estabelecem relações de trabalho baseadas em aprendizagem com seus empregados. De acordo com os resultados obtidos, por um lado, o perfil que caracteriza o grupo de indivíduos é de: mulher, da geração Y (até 30 anos de idade), com até um ano de tempo de casa, com ensino superior incompleto, sem filhos, não-branco, no cargo de vendedor e com remuneração de até dois salários mínimos. Por outro lado, não foi possível identificar o perfil das organizações que mais satisfazem as expectativas de aprendizagem, pois foi apenas destacado que empresas públicas e com poucos locais de trabalho são características que não viabilizam ambiente mais propício para a aprendizagem. Dessa maneira, esperou-se contribuir para a evolução do tema da aprendizagem organizacional, que vem sendo tratado pela literatura de forma não específica, portanto, abrindo caminhos para futuros trabalhos nessa área. Como contribuição para os gestores de empresas, destaca-se que as organizações dependentes de conhecimento intensivo podem contar com o perfil do indivíduo mais adequado para seu quadro de empregados, facilitando a busca de profissionais pró-ativos na absorção de novos conhecimentos e que se desenvolveriam com mais facilidade, por, realmente, terem expectativas baseadas em aprendizagem. / Relationships between people and organizations can be based on organizational learning and, using knowledge management, organizational climate and expectancy theory as theoretical pillars, this study tried to analyze those relationships. To attain to this goal, two major groups were identified: the first is composed by people motivated to learn, and the second by organizations tightly oriented to foster development and learning. This work also tried to determine whether features of these groups can be considered differentiated according to people\'s and organizations\' profiles. The methodological approach included a descriptive research with Statistical methods to process and to quantitatively analyze data, which were collected in two research forms: 1) in a sample with 124,635 employees from 488 Brazilian companies, individuals that privilege learning expectancies in their relationship with the companies were identified, and 2) within the companies all candidates in an annual award granted to companies with the best organizational climate indexes , those that establish working relationships with their employees were also identified. According to results, on the one hand, the profile of an individual may be so described: woman, from the Y generation (up to 30 years old), up to one year in the company, incomplete undergraduation, no children, non-white, employed as a salesperson, and earning up to two minimum wages. On the other hand, results failed to show the profile of organizations that better fulfill learning expectancies. The main finding on organizations refers to the fact that public companies with few sites do not have a favorable environment to learn. Hence, this work tried to contribute to the organizational learning topic, which has been treated as a non-specific subject; as a result, several avenues for future researches in this area are being set. For practitioners, it is important to highlight that the intensive-learning dependent organizations may identify the most appropriate individual profile, and this facilitates the search for pro-active professionals seeking new knowledge. These professionals would find a more appropriate environment because they do have expectancies based on learning.

Behavioral economic accounts of substance use have provided a novel framework to examine constraints that affect behaviorally driven outcomes. Several behavioral studies support the application of such frameworks to examine impulsive decision-making processes as well as how subjective reward influences substance use. Based on stimulus-response models, behavioral economic research often applies mathematical formulas to draw conclusions about behavioral outcomes. These mathematical formulas, while useful, largely ignore decades of cognitive psychology research that have examined state-based influences (e.g., mood, environment, motivational processes, etc.) on behavioral sequelae. To address this issue, the present study merged a cognitive framework into two behavioral economic measures: a delay discounting measure and an alcohol purchase task. Specifically, cognitive priming techniques were used to examine how contextual influences differentially affect outcomes on these behavioral economic measures using a wide range of drinkers. Our results suggest that both negative and positive alcohol-related cognitions affected outcomes on the alcohol purchase task, but not the delay discounting task. Specifically, participants in the negative and positive alcohol-related priming conditions spent significantly more money on alcohol overall, were willing to pay higher prices for standard drinks, and were willing to continue drinking at escalating prices relative to participants in priming conditions unrelated to alcohol use. Although alcohol expectancies were not related to either behavioral measure, our overall findings further emphasize the complementary interplay of cognition and behavior that account for alcohol use and related behaviors.

Recent research has shown that sexual activity may be influenced by variables suggested by evolutionary theory, such as pheromonal cues. A recent study in our laboratory indicated that female pheromones influence men’s drinking and approach behavior based on hidden pathways of behavioral influence caused by chemosensory signals. The current study sought to examine whether a link exists between male pheromones and women’s drinking and approach behavior, through the use of a possible male sex pheromone called androstenone, and sought to examine this link within the context of a women’s ovulation cycle. One hundred and three female participants were primed with either androstenone or a control scent and then completed measures assessing their beer consumption, approach behavior, and ovulatory phase. Results of the study indicated that females who were exposed to the androstenone prime drank significantly more than those exposed to the control prime, though results indicated no differences between groups in terms of approach behavior. No interaction effects existed between group condition and ovulatory phase on beer consumption or approach behavior; however, a limited amount of participants were ovulating when they completed the study, as indicated by a biological assay. The results from the current study implicate a specific pathway to alcohol use through biological signals within a sexual context. The findings from this study expand the existing literature on olfactory and pheromone signaling of sexual behavior in humans and shed light on newly uncovered biological pathways of influence on human behaviors.

Separate externalizing and internalizing pathways to problem drinking have been described. However, internalizing and externalizing are substantially correlated, thus, there is good reason to believe that these two forms of dysfunction behaviors do not operate independently. We tested an integrative developmental model of transactions among internalizing symptomatology, externalizing personality, and psychosocial learning in the prediction of both drinking problems and future internalizing symptoms. To do so, we studied a large sample (n = 1910, 49.9% female) of children over a critical developmental period, from the spring of 5th (last year elementary school) grade through the spring of 9th grade (first year of high school). Using a battery of self-report questionnaires, we assessed demographics, pubertal status, negative urgency, depressive symptoms, positive drinking expectancies, and drinking behavior. Specifically, the present study tested whether internalizing symptomatology (depressive symptoms) in elementary school predicts a classic externalizing pathway ( to problem drinking in middle school, and whether problem drinking in middle school predicts increased depressive symptomatology in highschool. Structural equation modeling yielded significant findings for hypothesized direct and indirect pathways, with overall good model fit (CFI = .94; SRMR = .05; RMSEA = .05, 90% CI .04-.05): elementary school depressive symptomatology predicted middle school drinking problems (mediated by negative urgency and psychosocial learning) and middle school drinking problems predicted increased risk for depressive symptoms in high school, pointing to a reciprocal relationship between internalizing and externalizing dysfunction. The present study incorporated internalizing symptomatology into a traditional externalizing model of drinking risk, and demonstrated a reciprocal relationship between internalizing and externalizing dysfunction during adolescence. These findings are particularly noteworthy when considered in a developmental framework. The present study highlights the need to integrate both internalizing and externalizing forms of dysfunction into models of substance use risk.

A qualitative study was performed using the focus group methodology with first year university students in Greater Lima, to learn about their drinking habits and explore the main determinants of their alcohol consumption. Four homogeneous focus groups (by gender and social class) were organized, with group sizes between 5 and 9. Content analysis of the discussions revealed that the stressors experienced by these students are similar to those of other western adolescents, yet that economic difficulties and weight concerns (among females) provide additional stress. Expectancies towards alcohol were predominantly positive and partly reflected those of American adolescents (social enhancement, tension reduction and improved cognitive/motor abilities), although additional expectancies were mentioned (pleasure, diversion, loss of inhibitions, selfconfidence and group acceptance) and others were considered less important (sexual enhancement, increased arousal, and cognitive/motor impairment). Self-efficacy to refuse alcohol was not perceived as an important determinant of alcohol use. / Se presenta un estudio cualitativo –focus group- para conocer los hábitos de consumo del alcohol y los principales determinantes de su uso entre estudiantes universitarios de la ciudad de Lima. Se organizaron cuatro grupos homogéneos (por género y nivel socio económico) con 5 a 9 participantes. El análisis de contenido reveló que los estresores experimentados son similares a los reportados por los adolescentes occidentales, sin embargo, reportaron estrés adicional por las dificultades económicas y el control de peso (entre las mujeres).Las expectativas sobre el alcohol fueron positivas y reflejaron lo mismo que en los adolescentes norteamericanos (mejora social, reducción de la tensión y mejora de habilidades motoras/cognitivas), aunque también se mencionaron expectativas adicionales (placer, diversión, pérdida de inhibiciones, auto confianza y aceptación del grupo). Otras fueron consideradas menos importantes (mejora sexual, incremento de la activación y deterioro cognitivo/motor). La autoeficacia para rechazar el alcohol no fue percibida como un determinanteimportante entre los participantes.

abstract: Past research suggests that both Alcohol Expectancies and Subjective Response are strong predictors of drinking. However, most studies do not account for the shared variance or relations between the two. Social cognitive and expectancy theories suggest that cognitions may distort reality, creating a discrepancy between expected and subjective effects. Only one study has tested the effects of such discrepancies (Morean et al., 2015), but that study was cross-sectional, making it impossible to determine the direction of effects. As such, the present study sought to test prospective associations between expectancy-subjective response interactions and future drinking behavior. Participants (N=448) were randomly assigned to receive alcohol (target blood alcohol alcohol =.08 g%) or placebo, with 270 in the alcohol condition. Alcohol expectancies and subjective response were assessed across the full range of affective space of valence by arousal. Hierarchical regression tested whether expectancies, subjective response, and their interaction predicted follow-up drinking in 258 participants who reached a blood alcohol curve of >.06 (to differentiate blood alcohol curve limbs). Covariates included gender, age, drinking context, and baseline drinking. High arousal subjective response was tested on the ascending limb and low arousal subjective response on the descending limb. High arousal positive expectancies and subjective response interacted to predict future drinking, such that mean and low levels of high arousal positive subjective response were associated with more drinking when expectancies were higher. High arousal negative expectancies and subjective response also interacted to predict future drinking, such that high levels of high arousal negative subjective response marginally predicted more drinking when expectancies were lower. There were no interactions between low arousal positive or low arousal negative expectancies and subjective response. Results suggest that those who expected high arousal positive subjective response but did not receive many of these effects drank more, and those who did not expect to feel high arousal negative subjective response but did in fact feel these effects also drank more. The results suggest that challenging inaccurate positive expectancies and increasing awareness of true negative subjective response may be efficacious ways to reduce drinking. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2020