Although physical activity has been identified as important for children and adolescents health, a majority are not active enough to receive health benefits. Given that physical activity lapses have been identified in adolescents, and social influences have been related to physical activity, the overall purpose of this dissertation was to explore the social influences that occur following a lapse by using a social control framework. Three studies were conducted to examine whether physical activity lapses would be associated with parental use of social control (Study 1 and 2) as well as whether this use of different social control types would be associated with changes in behaviour (Study 2 and 3) and affect (Study 3). Results from Study 1 revealed that parents reported the use of three types of social control (i.e., positive, collaborative, and negative) following a hypothetical physical activity lapse. Results from Study 2 revealed that adolescents who experienced a lapse reported greater increases in the use of positive and collaborative social control if they had an active family. Changes in social control also were associated adolescents recovery from a lapse, with collaborative social control emerging as the strongest social control type. Results from the third study revealed that each of the three types of social control were associated with behaviour change, but in a different way. Behaviour change was associated with the use of collaborative social control, the need for congruence between preferences and use for positive social control, and the perceptions of negative social control as supportive. Perceived supportiveness for all tactics was related to affect. These results provide preliminary support for the suggestion that social control may be one framework to help explain the use of parental social influences following a lapse. Future directions and complementary theories are discussed.

Although physical activity has been identified as important for children and adolescents health, a majority are not active enough to receive health benefits. Given that physical activity lapses have been identified in adolescents, and social influences have been related to physical activity, the overall purpose of this dissertation was to explore the social influences that occur following a lapse by using a social control framework. Three studies were conducted to examine whether physical activity lapses would be associated with parental use of social control (Study 1 and 2) as well as whether this use of different social control types would be associated with changes in behaviour (Study 2 and 3) and affect (Study 3). Results from Study 1 revealed that parents reported the use of three types of social control (i.e., positive, collaborative, and negative) following a hypothetical physical activity lapse. Results from Study 2 revealed that adolescents who experienced a lapse reported greater increases in the use of positive and collaborative social control if they had an active family. Changes in social control also were associated adolescents recovery from a lapse, with collaborative social control emerging as the strongest social control type. Results from the third study revealed that each of the three types of social control were associated with behaviour change, but in a different way. Behaviour change was associated with the use of collaborative social control, the need for congruence between preferences and use for positive social control, and the perceptions of negative social control as supportive. Perceived supportiveness for all tactics was related to affect. These results provide preliminary support for the suggestion that social control may be one framework to help explain the use of parental social influences following a lapse. Future directions and complementary theories are discussed.

While it has been long known that the behaviour of others can influence individual behaviour, norms (the views and behaviours of others) are not generally reported as strong motivators of physical activity. Using the theory of normative social behaviour as a guiding framework, the purpose of this research was to examine if descriptive norms (the perceived prevalence of others behaviour) would be more important in predicting activity than previously suspected. A secondary purpose was to extend this examination to another health behaviour, healthy eating. Three independent studies were conducted. The first two studies examined what individuals thought motivated their physical activity (Study 1) and eating (Study 2) as well as the relationship between descriptive norms and participants own activity behaviour and healthy eating intentions. Results revealed that, despite being rated by participants as less motivating, descriptive norms were stronger predictors of activity behaviour and healthy eating intentions than other well-established non-normative reasons. It also was found that descriptive norm perceptions about a group proposed to be high in group identity (i.e., friends) was most related to physical activity behaviour and healthy eating intentions. To extend these results, a third study manipulated normative and non-normative messages to examine effects on physical activity. Participants were grouped into one of four conditions (descriptive norm, health, appearance, and control) and received motivation-based email messages specific to their condition encouraging them to be active. It was hypothesized that participants in the descriptive norm condition would experience the greatest increase in physical activity but results did not support this hypothesis, as participants across all conditions significantly increased total physical activity after receiving the messages. A secondary hypothesis examining the focal nature of the targeted behaviours was supported in that responses to normative messages were greatest with the most focal behaviour (using the stairs). Taken together, the results of the first two studies provide preliminary evidence to suggest that the relationships between both descriptive norms and physical activity and descriptive norms and healthy eating may be going undetected. In light of the results of the third study, however, future studies are needed.

The rapid increase of available products and information on the Internet has created new problems for consumers. In stead of not having adequate alternatives, consumers have to spend a lot of effort in filtering and processing information. Overcoming information overload becomes a key issue for information search. As a result, information filtering and product recommendation become increasingly popular among on-line stores. These e-stores can collect user preference and use the information for product recommendation and personalized services. The purpose of recommendation systems is to increase consumers¡¦ purchase intentions, which may be affected by many factors. The objective of this study is to investigate factors that may affect the purchase intention of consumers. More specifically, the research adopts two theories, the elaboration likelihood model and the social influence theory, to build a research framework. We assume that the recommendation message affect consumer attitudes and intention through information and social influences. A laboratory experiment was conducted that use books and movies as two products to test the theory. The results indicate that purchase intention was affected by the attitude toward the recommended product and informational influence. The attitude toward the recommended product, informational influence, and normative social influence were affected by the type of the products and web comments on the product. Different recommendation approaches also affected consumers¡¦ perception of informational influence. The contribution of the research is two folds. First, we develop a theory that can be used to interpret the effect of different factors in the recommendation process. Second, the results have explored much insight into how product recommendation affects consumer attitude and purchase intention and can also be used in designing recommendation systems.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-123).

No description available.

No description available.

Although research has shown that mental health interventions are effective, many people who are afflicted with a mental disorder or emotional distress do not seek services (e.g., Wang et al., 2005). Perceived stigma, the belief that an individual will be devalued and discriminated against for seeking psychological assistance, is a barrier to seeking mental health services, as some people avoid these services in order to avoid the associated stigma. Another barrier to mental health service utilization is mental health literacy, which refers to how well-versed people are in information regarding mental illness and treatment (Jorm et al., 1997). Low levels of mental health literacy may inhibit people from seeking help as they may not recognize their need for services and may not be aware that effective services are available. The first of two studies examined a social influence intervention aimed at reducing perceived stigma and increasing intentions to seek counselling. One hundred and sixty-six undergraduate students watched videos of ingroup or outgroup speakers discussing their non-stigmatizing experience with therapy or speakers discussing a control topic. No significant differences were found between the groups after the intervention. The second study investigated an educational intervention aimed at improving mental health knowledge and increasing intentions to seek counselling. One hundred and fifty-five undergraduate participants listened to either a control lecture or a lecture about mental illness and treatment with or without a testimonial by the lecturer about her positive experience with therapy. The participants who listened to the lecture and testimonial had higher relevant mental health knowledge and intentions to seek counselling compared to the control condition. No differences were found between the education only and control conditions on intentions to seek counselling. The main finding of this project was that a combination of social influence and educational approaches has the most potential of improving intentions to seek mental health services, as each of these components does not appear to be effective independently.

Delay of gratification is the ability to forego an immediate indulgence in lieu of a later, greater reward. Past research has shown that using behavioral strategies may help children to delay gratification longer. The current project tests whether children can learn one such strategy, covering the eyes, through imitation. Four-year-olds saw a model delay gratification using a strategy, using no strategy, or saw no model. They then participated in an accumulation task, where they could earn an incremental sticker reward. Children who saw a strategy showed evidence of imitation by covering their eyes. Unexpectedly, however, this had an adverse influence on their ability to delay gratification. Thus, although children can apply a strategy, its effectiveness may be limited by the type of task used (accumulation) or from an incomplete understanding of the strategy’s function. Additional research is needed to investigate whether delay performance can be promoted by a social example.

Although research has shown that mental health interventions are effective, many people who are afflicted with a mental disorder or emotional distress do not seek services (e.g., Wang et al., 2005). Perceived stigma, the belief that an individual will be devalued and discriminated against for seeking psychological assistance, is a barrier to seeking mental health services, as some people avoid these services in order to avoid the associated stigma. Another barrier to mental health service utilization is mental health literacy, which refers to how well-versed people are in information regarding mental illness and treatment (Jorm et al., 1997). Low levels of mental health literacy may inhibit people from seeking help as they may not recognize their need for services and may not be aware that effective services are available. The first of two studies examined a social influence intervention aimed at reducing perceived stigma and increasing intentions to seek counselling. One hundred and sixty-six undergraduate students watched videos of ingroup or outgroup speakers discussing their non-stigmatizing experience with therapy or speakers discussing a control topic. No significant differences were found between the groups after the intervention. The second study investigated an educational intervention aimed at improving mental health knowledge and increasing intentions to seek counselling. One hundred and fifty-five undergraduate participants listened to either a control lecture or a lecture about mental illness and treatment with or without a testimonial by the lecturer about her positive experience with therapy. The participants who listened to the lecture and testimonial had higher relevant mental health knowledge and intentions to seek counselling compared to the control condition. No differences were found between the education only and control conditions on intentions to seek counselling. The main finding of this project was that a combination of social influence and educational approaches has the most potential of improving intentions to seek mental health services, as each of these components does not appear to be effective independently.