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Ironic Effects of Dietary Supplementation Illusory Invulnerability Created by Taking Dietary Supplements Licenses Health-Risk Behaviors
Abstract
The use of dietary supplements and the health status of individuals have an asymmetrical relationship: the growing market for dietary supplements appears not to be associated with an improvement in public health. Building on the notion of licensing, or the tendency for positive choices to license subsequent self-indulgent choices, we argue that because dietary supplements are perceived as conferring health advantages, use of such supplements may create an illusory sense of invulnerability that disinhibits unhealthy behaviors. In two experiments, participants who took placebo pills that they believed were dietary supplements exhibited the licensing effect across multiple forms of health-related behavior: They expressed less desire to engage in exercise and more desire to engage in hedonic activities (Experiment 1), expressed greater preference for a buffet over an organic meal (Experiment 1), and walked less to benefit their health (Experiment 2) compared with participants who were told the pills were a placebo. A mediational analysis indicated that perceived invulnerability was an underlying mechanism for these effects. Thus, a license associated with the use of dietary supplements may operate within cycles of behaviors that alternately protect and endanger health.
Supplementary resources (9)
... Girish et al. [22] demonstrated that when perceived risks of COVID-19 increase, students are willing to accept online learning, while other studies have indicated that as awareness of protection (e.g., perceived lower risks resulting from full vaccination) increases, people also become more subjective and more likely to change their behaviors [25][26][27][28][29][30]. Based on these views, along with increasing access to vaccines, we aimed to explore whether students' online learning intentions would be reduced after getting vaccinated through the mediating role of perceived invulnerability (PI) and the moderating role of student age, from that providing some theoretical and practical implications in educational management during the COVID-19 pandemic. ...
... Scholars have since concluded that a variety of health harming habits (e.g., binge drinking and illicit drug use) peak during emerging adulthood [45], and PI has recently been identified as a plausible explanation for risk taking behaviors among youth [46]. These perspectives have also been applied in studies of college students and adults [25,47]. ...
... PI, a positive bias, is defined as a personal fable of risk immunization (cognitive bias), which is frequently discovered to influence human behavior change and adolescent risk taking behavior [47][48][49]. For example, Chiou et al. [25] found that dietary supplements were thought to provide health benefits, even while their use might give the illusion of invulnerability. Users of such supplements may consequently change their habits, engage in behaviors that are otherwise harmful to their health (e.g., choosing to eat fast food instead of a healthy meal), or reduce participation in healthy behaviors (e.g., remaining sedentary instead of engaging in physical exercise). ...
The current study proposed and tested a moderated mediation model to reveal the effect of perceived vaccination (PV) on students’ online learning intentions (SOLI) during the COVID-19 pandemic. A questionnaire was distributed to 663 full- and part-time students at Vietnamese universities, and 632 responses were analyzed. SPSS 20 software and Hayes SPSS Process Macro (model 5) were used to test five hypotheses, all of which were supported. The study found that students’ online learning intentions decreased after being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and that perceived invulnerability played a mediating role in the relationship between perceived vaccination and students’ online learning intentions. The study also revealed that student age moderated a negative association between perceived vaccination and online learning intention, as this negative relationship was stronger for younger students than for older students. Theoretical and practical implications from our research contribute recommendations for governments, policymakers, and educators to consider adjusting educational management strategy, as well as adopting appropriate forms of learning in different epidemic contexts and vaccine coverage rates.
... Nevertheless, paradoxical findings also existed in related research. Individuals may view dietary supplements as conferring health advantages and compensating for an unhealthy lifestyle [26]. Some studies also found that those who take dietary supplements may have healthier dietary [27,28] and exercise behaviors [28] than those who do not take supplements. ...
... This study revealed that female students had a higher likelihood of dietary supplement use than male students, similar to previous studies demonstrating that females tended to use dietary supplements more than males did [28,33]. One study showed that individuals might consider dietary supplements as conferring health advantages and compensating for unhealthy lifestyles [26]. A subsequent regression analysis revealed that female students had unhealthier dietary behaviors and poorer exercise habits than male students. ...
... Interestingly, previous studies presented inconsistent results regarding the associations between dietary supplement use and dietary behaviors. While some people who take dietary supplements may employ healthy dietary behaviors [27,28], others may view dietary supplements as conferring health advantages and compensating for an unhealthy diet [26]. Dietary supplements are usually accompanied by advertisements and media messages about the need to "optimize" nutrition and to promote health [33]. ...
Background:
This study aimed to investigate the associations between individual factors, electronic health (eHealth) literacy, dietary behaviors, and exercise habits in college students, as well as the moderating effect of gender on the above target behaviors.
Methods:
A pen-and-paper questionnaire with a stratified sampling method was used to collect data, and at least 100 students from each stratum were determined to be used for the official sample in this study. Finally, 674 students completed the survey.
Results and conclusions:
Chi-square test results demonstrated that genders had dissimilar dietary supplement use and subjective health status. Further analyses indicated females had a higher likelihood of taking dietary supplements and poorer subjective health statuses. The t-test results indicated that the functional eHealth literacy, dietary behaviors, and exercise habits of genders were different, and the mean scores showed that males had higher functional eHealth literacy, healthier dietary behaviors, and higher exercise involvement than females. Regression analyses showed that students who were male, took dietary supplements, placed the utmost importance on health, and had high critical eHealth literacy tended to possess healthy dietary behaviors. Students who were male and had good subjective health statuses tended to have higher exercise involvement. Specifically, the critical eHealth literacy changed dietary behaviors less effectively for women than for men, and the subjective health status changed exercise habits less effectively for women than for men. Therefore, when designing the diet and exercise intervention programs, gender-specific programs rather than generic programs should be given priority to develop.
... Finally, our study is also related to other empirical investigations on the efficacy of interventions that encourage individuals to invest in virtuous and preventive behaviour despite immediate costs or effort. Monetary incentives have been widely used to motivate changes in health behaviours (Volpp et al., 2008(Volpp et al., , 2009Charness and Gneezy, 2009;Babcock and Hartman, 2010;Cawley and Price, 2011;Acland and Levy, 2015;. Overall, incentive programs induce strong and significant changes, but individuals generally fall back to old patterns of behaviour once incentive programs end (Marteau et al., 2009;Gneezy et al., 2011). ...
... That would allow a sufficient number of behavioural change occurrences and so foster reinforcement and tolerance to form habits: the more an individual partakes of the activity, the more she wants to partake and the lower her current utility cost given the amount of past activity. Charness and Gneezy (2009) and Acland and Levy (2015) show that the number of times an individual does the investment activity is important in creating habits: paying people to attend gym eight times over a period of one month significantly increases gym attendance seven weeks after the intervention ends, whereas paying for one gym visit over one month does not. However, Acland and Levy (2015) also find that these habits vanish in the longer-run. ...
... Individuals feel deserving a good treatment (eating more energy-dense food than the control group) once they have realized an investment activity (perform harder in the stepping task). Indeed, both "permitting" (Chiou et al., 2011;Van Kleef et al., 2011;Werle et al., 2010;Wisdom et al., 2010) and "promoting" (Baird et al., 2012;Müller et al., 2009;Zwane et al., 2011) spillovers are found in the domain of health behaviour. However, these evidences are based on lab-based experiments designed for specific spillovers occurring in the short run. ...
Individuals rarely achieve investment activities characterised by up-front costs and delayed benefits. Point-of-decision prompts (PDPs) provide information about a better alternative or a deterrent to the behavioural standard at the moment the decision is made and may affect behaviour by helping individuals perform this type of investment activities. We conducted a field experiment to assess the effects of a PDP intervention that encourages taking the stairs rather than the escalator in three Paris (France) Metro stations for eight weeks from April to July 2014. In total, we followed up 205 individuals and the data show that PDPs have an immediate, albeit decaying, peaked effect on individuals' stair use, with a stronger effect when weak physical effort is made salient. However, the intervention did not change individuals' stair-use habits. In the best-case scenario, the effects last two weeks after the intervention ends. Our preferred explanation is that PDPs act as "cues" but people become accustomed to them and in the end no longer notice them. These findings suggest that a PDP intervention is not sufficient to modify individuals investment in activities with immediate costs and delayed benefits in the long-run.
... Similar effects have been found even due to the mere presence of healthy foods on a menu or when participants took dietary supplements. The presence of healthy food options can ironically lead individuals to infer that they have attained their health goal (Wilcox, Vallen, Block, & Fitzsimons, 2009), to feel hungrier (Finkelstein & Fishbach, 2010), to feel licensed to eat unhealthily (Chiou et al., 2011), as well as to choose unhealthy foods (Chandon & Wansink, 2007). When participants took placebo pills they believed were dietary supplements, they expressed greater preference for a buffet over an organic meal (Chiou, Yang, & Wan, 2011; Study 1). ...
... The presence of healthy food options can ironically lead individuals to infer that they have attained their health goal (Wilcox, Vallen, Block, & Fitzsimons, 2009), to feel hungrier (Finkelstein & Fishbach, 2010), to feel licensed to eat unhealthily (Chiou et al., 2011), as well as to choose unhealthy foods (Chandon & Wansink, 2007). When participants took placebo pills they believed were dietary supplements, they expressed greater preference for a buffet over an organic meal (Chiou, Yang, & Wan, 2011; Study 1). It seems, then, that making goal progress (either now or as imagined in the future) on an important eating goal silences peoples' concerns about this, freeing them up to pursue other, and often conflicting, goals in the present. ...
... Even if consumers could accurately distill the information in nutrition labels, or if simpler labels are used-such as those displaying calories in restaurants-then the information may still not be effective. We reviewed much research that has demonstrated several ways in which the presence of healthy food can backfire and have the unintended consequence of leading people to consume more indulgent foods (Chandon & Wansink, 2007;Chiou et al., 2011;Finkelstein & Fishbach, 2010;Wilcox et al., 2009). Therefore, it is unlikely that simply making the public aware of the unhealthiness of foods is likely to increase healthy eating. ...
Obesity represents a serious public health issue. One major contributor to obesity is the quality and quantity of foods one consumes. Psychological research trying to understand overeating and unhealthy eating behavior has often attributed it to homeostatic malfunction and/or lack of self-regulatory ability. We propose a different approach here, suggesting that eating behavior represents goal pursuit and that obesity is the result of reliance on foods that fulfill convenience goals and price goals at the expense of health goals. We propose and present empirical evidence suggesting that people are capable of making healthier choices when health (rather than convenience and price) concerns predominate and healthy options are available. Based on this existing evidence we suggest that (1) future research should further explore individuals’ food choice as a function of the multiple goals they attempt to achieve rather than as a lack of willpower, and (2) policy may contribute to healthy eating by reprioritizing these goals and emphasizing health while increasing the availability and affordability of healthy foods.
... Previous studies explored behavior before or after consumption of functional foods [20][21][22][23]. For example, one study found that participants in the weight-loss supplements condition consumed more nougat and preferred more sugar in tapioca than those in the control condition [21]. ...
... Previous studies indicated that weight-loss supplements intake can lead to unhealthy behavior [20][21][22][23]. One study found that participants in the weight-loss supplements condition consumed more nougat and preferred more sugar in tapioca than those in the control condition [21]. ...
Previous content analysis of video advertisements for functional foods identified “Exemption” advertisements. “Exemption” advertisements may imply to the audiences that “By taking functional foods, I can adopt unhealthy behaviors or I don’t have to adopt healthy behaviors”. In the context of Compensatory Health Beliefs (CHBs), this study refers to these beliefs as functional foods related to CHBs (FF-CHBs). This study aimed to assess the effects of exposure to “Exemption” advertisements for fat-reduction functional foods on audiences. The main hypothesis is exposure to “Exemption” video advertisements increases participants’ FF-CHBs. Participants (n = 788) were randomly assigned to an intervention group that viewed three video advertisements or a control group and answered online self-administered questionnaires. Intervention videos were three videos with the highest number of views per month from among the “Exemption” video advertisements. Control videos were about how to brew green tea. FF-CHBs was assessed before and after the intervention. The intervention group showed significantly greater FF-CHBs after intervention (mean = 2.37 vs. 2.11, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.026) compared with the control group. “Exemption” functional foods video advertisements increased FF-CHBs that can lead to adopting unhealthy behaviors and avoiding healthy behaviors. The content of these functional foods video advertisements should be improved to promote public health.
... For example, when people think of the negative aspects of their personality or recall immoral actions from the past, they are more likely to donate money to charity (Sachdeva et al., 2009). Moral licensing and cleansing have been identified in a variety of domains ranging from pro-environmentalism (e.g., Tiefenbeck et al., 2013;Truelove et al., 2014) to health (Chiou et al., 2011), and research has established they are pervasive in everyday life (Merritt et al., 2010;Hofmann et al., 2014;Truelove et al., 2014;Blanken et al., 2015). ...
... Spillunders that propagate through this mechanism are relevant to policy interventions that encourage morally responsible or healthy behaviors (Blanken et al., 2015). As can be inferred from previous research (e.g., Chiou et al., 2011;Tiefenbeck et al., 2013;Hofmann et al., 2014;Cascio and Plant, 2015), influencing people to commit to blood donation, volunteering, energy saving, healthy eating, exercising, and similar behaviors 1 in the future can backfire at present and have an undesirable impact on behaviors 0 linked to health, pro-environmentalism, charitable giving, prejudice, and so on. For example, a policy intervention that makes people more likely to plan a gym visit might also make them more likely to eat unhealthy products at present (Werle et al., 2011). ...
Behavioral spillovers refer to the influence that a given intervention targeting behavior 1 exerts on a subsequent, non-targeted, behavior 2, which may or may not be in the same domain (health, finance, etc.) as one another. So, a nudge to exercise more, for example, could lead people to eat more or less, or possibly even to give more or less to charity depending on the nature of the spillover. But what if spillovers also operate backward; that is, if the expectation of behavior 1 influences behavior 0 that precedes it? For example, a person may form an intention to exercise prompted by a policy intervention but overeat at present as a result. We define such a possibility as a “spillunder.” In the proposed article, we critically review the few papers that we have identified through a narrative literature review which have demonstrated spillunder effects to date, and we propose a conceptual framework. Based on evidence about the human mind and behavior from psychology and economics, we argue that spillunder effects may be more common than the limited empirical findings suggest. We propose six representative mechanisms through which the prospect of behavior 1 may impact behavior 0: executive functions, moral licensing and moral cleansing, emotion regulation, energization, construal level, and savoring and dread. We further discuss the policy and practical implications of spillunder effects and examine methodological issues that need to be considered when empirically testing these effects. As with our earlier paper on spillovers, we aim to motivate other behavioral scientists to research behavioral spillunders more systematically and extensively, and to prompt decision makers to consider these effects when designing behavioral interventions.
... Drawing on self-enhancement theory (Swann, Griffin, Predmore, & Gaines, 1987;Swann, Pelham, & Krull, 1989) and the literature on psychological licensing (e.g., Chiou, Yang, & Wan, 2011), we suggest that, intraindividually, employees constantly strive to enhance their self-conceptualizations and thus tend to self-credit for the creativity they display at work. Accordingly, engaging in creativity should increase employees' perceptions of their creative credit, or perceptions that they are valuable corporate members because of their creative contributions. ...
... For instance, Septianto (2017) reported that after working hard in their jobs, people indulged in more impulsive buying. Similarly, Chiou et al. (2011) observed that after taking health supplements, people engaged in riskier health-related behaviors. Thus, increased creativity may give rise to increased deviance, similar to the licensing effects noted above. ...
Drawing on self-enhancement theory, we propose that, intraindividually, employees tend to give themselves credit when they engage in creativity. Perceived creative credit, in turn, activates multiple psychological motives that ultimately affect deviance. On the one hand, perceived creative credit is associated with greater creativity-driven norm-breaking motives and greater entitlement motives, which in turn should increase deviance. On the other hand, perceived creative credit is associated with greater image preservation motives, which in turn should decrease deviance. A within-person study involving 206 employees and their coworkers conducted over a 10-day period provided broad support for the proposed model. In addition, a between-person variable, namely rewards for creativity, moderated the self-crediting process. The within-person serial mediation relationship between creativity and deviance was positive and significant for employees who perceived low rewards for creativity, but was not significant for those who perceived high rewards for creativity. In other words, rewards for creativity in the workplace effectively nullified this within-person self-crediting mechanism among employees. This study thus illustrates that, within individuals, creativity and deviance are related through perceived creative credit and different psychological motives (i.e., serial mediation). However, the strength of this serial mediation relationship varies depending on the availability of formal rewards for creativity (i.e., moderated serial mediation).
... This prediction is in line with previous research on moral licensing, according to which undertaking a behavior that is considered healthy or morally desirable can lead one to subsequently make a less healthy or morally desirable choice (Blanken, van de Ven, & Zeelenberg, 2015;Chiou, Yang, & Wan, 2011;Fishbach & Dhar, 2005;Messner & Brügger, 2015). In the context of food consumption, eating vegetarian meals is usually perceived as morally superior and healthier compared to eating non-vegetarian foods (Fox & Ward, 2008;Ruby & Heine, 2011). ...
... Indeed, what may have been the mechanism behind the present finding that the interventions we created decreased vegetarian food choice for frequent vegetarian eaters? One possible explanation concerns the phenomenon known as moral licensing, according to which undertaking an action that is perceived as healthy or morally desirable can influence a person to subsequently make a less healthy or morally desirable choice (Chiou et al., 2011;Fishbach & Dhar, 2005;Messner & Brügger, 2015). When it comes to eating, vegetarian foods are usually perceived as morally superior or healthier relative to other foods (Radnitz, Beezhold, & DiMatteo, 2015;Ruby & Heine, 2011), and our exploratory analyses suggest that this was also the case in the present experiment, given that participants perceived vegetables as healthier than meat or fish. ...
Previous research has shown that restaurant menu design can influence food choices. However, it remains unknown whether such contextual effects on food selection are dependent on people's past behavior. In the present study, we focused on vegetarian food choices, given their important implications for the environment, and investigated whether the influence of different restaurant menus on the likelihood of selecting a vegetarian dish is moderated by the number of days on which people reported eating only vegetarian food during the previous week. In an online scenario, participants were randomly assigned to four different restaurant menu conditions-control (all dishes presented in the same manner), recommendation (vegetarian dish presented as chef's recommendation), descriptive (more appealing description of vegetarian dish), and vegetarian (vegetarian dishes placed in a separate section)-and ordered a dish for dinner. The results showed that the recommendation and descriptive menus increased the likelihood of vegetarian dish choices for infrequent eaters of vegetarian foods, whereas these effects tended to reverse for those who ate vegetarian meals more often. The vegetarian menu had no impact on the infrequent vegetarian eaters' choice but backfired for the frequent vegetarian eaters and made them less likely to order a vegetarian dish. These findings indicate that people's past behavior is an important determinant of the impact of nudging on food choices, and that achieving sustainable eating may require more personalized interventions.
... Kohler et al., 2010). Taking nutritional supplements lead individuals to reduce exercise and to prefer unhealthy snacks (Chiou, Yang, & Wan, 2011). ...
... First, a methodological limitation concerns the factor detectability which does not really affect participants' judgments. Perhaps it would have been more significant if we had chosen to test the effect of the detectability of a nutritional supplement that contains banned substances (Chiou et al., 2011). Secondly, we regret the lack of consideration shown in certain factors which could influence ethical judgment on the use of doping: such as aesthetic quality (to see Johnson's definition, 2011) or reducing the pain (e.g. ...
The study aimed to map different ethical positions regarding the way in which 107 adolescent athletes (Mage = 13.64, SD = 1.64) and 157 adults including 44 non-athletes (Mage = 20.56, SD = 2.98), 94 amateur athletes (Mage = 20.61, SD = 2.77), and 19 professional athletes (Mage = 20.52, SD = 2.52) used different informational cues (the consequences for health, the level of detectability, the short-term outcome, and the Coach’s attitude (CA)) for judging how acceptable it is to use a nutritional supplement in sport. The participants indicated their judgment of acceptability in 36 scenarios constructed from the combination of these information cues. Cluster analyses, ANOVAs, and chi-square tests were done. From the total number of participants, two different ethical positions were found according to the age. The adolescents (61%) judged that using a nutritional supplement is acceptable when the negative consequences for health are low, the coach’s attitude is favourable, and the expectation of short-term success is high. The adults (70%) judged that the use of a nutritional supplement is acceptable only when the negative consequences for health are low. Among the adults, different ethical positions were found but they were not linked with the involvement in sport.
... This association indicates that there is a user subgroup who might compensate for their lower activity levels by consuming protein supplements or who might decrease their physical activity level following protein supplements consumption, respectively. Such an ironic consequence was observed in dietary supplement users who engaged in unhealthy behaviors more frequently after supplement consumption (Chiou, Yang, & Wan, 2011). Supplement consumption increases consumers perceived invulnerability and thereby disinhibits unhealthy behavior, i.e. licensing effect (Chiou et al., 2011). ...
... Such an ironic consequence was observed in dietary supplement users who engaged in unhealthy behaviors more frequently after supplement consumption (Chiou, Yang, & Wan, 2011). Supplement consumption increases consumers perceived invulnerability and thereby disinhibits unhealthy behavior, i.e. licensing effect (Chiou et al., 2011). ...
The consumption of protein supplements among leisure time exercisers is growing. The present study aims to identify factors that motivate protein supplement consumption by comparing users' and non-users' underlying benefit beliefs about protein supplement. The study is based on an online survey of 813 Swiss adults (376 users of protein supplements and 437 non-users). Participants answered questions related to their benefit beliefs regarding protein supplement, their protein supplements consumption frequency, their activity level (GPAQ), and their reasons for taking protein supplement. In women, the most commonly cited reasons were to increase muscles (57.3%) and to regulate their weight (48.6%); and in men to increase muscles (83.7%) and to promote regeneration (53.7%). Furthermore, a principal component analysis revealed four benefit belief factors: (a) restore nutrients/avoid weakness; (b) fitness promotion; (c) health/well-being; (d) muscle modulation/competitive performance. The analysis showed that both users and non-users predominantly perceive protein supplements consumption as a strategy to modulate muscle mass, while beliefs in a health and well-being promoting effect was more prevalent among users (M = 3.2, SD = 1.3) than non-users (M = 2.7, SD = 1.3) (p < 0.001). Moreover, health and wellbeing-related beliefs were associated with an increased likelihood of a higher protein supplements intake frequency (OR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.3-2.3), while physical activity level was not associated with protein supplements intake frequency. In addition, a negative correlation between physical activity level and beliefs in a fitness-promoting effect of protein supplements (r = -0.14, p < 0.001) was observed, indicating that for a subgroup, protein supplements might license lower activity levels. Despite a lack of scientific evidence, consumers of varying activity levels consume protein supplements and believe in its' various positive features. Users should be better informed to prevent misguided health beliefs.
... Although findings vary across nations, this study identified a positive correlation between unhealthy dietary patterns and supplement usage. The observed trend where dietary supplement users exhibit poorer dietary habits than non-users can potentially be explained by the compensation hypothesis (Chiou et al., 2011;Kang et al., 2017;Landström et al., 2009), which posits that individuals take supplements to make up for inadequate diets. A study indicated that the use of dietary supplements containing antioxidants, as well as the consumption of foods rich in antioxidants, may have a protective effect against the potential cancer-causing properties of processed meats in the development of cancer (Pouchieu et al., 2014). ...
... This is especially true in participants who hold stronger beliefs in the effectiveness of weight loss supplements, as these have been shown to lose less weight compared with those with a weaker conviction regarding the efficacy of the intervention. 5,36 Tippens et al. suggest that the nocebo effect may accompany behavioral interventions in particular. 5 However, other studies included in the review also utilized behavioral interventions (i.e., education on the importance of physical activity, dietary changes) and observed positive effects among participants randomized to placebo groups. ...
Introduction:
There is evidence that placebo and nocebo effects are significant for many conditions, but their impact on weight loss has not yet been well described.
Material and methods:
A systematic review of studies indexed on PubMed, Cochrane, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, TripDatabase, and Embase was carried out. Studies (1) with at least two study groups - placebo and a corresponding control group; (2) published in English; and (3) focusing on adults participating in weight loss programs or on placebo/nocebo effects in weight loss were included. Synthesis and meta-analysis of the results of studies with comparable research plans were performed.
Results:
Some preliminary trends suggesting placebo and nocebo effects in weight loss were found. Placebo effects manifested in trends towards a slightly greater reduction of Body Mass Index (BMI) and body fat ratio in the placebo compared with the control groups. On the other hand, in one study, it was found that the expectancy effects of taking oral weight-loss agents might be disadvantageous (i.e., because they elicit a nocebo effect on weight loss).
Conclusion:
The findings suggest a possibility that the nocebo effect may occur when an intervention has a medical context. In contrast, the placebo effect can be observed in cases where the intervention is of a different nature. However, considering the low number of studies analyzing the use of placebos in weight loss, new primary research is needed.
... Typical examples of spillover effects include licensing effects (Mazar & Zhong, 2010;Merritt et al., 2010). For instance, an intervention to encourage healthy behaviors may also give participants a "license," to later-and outside the gaze of the researcher-over-indulge in unhealthy behaviors as a "reward" for their previous "good" behavior (Chiou et al., 2011). If such spillovers are not seen by the experimenter, the effect the experimenter observes may be substantially larger than the true effect post-experiment. ...
Nudging is a popular and influential approach in policymaking. Yet, it has faced substantial criticism from several policy perspectives, with growing concern raised about the efficacy of some nudge interventions. This article offers an evaluative framework for nudging which captures these various perspectives. Our 4S framework highlights the importance of nudges being sufficient, scalable, and subjective, in addition to being statistically significant, to be an effective policy response. We review various nudge interventions, coupled with various methodological critiques, to demonstrate the need for a more expansive evaluative framework. The 4S framework synthesizes these sizeable literatures and numerous critiques to meet this need, serving as an important contribution to behavioral policymakers. We argue that the 4S framework complements existing frameworks for designing behavioral interventions as an evaluative framework. By adopting the 4S framework, policymakers will be better placed to design interventions which are effective in relation to the wider policy environment.
... This suggests that presenting images containing healthy foods can encourage unhealthy food choices and vice versa; images of unhealthy foods (sweets) may nudge consumers towards healthier food choices. While this is inconsistent with the previous results of other studies conducted in real-life settings (not online) (e.g., [15]), there is literature supporting our findings that healthy cues can lead to unhealthy choices (e.g., [52,53]). In the study by Wilcox et al. [52], consumers that saw a healthy food option on a menu were more likely to choose the least healthy option compared to when a healthy option was not included. ...
As food choices are usually processed subconsciously, both situational and food environment cues influence choice. This study developed and tested a mobile app to investigate the association between physical and digital environments on snack choices. SnackTrack was designed and used to collect data on the snack choices of 188 users in real-life settings during an 8-week feasibility trial. The app asks users to take a photo of the food they are planning to consume and to provide additional information regarding the physical environment and context in which this food was eaten. The app also displayed various user interface designs (i.e., different background images) to investigate the potential effects of images on snack choice. Preliminary results suggest that the time of snack obtainment did not have a significant effect on the healthfulness of the snacks chosen. Conversely, it was found that unhealthy background images appeared to encourage healthier snack choices. In conclusion, despite consumers having the knowledge to make healthy choices, environmental cues can alter food choices. SnackTrack, a novel tool to investigate the influence of physical and digital environments on consumers’ food choices, provides possibilities for exploring what encourages (un)healthy eating behaviours.
... The third mechanism that connects an individual's creativity and his or her own unethical behavior is perceived creative credit. The psychological licensing literature (Chiou et al., 2011;Lin et al., 2016;Merritt et al., 2010;Monin & Miller, 2001;Septianto, 2017) shows that after good behavior, individuals may engage in bad behavior. Specifically, in the field of morality, individuals may engage in reprovable behavior (e.g., unethical behavior) after performing creditable behavior (e.g., ethical leadership) because they tend to regard their creditable behavior as licenses for reprovable behavior (Lin et al., 2016;Merritt et al., 2010;Monin & Miller, 2001). ...
... The third mechanism that connects an individual's creativity and his or her own unethical behavior is perceived creative credit. The psychological licensing literature (Chiou et al., 2011;Lin et al., 2016;Merritt et al., 2010;Monin & Miller, 2001;Septianto, 2017) shows that after good behavior, individuals may engage in bad behavior. Specifically, in the field of morality, individuals may engage in reprovable behavior (e.g., unethical behavior) after performing creditable behavior (e.g., ethical leadership) because they tend to regard their creditable behavior as licenses for reprovable behavior (Lin et al., 2016;Merritt et al., 2010;Monin & Miller, 2001). ...
The introductory chapter to Creativity and Morality outlines the relationship between the constructs, summarizing the AMORAL model of dark creativity (Kapoor & Kaufman, in press). Specifically, the Antecedents, Mechanisms (individual), Operants (environmental), Realization, Aftereffects, and Legacy of the creative action are theorized and described within the context of general and dark creativity. We present real-life and simulated examples to illustrate the application of the theory across multiple domains, from law enforcement to interpersonal relationships, from the initial idea to the impact of the eventual action. The AMORAL model will help introduce the main concepts that will be addressed in subsequent chapters.
... The finding that dietary supplement users consumed less healthy diets than non-users may be explained by the 'compensation hypothesis' (42,(44)(45)(46) , which suggests that individuals use dietary supplements to compensate for an unhealthy diet. The use of dietary supplements by children may reflect their guardians' belief that dietary supplements such as multivitamins are ...
Dietary supplements can be used to compensate for an inadequate diet. However, some studies indicate that supplement users consume healthier diets than non-users, although such data are lacking in Japanese children. The aim of the present study was to investigate the food and nutrient intake of dietary supplement users among school-aged children in Japan. A nationwide school dietary survey was conducted at fourteen elementary schools and thirteen junior high schools in twelve prefectures in Japan. Three-day non-consecutive semi-weighed dietary records were obtained on two weekdays and one weekend day. Analysis of covariance was performed to investigate differences in food and nutrient intake from meals consumed at school and outside of school between dietary supplement users and non-users, adjusted for socio-demographic and health-related characteristics. Of the 910 children included in this analysis, 80 (8⋅8 %) reported supplement use. Based on 3-d dietary records, dietary supplement users consumed higher mean amounts of oils and lower amounts of fruits and vegetables than non-users. In school lunches, users consumed significantly higher amounts of oils and lower amounts of protein than non-users. In meals consumed outside of school, dietary supplement users consumed significantly higher amounts of confectioneries and lower amounts of fruits and vegetables, folate, vitamin C and dietary fibre than non-users. Collectively, our findings indicate that dietary supplement users consumed less healthy diets than non-users. Additional studies are warranted to confirm these results and identify factors contributing to poorer dietary habits in supplement users.
... This could explain why Hygiene Stewards had the highest odds of antibody results, even higher odds than Refusers, who engaged in none of the mitigation behaviors. This overcompensation would not be unique to masking and COVID-19: for example, taking supplements and vitamins seem to convey a potency that leads to worse eating (e.g., Chang, & Chiou, 2014;Chiou et al., 2011). This suggests that Hygiene Stewards, and to some degree Masked Symptom Managers, need messages that highlight the response efficacy boon by using masks and social distancing. ...
By fall 2020, students returning to U.S. university campuses were mandated to engage in COVID-19 mitigation behaviors, including masking, which was a relatively novel prevention behavior in the U.S. Masking became a target of university mandates and campaigns, and it became politicized. Critical questions are whether the influences of injunctive norms and response efficacy on one behavior (i.e. masking) spill over to other mitigation behaviors (e.g. hand-washing), and how patterns of mitigation behaviors are associated with clinical outcomes. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of college students who returned to campus (N = 837) to explore these questions, and conducted COVID-19 antibody testing on a subset of participants to identify correlations between behaviors and disease burden. The results showed that college students were more likely to intend to wear face masks as they experienced more positive injunctive norms, liberal political views, stronger response efficacy for masks, and less pessimism. Latent class analysis revealed four mitigation classes: Adherents who intended to wear face masks and engage in the other COVID-19 mitigation behaviors; Hygiene Stewards and Masked Symptom Managers who intended to wear masks but only some other behaviors, and Refusers who intended to engage in no mitigation behaviors. Importantly, the Hygiene Stewards and Refusers had the highest likelihood of positive antibodies; these two classes differed in their masking intentions, but shared very low likelihoods of physical distancing from others and avoiding crowds or mass gatherings. The implications for theories of normative influences on novel behaviors, spillover effects, and future messaging are discussed.
... Licensing-Effekte wurden bislang in zahlreichen Bereichen des gesunden und nachhaltigen Kauf-und Konsumverhaltens erforscht (Chiou et al 2011;Merrit et al. 2010). In einer unter anderem vom Autor des vorliegenden Beitrags durchgeführten empirischen Studie (Koenigstorfer & Baumgartner 2016) Die Nachhaltigkeitsberater von Levett-Therivel (2005), die einen Bericht veröffentlichten, der auf den Ergebnissen der Kommission für nachhaltige Entwicklung in Großbritannien basiert, definieren nachhaltige Lebensmittel und Getränke als solche, die folgende Charakteristika haben: "[S]afe, healthy, and nutritious, for consumers in shops, restaurants, schools, hospitals, etc.; can meet the needs of the less well off people; provides a viable livelihood for farmers, processors, and retailers, whose employees enjoy a safe and hygienic working environment, whether in the UK or overseas; respects biophysical and environmental limits in its production and processing, while reducing energy consumption and improving the wider environment, and also respects the highest standards of animal health and welfare, compatible with the production of affordable food for all sectors of society; supports rural economies and the diversity of rural culture, in particular through an emphasis on local products that keep food miles to a minimum. ...
The certification mark, which was introduced in response to an EU initiative in 2017, has been available in Germany since 2019. Its main features are neutrality, monitoring/control and transparency for certain material or service promises for which the legal protection of a certification mark is claimed.
This anthology explores the questions of how exactly the effect of this instrument is to be assessed, what experiences have already been made with it, and how warranty marks are to be evaluated in terms of brand technology, customer orientation, and consumer policy.
... It should not then be surprising that the propensity for the path of least resistance is already evident in infants who, by their first birthday, see the difference between others' efficient and inefficient goal pursuit (Baillargeon et al., 2015) and attribute others' actions to the pursuit of these goals (Gergely et al., 1995). Nor is it surprising that adults generally tend to take short cuts, such as substituting vitamin pills for exercise (Chiou et al., 2011) and relying on "cognitive shorthands" in decisions regarding pursuit of demanding activities (Kiviniemi et al., 2007). Worse, they delay taking action and as a result, procrastination becomes a cognitive and behavioral problem for many (Ariely & Wertenbroch, 2002;Sirois & Pychyl, 2016;Steele, 2007). ...
Much of everyday life consists of obligatory long-term behaviors, from work itself to doing dishes. Although some activities (e.g., exercise) are harder than others, even the seemingly easy activities can turn into hard ones when repeated monotonously day after day. It is proposed that this paradox has its roots in two fundamental human tendencies: (a) following the path of least resistance and (b) avoiding monotony, boredom, and even stimulus deprivation. How does the human mind operate in the presence of these tendencies to get everyday tasks and activities completed? The first tendency is manifested in gradual reduction of conscious processing and incremental increase in nonconscious processing. Constant repeats of demanding behaviors reduce cognitive strain and energy consumption, enhancing automaticity through the strengthened cue-behavior link. Automaticity in turn makes task performance easier and more efficient, resulting in a greater likelihood of getting everyday behaviors done. However, the sheer repeating of behavior is not enough; rather, a key is to repeat-with-variety, which posits that conscious interjection of variability into routine patterns facilitates the completion of both demanding and nondemanding behaviors in the long run. It is important, however, that such conscious intervention does not activate a sense of freedom about engagement because if it did, the elevated sense of freedom would undermine attempts to repeat behaviors and complete tasks. Understanding task completion also requires a consideration of the object of consciousness: Being unconscious of the mental processes motivating an action but conscious of the experience of doing the action.
... For the use of substances posing a health risk (tobacco, alcohol and drugs), it is very rare in the study population. This could be explained by the desire of respondents to promote overall health by adopting healthy habits, especially since the majority of respondents are biologists [68]. Our results are different from those of Khelafa [69], who found that 17.5% consume alcohol and 9.8% cannabis and 24.6% tobacco in Fez, with a predominance of boys. ...
... Os dados revelam a busca pela perda de peso e demais problemas relacionados, afinal a busca por um produto suplementar ou funcional parece abrir outras portas para o consumo de mais suplementos e recursos (Nichter & Thompson, 2006). Desvelam também outro aspecto presente no estudo de (Chiou, Yang, & Wan, 2011): O consumo de suplementos fez com que atletas se voltem ao consumo hedônico, bem como à preferência por alimentos nada naturais ao invés de alimentação orgânica. Os dados também se alinham à questão da diversidade de interesses relacionada à escolha de produtos suplementares que exige segmentação específica para idade, gênero e comportamento, além de sabor, conveniência e variedade (Ares & Gámbaro, 2007). ...
Este quase experimento pesquisou as escolhas do consumidor praticante frequente de atividade física no consumo de alimentos funcionais e fitness. Neste experimento natural foi testada a hipótese de que há associação entre os objetivos almejados com uma alimentação suplementar esportiva e a escolha de algumas cestas de produtos. Em três fases (I, II e III), foi questionado o objetivo da alimentação e as escolhas acerca de produtos organizados em opções não identificadas. (I) as cestas “emagrecer”, “ganho de massa muscular” e “saúde e bem-estar” não encontraram correspondência frente aos objetivos já declarados. (II) as cestas light, diet, orgânicos e integrais encontraram correspondência parcial na relação com o objetivo: os produtos light e orgânico foram relacionados com objetivos que não correspondiam as suas propriedades. (III) as cestas com 16 produtos foram apresentadas com preço e sem preço. Verificou-se que há fortes evidências para a refutação da hipótese de pesquisa, visto que os participantes da pesquisa não alinharam seus objetivos nutricionais com suas escolhas, suscitando um olhar para efeitos de viés emocional e desinformação.
... Charitable organisations sending reminders to potential donors can increase donations, but later lead to higher unsubscriber rates from the mailing list, thereby jeopardising future donations [50]. Taking dietary supplements can increase their consumption but reduce people's desire to engage in physical exercise [51]. These findings are critical because they point to key psychological processes that need to be considered in behaviour change such as moral licensing [52], where a virtuous decision can later lead to indulgent behaviour [53]. ...
Behavioural change techniques are currently used by many global organisations and public institutions. The amassing evidence base is used to answer practical and scientific questions regarding what cognitive, affective, and environment factors lead to successful behavioural change in the laboratory and in the field. In this piece we show that there is also value to examining interventions that inadvertently fail in achieving their desired behavioural change (e.g., backfiring effects). We identify the underlying causal pathways that characterise different types of failure, and show how a taxonomy of causal interactions that result in failure exposes new insights that can advance theory and practice.
... [50] Taking dietary supplements can increase their consumption but reduce people's desire to engage in physical exercise. [51] These findings are critical because they point to key psychological processes that need to be considered in behaviour change such as moral licensing [52], where a virtuous decision can later lead to indulgent behaviour. [53] Environment does not support change. ...
To appear in Trends in Cognitive Science.
Abstract: Behavioural change techniques are currently used by many global organisations and public institutions. The amassing evidence base is used to answer practical and scientific questions regarding what cognitive, affective, and environment factors lead to successful behavioural change in the lab and in the field. In this piece we show that there is also value to examining interventions that inadvertently fail in achieving their desired behavioural change (e.g., backfiring effects). We identify the underlying causal pathways that characterise different types of failure, and show how a taxonomy of causal interactions that result in failure exposes new insights that can advance theory and practice.
... Other demographic data on multivitamin users, such as race/ethnicity, education, and poverty-to-income ratio, were similar to those previously reported (Bailey, Fulgoni, et al. 2011;Bailey, Gahche, et al. 2011;Park et al. 2011;Bailey et al. 2012;Wallace et al. 2014;Rautiainen et al. 2015;Blumberg et al. 2017). Some have suggested that dietary supplement users may rely on supplements to compensate for poor dietary habits (Chiou et al. 2011;Lonn 2012). If this were true, one would expect usual intakes of micronutrients from food to be lower among obese individuals taking multivitamins. ...
Multivitamins are the most commonly consumed dietary supplement in the United States and worldwide. Micronutrient insufficiency and clinical deficiency are more common in middle-aged to older adults, and multivitamin use has been shown to improve status in this population. This analysis aimed to assess contributions of sporadic and consistent multivitamin use to total usual micronutrient intakes and associated nutritional biomarkers among middle-aged to older US adults age ≥51 years, stratified by obesity status. Self-reported dietary intake and laboratory measures from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were used in these analyses. The National Cancer Institute method was used to assess usual intakes of 18 micronutrients. Compared with food alone, multivitamin use was associated with a lower prevalence of inadequacies and improved nutritional biomarker status for folate, iodine, selenium, and vitamins B6, B12, and D. Consistent use decreased the prevalence of inadequacy for most micronutrients assessed, except for those micronutrients typically not found (or in miniscule amounts) in standard multivitamin products. In addition to a lower prevalence of inadequacy for many micronutrients associated with consistent use of multivitamins, sporadic use decreased the prevalence of inadequacy for a greater number of micronutrients in obese versus nonobese individuals. Multivitamin use (sporadic and consistent) also increased the proportion of individuals who exceeded the tolerable upper intake level for folic acid to 8%–10%. Nutritional biomarker data indicate that obese individuals may be at greater risk of clinical deficiency in vitamins B6 and D. Use of gender- and age-specific multivitamins may serve as a practical means to increase micronutrient status and decrease prevalences of clinical deficiency in the middle-aged to older population, particularly in those who are obese.
... In addition, some non-food reward experiences that predicted future highly processed food intake were behaviors that might boost self-esteem (e.g., getting special recognition, getting positive social feedback). Perhaps individuals felt "licensed" to eat highly processed foods after these events (see Chiou, Yang, & Wan, 2011) or wanted to celebrate. In fact, individuals report wanting highly processed foods "to celebrate a special occasion," and this motive predicts highly processed food intake in everyday life (Boggiano et al., 2015). ...
Reducing intake of highly processed, energy-dense food may prevent chronic disease. One proposed intervention strategy for reducing intake of these foods is to increase non-food reward experiences (e.g., music, socializing, art) in their place. However, research supporting this strategy has yet to establish temporal order between non-food reward experiences and highly processed food intake, and has yet to test mediators. The current study sought to build upon this literature with an ambulatory electronic diary study wherein the time-specific associations between non-food reward experiences and highly processed food intake were observed. A sample of 84 young adults reported on multiple types of non-food reward experiences and highly processed food intake hourly for two weekdays and two weekend days through an application on their personal electronic devices. Time-lagged analysis was employed to predict the odds of highly processed food intake in the following hour from non-food rewards experienced in the current hour. Secondary (e.g., receiving positive social feedback) and hedonic (e.g., viewing pleasant images) non-food reward experiences in the current hour predicted greater instead of lower odds of highly processed food intake in the following hour. These associations were mediated by increased subjective pleasure. Purely eudaimonic (e.g., affirming values), social (e.g., cooperating with others), and primary (e.g., having sex) reward experiences generally did not predict odds of highly processed food intake in the following hour. These results suggest that-at least for young adults-many non-food reward experiences may fail to reduce highly processed food intake, and some may even backfire. A different intervention strategy targeting reward processes implicated in highly processed food intake (e.g., interfering with conditioned learned associations) may prove a more promising avenue for improving physical health.
... In a study by Khan and Dhar (2006), participants were more likely to choose luxury over utilitarian products after committing themselves to a community service. Chiou et al. (2011) also demonstrated licensing effects for health-related behaviours: Participants taking a (placebo) dietary supplement exhibited less desire for exercise and more desire for hedonic activities, were more likely to choose a buffet over an organic meal, and walked less to benefit their health. The authors argued that the use of dietary supplements may create an illusory sense of invulnerability that disinhibits unhealthy behaviours. ...
Background
Little is known about the sequential interplay of different health behaviours. Health behaviours may be connected in four different ways: a healthy behaviour may lead to a subsequent healthy or unhealthy behaviour (positive consistency and licensing, respectively), or an unhealthy behaviour may lead to a subsequent unhealthy or healthy behaviour (negative consistency and cleansing, respectively). In this study, these four possible types of sequential health behaviours were examined jointly in people's daily life.
Methods
The study used ecological momentary assessment. Participants (N = 235; 55% female; age 18–45) were randomly signalled five times daily on their smart phones for seven consecutive days. They reported both healthy and unhealthy behaviours that occurred within the past hour. Participants were also asked if the (healthy or unhealthy) behaviour was related to any previous healthy or unhealthy behaviour. In addition, they completed measures of life satisfaction, general health status, and compensatory health beliefs.
Results
Positive consistency predicted satisfaction with life, whereas negative consistency and cleansing negatively predicted general health status. Compensatory health beliefs were not related to actual cleansing or licensing behaviour.
Conclusions
Fostering positive consistency and discouraging cleansing behaviour should play a pivotal role in health promotion programmes.
... pharmacies may be sub-optimal or dispensed from unqualified staff, and in some cases over-the-counter CM products may advise that their products be taken in conjunction with specific dietary practices 18,44 . Research has also suggested that in some cases CM use is associated with lower levels of self-regulation around other healthful behaviours, and is used by consumers as a compensatory tool to protect against other unhealthy behaviours such as lack of exercise or cigarette or alcohol intake [45][46][47] , factors which may also be indicated in weight management. Whilst there may be potential benefit from many self-prescribed CM products and unconventional dietary practices, it should be acknowledged that much CM self-care occurs within a largely unregulated marketplace and as such solely relying on selfprescription of potentially unsafe and ineffective heath products or practices without the guidance of a qualified health professional may expose those seeking to lose weight to unnecessary clinical and financial risk 48 . ...
Objective: This study aimed to determine whether the use of complementary medicine (CM) is associated with body satisfaction and weight management methods in Australian women.
Methods: Women aged 34–39 years from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health were surveyed regarding satisfaction with their body weight and shape, and the use of weight management methods. Associations with CM use were analysed using logistic regression modelling.
Results: Women using CM less likely wanted to lose weight; and were more likely to cut down on fats and/or
sugars, use low glycaemic diets, diet books and ‘other’ methods (OR: 1.33–2.83) compared to CM non-users. Women using herbal medicine products ‘sometimes’ were more likely to use meal replacements/slimming
products (OR: 1.50–1.67) compared to non-users.
Discussion: Australian women using CM are more likely to be satisfied with their body weight and shape, and to use a range of weight management approaches compared to CM non-users.
... These consumers may also believe that dietary supplements are a means to compensate for an unhealthy lifestyle. Chiou et al. [13] explain this phenomenon with the notion of licensing. Consumers earn a perceived license to engage in an unhealthy lifestyle after engaging in health-protective behaviors. ...
Background: The consumption of fruits, vegetables, and dietary supplements correlate. Most previous studies have aimed to identify the determinants of supplement uses or the distinct features of supplement users; this literature lacks a discussion on dietary supplement consumption as a predictor of fruit and vegetable consumption.
Objective: This study examines how dietary supplement consumption correlates with fruit and vegetable consumption by combining scanner data and surveys of Korean household grocery shopping.
Methods: Propensity score matching (PSM) is used to identify the relationship between dietary supplement consumption and fruit and vegetable consumption in a household. A logit regression using supplement consumption as the dependent variable is used. Then, the supplement takers (the treatment group) are matched with non-takers (the control group) based on the propensity scores estimated in the logit regression. The fruit and vegetable consumption levels of the groups are then compared.
Results: We found that dietary supplement use is associated with higher fruit and vegetable consumption. This supports the health consciousness hypothesis based on attention bias, availability heuristics, the focusing effect, and the consumption episode effect. It rejects the health substitute hypothesis based on economic substitutes and mental accounting.
Conclusions: Future research on the health benefits of dietary supplements should address the complementary consumption of fruits/vegetables and their health benefits to avoid misstating the health effects of supplements.
... Tasks and activities that require either cognitive or physical effort are shunned because people expend effort only when they need to (131). The search for the path of least resistance is also seen in n obvious attempt at a shortcut for health (132). Second, coinciding with the tendency to follow the law of least effort, depletion of self-control resources (129) s stressful work leaves people with diminished mental strength to be harnessed for engagement in demanding physical activity during their leisure on one hand and to resist temptations for involvement in non-demanding activities (e.g., TV watching) on the other (46)(47). ...
... Ironically, remedy messages lead consumers to "perceive the remedy as a 'get out of jail free' card that takes the risk out of risky behavior, thereby encouraging it (i.e., a boomerang effect of the remedy message opposite to the position intended)" (Bolton et al., 2007, p. 714). The "boomerang effect" would give consumers a "perceived invulnerability by restoring health credentials, and would thereby disinhibit unhealthy behaviors" (Chiou, Yang, andWan, 2011, p. 1085). This boomerang effect can lead consumers to believe marketing messages that may be misleading. ...
Dietary supplements have grown in popularity in recent years, with multivitamins the most commonly used. As the awareness of dietary supplements continues to increase, there are more chances for consumers to misuse or misunderstand the risks of taking dietary supplements. Public relations, physicians, and pharmaceutical companies should work to educate the consumer about the uses and risks of supplements. This paper addresses the issues associated with dietary supplements, particularly in the area of weight-loss supplements. Adverse side effects are addressed, as well as how public relations can influence the outcome of pharmaceutical companies’ relationships with consumers. Public relations can help the target audiences build trust with companies, though at times marketing supplements can interfere with a healthy lifestyle. The lack of regulation on dietary supplements provides consumers with more freedom, but also leaves room for uncertainty and confusion about the science behind dietary supplements.
... This contradicts the hypothesis that people who use dietary supplements practice more healthy habits because they are more interested in promoting overall health. Chiou et al. 19) found a similar paradoxical effect in a cohort study comparing vitamin and placebo groups. The authors showed that participants who believed that they were taking vitamins were actually neglecting to maintain their health, and there was no association between dietary supplement intake and improvement in health. ...
Background:
Recently, the number of people interested in health in South Korea has increased, and the rate of dietary supplement use is rising. Researchers have hypothesized that the rate of practicing healthy habits is higher among those who use dietary supplements than those who do not. Therefore, this study aimed to discover the association between taking dietary supplements and practicing various healthy habits in the Korean, adult population.
Methods:
The sample included 15,789 adults over 19 years old who participated in the fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The user group was defined as those taking dietary supplements for more than 2 weeks during the previous year or once during the past month. Measures for the seven healthy habits were based on those included in the Alameda study and were analyzed accounting for the complex sampling design.
Results:
The rate of taking dietary supplements was significantly higher in women, middle aged participants, urban residents, those with a higher income, those with a higher education level, and nonsmokers as well as among women with a moderate subjective health status, women who limited their alcohol content, and women with dyslipidemia. In the adjusted analysis, the rate of performing three of the 'Alameda 7' habits-eating breakfast regularly, restricting snacking, and limiting drinking-was higher in the female dietary supplement user group than in the other groups. Women practiced more healthy habits and had a higher dietary supplement intake rate than men.
Conclusion:
We found that taking dietary supplements in Korean adults is highly associated with demographic and social factors. Taking dietary supplements had a relationship with dietary habits, and there was no significant association between dietary supplement and other healthy habits. Thus in the health clinic, we suggest that taking dietary supplements complements a patient's healthy habits, with the exception of dietary habits, for health promotion.
Purpose
Despite its prevalence and serious negative impact on consumer behavior, marketing strategies and social welfare, little is known about how to effectively curb moral licensing. Drawing on research in warm-glow giving and virtue signaling, this paper aims to propose that social sharing can help alleviate the moral licensing effect; and this effect is mediated by moral self-regard and moderated by temporal distance.
Design/methodology/approach
Two experimental studies were conducted in a laboratory setting using large samples. In particular, Study 1 was designed to test the proposed main and mediation effects, and Study 2 was designed to further examine the proposed moderation effect.
Findings
Study 1 demonstrates after having shared a prior moral behavior on social media, people are more likely to engage in another moral act subsequently. This is because that sharing a prior moral behavior on social media leads to a drop in moral self-regard, which, in turn, boosts a subsequent moral intention. Study 2 further shows that after having shared a prior moral behavior on social media, when making a decision for the present, people are more likely to engage in a subsequent good deed; however, this effect is diminished when people are making such a decision for the future.
Practical implications
This work provides important implications for marketing managers and policymakers. In particular, this research suggests that social sharing can be an effective tool to encourage individuals’ consistent moral behavior so as to promote individual and collective well-being. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that temporal distance and social sharing can interact to reduce the moral licensing effect. In practice, this research contributes to the development of effective marketing strategies, particularly for those companies that aim to integrate sustainability into their business practices.
Originality/value
In contrast to previous research examining the cognitive approach to curbing moral licensing, this research explores a new, powerful behavioral approach to alleviating the moral licensing effect. Furthermore, this research consolidates previous findings on the relationship between identity signaling and self-regard, increases the scope of identity signaling research and offers a bridge between research on identity signaling and research on moral licensing. Finally, this research adds to understanding of moral licensing by showing that the moral licensing effect may vary depending on contextual factors and, therefore, is more malleable than previously thought, which opens up future research opportunities to explore when and how the moral licensing effect can be alleviated.
Given its great benefits for individuals, organizations, and societies, creativity has received increasing attention from scholars. However, recent research has provided some initial empirical evidence that creativity has a potential dark side in organizations, such as triggering unethical behavior. At the same time, another stream of research focusing on the antecedents of creativity has revealed that individuals' (un)ethical behavior could influence creativity in intrapersonal and interpersonal ways. To build a useful framework to describe the relationship between creativity and (un)ethical behavior, this chapter reviews and divides the relevant literature into four categories. Specifically, we organize existing studies by considering two dimensions: the causality of creativity and (un)ethical behavior (i.e., the effects of creativity on [un]ethical behavior vs. the effects of [un]ethical behavior on creativity), and the perspective adopted by the research (i.e., intrapersonal vs. interpersonal perspective). Finally, we conclude by discussing promising directions for future research.
This research aims to examine the role of menu messaging (implicit vs. explicit) used to disclose the healthy food item in shifting diner perceptions and purchase intentions. Drawing on a consumer experiment, the results establish a menu messaging effect on diners’ purchase intentions of healthy items and the underlying mechanism via psychological reactance and perceived attractiveness. Explicit (vs. implicit) messaging negatively affects consumer purchase intentions, which is due to 1) increased psychological reactance (i.e., perceived threat of freedom and counterarguing) and 2) decreased perceived attractiveness. The menu messaging effect is further conditioned by diners’ goal orientation (pleasure vs. goal). Under a goal-driven mindset, the messaging effect is more pronounced compared to a pleasure-driven mindset. This research is among the first to establish a significant role of menu messaging in healthy item communication at restaurants. Theoretical and managerial are further elaborated.
We study the effects of two exogenous modifications in the Swedish pension system application form nudging individuals towards a fixed-term payout. Meanwhile, the set of available options and the default option—life annuity—were unchanged during the period under study. We examine the effects on individuals’ payout decisions and the spillover effects on labour supply and other pensions using a difference-in-difference framework and detailed administrative data on actual payout decisions and a wide range of individual-level outcomes. Each modification increased the demand for the nudged payout by around 30 percentage points. The first modification also induced individuals to work less.
Background
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is used often by patients with different diseases. While some authors subsume religiousness and spirituality to CAM, others do not. The objective of the present study was to assess the prevalence and types of CAM usage as well as the participants' spirituality/religiousness in an outpatient department for endocrinology and metabolic diseases.
Methods
All individuals visiting the outpatient department at a German university hospital from April to June 2009 were offered a standardized questionnaire on the use of dietary supplements and alternative therapies as well as their religiousness/spirituality. Demographic and clinical data of 428 respondents were taken from the electronic health record.
Results
Of the respondents, 16.4% (n = 66) classified themselves to be religious/spiritual and 67.9% (n = 273) as not religious/spiritual. Women were more religious/spiritual than men (p = 0.02). 41.4% of the respondents used supplements and 27.4% additional therapies. The use of supplements and additional therapies was more frequent in people with higher religiousness/spirituality (p = 0.005 and p = 0.01,resp.) but there were no associations between religiousness/spirituality and the number of consultations, costs for drugs, appraisal of the physicians treatment methods, the perceived effectiveness of prescribed drugs, fear of late complications or of side effects.
Conclusions
A higher religiousness/spirituality is associated with a more frequent use of supplements or additional therapies in individuals with endocrinopathies or metabolic diseases. As CAM has been shown to be associated with worse outcome, addressing religiousness/spirituality which stresses the responsibility of the person for his life might offer an additional resource and should be further studied.
Objectives:
The primary objectives were to assess the prevalence of dietary supplement (DS) use and to identify specific demographic and lifestyle characteristics of DS users from Novi Sad, Serbia as well as the most commonly used DS and reasons for their use.
Design:
Observational, cross-sectional study.
Setting and interventions:
Data on demographics, lifestyle and dietary supplement use of 435 adults from Novi Sad, Serbia were collected using an online questionnaire.
Results:
In total, 435 subjects completed the questionnaire (62.3% women). Prevalence of dietary supplement use in the sample was 42.8%. More women used DS than men (p = 0.002). Higher use of DS was reported among individuals 65+, while the young used DS less (p = 0.001), but the highest proportions of DS users was from the 45-54 age group. DS were used more among those with lower education levels (p < 0.001) and no income (p = 0.009). The highest percentages of DS users reported daily intakes of fruits and moderate physical activity, were non-smokers and social drinkers. Main reason for DS use was maintaining general health. The most commonly used DS were minerals and/or vitamins (68.8%).
Conclusions:
We report a high prevalence of dietary supplement use in Novi Sad. DS use was associated with being a female, being older and having minimal/average income, the latter being opposite of the usual findings. Our results warrant a more detailed examination of the association between income, DS use and healthcare availability in developing countries such as Serbia.
Dishonesty is ubiquitous in our world. The news is frequently filled with high-profile cases of corporate fraud, large-scale corruption, lying politicians, and the hypocrisy of public figures. On a smaller scale, ordinary people often cheat, lie, misreport their taxes, and mislead others in their daily life. Despite such prevalence of cheating, corruption, and concealment, people typically consider themselves to be honest, and often believe themselves to be more moral than most others. This book aims to resolve this paradox by addressing the question of why people are dishonest all too often. What motivates dishonesty, and how are people able to perceive themselves as moral despite their dishonest behaviour? What personality and interpersonal factors make dishonesty more likely? And what can be done to recognize and reduce dishonesty? This is a fascinating overview of state-of-the-art research on dishonesty, with prominent scholars offering their views to clarify the roots of dishonesty.
The popularity of plant food supplements continues to increase with research indicating that approximately 20% of the population consume such products. This use may reflect disaffection with traditional models of medical care and a shift in focus to maintaining overall health and wellbeing. Consumers of plant food supplements tend, in the main, to be older, female, well-educated and with a higher than average income. Evidence indicates that plant food supplements are used for a variety of reasons but their principal roles are in the prevention of certain health conditions or the treatment of specific problems. Consumers tend to perceive plant food supplements as natural substances and consequently are often unaware of the potential risks associated with consumption of these products. These risks may include adverse effects, potential interactions with prescription or over-the-counter drugs and product-related issues. Furthermore consumers are often reluctant to discuss the use of supplements with healthcare professionals and as a result are reliant on a range of other sources of information, including the internet, family, friends and the mass media. Given the complexity of the information environment consumers may struggle to distinguish between resources that are trustworthy, reliable and underpinned by evidence. Further research is needed to examine the influences on consumers’ decision making and behaviours in relation to consumption of plant food supplements, with a view to informing policy makers and regulators.
Objective:
To identify the prevalence of dietary supplement (DS) use, perceptions of DS efficacy, and lifestyle behaviors of DS users and non-users.
Participants:
Undergraduate students, student-athletes, and ROTC cadets at a Midwestern University between September 2014 and January 2015.
Methods:
A cross-sectional online survey was administered. Analysis included descriptive statistics, chi-square, and independent sample t-tests.
Results:
At least 50% of respondents from each group reported DS use. Users generally reported favorable perceptions of efficacy. Undergraduate student DS users reported more exercise and more healthful dietary habits compared to non-users; however, nearly 72% of undergraduates who reported tobacco use also reported DS use. Less significant differences were observed in the student-athlete and cadet samples.
Conclusions:
DS use is common on college campuses, and many DS users report favorable perceptions of efficacy. With the exception of tobacco use, collegiate DS users generally report lifestyles that are as healthy or healthier than non-users.
In diesem Kapitel lernen Sie die wichtigsten Definitionen im Kontext „Vielfalt in Unternehmen kennen“ und erfahren, warum eine wertschätzende Kultur die Voraussetzung dafür ist, dass Menschen Karriere machen, die potenziell nicht dem klassischen Rollenbild einer Führungskraft entsprechen. Wir werfen einen Blick auf die Zielgruppen, auf die sich viele Organisationen aktuell konzentrieren, und auf die Themen, die dabei im Fokus stehen. Im zweiten Teil geht es darum, wie sich Diskussion und Strategien für mehr Vielfalt seit der Mitte des letzten Jahrhunderts verändert haben, und um die wichtigsten Trends und Herangehensweisen, die die Disziplin heute prägen.
As increasing attention is paid to possible genetic influences on susceptibility to obesity, recent studies have examined how genetic attributions can impact laypeople's weight-related attitudes and eating behavior. Little consideration, however, has been devoted to understanding the potential effects of learning that one does not have a genetic predisposition to obesity. The present study investigated the possibility that such feedback might bring about negative consequences by making people feel invulnerable to weight gain, which is termed a genetic invincibility effect. After conducting a saliva test disguised as genetic screening, participants were randomly assigned to be told that there was either a very high or very low chance that they carried genes known to increase one's risk of developing obesity. Participants who were told that they were not genetically predisposed to obesity judged the efficacy of healthy diet and exercise habits to be significantly lower than did those who were told that they were genetically predisposed and those who did not receive any genetic feedback. When prompted to select a meal from a menu of options, participants who were told that they were not genetically predisposed to obesity were also more likely than others to select unhealthy foods. These findings demonstrate the existence of a genetic invincibility effect, suggesting that personalized feedback indicating the absence of a genetic liability could have negative psychological consequences with substantial health-related implications.
In this article, we attempt to distinguish between the properties of moderator and mediator variables at a number of levels. First, we seek to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating, both conceptually and strategically, the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ. We then go beyond this largely pedagogical function and delineate the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena, including control and stress, attitudes, and personality traits. We also provide a specific compendium of analytic procedures appropriate for making the most effective use of the moderator and mediator distinction, both separately and in terms of a broader causal system that includes both moderators and mediators. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Most choices in the real world follow other choices or judgments. The authors show that a prior choice, which activates and boosts a positive self-concept, subsequently licenses the choice of a more self-indulgent option. The authors propose that licensing can operate by committing to a virtuous act in a preceding choice, which reduces negative self-attributions associated with the purchase of relative luxuries. Five studies demonstrate the proposed licensing effect of a prior commitment to a vir-tuous act on subsequent choice. Consistent with the authors' theory, the preference for an indulgent option diminishes if the licensing task is attributed to an external motivation. The authors also report a mediation analysis in support of their theoretical explanation that the licensing effect operates by providing a temporary boost in the relevant self-concept.
Do subtle cues for imposed healthy eating make consumers hungry? Imposed healthy eating signals that the health goal was sufficiently met, and thus it increases the strength of the conflicting motive to fulfill one's appetite. Accordingly, consumers asked to sample an item framed as healthy later reported being hungrier and consumed more food than those who sampled the same item framed as tasty or those who did not eat at all. These effects of healthy eating depend on the consumer's perception that healthy eating is mandatory; therefore, only imposed healthy eating made consumers hungrier, whereas freely choosing to eat healthy did not increase hunger. (c) 2010 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..
This research examines how consumers’ food choices differ when healthy items are included in a choice set compared with when they are not available. Results demonstrate that individuals are, ironically, more likely to make indulgent food choices when a healthy item is available compared to when it is not available. The influence of the healthy item on indulgent choice is stronger for those with higher levels of self‐control. Support is found for a goal‐activation‐based explanation for these findings, whereby the mere presence of the healthy food option vicariously fulfills nutrition‐related goals and provides consumers with a license to indulge.
Dietary supplement use has steadily increased over time since the 1970s; however, no current data exist for the U.S. population. Therefore, the purpose of this analysis was to estimate dietary supplement use using the NHANES 2003-2006, a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey. Dietary supplement use was analyzed for the U.S. population (≥1 y of age) by the DRI age groupings. Supplement use was measured through a questionnaire and was reported by 49% of the U.S. population (44% of males, 53% of females). Multivitamin-multimineral use was the most frequently reported dietary supplement (33%). The majority of people reported taking only 1 dietary supplement and did so on a daily basis. Dietary supplement use was lowest in obese adults and highest among non-Hispanic whites, older adults, and those with more than a high-school education. Between 28 and 30% reported using dietary supplements containing vitamins B-6, B-12, C, A, and E; 18-19% reported using iron, selenium, and chromium; and 26-27% reported using zinc- and magnesium-containing supplements. Botanical supplement use was more common in older than in younger age groups and was lowest in those aged 1-13 y but was reported by ~20% of adults. About one-half of the U.S. population and 70% of adults ≥ 71 y use dietary supplements; one-third use multivitamin-multimineral dietary supplements. Given the widespread use of supplements, data should be included with nutrient intakes from foods to correctly determine total nutrient exposure.
Consumer choices are often driven by multiple goals (e.g., career and family), each of which if viewed in isolation may appear to suggest conflicting choices. This article examines the effect of initial goal pursuit on consumers' interest in pursuing unrelated or even conflicting goals. Four studies were conducted to test whether perceived goal progress hinders the pursuit of the focal goal. These studies demonstrate that in the course of self-regulation progress along one goal liberates people to pursue inconsistent goals. Furthermore, merely planning to make goal progress in the future may facilitate incongruent choice of immediate action. (c) 2005 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..
The purpose of this study was to assess the concurrent validity of a simple self-report question to measure leisure time exercise behavior. Values of body fat (BF), maximum oxygen intake (V̇O2 max) and muscular endurance (ME) expressed in percentile of appropriate age and sex categories (Canadian Norms) were used as concurrent validity criteria for the self-report measure. BF, V̇O2 max and ME were respectively predicted from the Durnin and Womersley skinfold equation, the Astrand fitness test, and the maximum number of sit ups per minute. The three ANOVA tests showed significant mean differences between subjects classified as high and low BF (p < 0.01), V̇O2 max (p < 0.05) and ME (p < 0.01). We conclude that this simple self-report question has concurrent validity for the assessment of leisure time exercise behavior.
In this article, we attempt to distinguish between the properties of moderator and mediator variables at a number of levels. First, we seek to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating, both conceptually and strategically, the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ. We then go beyond this largely pedagogical function and delineate the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena, including control and stress, attitudes, and personality traits. We also provide a specific compendium of analytic procedures appropriate for making the most effective use of the moderator and mediator distinction, both separately and in terms of a broader causal system that includes both moderators and mediators.
I review and critique restraint theory and develop a 3-factor model of dieting behavior. The factors--frequency of dieting and overeating, current dieting, and weight suppression--are embedded within a 3-dimensional grid that also considers mechanisms mediating the effects of dieting and the influence of weight status. I argue that the eating behavior exhibited by restrained eaters stems from their frequent dieting and overeating in the past rather than from their current state of dietary or cognitive restraint. Evidence is reviewed, indicating that current dieting and weight suppression have different effects on eating than does restraint. The 3-factor model is used to reinterpret findings consistent with restraint theory and to explain findings inconsistent with restraint theory. Finally, clinical and research implications of the 3-factor model are discussed.
This study examined the associations between physical activity and other health behaviors in a representative sample of US adolescents.
In the 1990 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 11631 high school students provided information on physical activity; diet; substance use; and other negative health behaviors. Logistic regression analyses examined associations between physical activity and other health behaviors in a subset of 2652 high-active and 1641 low-active students.
Low activity was associated with cigarette smoking, marijuana use, lower fruit and vegetable consumption, greater television watching, failure to wear a seat belt, and low perception of academic performance. For consumption of fruit, television watching, and alcohol consumption, significant interactions were found with race/ethnicity or sex, suggesting that sociocultural factors may affect the relationships between physical activity and some health behaviors.
Low physical activity was associated with several other negative health behaviors in teenagers. Future studies should examine whether interventions for increasing physical activity in youth can be effective in reducing negative health behaviors.
An observation one can make when reviewing the literature on physical activity is that health-enhancing exercise habits tend to wear off as soon as individuals enter adolescence. Therefore, exercise habits should be promoted and preserved early in life. This article focuses on the formation of physical exercise habits. First, the literature on motivational determinants of habitual exercise and related behaviours is discussed, and the concept of habit is further explored. Based on this literature, a theoretical model of exercise habit formation is proposed. More specifically, expanding on the idea that habits are the result of automated cognitive processes, it is argued that physical exercise habits are capable of being automatically activated by the situational features that normally precede these behaviours. These habits may enhance health as a result of consistent performance over a long period of time. Subsequently, obstacles to the formation of exercise habits are discussed and interventions that may anticipate these obstacles are presented. Finally, implications for theory and practice are briefly discussed.
Well-being is a complex construct that concerns optimal experience and functioning. Current research on well-being has been derived from two general perspectives: the hedonic approach, which focuses on happiness and defines well-being in terms of pleasure attainment and pain avoidance; and the eudaimonic approach, which focuses on meaning and self-realization and defines well-being in terms of the degree to which a person is fully functioning. These two views have given rise to different research foci and a body of knowledge that is in some areas divergent and in others complementary. New methodological developments concerning multilevel modeling and construct comparisons are also allowing researchers to formulate new questions for the field. This review considers research from both perspectives concerning the nature of well-being, its antecedents, and its stability across time and culture.
Because larger food portions could be contributing to the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity, this study was designed to weigh samples of marketplace foods, identify historical changes in the sizes of those foods, and compare current portions with federal standards.
We obtained information about current portions from manufacturers or from direct weighing; we obtained information about past portions from manufacturers or contemporary publications.
Marketplace food portions have increased in size and now exceed federal standards. Portion sizes began to grow in the 1970s, rose sharply in the 1980s, and have continued in parallel with increasing body weights.
Because energy content increases with portion size, educational and other public health efforts to address obesity should focus on the need for people to consume smaller portions.
Antioxidant supplements are used for prevention of several diseases.
To assess the effect of antioxidant supplements on mortality in randomized primary and secondary prevention trials. DATA SOURCES AND TRIAL SELECTION: We searched electronic databases and bibliographies published by October 2005. All randomized trials involving adults comparing beta carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), vitamin E, and selenium either singly or combined vs placebo or vs no intervention were included in our analysis. Randomization, blinding, and follow-up were considered markers of bias in the included trials. The effect of antioxidant supplements on all-cause mortality was analyzed with random-effects meta-analyses and reported as relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Meta-regression was used to assess the effect of covariates across the trials.
We included 68 randomized trials with 232 606 participants (385 publications).
When all low- and high-bias risk trials of antioxidant supplements were pooled together there was no significant effect on mortality (RR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.98-1.06). Multivariate meta-regression analyses showed that low-bias risk trials (RR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.04[corrected]-1.29) and selenium (RR, 0.998; 95% CI, 0.997-0.9995) were significantly associated with mortality. In 47 low-bias trials with 180 938 participants, the antioxidant supplements significantly increased mortality (RR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.02-1.08). In low-bias risk trials, after exclusion of selenium trials, beta carotene (RR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.02-1.11), vitamin A (RR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.10-1.24), and vitamin E (RR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.01-1.07), singly or combined, significantly increased mortality. Vitamin C and selenium had no significant effect on mortality.
Treatment with beta carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E may increase mortality. The potential roles of vitamin C and selenium on mortality need further study.
Choices often involve self-control conflicts such that options that are immediately appealing are less desirable in the long run. In the current research, the authors examine how viewing such a choice as one of a series of similar future choices rather than as an isolated decision decreases the preference for items requiring self-control. The authors show that (a) in a choice between a vice and a virtue, the share choosing vice increases when the decision is presented as one of a series of similar future choices versus when the same choice is viewed in isolation, and (b) the overall share choosing a vice increases when decisions are seen in connection with similar future choices. The findings contrast with the general wisdom that broader choice frames lead to the exercise of greater self-control. The authors propose that the context of similar future choices allows people to optimistically believe that they will choose a virtue in the future choice and hence provides them with a guilt-reducing justification to not exercise self-control in the present.
This book presents a thorough overview of a model of human functioning based on the idea that behavior is goal-directed and regulated by feedback control processes. It describes feedback processes and their application to behavior, considers goals and the idea that goals are organized hierarchically, examines affect as deriving from a different kind of feedback process, and analyzes how success expectancies influence whether people keep trying to attain goals or disengage. Later sections consider a series of emerging themes, including dynamic systems as a model for shifting among goals, catastrophe theory as a model for persistence, and the question of whether behavior is controlled or instead 'emerges'. Three chapters consider the implications of these various ideas for understanding maladaptive behavior, and the closing chapter asks whether goals are a necessity of life. Throughout, theory is presented in the context of diverse issues that link the theory to other literatures.
On page 845 in the first paragraph of the “All Randomized Trials” subsection, the sentence that read “Heterogeneity was not significant (I²=18.6%, P=.10)” should have read “Heterogeneity was significant (I²=18.9%, P=.10).” In the following sentence that begins “Adjusted-rank correlation test (P=.08), but not the regression asymmetry test (P=.26), suggested the bias among trials,” the respective P values should have read “(P=.09)” and “(P=.24).” In the second paragraph of the same subsection, the portion of the sentence that begins on page 845: “Univariate meta-regression analyses revealed significant influences of dose of beta carotene (RR, 1.004; 95% CI, 1.001-1.007; P=.012),” the P value should have been equal to “.014.” In the latter part of the same sentence that falls on page 847, the P value for the dose of selenium that read “P=.002” should have read “P=.001.” In the following part of the sentence, the upper confidence limit that read “1.29” should have read “1.30.” In the third paragraph of the same subsection, on page 847, the P value for the “multivariate meta-regression” for dose of selenium that read “P=.005” should have read “P=.004,” the lower confidence limit for low-bias risk trials that read “1.05” should have read “1.04,” and the P value for the low-bias risk trials in the same sentence that read “P=.005” should have read “P=.006.”
In Table 5 on page 853, the RR (95% CI) in the “Beta carotene given singly” row that read “1.06 (1.01-1.11)” should have read “1.05 (1.00-1.11)” and the I² value that read “5.4” should have read “11.8.” In the “Beta carotene given in combination with other antioxidant supplements” row, the I² value that read “55.6” should have read “55.5.” In the “Beta carotene given singly or in combination with other antioxidant supplements” row, the CI range that read “(0.96-1.08)” should have read “(0.95-1.07)” and the I2 value that read “52.2” should have read “52.5.” In the “Beta carotene given singly or in combination with other antioxidant supplements after exclusion of high-bias risk and selenium trials” row, the I² value that read 36.8” should have read “34.4” In the “Vitamin E given singly” row, the number of study participants that read “47 007” should have read “41 341.” In the “Vitamin E given in combination with other antioxidant supplements” row, the RR that read “1.01” should have read “1.00” and the I² value that read “17.2” should have read “16.9.” In the “Vitamin E given singly or in combination with other antioxidant supplements” row, the I²value that read “2.8” should have read “2.4.” In the “Vitamin E given singly or in combination with other antioxidant supplements after exclusion of high-bias risk and selenium trials” row, the list of references should have included reference 87 and excluded 95.
Objective: To examine the effects of a values-based wellness intervention on physical fitness and perceived barriers to exercise. Design: Study was a one-group pre-test-post-test design. Participants were 58 university faculty and staff who volunteered to participate in a 10-week campus wellness program, based on the Disconnected Values Model (DVM), for improving exercise habits. Method: Participants completed pre- and post-intervention measures of fitness (percent body fat, cardiovascular fitness, and upper- and lower-body muscular strength), disconnected values (job, health, happiness, family, work/life balance), and a variety of perceived internal and external barriers to exercise. Results: Participants showed significantly improved fitness scores at post-test (p < .001). In addition, the values of health and happiness, which were misaligned prior to the program intervention, were significantly reduced at post-test (p < .05). Finally, several perceived exercise barriers, as well as the total number of barriers endorsed, showed significant decreases at post-test (p < .05). Conclusion: A values-based intervention increased participants' exercise behaviors and reduced their perceived exercise barriers. Implications of the results supporting the DVM are presented.
Delay discounting, a willingness to postpone receiving an immediate reward in order to gain additional benefits in the future, is conceptually related to time perspective, the cognitive processes which filter temporal information and influence behavior. One measure of delay discounting (Money Choice Questionnaire) and two measures of time perspective (Consideration of Future Consequences Scale and Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory) were compared in this study to each other and to self-reported health behaviors with 467 undergraduates. Delay discounting and time perspective significantly improved the incremental prediction of tobacco, alcohol, and drug use, exercise frequency, eating breakfast, wearing a safety belt, estimated longevity, health concerns, and sociosexual orientation above and beyond sex and Big Five traits. These results further suggest that delay discounting and time perspective are indeed similar but also non-redundant constructs that are not reducible to global personality.
This study examined the correlations between invulnerability, narcissism, self-esteem, delinquency, and aggression in a sample of at-risk adolescents. Participants were 213, 16–18 year-olds (169 male, 44 female). As expected, narcissism and invulnerability were related to delinquency and aggression. However, maladaptive narcissism predicted unique variance in delinquency and relational aggression. A negative effect for self-esteem emerged for predicting delinquency when controlling for narcissism and perceived invulnerability. The distributions of narcissism and invulnerability indicated that these constructs may not, as a rule, be elevated in such youth. Some preliminary implications for the role of these variables in adolescent problem behaviors are presented.
Previous research has shown that implementation intentions are effective tools to promote new behavior. The present study aimed to provide the first evidence that conscious planning is an effective tool in replacing well-learned habits with new habits. This was tested in a field-experiment on repetitive behavior in the domain of recycling, using 109 employees of a tele-company as participants. Recycling behavior of the participants was observed by the actual amount of paper and the number of plastic cups in their personal wastebaskets. Following a pre-measure, participants were assigned to either implementation intention conditions, conditions in which an eye-catching facility was placed to promote recycling behavior, or control conditions. Recycling behavior was substantially improved in the facility as well as the implementation intention conditions in week 1 and week 2 and still 2 months after the manipulation. These data supported our hypothesis that planning breaks down unwanted habits and creates new ones.
Consumer choices reflect not only price and quality preferences but also social and moral values, as witnessed in the remarkable growth of the global market for organic and environmentally friendly products. Building on recent research on behavioral priming and moral regulation, we found that mere exposure to green products and the purchase of such products lead to markedly different behavioral consequences. In line with the halo associated with green consumerism, results showed that people act more altruistically after mere exposure to green products than after mere exposure to conventional products. However, people act less altruistically and are more likely to cheat and steal after purchasing green products than after purchasing conventional products. Together, our studies show that consumption is connected to social and ethical behaviors more broadly across domains than previously thought.
The question of why people are motivated to act altruistically has been an important one for centuries, and across various disciplines. Drawing on previous research on moral regulation, we propose a framework suggesting that moral (or immoral) behavior can result from an internal balancing of moral self-worth and the cost inherent in altruistic behavior. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to write a self-relevant story containing words referring to either positive or negative traits. Participants who wrote a story referring to the positive traits donated one fifth as much as those who wrote a story referring to the negative traits. In Experiment 2, we showed that this effect was due specifically to a change in the self-concept. In Experiment 3, we replicated these findings and extended them to cooperative behavior in environmental decision making. We suggest that affirming a moral identity leads people to feel licensed to act immorally. However, when moral identity is threatened, moral behavior is a means to regain some lost self-worth.
This study was designed to test the hypothesis that different types of dieting strategies are associated with different behavioral outcomes by investigating the relationship of dieting behaviors with overeating, body mass and mood. A sample of 223 adult male and female participants from a large community were studied. Only a small proportion of the sample (18%) was seeking weight loss treatment, though almost half (49.3%) of the subjects were significantly overweight (body mass index, BMI>30). Subjects were administered questionnaires measuring dietary restraint, overeating, depression and anxiety. Measurements of height and weight were also obtained in order to calculate BMI. Canonical correlation was performed to evaluate the relationship of dietary restraint variables with overeating variables, body mass, depression and anxiety. The strongest canonical correlation (r=0.65) was the relationship between flexible dieting and the absence of overeating, lower body mass and lower levels of depression and anxiety. The second strongest canonical correlation (r=0.59) associated calorie counting and conscious dieting with overeating while alone and increased body mass. The third canonical correlation (r=0.57) found a relationship between low dietary restraint and binge eating. The results support the hypothesis that overeating and other adverse behaviors and moods are associated with the presence or absence of certain types of dieting behavior.
This article presents the views of Americans on what the government's future role should be in regulating or overseeing the growing sales of dietary supplements for health purposes. Based on results of multiple national opinion surveys, including the views of both users and nonusers of supplements, we found that a substantial percentage of Americans surveyed reported that they regularly take dietary supplements as a part of their routine health regimen. However, they reported that they do not discuss the use of dietary supplements with their physicians because they believe that the physicians know little or nothing about these products and may be biased against them. Many users felt so strongly about the potential health benefits of some of these products that they reported that they would continue to take them even if they were shown to be ineffective in scientifically conducted clinical studies. However, there also was broad public support for increased government regulation of these products. We found that a majority of Americans surveyed supported the following: to require that the Food and Drug Administration review the safety of new dietary supplements prior to their sale; to provide increased authority to remove from sale those products shown to be unsafe; and to increase government regulation to ensure that advertising claims about the health benefits of dietary supplements are true.
Data from the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey of US health and nutrition, were analyzed to assess prevalence of dietary supplement use overall and in relation to lifestyle and demographic characteristics. Fifty-two percent of adults reported taking a dietary supplement in the past month; 35% took a multivitamin/multimineral. Vitamin C, vitamin E, B-complex vitamins, calcium, and calcium-containing antacids were taken by more than 5% of adults. In bivariate analyses, female gender, older age, more education, non-Hispanic White race/ethnicity, any physical activity, normal/underweight, more frequent wine or distilled spirit consumption, former smoking, and excellent/very good self-reported health were associated with greater use of any supplement and of multivitamin/multiminerals; in multivariable comparisons, the latter three characteristics were not associated with supplement use. Most supplements were taken daily and for at least 2 years. Forty-seven percent of adult supplement users took just one supplement; 55% of women and 63% of adults aged >or=60 years took more than one. These findings suggest that, to minimize possible spurious associations, epidemiologic studies of diet, demography, or lifestyle and health take dietary supplement use into account because of 1) supplements' large contribution to nutrient intake and 2) differential use of supplements by demographic and lifestyle characteristics.
Grocery stores and community settings are important and promising venues for environmental, policy, and pricing initiatives to increase fruit and vegetable intake. This article examines supermarket-based and community environmental, policy, and pricing strategies for increasing intake of fruits and vegetables and identifies promising strategies, research needs, and innovative opportunities for the future.
The strategies, examples, and research reported here were identified through an extensive search of published journal articles, reports, and inquiries to leaders in the field. Recommendations were expanded with input from participants in the CDC/ACS-sponsored Fruit and Vegetable, Environment Policy and Pricing Workshop held in September of 2002.
Four key types of grocery-store-based interventions include point-of-purchase (POP) information; reduced prices and coupons; increased availability, variety, and convenience; and promotion and advertising. There is strong support for the feasibility of these approaches and modest evidence of their efficacy in influencing eating behavior. Church-based programs, child care center policies, and multisectoral community approaches show promise.
Both descriptive and intervention research are needed to develop and evaluate more effective environmental strategies to increase F&V intake in grocery stores and communities. Innovative strategies, partnerships, grass roots action involving economic development for low-income communities, and sustainability are important considerations.
In the Iowa Gambling Task, participants have to develop a long-term profitable monetary scenario in a situation of uncertainty and a conflict between the chance of encountering an immediate large reward (100 US dollars) in two long-term loosing decks (A and B; -250 US dollars per 10 cards) and the chance of encountering an immediate small reward (50 US dollars) in two long-term winning decks (C and D; +250 US dollars per 10 cards). The ratio of the immediate rewards in decks A/B and C/D is thus 2:1. Here, we manipulated these differences in reward magnitude between the advantageous (C/D) and disadvantageous (A/B) decks, while keeping the net gains and losses per 10 cards the same, to assess the impact of the conflict between immediate and distant pay-off on choice behaviour. Participants selected less cards from disadvantageous decks and won more money when the reward magnitude difference was decreased, A/B:C/D=1:1, while they selected more cards from disadvantageous decks and lost more money when reward magnitude differences were increased, A/B:C/D=4:1 and 6:1. This study shows that the outcome in the Iowa Gambling Task is sensitive to differences between the magnitude of immediate rewards in the advantageous and disadvantageous decks.
NBJ's Supplement Business Report Retrieved from http://store.yahoo.com/nbj/nbsupbusrep2 Asso-ciations between physical activity and other health behaviors in a representative sample of US adolescents
- R R Pate
- G W Heath
- M Dowda
- S G Trost
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The moderator-mediator vari-able distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual Mortality in randomized trials of antioxidant supplements for primary and secondary prevention: Systematic review and meta-analysis
- R M Baron
- D A Kenny
- Chiou
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Adoles-cent invulnerability and personal uniqueness: Scale development and initial construct validation. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence
- P M Duggan
- D K Lapsley
- K Norman
Duggan, P. M., Lapsley, D. K., & Norman, K. (2000, March). Adoles-cent invulnerability and personal uniqueness: Scale development and initial construct validation. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence, Chicago, IL.
Flexible vs. rigid dieting strategies: Relationship with adverse behavioural outcomes The effect of reward magnitude differences on choosing disadvantageous decks in the Iowa gambling task
- C F Smith
- D A Williamson
- G A Bray
- D H R Ryan
- B B Houx
- B M Spruijt
Smith, C. F., Williamson, D. A., Bray, G. A., & Ryan, D. H. (1999).
Flexible vs. rigid dieting strategies: Relationship with adverse
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