Phobic individuals display an attention bias to phobia-related information and biased expectancies regarding the likelihood of being faced with such stimuli. Notably, although attention and expectancy biases are core features in phobia and anxiety disorders, these biases have mostly been investigated separately and their causal impact has not been examined. We hypothesized that these biases mig...

Racial/ethnic differences in adolescent smoking suggest that different factors may motivate smoking among various racial/ethnic groups. This study examined relations among race/ethnicity, self-generated smoking outcome expectancies, and smoking status. Our findings noted that current smoking was highest among Hispanics, whereas African Americans and Asians were least likely to ever smoke. Afric...

Investigated whether the relation between aggression and the tendency to expect positive outcomes for aggressive behavior is specific to the proactive subtype of aggression (as opposed to the reactive subtype). In a sample of 86 incarcerated adolescent boys ages 13 to 18, we measured outcome expectancies for aggression using audiotaped hypothetical vignettes. For each participant, staff members...

The mediator role of response expectancies and the moderator role of hypnotic suggestibility were evaluated in the analogue treatment of pain. Approximately 1,000 participants were assessed for hypnotic suggestibility. Later, as part of a seemingly unrelated experiment, 188 of these individuals were randomly assigned to distraction, cognitive-behavioral package, hypnotic cognitive-behavioral pa...

Drawing on the expectancy-value model, stage-environment fit theory, and self-determination theory, this study examined the longitudinal associations between classroom characteristics, expectancies-values, high school course enrollment, and career aspirations in the domain of math. Data were collected on 3,048 youth who reported on their classroom experiences in 7th grade, expectancies-values i...

We used multidimensional scaling to model the semantic network of alcohol and marijuana expectancies (N=897). Preference mapping was used to estimate vectors representing patterns of activation through the network as a function of levels of behavioral inhibition (BIS) and behavioral activation (BAS). Individuals with low BIS combined with high BAS levels exhibited patterns of activation emphasi...

Background. Vaccination effectively prevents seasonal influenza. To promote vaccination adherence, it is necessary to understand the motivational process that underlies vaccination behavior. This was examined along with the moderating influence of past behavior on intention formation. Methods. German employees (N = 594) completed questionnaires at baseline and at 7-month followup. Regression an...

The present research addressed the relation between catastrophizing, depression and response expectancies in anticipation of an experimental pain procedure. One hundred and twenty undergraduates (48 men, 72 women) participated in exchange for course credit. Prior to immersing one arm in a container of ice water, participants were asked to complete measures of catastrophizing and depression, and...

The current work tested and expanded on Plant and Devine's (2003) model of the antecedents and implications of interracial anxiety by examining people's experiences with interracial interactions at two time points. Study 1 explored non-Black people's responses to interactions with Black people and Study 2 explored Black people's responses to interactions with White people. Non-Black participant...

Stepped care approaches for mandated college students provide individual brief motivational interventions (BMI) only for individuals who do not respond to an initial, low-intensity level of treatment such as Brief Advice (BA). However, how BMIs facilitate change in this higher-risk group of mandated students remains unclear. Perceived descriptive norms and alcohol-related expectancies are the m...