This reply to the commentary by E. Staub and L. A. Pearlman (2009) revisits the field experimental results of E. L. Paluck (2009). It introduces further evidence and theoretical elaboration supporting Paluck's conclusion that exposure to a reconciliation-themed radio soap opera changed perceptions of social norms and behaviors, not beliefs. Experimental and longitudinal survey evidence reinforc...

The notion of artificial institution is crucial for the specification of open and dynamic interaction frameworks where heterogeneous and autonomous agents can interact to face problems in various fields, like for instance electronic commerce, business-to-business (B2B) applications, and personal assistant applications. In our view the specification of artificial institutions requires a clear st...

PURPOSE To explore the subconcepts of the Wittmann-Price Theory of Emancipated Decision-Making (EDM); which is proposed as a new theoretical model for the nursing care of women to increase women's satisfaction with decision-making about healthcare issues. Infant feeding method was used as the clinical exemplar. DESIGN AND METHOD A descriptive correlational design was used to test the five ide...

The paper analyzes the question of the universal biolaw from the point of view of the biojuridical praxis. The main problems concerning life's protection are found in the process of interpretation and re-creation of the norms (not in their literal texts) regulating the right to life and new rights, as personal autonomy. But it is also at this sphere where the possibilities of an universal biola...

Low maternal healthcare service utilization contributes to poor maternal and new born health outcomes in rural Zambia. The purpose of this study was to identify important factors influencing women's intention to use these services in Kalomo, Zambia. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 1007 women of reproductive age (15-45 years) from 13 rural health centres w...

OBJECTIVE Much research has documented extensive misperceptions of drinking norms and their negative effects in U.S. student populations. This study provides extensive research evidence documenting this phenomenon in Canadian higher education. METHODS Data were collected in a 2003-2004 survey of students (N=5280) attending 11 institutions across Canada. Surveys were administered either to a r...

OBJECTIVE Although alcohol use and related problems are highly prevalent in emerging adulthood overall, college students drink somewhat more than do their peers who do not attend college. The personal or social influences underlying this difference, however, are not yet well understood. The present study examined whether personality traits (i.e., self-regulation and sensation seeking) and peer ...

In many Western societies, drug users are accountable for heterosexual transmission of HIV. Although various studies have shown that safe sex is not a common practice among drug users, we still have little understanding of the factors that determine their use of condoms in their sexual relationships with steady or casual partners. The objective of this study is to gain more insight into the det...

This research evaluated the efficacy of a live and interactive group-specific normative feedback intervention designed to correct misperceptions of alcohol-related group norms and subsequently reduce drinking behavior. Campus organizations (N = 20) containing 1,162 college students were randomly assigned to intervention or assessment-only control conditions. Participants in the intervention con...

This study explores the process of organizational change by examining localized social learning in organizational subunits. Specifically, we examine participation in university technology transfer, a new organizational initiative, by tracking 1,780 faculty members, examining their backgrounds and work environments, and following their engagement with academic entrepreneurship. We find that indi...