Cognitive theories of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) posit that maladaptive beliefs lead to the development of symptoms. However, psychometric studies have provided mixed evidence regarding whether beliefs about control over thoughts predict OCD symptoms above and beyond other obsessive beliefs. Clinical reports have documented concerns among those diagnosed with OCD regarding a potential ...

Research has indicated that beliefs about inflated responsibility, beliefs about perceived control over anxiety-related events and reactions (anxiety control) and metacognitive beliefs about the need to control thoughts are associated with obsessive compulsive symptoms. In the current study we tested a mediation model of the interactions between these variables in predicting obsessive compulsiv...

We investigated the key beliefs to target in interventions aimed at increasing physical activity (PA) among mothers and fathers of young children. Parents (288 mothers and 292 fathers) completed a Theory of Planned Behaviour belief-based questionnaire and a 1-week follow-up of PA behaviour. We found that a range of behavioural, normative, and control beliefs were significantly correlated with p...

Two experiments tested whether the relation between automatic prejudice and discriminatory behavior is moderated by 2 conscious processes: conscious egalitarian beliefs and behavioral control. The authors predicted that, when both conscious processes are deactivated, automatic prejudice would elicit discriminatory behavior. When either of the 2 processes is activated, behavioral bias would be e...

This article reports of two studies addressing the meaning of primary and secondary control beliefs for transition to modernity and modern adoles­ cents. Study 1 participants (N = 365) were Malaysian (transition to mod­ ernity), and German and North American (modern) adolescents. Study 2 participants (N = 757) were Israeli Druze (transition to modernity) and Israeli Jewish (modern) adolescents....

Using the revised Control, Agency, and Means-ends Interview (T. D. Little, G. Oettingen, & P. B. Baltes, 1995), we compared American children's (Grades 2-6) action-control beliefs about school performance with those of German and Russian children (Los Angeles, n = 657; East Berlin, n = 313; West Berlin, n = 517; Moscow, n = 541). Although we found pronounced cross-setting similarities in the ch...