The present study tested whether parents caring for children with developmental disabilities would have higher blood pressure compared to parents of typically developing children (controls). It also examined the psychosocial factors underlying this observation. Thirty-five parents of children with developmental disability and thirty controls completed standard measures of perceived stress, chil...

A meta-analysis of 797 studies and 1,001 effect sizes tested a theoretical hypothesis that situational constraints, such as perceived social pressure and perceived difficulty, weaken the relationship between attitudes and behavior. This hypothesis was confirmed for attitudes toward performing behaviors and for attitudes toward issues and social groups. Meta-analytic estimates of attitude–behavi...

We consider the effects of social learning on the individual learning and genetic evolution of a colony of artificial agents capable of genetic, individual and social modes of adaptation. We confirm that there is strong selection pressure to acquire traits of individual learning and social learning when these are adaptive traits. We show that selection pressure for learning of either kind can s...

The current study explores the role of appearance-related social pressure regarding changes in body image in adolescent girls (n=236) and boys (n=193) over a 1-year-period. High school students aged 11-16 completed measures of body dissatisfaction (i.e., weight and muscle concerns) and appearance-related social pressure from peers and parents. Three aspects proved to be particularly crucial: Pa...

Social Pressure Influences Decisions of Individuals: Evidence from the Behavior of Football Referees Analyzing the neutrality of referees during twelve German premier league (1st Bundesliga) football seasons, this paper documents evidence that social forces influence agents’ preferences and decisions. Those, who are appointed to be impartial, tend to favor the home team as they systematically a...

This study examined trait hostility and social interaction in relation to ambulatory cardiovascular activity in 40 male and 39 female undergraduates. Participants wore an ambulatory blood pressure monitor and completed diary entries while engaged in everyday activities. Diary reports indicating that participants had been talking were used to identify cardiovascular readings taken during social ...

BACKGROUND Smoking is a serious health threat and identifying risk factors for smoking is thus of great importance. The aim of the study was to examine the effects of social-cognitive factors and school factors on lifetime smoking status among adolescents. METHODS The study was based on cross-sectional data on 2,913 Danish adolescents in grade 7 attending 118 randomly selected public schools....