Benjamin J. I. Schellenberg

The Gambling Motives Questionnaire financial: factor structure, measurement invariance, and relationships with gambling behaviour

Abstract Items assessing financial motives were recently integrated with the Gambling Motives Questionnaire (GMQ), resulting in a revised measure that assesses coping, enhancement, social and financial motives for gambling (GMQ-F). The aim of this research was to test the proposed four-factor structure of the GMQ-F, determine if GMQ-F responses were invariant across sex, and test a structural model that specifies links between motives, gambling frequency and problem gambling severity. Telephone surveys were conducted with 932 adult gamblers from across Manitoba, Canada, who responded to items from the GMQ-F and reported their frequency of gambling and levels of problem gambling severity. Confirmatory factor analysis yielded strong support for the four-factor structure of GMQ-F scores, and invariance testing provided evidence of measurement invariance across sex. Finally, support was found for the hypothesized structural model in which each gambling motive predicted gambling frequency, which in turn predicted problem gambling severity. Coping motives also directly predicted problem gambling severity. These results provide strong evidence in support of the validity of GMQ-F responses, offer further support for the integration of financial motives with the GMQ, and delineate relationships between gambling motives, gambling frequency and gambling-related harm.

The two roads of passionate goal pursuit: links with appraisal, coping, and academic achievement

Background and Objectives: In this research, we tested the role of cognitive appraisals in explaining why harmonious and obsessive passion dimensions are related to distinct forms of coping and explored if performance was impacted by these appraisal and coping processes. Design: Undergraduate students (N = 489) participated in a longitudinal study and completed three surveys throughout the course of an academic year. Methods: Participants completed assessments of both passion dimensions (Time 1), reported how they were appraising and coping with the mid-year examination period (Time 2), and provided consent to obtain their final grade in Introductory Psychology (Time 3). The hypothesized model was tested using structural equation modeling. Results: Harmonious and obsessive passion dimensions were linked with approach and avoidant coping responses, respectively. Cognitive appraisals, particularly appraisals of challenge and uncontrollability, played an indirect role in these relationships. In addition, both appraisals and coping responses had an indirect effect in the relationship between passion dimensions and final grade. Conclusions: These results identify cognitive appraisal as a reason why passion dimensions are linked with distinct coping tendencies and demonstrate the role of appraisal and coping processes in the journey to passionate goal attainment.

A Review of Validity Evidence Presented in the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology (2002–2012): Misconceptions and Recommendations for Validation Research

The purpose of this investigation was to systematically review and provide a critical narrative commentary on validation investigations from studies published in the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology (JSEP) to determine how modern validity theory has been incorporated or omitted in validation studies. Out of the 405 articles published between 2002 and 2012, 50 met inclusion criteria. Coded items pertaining to validity theory were based on the Standards validation framework (American Educational Research Association [AERA], American Psychological Association [APA], National Council on Measurement in Education [NCME], Standards for educational and psychological testing. American Educational Research Association, Washington, DC, 1999). Results revealed that in general, researchers publishing validation investigations in JSEP are not basing their work on established validation frameworks, or using validity theory developed by psychometricians (e.g., 70 % of studies provided no validation citation). With respect to the types of validity evidence presented, researchers ascertained score validity from evidence based on content, internal structure, and relations to other variables. Validity evidence based on response processes (2 %) and consequences (0 %) were largely omitted from investigations. Critical analysis while coding yielded three common misconceptions about validity and validation. Recommendations to improve the state of validation work in sport and exercise psychology are forwarded.

Measurement Invariance of the Passion Scale Across Three Samples: An ESEM Approach

Sport and exercise psychology researchers rely on the Passion Scale to assess levels of harmonious and obsessive passion for many different types of activities (Vallerand, 2010). However, this practice assumes that items from the Passion Scale are interpreted with the same meaning across all activity types. Using exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM), we tested this assumption by examining the invariance of scores from the Passion Scale across groups of recreational athletes/exercisers (N = 562), competitive athletes (N = 438), and sports fans (N = 256). We found that the ESEM analysis fit the data better than the more common independent clusters confirmatory factor analysis (ICM-CFA) approach and yielded lower correlations between harmonious and obsessive passion factors. Using ESEM, we found evidence of configural, weak, and partial strong invariance across the three groups. Evidence of partial strong invariance provides tentative support for comparing levels of harmonious and obsessive passion across activities.

Validity Theory and Validity Evidence for Scores Derived from the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire

The purpose of this paper was to provide a systematic review to examine how researchers who have used the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ; Mullan et al. Person Individ Differ 23:745–752, 1997) have applied validity theory to their investigations. Of the published studies (n = 138) included in the sample using the BREQ, only 29 coded studies explicitly presented evidence of score validity. Less than a quarter of the coded studies (20.69 %) cited a contemporary validity framework. Evidence of internal structure was the most common source of validity evidence presented, followed by relations to other variables (e.g., discriminant and convergent evidence) and content evidence. Validity evidence pertaining to response processes or consequences was not directly analyzed in the studies coded. Findings indicated that researchers need to incorporate modern validity theory and validation procedures into their investigations and analyses.

Testing the Dualistic Model of Passion Using a Novel Quadripartite Approach: A Look at Physical and Psychological Well‐Being

OBJECTIVE Passion research has focused extensively on the unique effects of both harmonious passion and obsessive passion (Vallerand, 2015). We adopted a quadripartite approach (Gaudreau & Thompson, 2010) to test whether physical and psychological well-being are distinctly related to subtypes of passion with varying within-person passion combinations: pure harmonious passion, pure obsessive passion, mixed passion, and non-passion. METHOD In four studies (total N = 3,122), we tested whether passion subtypes were differentially associated with self-reported general health (Study 1; N = 1,218 undergraduates), health symptoms in video gamers (Study 2; N = 269 video game players), global psychological well-being (Study 3; N = 1,192 undergraduates), and academic burnout (Study 4; N = 443 undergraduates) using latent moderated structural equation modeling. RESULTS Pure harmonious passion was generally associated with more positive levels of physical health and psychological well-being compared to pure obsessive passion, mixed passion, and non-passion. In contrast, outcomes were more negative for pure obsessive passion compared to both mixed passion and non-passion subtypes. CONCLUSIONS This research underscores the theoretical and empirical usefulness of a quadripartite approach for the study of passion. Overall, the results demonstrate the benefits of having harmonious passion, even when obsessive passion is also high (i.e., mixed passion), and highlight the costs associated with a pure obsessive passion.

An online intervention to increase physical activity: Self-regulatory possible selves and the moderating role of task self-efficacy

Objectives The act of reflecting on physically active possible selves can increase physical activity (PA). According to theory, possible selves that include strategies for achieving them (self‐regulatory possible selves) should have the greatest impact on behavior. Our aim was to examine whether forming a self‐regulatory physically active possible self is more effective at increasing PA than forming a possible self that focuses only on the image of the possible self (self‐enhancing possible self) or engaging in a control activity. Task self‐efficacy was examined as a moderator. Design An online, randomized experimental study. Method Insufficiently active adults (n = 244) completed task self‐efficacy and PA measures before the intervention, and 4 and 8 weeks after. Results Repeated measures ANOVA revealed a ‘time by condition’ interaction whereby reported PA levels were higher for participants in the self‐enhancing condition than for those in the control condition 4 weeks post‐intervention. Reported PA levels were also higher for participants in the self‐regulatory condition than those in the control condition at both follow‐up time points. There was also a ‘time by condition by self‐efficacy’ interaction, whereby participants in the self‐enhancing condition reported more PA than controls at both follow‐up points when they also reported high self‐efficacy. Participants in the self‐regulatory condition reported more physical activity than all other participants when they were also low on self‐efficacy, but only at the four‐week follow‐up point. Conclusion The findings extend the PA possible selves literature by suggesting that different types of possible selves interventions may work best depending on participants’ task self‐efficacy levels. HighlightsWe examined the effect of two possible selves interventions on physical activity.We examined baseline self‐efficacy as an intervention moderator.Both interventions increased physical activity relative to control procedures.Self‐efficacy moderated the effect of both interventions on physical activity.

When Decisions Are Clouded by Passion: A Look at Casino Patrons.

This research tested if decision making while gambling was predicted by gambling passion. Casino patrons (n = 199) recruited from casino foyers completed questionnaires to assess levels of harmonious and obsessive passion for gambling (Vallerand, 2015) and a computerized version of the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) to assess decision making in a simulated gambling situation. In support of our hypothesis, obsessive (but not harmonious) passion for gambling predicted worse IGT performance: Over the course of the IGT, obsessive passion predicted a greater proportion of selections from disadvantageous compared to advantageous decks of cards, less imaginary money remaining at the end, and, as shown by growth curve modeling, a dampened rate of change in IGT performance. These results demonstrate that the quality of one’s passion predicts decision making in gambling, an effect that has substantial implications for psychological and financial well-being.

Lay theories of passion in the academic domain

Abstract Our aim was to study students’ beliefs about passion and its influence on academic performance and experiences, and determine whether these beliefs depend on harmonious or obsessive passion. In Study 1, participants estimated passion scores for the most successful, average and least successful students in university. In Study 2, participants viewed completed questionnaires that depicted students as having varying levels of passion, and then predicted the students’ performance and experiences in university. Across both studies, students expected that having passion for academics, regardless of predominant passion type, was related to substantially higher levels of performance compared to those who were not passionate. Participants also believed that students with strong levels of harmonious passion experienced more positive academic experiences than those without any harmonious passion. Although students likely overestimate the role that passion plays in determining academic performance, they distinguish between passion types when estimating one’s academic experiences.