Elizabeth A. Hardie

The development and validation of the relational, individual, and collective self-aspects (RIC) scale

A new scale measuring Relational, Individual, and Collective self-aspects (RIC) was developed. The RIC Scale consists of ten questions each followed by three options reflecting the three self-aspects. Respondents rate each option in terms of its applicability to the self, yielding three subscale scores and revealing the relative prominence of each self-aspect. Two samples of university students (N1 = 170, N2 = 214) were used to develop and refine the scale. Analyses supported the reliability and validity of the three RIC subscales. Each self-aspect correlated in predicted ways with several existing scales. The RIC Scale also proved useful in assessing gender differences in self-aspect prominence. Validity of the threepart model of the self and implications for future research are discussed.

Can the onset of type 2 diabetes be delayed by a group-based lifestyle intervention? A randomised control trial.

This study was a randomised control trial with a waiting control group. It was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a 6-month, group-based diabetes prevention programme, The Healthy Living Course and assess whether participation in the programme led to changes in modifiable risk factors for type 2 diabetes among an already at-risk pre-diabetic population. Individuals designated at risk for diabetes by their general practitioners (GPs) were screened using an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test. Volunteers (N = 307) with pre-diabetes were assigned to an intervention or wait-control group in the ratio of approximately 2 : 1. The sample was pre-tested on biochemical, anthropometric and self-report behavioural, cognitive and mood variables and post-tested either at the end of the educational/support-based lifestyle programme or the end of the wait period. The intervention group significantly improved their diabetes knowledge, motivation to change, positive affect, healthy eating and activity levels and showed significantly greater reductions in weight, body mass index, waist circumference, diastolic blood pressure and fasting plasma glucose in comparison with controls. The intervention group also changed their diagnostic status from pre-diabetes to non-diabetes at a greater rate than the wait group (43% vs. 26%) who received standard care from their GPs.

The Influence of Relational, Individual and Collective Self-Aspects on Stress, Uplifts and Health

The theoretical framework of the tripartite self was used to explore the links between relational (R), individual (I) and collective (C) self-aspects, corresponding sources of stress and uplifts, and health outcomes in a sample of 355 Australians (147 men, 208 women). Results supported a self-uplift congruence model of well-being, whereby the strength of a self-aspect guided the experience of recent uplifts in a corresponding R, I or C domain, which, in turn, contributed to well-being. There was partial support for a self-stress incongruence model of ill-being, whereby a strong self-aspect combined with recent stress in a mismatched domain contributed to ill-being. These findings, which highlight the role of the self and the importance of identifying relational, individual and collective sources of stress and uplifts, provide a promising new approach to understanding psychosocial influences on health and illness.

Examining the Psychological Pathways to Behavior Change in a Group-Based Lifestyle Program to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE To examine the psychological process of lifestyle change among adults at risk for type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A randomized control trial in which 307 volunteers (intervention, n = 208; wait control, n = 99) diagnosed with prediabetes completed a six-session group-based intervention to promote healthier living. Participants’ motivation to change, diet and exercise self-efficacy, mood, knowledge about diabetes, activity levels, healthy eating, waist circumference, and weight were assessed before and after the program. RESULTS Participation in the program was associated with significant increases in healthy eating and physical activity, reductions in waist and weight, and improvements in motivation, positive mood, self-efficacy, and knowledge. Examination of the pathways to lifestyle change showed that the educational aspect of the program increased activity levels because it increased diabetes knowledge and improved mood. Eating behavior was not mediated by any of the psychological variables. Improvements in diet and physical activity were, in turn, directly associated with changes in weight and waist circumference. CONCLUSIONS Although the program significantly improved motivation, self-efficacy, and mood, its impact on knowledge uniquely explained the increase in physical activity. Group-based programs that are tailored to lifestyle behaviors may provide a cost-effective method of diabetes prevention, but more research is needed to explain why they improve healthy eating.

Self-typicality and group identification: evidence for their separateness

Two studies demonstrated group identification (affective-evaluative response to in-group membership) and self-typicality (perceived typicality of the self as an in-group member) to be empirically separate. Study 1 showed that these two variables correlated distinctively with age of the participants, and that prior self-typicality but not prior identification correlated with similarity in subsequent self-and in-group ratings. Study 2 examined the latter relationships in a context that presented new, fictitious information about in-group members. Similarity in self-and group judgments, made after presentation of the new information, correlated positively with later self-typicality but negatively with later group identification. Advantages in making conceptual and operational distinctions between self-typicality and group identification are discussed.

Prevalence and Predictors of Cyclic and Noncyclic Affective Change

The prevalence of cyclic and week-to-week affective change was prospectively assessed over two consecutive menstrual cycles in a nonclinical sample of 101 employed women. Although 40% perceived themselves to have premenstrual syndrome (PMS), none showed a recurrent pattern of marked premenstrual affective change. Marked affective change was as likely to occur in the postmenstrual as the premenstrual phase. Weekly marked change was as prevalent as cyclic change. Although social health (perceived quantity and quality of interpersonal relationships) and subjective stress consistently predicted both cyclic and weekly affective states, the contribution of social health was 10 times greater than that of stress. The role of social health requires further examination, as does the widespread misuse of the PMS label to account for occasional changes in affect.

Culture- and Gender-Specific Implications of Relational and Collective Contexts on Spontaneous Self-Descriptions

Social contexts that invoke sociality may be more relational in Asian cultures and for women in general but more collective in Anglo-European cultures and for men in general. Study 1 tested this notion by priming Australians and Asians in Australia with four contextual primes: individual, relational (interpersonal), collective (out-group), and control (nonsocial). As predicted, the relational context increased the proportion of social self-descriptions (relational and collective jointly) among Asians and women, whereas the collective context increased it among Australians. Study 2 reexamined the effects of contextual primes by using relational, in-group, and out-group primes with Japanese students in Japan. Japanese women activated their relational self more when primed with the relational context, whereas men activated their collective self more when primed with a collective (in-group or out-group) context. Both culture and gender interact with social context to show configural effects on the self.

Friendship closeness inventory: development and psychometric evaluation.

This study developed a psychometrically sound measure of closeness in Australian mens (n = 59) and womens (n = 77) same-sex friendships, the Friendship Closeness Inventory. Subscales were developed to measure both masculine and feminine styles of closeness in three domains of Emotional Closeness, Behavioural Closeness, and Cognitive Closeness. The inventory was subjected to reliability checks which supported the reliability of each scale, and factor analyses which supported the 3-factor design. Correlations among ratings on subscales suggested that the affective, behavioural, and cognitive dimensions are distinguishable but related components of friendship. Group comparisons indicated that women rated themselves closer to their same-sex friends on the affective dimension than men. Researchers have suggested that sex-role socialisation may partly account for sex differences in self-ratings of emotional expressiveness in friendships. There were no significant differences between mens and womens ratings on the behavioural and cognitive aspects of friendships. The cognitive element may need further exploration in further scale development as it measures only one aspect of cognitive closeness: the perceived influence of friends. Pending further validation, the inventory appears potentially useful for research exploring affective, behavioural, and cognitive elements of young mens and womens friendships.