Yoram Bar-Tal

Self-efficacy and physical activity in adolescents with trivial, mild, or moderate congenital cardiac malformations.

Our purpose was to examine the cognitive processes that influence involvement in physical activity among 100 adolescents, 55 boys and 45 girls, ranging in age from 12 to 18 years, with trivial, mild, or moderate forms of congenital cardiac disease. We hypothesized, first, that the severity of the congenital cardiac malformation itself has an indirect effect on self-efficacy regarding physical activity, and that the relationship between the two is mediated by the recommendations of the cardiologist and the attitude of the mother. Second, we argued that self-efficacy serves as a mediating variable between the recommendations of the cardiologist and the attitude of the mother, on the one hand, and involvement in physical activity, on the other. The results confirmed both hypotheses. In a population of adolescents with trivial to moderate congenital cardiac malformations, beliefs in self-efficacy, rather than severity of the disease, were the most influential factors in determining whether or not adolescents will engage in sports or other physical activities. We also demonstrated the importance of the role played by the recommendations of the cardiologist in determining both the attitudes of the mother and the belief in self-efficacy of the adolescents.

Clinical decision making of experienced and novice nurses.

Decision making is an important daily nursing activity. Given contradictory past findings concerning the ease of use of cognitive schema for reaching decisions among experts and novices, we chose to examine consistency of information as a parameter that may clarify the process of decision making. Ninety-two experienced nurses and 65 nursing students rated their decisional difficulty and levels of certainty in reaching a diagnosis for two scenarios: one including consistent information and one providing information that was partly inconsistent with the given diagnosis. For the consistent information, students showed more difficulty and less certainty in the given diagnosis than the experienced nurses. The inconsistent scenario was perceived as more difficult by nurses in comparison to students. The cognitive processes responsible for these results are discussed.

Perceptions of Female Physique Characteristics by American and Israeli Students

Summary Perceptions of the attractiveness of female body characteristics were investigated to determine preferences of both men and women. The design systematically manipulated four characteristics—head posture, shoulder posture, breast size, and body shape—and included several S characteristics—gender, attractiveness, and culture. Students from two universities in the United States and Israel were asked to rate 16 drawings of female physiques and to assess their attractiveness. Results yielded a number of interactions among body characteristics, most prominently between breast size and body shape and breast size and shoulder posture. The most preferred characteristic was an hourglass shape. Figures with large breasts were also highly preferred.

Effect of intended treatment on anxiety and on reaction to electric pulp stimulation in dental patients.

Fear and anxiety are common emotional concomitants of acute pain that increase the perception of noxious events as painful. In the present study, 92 patients who were about to undergo various dental treatments (calculus removal, filling, root canal treatment, and extraction) were evaluated comparing the level of their dental anxiety and pain expectation from the intended treatment to their reaction to electric pulp stimulation. The data indicate that patients differ significantly in their dental anxiety levels and in their expectation to experience pain according to the following hierarchy (in descending order): extraction, root canal treatment, filling, and calculus removal. Anxiety and amount of pain expected from treatment correlated significantly with each other, but no simple correlations were found between anxiety and actual pain measures recorded after pulp stimulation.

Who exhibits more stereotypical thinking? The effect of need and ability to achieve cognitive structure on stereotyping

Need for cognitive structure (NCS) could affect stereotypical thinking. In the present paper, it is suggested that the effect of NCS on stereotyping is moderated by the ability to achieve cognitive structure (AACS). NCS is defined as the preference to use cognitive structuring (versus piecemeal processing) as a way to achieve certainty. AACS is defined as the extent to which individuals are able to use information processing processes (cognitive structuring or piecemeal) consistent with their level of NCS. Two studies were conducted to examine this hypothesis. The first examined the effect of NCS and AACS on negative stereotypes held by Israelis towards Palestinians. The second examined the effect of NCS and AACS on perceived in‐group (psychology students) and out‐group (engineering students) variability. Results of both studies showed that for high‐AACS participants, higher NCS was associated with greater stereotypical thinking, whereas for low‐AACS participants, higher NCS was associated with less stereotyping. Copyright

Need for closure and heuristic information processing: the moderating role of the ability to achieve the need for closure.

In contrast to the ample research that shows a positive relationship between the need for closure (NFC) and heuristic information processing, this research examines the hypothesis that this relationship is moderated by the ability to achieve closure (AAC), that is, the ability to use information-processing strategies consistent with the level of NFC. Three different operationalizations of heuristic information processing were used: recall of information consistent with the impression (Study 1); pre-decisional information search (Study 2); and stereotypic impression formation (Study 3). The results of the studies showed that there were positive relationships between NFC and heuristic information processing when participants assessed themselves as being able to use cognitive strategies consistent with their level of NFC (high AAC). For individuals with low AAC, the relationships were negative. Our data show that motivation-cognition interactions influence the information-processing style.

Self-anchoring in the minimal group paradigm: The impact of need and ability to achieve cognitive structure

A study is reported that focused on the role of self-anchoring in the definition of social groups. We assumed that group members give meaning to a novel ingroup by defining it as similar to the self. Moreover, the need and ability to engage in cognitive structuring should affect this process. A minimal group study in which self, ingroup and outgroup evaluations were obtained supported these hypotheses. Regression analysis revealed that self-evaluations predicted ingroup evaluations, but that this effect was qualified by an interaction with ability and need for cognitive structuring. Participants high both in the need for cognitive structure and the ability to achieve cognitive structure relied most heavily on the self as a heuristic for ingroup evaluations.

The effect of gender on the stress process of Israeli soldiers during the Gulf War

The study of differences in responses to stress of males and females requires controlling for objective threat or harm. This is very hard to accomplish in field studies because of the different roles of adult males and females. The present study examined this problem in 350 unmarried enlisted male and female soldiers during the Gulf War. The stress, perception of coping effectiveness and psychological distress of subjects were assessed by questionnaires. Results of the interpersonal analysis reveal that females assessed the situation as more stressful, perceived their coping as more effective, and suffered from greater psychological distress than males. The intrapersonal analysis revealed that: (a) stress had stronger negative impact on females than on males, and (b) in two of the five coping strategies, perception of coping effectiveness had less positive effect for females than for males.

Anxiety and Ability to Recognize Clinical Information in Dentistry

Stress significantly affects a person’s cognitive ability to process information. Therefore, we hypothesized that patients’ ability to recognize information related to the procedure they are about to undergo will be affected by the stressfulness of the situation (less recognition under a high-stress situation as compared with a low-stress situation). Patients (n = 66) were evaluated for their ability to recognize clinical information supplied on two different occasions: immediately before oral surgery (high-stress condition) and before suture removal (low-stress condition). Dental and state of anxiety and expectation of pain were also assessed. On both occasions, the patients’ ability to recognize information correctly was low (less than 50%). Patients recognized significantly less information pre-operatively than before suture removal. State of anxiety, dental anxiety, and expectation to experience pain had a profound effect on their ability to recognize provided information correctly. Apparently, before dental treatment (high or low on stress), patients’ ability to process information may be severely impaired.

Effect of Unrealistic Optimism, Perceived Control Over Disease, and Experience With Female Cancer on Behavioral Intentions of Israeli Women to Undergo Screening Tests

Early detection of cancer can lower mortality rates. Detection tests are available for some cancers such as breast and cervical cancer. Unrealistic optimism can affect compliance with health recommendations. Factors such as past experience (personal or at workplace) and perceived control over the disease influence unrealistic optimism. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of past experience and perceived control over disease on unrealistic optimism towards breast and cervical cancer, and to examine the effect of unrealistic optimism, perceived control over the disease, and past experience on intentions to undergo screening tests. The study design was quasi-experimental correlative. Past experience was measured among 3 groups of women living in Tel-Aviv ranging in age from 21 to 60 years: oncology nurses (n = 50), obstetric nurses (n = 50), and laywomen (n = 50). These groups were presumed to differ from each other in the extent to which they were aware of cancer. In addition, the 2 types of malignancy represented different levels of awareness. Questionnaires were used to measure the study variables. Experience had a strong impact on unrealistic optimism with both cancers. However, the cancers differed in the impact of unrealistic optimism on behavioral intentions. With breast cancer (the more frequent), there was only a main effect of unrealistic optimism. A 3-way interaction was found with cervical cancer. The results indicate that unrealistic optimism plays a role in predicting participation in early detection testing and should be considered as an influencing factor in health-promoting plans.