"WOOP is my safe haven": A qualitative feasibility and acceptability study of the Wish Outcome Obstacle Plan (WOOP) intervention for spouses of people living with early-stage dementia.

OBJECTIVES: As symptoms emerge and worsen in people living with dementia, their spouses can benefit from behavioral interventions to support their adjustment as a care partner. The Wish Outcome Obstacle Plan (WOOP) intervention improves the well-being of spouses of people living with dementia early in the disease course, but intervention mechanisms and opportunities for improvement are unclear. The present study gave voice to spouses who participated in a trial of WOOP, describing how WOOP was incorporated into their lives and how it could be improved for future implementation. METHOD: For this qualitative study, we conducted longitudinal semi-structured interviews among 21 spouses of people living with dementia (three interviews over three months; 63 interviews total). Codebook thematic analysis was performed. RESULTS: Three meta-themes were derived: (1) assessing baseline strengths and limitations of WOOP, (2) learning from experience, and (3) fine-tuning and sustaining WOOP. Participants described how WOOP addressed their interpersonal and emotional stressors, their responses to behaviors of the person living with dementia, and their relationship quality. Considerations for future intervention delivery (e.g., solo vs. in group settings) and instructions (e.g., encouraging writing vs. thinking through the four steps of WOOP) were identified as areas of improvement. CONCLUSIONS: WOOP was described as a practical, feasible, and desirable intervention for spouses at the early stages of their partner's dementia. Participants made WOOP easier to incorporate in their everyday lives by adapting the design into a mental exercise that they used as needed. Suggestions from participants specified how to make the everyday use of WOOP more feasible, sustainable, and applicable in a variety of contexts. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov HIC 2000021852.

Protocol for a prospective, randomized, controlled trial of Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions (MCII) to enhance the effectiveness of VA's MOVE! weight management program: WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan) VA.

INTRODUCTION: Intensive weight management programs are effective but often have low enrollment and high attrition. Lack of motivation is a key psychological barrier to enrollment, engagement, and weight loss. Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions (MCII) is a unique imagery technique that increases motivation for behavior change. We describe our study protocol to assess the efficacy and implementation of MCII to enhance the effectiveness of VA's MOVE! or TeleMOVE! weight management programs using a procedure called "WOOP" (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan) for Veterans. We hypothesize that WOOP+MOVE! or TeleMOVE! (intervention) will lead to greater MOVE!/TeleMOVE! program engagment and consequently weight loss than MOVE!/TeleMOVE! alone (control). METHOD: Veterans are randomized to either the intervention or control. Both arms receive the either MOVE! or TeleMOVE! weight management programs. The intervention group receives an hour long WOOP training while the control group receives patient education. Both groups receive telephone follow up calls at 3 days, 4 weeks, and 2 months post-baseline. Eligible participants are Veterans (ages 18-70 years) with either obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) or overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) and an obesity-associated co-morbidity. At baseline, 6 and 12 months, we assess weight, diet, physical activity in both groups. The primary outcome is mean percent weight change at 6 months. Secondary outcomes include changes in waist circumference, diet, physical activity, and dieting self-efficacy and engagement in regular physical activity. We assess implementation using the RE-AIM framework. CONCLUSION: If WOOP VA is found to be efficacious, it will be an important tool to facilitate weight management and improve weight outcomes. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT05014984.

Intellectual humility as a tool to combat false beliefs: An individual-based approach to belief revision.

False beliefs pose significant societal threats, including health risks, political polarization and even violence. In two studies (N = 884) we explored the efficacy of an individual-based approach to correcting false beliefs. We examined whether the character virtue of intellectual humility (IH)-an appreciation of one's intellectual boundaries-encourages revising one's false beliefs in response to counter-information. Our research produced encouraging but also mixed findings. Among participants who held false beliefs about the risks of vaccines (Study 1) and the 2020 US Election being rigged (Study 2), those with higher IH explored more information opposing these false beliefs. This exploration of opposing information, in turn, predicted updating away from these inaccurate health and political beliefs. IH did not directly predict updating away from false beliefs, however, suggesting that this effect-if it exists-may not be particularly powerful. Taken together, these results provide moderate support for IH as a character trait that can foster belief revision but, simultaneously, suggest that alternate pathways to combat false beliefs and misinformation may be preferred.

Low working memory reduces the use of mental contrasting.

Mentally contrasting a desired future with reality is a self-regulation strategy that helps people effectively pursue important personal wishes. People with higher self-regulation skills are more likely to spontaneously use mental contrasting. Because one central cognitive function underlying self-regulation is working memory capacity, we investigated whether people with low rather than high working memory capacity are less likely to spontaneously use mental contrasting. Study 1 provided correlational evidence that participants with lower working memory capacity, as measured by the Operation-Span Task, were less likely to use mental contrasting when elaborating an important interpersonal wish. Study 2 provided experimental evidence that manipulating low working memory capacity by inducing cognitive load (vs. no load) led fewer participants to use mental contrasting. The findings have theoretical implications by illuminating the processes that impede mental contrasting, and they have applied implications for understanding how to foster the use of mental contrasting in everyday life.

The power of personal control: Task choice attenuates the effect of implicit sadness on sympathetically mediated cardiac response.

Implicitly processed pictures of facial expressions of emotions have been found to systematically influence sympathetically mediated cardiovascular reactivity during task performance. According to the Implicit-Affect-Primes-Effort model, this happens because different affect primes activate the concepts of performance ease versus performance difficulty. Grounded in a recent action shielding model, our laboratory experiment (N = 129 university students) tested whether engaging in action by personal choice can immunize against those implicit affective influences on effort. Participants worked on an objectively difficult cognitive task, which was either externally assigned or ostensibly personally chosen. As predicted, participants in the assigned task condition showed weaker cardiac pre-ejection period reactivity during task performance, reflecting disengagement, when they were primed with sadness than when they were exposed to anger primes. Most relevant, this affect prime effect disappeared when participants could ostensibly choose their task themselves. These findings replicate previous research on implicit affect's impact on sympathetically mediated cardiac response and extend the literature on action shielding by personal choice effects to implicit affective influences on action execution.

Noise annoys-But personal choice can attenuate noise effects on cardiac response reflecting effort.

Since personal choice fosters commitment and shields action execution against potentially conflicting influences, two laboratory experiments with university students (N = 228) tested whether engaging in action by personal choice versus external assignment of task characteristics moderates the effect of irrelevant acoustic noise on cardiovascular responses reflecting effort. Participants who could personally choose the stimulus color of moderately difficult cognitive tasks were expected to be shielded against the irrelevant noise. By contrast, when the stimulus color was externally assigned, we predicted receptivity for the irrelevant noise to be high. As expected, in both experiments, participants in the assigned color condition showed stronger cardiac pre-ejection period reactivity during task performance when exposed to noise than when working in silence. On the contrary, participants who could choose the stimulus color were shielded against the noise effect on effort. These findings conceptually replicate and extend research on the action shielding effect by personal choice and hold practical implications for occupational health.

Personal task choice attenuates implicit happiness effects on effort: A study on cardiovascular response.

Research on the Implicit-Affect-Primes-Effort model (Gendolla, 2012) found that priming happiness or anger in challenging tasks results in stronger sympathetically mediated cardiovascular responses, reflecting effort, than priming sadness or fear. Recent studies on action shielding revealed that personal task choice can attenuate affective influences on action execution (e.g., Gendolla et al., 2021). The present experiment tested if this action shielding effect also applies to affect primes' influences on cardiovascular response. Participants (N = 136) worked on a cognitive task with integrated briefly flashed and backward masked facial expressions of sadness vs. happiness. Half of the participants could ostensibly choose whether they wanted to work on an attention or on a memory task, while the other half was assigned to one task. Our findings revealed effects on cardiac pre-ejection period (PEP), which align with the expected outcomes for a task of unfixed difficulty where participants establish their own performance standard. Most importantly, task choice shielded against the implicit affective influence on PEP that was evident when the task was externally assigned. Effects on systolic blood pressure (SBP) reactivity largely corresponded to those of PEP.

Evidence that Mental Contrasting Reduces Health Information Avoidance.

BACKGROUND: Although learning health information is beneficial for physical well-being, many people opt to avoid learning this information due to its potentially threatening nature. Such avoidance can lead to delays in seeking treatment. PURPOSE: This study tested the effectiveness of a self-regulation technique, mental contrasting (MC), specifically MC of a negative future with a positive current reality, in reducing health information avoidance regarding skin cancer (melanoma). We hypothesized that participants who engaged in MC would be more likely to choose to learn about their melanoma risk than those who completed a control, reflection activity. METHODS: We conducted a randomized controlled trial (N = 354). Participants were assigned to complete a MC or reflection (control) exercise prior to filling out a melanoma risk calculator. Participants were then asked whether they wanted to learn their melanoma risk, and how much information they would like to know. RESULTS: Chi-Square tests revealed that MC decreased melanoma risk information avoidance compared to the reflection activity (12% vs. 23.4%) but did not make participants more likely seek additional information. CONCLUSION: MC is a brief, engaging, and effective strategy for reducing health information avoidance that could prove useful in medical settings.

It is important to know about the status of one's health in order to take necessary precautions for positive health outcomes. However, people may often engage in "information avoidance," which is the tendency to neglect seeking available and potentially valuable health information. Avoiding health information, especially with regards to one's risk for various diseases, is harmful because it can delay timely treatment. In this study, we tested the effectiveness of mental contrasting­a self-regulation technique­in reducing information avoidance for melanoma skin cancer risk. We recruited 354 participants, and they were randomly assigned to engage in the mental contrasting exercise or reflection (control) exercise. The participants then filled out a melanoma risk calculator and were asked whether they would like to learn their risk for melanoma, and how much information they would like to know. The results showed that mental contrasting decreased melanoma risk information avoidance compared to the reflection activity (12% vs. 23.4%) but did not make participants more likely seek additional information. These findings suggest that mental contrasting can be a brief, engaging, and effective strategy for reducing health information avoidance.

Can personal task choice shield against fear and anger prime effects on effort? A study on cardiac response.

This experiment tested whether personal task choice can shield against implicit affective influences on sympathetically mediated cardiovascular response, reflecting effort. Participants were N = 121 healthy university students who completed a moderately difficult memory task with integrated briefly flashed and masked fear vs. anger primes. Half of the participants believed they could choose between an attention and a memory task, while the other half was automatically assigned to the task. Replicating previous research, we expected an influence of the affect primes on effort when the task was externally assigned. By contrast, when participants were given a task choice, we predicted strong action shielding and thus a weak implicit affect effect on resource mobilization. As expected, participants in the assigned task condition showed stronger cardiac pre-ejection period reactivity when exposed to fear primes than when processing anger primes. Importantly, this affect prime effect disappeared when participants could ostensibly choose the task. These findings add to other recent evidence for action shielding by personal task choice and importantly extend this effect to implicit affective influences on cardiac reactivity during task performance.

More direction but less freedom? How task rules affect intrinsic motivation.

Task rules restrict freedom by definition, but do they necessarily harm intrinsic motivation? We examine how task rules for an open-ended writing activity affect intrinsic motivation, or enjoyment, with one's sense of direction and psychological freedom as potential mechanisms. Results from three online experiments (Experiment 1, Experiments 3a and 3b; N = 1,176), conducted with both undergraduate student and adult (Amazon MTurk and Prolific) samples, suggest that task rules may indirectly increase enjoyment by enhancing direction (indirect effect: ß's range [0.09, 0.17], p's < .05), yet at the same time, indirectly decrease enjoyment by reducing freedom (indirect effect: ß's range [-0.31, -0.07], p's < .05). Results from a fourth online experiment (Experiment 2; student sample; N = 121) address a potential alternative explanation, finding that only the task rules, not mere examples, were sufficient to increase direction (rules present: d = 0.55, p = .04; examples: d = 0.25, p = .48) and reduce freedom (rules present: d = 0.78, p < .001; examples: d = 0.22, p = .31). Theoretical and empirical connections are made to self-determination theory and flow theory. Further research is needed to delineate situational and personal factors that may moderate these effects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Updating false beliefs: The role of misplaced vs. well-placed certainty.

People can update their misconceptions or false beliefs by learning from corrective sources. However, research has shown that people vary drastically in the extent to which they learn from feedback and update their false beliefs accordingly. That past work drew attention to cognitive and motivational factors such as cognitive rigidity and closed-mindedness as inhibitors of belief updating. Here we examined a novel epistemic structure, misplaced certainty, a subjective sense of certainty while recognizing uncertainty in oneself or most people (e.g., I feel certain although I recognize X is technically uncertain or it is technically uncertain according to most people), as a unique predictor of lower belief updating. In a preregistered study, we hypothesized that those with high chronic misplaced certainty would be less likely to learn from feedback and revise their misconceptions in a feedback-learning task. In our analyses, we controlled for well-placed certainty-certainty while recognizing no doubt in oneself or most others. We also controlled for variables associated with closed-minded cognition. Consistent with our predictions, those with high misplaced certainty were less likely to revise their false beliefs in response to corrective feedback. In contrast, those with high well-placed certainty were more likely to learn from corrective feedback and revise their false beliefs. By shedding light on the nuances of different forms of subjective certainty, the present work aims to pave the way for further research on epistemic factors in the perseverance and correction of false beliefs.

Testing Go/No-Go training effects on implicit evaluations of unhealthy and healthy snack foods.

OBJECTIVE: Despite intending to eat healthy foods, people often yield to temptation. In environments rife with unhealthy food options, a positive implicit evaluation of unhealthy foods may inadvertently influence unhealthy choices. This study investigates if and under which conditions implicit evaluations of unhealthy and healthy foods can be influenced by a computer-based Go/No-Go (GNG) training. DESIGN: Undergraduate student participants (N = 161 participants; 117 females, 44 males; Mage = 19 years, SD = 2 years) completed a GNG training with two healthy (grape and nut) and two unhealthy (potato chip and cookie) stimuli. Participants were either instructed to inhibit their responses to the potato chip (No-Go Chips/Go Grape) or to a grape (No-Go Grape/Go Chips). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Implicit evaluations of chips and grapes were assessed using the Extrinsic Affective Simon Task. RESULTS: This GNG training impacted implicit evaluations of chips, but not grapes. GNG training effects were stronger for participants with lower sensitivity for behavioural inhibition measured with the Behavioural Inhibition System scale. CONCLUSION: GNG training might help people change implicit food evaluations. More research is needed to understand how individual and training characteristics affect outcomes with the goal of tailoring and optimising the GNG training to produce the strongest effect.

I've been thinkin' bout you: socially distant relationship pursuit during COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has radically altered everyday interactions, potentially disrupting the process of romantic relationship formation. Prior research suggests that threats to the basic psychological need for relatedness, along with negative mental imagery, can lead to an obsessive preoccupation with a romantic interest. The present research examines how the relatedness-threatening nature of the pandemic may similarly facilitate problematic relationship behaviors. Two studies-a small-scale natural experiment with measurements before and during the pandemic (Study 1) and a daily diary study (Study 2)-investigated how relatedness frustration and negative fantasies predict presumptuous romantic intentions. In Study 1 these threats unexpectedly corresponded to reduced presumptuous romantic intentions, though no such main effect was present in Study 2. Replicating prior experimental work, in both studies, more negative fantasies about a romantic target predicted greater presumptuous romantic intentions. Study 2 also revealed that at the between-person level the combinatory effect of relatedness frustration and negative fantasies led to greater intentions. At the within-person level, this combinatory effect led unexpectedly to reduced intentions. Finally, there was substantial heterogeneity in the within-person effect of COVID-induced relatedness frustration: although frustration stoked intentions for some individuals, for others it reduced intentions. This work suggests that for many, the early social ramifications of COVID-19 reduced motivation to presumptuously pursue romantic relationships. Yet, certain individuals, particularly those with more negative fantasies, are more prone to pursue presumptuously amidst the pandemic.

Misplaced certainty in the context of conspiracy theories.

We examine conspiracy beliefs in the context of misplaced certainty-certainty that is unsubstantiated by one's own or others' skepticism. A conspiracy theory held with misplaced certainty may entail, for instance, "knowing" or feeling certain that secret actors are plotting against society yet acknowledging that this claim lacks evidence or is opposed by most other people. Recent work on misplaced certainty suggests that misplaced certainty predicts and results in antisocial outcomes, including fanatical behavior in terms of aggression, determined ignorance, and adherence to extreme groups. Introducing the concept of misplaced certainty to theory and research on conspiracy theories may help identify when and why conspiracy theories lead to deleterious behavioral outcomes.

The gray areas of romance: A measure of presumptuous romantic intentions.

To capture the attention of a romantic partner requires thoughtful selection of effective pursuit strategies. Sometimes, these strategies err on the side of caution; in other instances, pursuers can take a bolder approach to their courtship endeavors. In the present research, we developed a measure capturing the degree to which a romantic pursuer intends to take a presumptuous course of action. Across five studies (Ntotal = 2,137), we validated a 13-item self-report measure: the presumptuous romantic intentions (PRI) scale. First, we used a training set to refine item content and explore factor structures. Then, using a validation set, we confirmed a bifactor solution with one general and three auxiliary factors. We then observed test-retest reliability over periods of 3 and 4 weeks, found strict measurement invariance across both relationship status (single and partnered individuals) and across gender (women and men). We also found that PRI predicted actual presumptuous romantic behavior over the subsequent month. Finally, we established a pattern of convergent and discriminant associations with relationship measures, socioemotional outcomes, executive function, dark personality traits and more. This new measure may be of interest to researchers studying intimate relationships, partner violence, and the gray area in between. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Incidental affective influences on effort-related cardiac response: The critical role of choosing task characteristics.

This experiment tested whether personal choice vs. external assignment of task characteristics moderates the effect of incidental affective stimulation on effort-related cardiovascular response. We expected strong action shielding and low receptivity for incidental affective influences when participants could choose themselves the stimulus color of an easy memory task. By contrast, when the stimulus color was assigned, we expected weak action shielding and high receptivity. As expected, participants in the assigned color condition showed stronger cardiac pre-ejection period reactivity when exposed to sad music than when exposed to happy music during task performance. These music effects did not appear among participants who could personally choose the stimulus color. Our results replicate previous research by showing that personal choice leads to action shielding, whereas individuals remain receptive for affective influences during volition when task characteristics are assigned.

Discordant knowing: A social cognitive structure underlying fanaticism.

Examining the epistemic and social-cognitive structures underlying fanaticism, radicalization, and extremism should shed light on how these harmful phenomena develop and can be prevented. In nine studies (N = 3,277), we examined whether discordant knowing-felt knowledge about something that one perceives as opposed by most others-underlies fanaticism. Across multifaceted approaches, experimentally manipulating participants' views to fall under this framework (e.g., "I am certain about X, but most other people think X is unknowable or wrong") heightened indicators of fanaticism, including aggression, determined ignorance, and wanting to join extreme groups in the service of these views. Additional analyses found that this effect occurs via threat-based mechanisms (Studies 1-7), can be intervened on to prevent fanaticism (Study 2), is conditional on the potency of opposition (Study 3), differs from effects on extremism (Study 4), and extends to mental representations of the self (Study 5). Generalizing these findings to real-world contexts, inducing participants with discordant knowledge about the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election and the morality of abortion heightened fanaticism regarding these topics (Studies 6 and 7). Additionally, antivaccine fanatics and followers of a real-world fanatical religious group exhibited greater discordant knowing than nonfanatical individuals (Studies 8 and 9). Collectively, the present studies suggest that a specific epistemic structure-discordant knowing-underlies fanaticism, and further, highlight the potential of investigating constructs like fanaticism from an epistemic social cognitive perspective. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Effectiveness of a Motivational Smoking Reduction Strategy Across Socioeconomic Status and Stress Levels.

Smoking consequences are seen disproportionately among low-SES smokers. We examine the self-regulatory strategy of mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII) as a smoking reduction tool and whether its effectiveness depends on subjective-SES. This pre-registered online experiment comprised a pre-screening, baseline survey, and follow-up. Participants reported past-week smoking, subjective-SES, perceived stress, and were randomized to an active control (n = 161) or MCII condition (n = 164). Data were collected via MTurk, during the U.S.' initial wave of COVID-19. Participants were moderate-to-heavy smokers open to reducing or quitting. The primary outcome was self-reported smoking reduction, computed as the difference between recent smoking at baseline and follow-up. The secondary outcome was cessation, operationalized as self-reported 7-day point-prevalence abstinence at follow-up. Among those low-but not high-in subjective-SES, MCII (vs. control) improved smoking reduction by an average of 1.09 fewer cigarettes smoked per day, though this effect was not conclusive (p = 0.11). Similarly, quitting was descriptively more likely for those in the MCII than control condition, but the effect was non-significant (p = 0.11). Per an exploratory analysis, we observed that stress significantly moderated the condition effect (p = 0.01), such that MCII (vs. control) facilitated reduction among those experiencing high (p = 0.03), but not low stress (p = 0.15). Consistent with prior findings that MCII works best in vulnerable populations, MCII may be more effective for smoking reduction among high-stress than low-stress individuals. These findings contribute to growing research on income-related health disparities and smoking behavior change tools.

Mental contrasting of a negative future facilitates COVID-19 preventative behaviors: two randomized controlled trials.

Objective: The present research examined whether mentally contrasting a negative, feared future (i.e., infection with the Coronavirus) with a still positive reality can promote preventative actions in the context of the pandemic. Design: In two randomized controlled trials, we varied participants' mode of thought (mental contrasting of a negative future with a positive reality versus fantasizing of a negative future). Study 2 took into account the interpersonal nature of the pandemic and manipulated the mode of thought in a vicarious manner (vicarious mental contrasting versus vicarious negative fantasizing). Main Outcome Measures: After the manipulation, we assessed participants' intentions to learn about COVID-19 (Study 1) and attention to COVID-19 information (Study 1 and 2). Three days later, we measured the amount of physical distancing (Study 1 and 2). Results: Study 1 found that mental contrasting leads to more COVID-19 preventative behaviors than mere negative fantasizing. In Study 2, we observed that vicarious mental contrasting facilitates physical distancing among people who initially showed low compliance with COVID-19 preventative behaviors and thus were in most need of a boost in preventative behavior. Conclusion: The findings suggest that mental contrasting of negative fantasies may be an effective way to encourage COVID-19 preventative behaviors.

Task choice shields against incidental affective influences on effort-related cardiovascular response.

In an attempt to integrate theorizing on action shielding with affective influences on effort-related cardiovascular response, an experiment with N = 115 university students (90% women) tested whether working on a task by personal choice versus external assignment moderates the effect of happy versus sad background music on effort-related cardiovascular response during task performance. We predicted strong action shielding and low receptivity for incidental affective influences when participants could ostensibly choose the task to be performed. Given the difficult nature of the task, we thus expected strong effort-related cardiovascular responses due to high commitment when the task was chosen. By contrast, for assigned-task participants, we expected high receptivity for incidental affective influences and thus predicted strong cardiovascular reactivity when they were exposed to happy music but low responses due to disengagement when they were exposed to sad music. Effects on responses of cardiac pre-ejection period, systolic blood pressure, and heart rate confirmed our effort-related predictions. Apparently, personal choice of a task can immunize individuals against incidental affective influences on resource mobilization.