Increasing patient satisfaction and compliance: An examination of physician humor orientation,compliance‐gaining strategies,and perceived credibility

This study examined the impact that patients' perceptions of a physician's humor orientation, credibility, and compliance‐gaining strategies had on their satisfaction and compliance. Perceived physician humor orientation positively related to perceived physician credibility, physician compliance‐gaining strategies, and patient satisfaction. Other positive relationships among perceived physician credibility, physician compliance gaining strategies, and patient satisfaction emerged. Compliance did relate significantly to physician humor orientation and perceived credibility. Aspects of patient satisfaction and physician use of compliance‐gaining strategies affected compliance. Additionally, this study revealed minimal differences among data collection methods (undergraduate (N = 44), graduate (N = 48), general public (N = 66), and online participation (N = 26)).     

The affective orientation to communication: Conceptual and empirical distinctions

Affectively oriented (AO) individuals are people who are aware of their emotional states, value that information, and use it to guide social interaction. Although this concept sounds similar to others related to self‐awareness, emotionality, and patterns of information seeking, the process is both conceptually and empirically unique.

Study One compared individuals on AO and several measures which share underlying dimensions: affect intensity, self‐consciousness, extroversion, neuroticism, monitoring vs. blunting behavior style, and beliefs about romance. Affective orientation was moderately related to affect intensity and private self‐consciousness, and exhibited small correlations with monitoring of information‐seeking, extroversion, and idealism of romantic beliefs. Study Two assessed the stability of AO responses. Across a 4‐week time period AO remained highly consistent and thus did not appear to be a function of feelings at the time.     

Are funny people popular? An examination of humor orientation,loneliness, and social attraction

In order to understand the role of humorous communication in relationships, 125 undergraduates completed measures of Humor Orientation (HO), loneliness, and verbal aggressiveness (VA), and then had two acquaintances complete other‐perceived HO and social attractiveness on them. Results indicated that higher HO was associated with lower levels of loneliness. Acquaintances’ perceptions of HO and self‐reported HO were positively related, and people seen as more humorous were also seen as socially attractive. VA individuals did not report more loneliness, but were perceived to be less socially attractive, due in part to the finding that individuals higher in VA tend to target others when they enact humor.     

Relationship orientation,jealousy, and equity: An examination of jealousy evoking and positive communicative responses

The intentional evoking of jealousy has received little attention in interpersonal research, yet eliciting jealousy in another may perform critical functions in relationships such as meeting personal needs and relational goals. The purposes of these two studies were to examine how evoking jealousy may be used as a communicative strategy in relationships, and to develop the Evoking Jealousy Scale. Two studies examined evoking jealousy, relationship orientation (exchange versus communal), positive responses to jealousy, and equity in relationships. Results from study one indicated both exchange oriented and communal oriented individuals make attempts to evoke jealousy from their partners. Results from study two indicate the only variable in this study related to the active strategy of evoking jealousy was being exchange oriented. Feelings of equity, being overbenefited, and communal orientation each were related to positive responses to feeling jealous. The Evoking Jealousy Scale was developed and tested in study two and appears to have good face validity, unidimensional factor structure, and internal reliability     

Relationship between a 14-Day Recall Measure of Leisure-Time Physical Activity and a Submaximal Test of Physical Work Capacity in a Population Sample of Australian Adults

Abstract

This paper reports on the validity of a 14-day recall measure of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) in a sample of Australian adults (N = 986). Submaximal cycle ergometry was used to assess physical work capacity per kilogram of body mass (pwc75/kg). The self-report energy expenditure estimates were used to categorize respondents as vigorously active, moderately active, and low active/sedentary. Multiple regression analyses showed that pwc75/kg increased significantly across energy expenditure categories for adults aged less than 40 years; that the vigorous and moderate activity categories had greater mean pwc75/kg values than the low/sedentary category for 40 to 59-year-olds; and, that there were no differences in pwc75/kg between activity categories for those aged 60 years or older.     

Relationships between body composition and fundamental movement skills among children and adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine associations of fundamental movement skills (FMS) with measures of body composition among children and adolescents. Secondary analyses of cross-sectional data collected from 4,363 children and adolescents in Grades 4, 6, 8, and 10 as part of the 1997 New South Wales Schools Fitness and Physical Activity Survey were conducted. Six FMS (run, vertical jump, throw, catch, kick, and strike) were assessed by observation. Height and weight (used to calculate body mass index; BMI) and waist circumference were directly measured. Results indicated that the children's and adolescents' ability to perform FMS was significantly related to BMI and waist circumference. Specifically, BMI and waist circumference were significant predictors for FMS in six of the eight demographic groups. Adjusted odds ratios revealed that overweight boys and girls in all grades were less likely to possess high levels of FMS and more likely to possess low levels of FMS than those who weren't overweight. When FMS were partitioned into locomotor and object-control skills, nonoverweight boys and girls in each grade were two to three times more likely to possess more advanced locomotor skills than overweight boys and girls. However, for object-control skills, the only demographic groups in which nonoverweight students possessed a greater number of advanced skills than overweight students were boys in Grades 6 and 10. There appear to be significant and important associations between performance of locomotor skills and weight status among children and adolescents. This would suggest that intervention strategies to prevent unhealthy weight gain among children and youth might usefully include increasing proficiency of locomotor skills as a key component.