General information

  • Funding Institution:CNCS – UEFISCDI, IDEI Programme
  • Project number:PN-II-ID-PCE-2012-4-0621
  • Contract number:91 / 02.09.2013
  • Period:October 2013 - September 2016
  • Total Amount:1083329lei (251937 EUR)
  • Project summary:
      This project is focused on a particular manner in which our preferences (likes and dislikes) can be learned or changed, namely the evaluative conditioning (EC). While previous studies have showed that the EC effect is reliable, we aim to uncover the mechanisms of change responsible for such effects. We will focus both on attitude formation and attitude change, addressing the causal mechanisms involved in three different EC paradigms: classical, surveillance, and alternate sequential. Two competitive mechanisms of change will be tested (contingency awareness and implicit misattribution), which are considered the most plausible in terms of theoretical accounts and previous empirical results. We will run a series of carefully controlled experiments in the tradition of social cognition research, while testing the necessary criteria for identifying valid causal mechanisms according to the evidence based approach. We will measure the EC effects using both explicit (e.g. Likert-type questions) and implicit measures of preference change (e.g. IAT, AMP). By addressing these issues, both theoretical advances and practical implications are sought. From a theoretical point of view, the causal mechanism will help advancing the field of studies focusing on deliberate vs. automatic attitudes. From a practical perspective the discovery of mechanisms of change will help optimizing any EC procedure and will encourage the expansion of a wide area of applicative studies (e.g. marketing, health).
  • Team:

Project's objectives

  • O1. identifying causal mechanisms for the use of EC for attitude formation that will met the evidence-based criteria for an established mechanism of change.
    Main activities: Several studies: documenting, logistics activities & recruiting participants, running the research study, analysing data.

  • O2. identifying causal mechanisms for the use of EC for attitude change that will meet the same evidence-based criteria.
    Main activities: Several studies: documenting, logistics activities & recruiting participants, running the research study, analysing data.
  • Activity report for October - December 2013: click here to access the pdf format
  • Activity report for January - December 2014: click here to access the pdf format
  • Activity report for January - December 2015: click here to access the pdf format
  • Activity report for January - September 2016: click here to access the pdf format

Disseminating results*:

*All materials are with grant's acknowledgements.

    Proposed for 2013:

  • None.

    Proposed for 2014:

  • One accepted ISI article.
    Accomplished:
  • Two ISI articles:
    • Virga, D., Curseu, P.L., Maricutoiu, L.P., Sava, F.A., Macsinga, I., & Magurean, S. (2014). Personality, relationship conflict, and teamwork-related mental models. PLoS ONE, 9(11), e110223. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0110223
    • Cooley, E., Payne, B.K., Loersch, C., & Lei, R. (2014). Who owns implicit attitudes? Testing a metacognitive perspective. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. doi:10.1177/0146167214559712
  • Two oral presentations at the National Conference on Industrial and Organizational Psychology 'Horia D. Pitariu', Iasi (Romania), 22 - 24 May 2014
    • Sarbu, R., Magurean, S., Rusu, A., & Salagean, N. (2014). Interesele vocationale ale elevilor de liceu. Studiu de adaptare a Scalei Intereselor Vocationale Oregon in Romania [High school students' vocational interests. Validating a Romanian version of the Oregon Vocational Interest Scales] PDF
    • Rusu, A., Magurean, S., Sava, F.A., & Constantin, T. (2014). Utilizarea Testului Asocierilor Implicite pentru prezicerea comportamentelor de cautare a unui loc de munca [Using the Implicit Association Test for the prediction of job search behaviors] PDF
  • Three oral presentations at the 1st International Congress of Cognitive Behavioral Coaching - ICCBC, Cluj-Napoca (Romania), 12 - 15 June 2014
    • Magurean, S., Salagean, N., Constantin, T., & Sava, F.A. (2014). Evaluative conditioning in the context of smoking reduction: Preliminary data from a randomized clinical trial PDF
    • Magurean, S., Negut, A., Sarbu, R., Rusu, A., & David, D. (2014). Mindfulness-based approaches in substance abuse: preliminary results from a meta-analytic perspective PDF
    • Sava, F.A., Salagean, N., Sarbu, R., & Rusu, A. (2014). Guidelines for running a successful weight loss coaching program for overweight and obese adults PDF

    Proposed for 2015 :

  • One accepted ISI article.
      • Accomplished:
    • Two accepted ISI articles:
      • Maricuțoiu, L., & Sârbescu, P. (in press). The relationship between faking and response latencies: a meta-analysis. European Journal of Psychological Assessment.
      • Măgurean, S., Constantin, T., & Sava, F. A. (2015). The indirect effect of evaluative conditioning on smoking. Journal of Substance Use, 21(2), 198-203. doi: 10.3109/14659891.2015.1005183
      Two* published ISI articles:
      • Rotaru, T. Ș., & Rusu, A. (2016). A meta-analysis for the efficacy of hypnotherapy in alleviating PTSD symptoms. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 64(1), 116-136. doi:10.1080/00207144.2015.1099406
      • Cooley, E., Payne, B.K., Loersch, C., & Lei, R. (2015). Who owns implicit attitudes? Testing a metacognitive perspective. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41(1), 103-115. doi:10.1177/0146167214559712 (*this paper was also reported in the previous year as being accepted for publication)
    • Two oral presentations at the National Conference on Industrial and Organizational Psychology 'Horia D. Pitariu', Sibiu (Romania), 07 - 09 May 2015
      • Rusu, A., Magurean, S., Vîrgă, D., & Curșeu, P. L. (2015). De la lenea sociala la implicarea în munca de echipă: rolul moderator al Core self-evaluations
      • Sava, F. A., & Pătruț, L. C. (2015). Validarea preliminara a unor noi scale de dezirabilitate sociala

        Proposed for 2016 :

    • One accepted ISI article.
      Accomplished:
    • Two submitted (in review) ISI articles :
      • Sava, F. A, Payne, B. K., Magurean, S., Iancu, D. E., & Rusu, A. Beyond contingency awareness: The uncontrollability of the evaluative conditioning effect. Submitted to Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
      • Virga, D., & Rusu, A. Core self-evaluations, job search behaviour and health functioning: the mediating role of job search self-efficacy. Submitted to Personality and Individual Differences.