In the last few decades, scholars and practitioners have increasingly tried to understand the factors that influence technology acceptance. Theories and models developed by scholars have tended to focus on the role of cognition and have rarely included affect. The few studies that have incorporated affect have tended to measure a single emotion rather than modeling it comprehensively. This research addresses that inadequacy in our understanding of technology adoption by merging two previously unrelated models: TAM (the Technology Acceptance Model) and PAD (the Pleasure, Arousal, and Dominance paradigm of affect). This study also examines an enhanced view of cognition. The product of this unified theoretical framework is referred to as the Consumer Acceptance of Technology (CAT) model. The results of a test using structural equation modeling provide empirical support for the model. Overall, the CAT model explains over 50% of the variance in consumer adoption intentions, a considerable increase compared to TAM. These findings suggest that

The control-gaining influence of counterfactual thought was examined in a month-long study of real-life exam performances. Participants were contacted immediately after receiving a test grade, the day before their next test, and right after receiving their second grade. Previous research has proposed that upward counterfactuals lead to improved future performance. The present study aimed to identify mediators of this process. Participants who generated more upward counterfactuals were predicted to perceive enhanced control over the environment and to engage in more action on their environment. Subsequent test performance should thus improve. Results showed that the tendency to generate upward counterfactuals was correlated with later changes in circumstances, which in turn, was associated with higher perceptions of control; control perceptions were correlated with better subsequent grades. Implications of results for social cognition, action, and control processes are discussed.

No abstract

No abstract

The link between a strong identification with the athletic self-concept and well-being, commitment, and effort in athletes has been established in numerous research projects. However, current measures of athletic identity do not specifically acknowledge the public and private aspects of the athlete role and their differential influence on behavior. The goal of the present project was to create a short, psychometrically sound scale that measured these dimensions. Our scale (Public-Private Athletic Identity Scale; PPAIS) was validated using over 1,000 nonathletes, recreational athletes, current collegiate athletes, and retired athletes. We used exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to establish the structure of the scale and examined validity by comparing and contrasting the PPAIS with other existing athletic identity measures. Regressions also were used to show that the PPAIS enhances prediction of behavioral measures over other identity scales.