Virtues, ecological momentary assessment/intervention and smartphone technology

Abstract

Virtues, broadly understood as stable and robust dispositions for certain responses across morally relevant situations, have been a growing topic of interest in psychology. A central topic of discussion has been whether studies showing that situations can strongly influence our responses provide evidence against the existence of virtues (as a kind of stable and robust disposition). In this review, we examine reasons for thinking that the prevailing methods for examining situational influences are limited in their ability to test dispositional stability and robustness; or, then, whether virtues exist. We make the case that these limitations can be addressed by aggregating repeated, cross-situational assessments of environmental, psychological and physiological variables within everyday life—a form of assessment often called ecological momentary assessment (EMA, or experience sampling). We, then, examine how advances in smartphone application (app) technology, and their mass adoption, make these mobile devices an unprecedented vehicle for EMA and, thus, the psychological study of virtue. We, additionally, examine how smartphones might be used for virtue development by promoting changes in thought and behavior within daily life; a technique often called ecological momentary intervention (EMI). While EMA/I have become widely employed since the 1980s for the purposes of understanding and promoting change amongst clinical populations, few EMA/I studies have been devoted to understanding or promoting virtues within non-clinical populations. Further, most EMA/I studies have relied on journaling, PDAs, phone calls and/or text messaging systems. We explore how smartphone app technology provides a means of making EMA a more robust psychological method, EMI a more robust way of promoting positive change, and, as a result, opens up new possibilities for studying and promoting virtues.

Frequency of awake bruxism behaviours in the natural environment. A 7‐day, multiple‐point observation of real‐time report in healthy young adults

“…Such an approach may allow a better understanding of the epidemiological features of many diseases, by studying the natural course and fluctuations of signs, symptoms and exposure to aetiological factors. Besides, EMA can take advantage of recent progress in smartphone technology, as data collection for both clinical and research purposes can be conducted using a tool that is already a part of daily life for a large percentage of the population …”

“…Besides, EMA can take advantage of recent progress in smartphone technology, as data collection for both clinical and research purposes can be conducted using a tool that is already a part of daily life for a large percentage of the population. 19,20 In the current investigation, a smartphone application has been used to assess the frequency of AB behaviours. Results show that, TA B L E 2 Prevalence data expressed as the proportion of individuals that reported the behaviours at least once a day of papers on AB, reporting a 22.1% prevalence, as defined by the frequency term "often", 22 and a 31% prevalence, independent on the frequency, during the past 6 months.…”

An Ecological Momentary Assessment of Primiparous Women’s Breastfeeding Behavior and Problems From Birth to 8 Weeks

“…Current breastfeeding status, interim events, mood, fatigue, and societal expectations can compromise accuracy and details of memory and reporting (Barbosa, Oliveira, Zandonade, & Neto, 2012; Burnham et al, 2014). Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) offers a methodological solution to this issue by sampling subject experiences—thoughts, behaviors, symptoms—concurrently with, or close to, their actual occurrence (Runyan & Steinke, 2015; Shiffman, Stone, & Hufford, 2008). In the current study, we describe breastfeeding behaviors of first-time mothers using EMA via a mobile infant feeding application (i.e., “app”).…”

Digital phenotyping and the development and delivery of health guidelines and behaviour change interventions

“…These devices, optimized for user interaction, are already imbedded in the daily lives of more than 75% of adults in high-income countries such as the United Kingdom [12], with uptake in low-and middle-income countries rising rapidly. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) techniques [13], which prompt users to respond to simple questions a number of times during the day, are now widely available as apps for smartphones [14]. These EMA approaches, delivered using the increasingly ubiquitous smartphone, are enabling researchers to gather fine-grained information about the life-style behaviours of individuals, in free-living conditions, on a large scale [15].…”