Language of motivation and emotion in an Internet support group for smoking cessation: explorative use of automated content analysis to measure regulatory focus
Jan-Are K Johnsen,1 Sara M Vambheim,2 Rolf Wynn,3,4 Silje C Wangberg3,51Department of Clinical Dentistry, University of Tromsø, 2Department of Psychology, University of Tromsø, 3Division of Addiction and Specialized Psychiatry, University Hospital of North-Norway, 4Department o...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Dove Medical Press
2014-01-01
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| Series: | Psychology Research and Behavior Management |
| Online Access: | http://www.dovepress.com/language-of-motivation-and-emotion-in-an-internet-support-group-for-sm-a15518 |
| _version_ | 1811299376738336768 |
|---|---|
| author | Johnsen JAK Vambheim SM Wynn R Wangberg SC |
| author_facet | Johnsen JAK Vambheim SM Wynn R Wangberg SC |
| author_sort | Johnsen JAK |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Jan-Are K Johnsen,1 Sara M Vambheim,2 Rolf Wynn,3,4 Silje C Wangberg3,51Department of Clinical Dentistry, University of Tromsø, 2Department of Psychology, University of Tromsø, 3Division of Addiction and Specialized Psychiatry, University Hospital of North-Norway, 4Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, 5Narvik University College, Narvik, NorwayAbstract: The present study describes a novel approach to the identification of the motivational processes in text data extracted from an Internet support group (ISG) for smoking cessation. Based on the previous findings that a “prevention” focus might be more relevant for maintaining behavior change, it was hypothesized that 1) language use (ie, the use of emotional words) signaling a “promotion” focus would be dominant in the initiating stages of the ISG, and 2) that the proportion of words signaling a prevention focus would increase over time. The data were collected from the ISG site, spanning 4 years of forum activity. The data were analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count application. The first hypothesis – of promotion focus dominance in the initiating stages – was not supported during year 1. However, for all the other years measured, the data showed that a prevention failure was more dominant compared with a promotion failure. The results indicate that content analysis could be used to investigate motivational and language-driven processes in ISGs. Understanding the interplay between self-regulation, lifestyle change, and modern communication channels could be of vital importance in providing the public with better health care services and interventions.Keywords: self-regulation, behavior change, emotion, prevention |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T06:35:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f0e9d8ea48104e25865fcc7aef8f8818 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1179-1578 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T06:35:09Z |
| publishDate | 2014-01-01 |
| publisher | Dove Medical Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Psychology Research and Behavior Management |
| spelling | doaj.art-f0e9d8ea48104e25865fcc7aef8f88182022-12-22T02:57:58ZengDove Medical PressPsychology Research and Behavior Management1179-15782014-01-012014default192915518Language of motivation and emotion in an Internet support group for smoking cessation: explorative use of automated content analysis to measure regulatory focusJohnsen JAKVambheim SMWynn RWangberg SCJan-Are K Johnsen,1 Sara M Vambheim,2 Rolf Wynn,3,4 Silje C Wangberg3,51Department of Clinical Dentistry, University of Tromsø, 2Department of Psychology, University of Tromsø, 3Division of Addiction and Specialized Psychiatry, University Hospital of North-Norway, 4Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, 5Narvik University College, Narvik, NorwayAbstract: The present study describes a novel approach to the identification of the motivational processes in text data extracted from an Internet support group (ISG) for smoking cessation. Based on the previous findings that a “prevention” focus might be more relevant for maintaining behavior change, it was hypothesized that 1) language use (ie, the use of emotional words) signaling a “promotion” focus would be dominant in the initiating stages of the ISG, and 2) that the proportion of words signaling a prevention focus would increase over time. The data were collected from the ISG site, spanning 4 years of forum activity. The data were analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count application. The first hypothesis – of promotion focus dominance in the initiating stages – was not supported during year 1. However, for all the other years measured, the data showed that a prevention failure was more dominant compared with a promotion failure. The results indicate that content analysis could be used to investigate motivational and language-driven processes in ISGs. Understanding the interplay between self-regulation, lifestyle change, and modern communication channels could be of vital importance in providing the public with better health care services and interventions.Keywords: self-regulation, behavior change, emotion, preventionhttp://www.dovepress.com/language-of-motivation-and-emotion-in-an-internet-support-group-for-sm-a15518 |
| spellingShingle | Johnsen JAK Vambheim SM Wynn R Wangberg SC Language of motivation and emotion in an Internet support group for smoking cessation: explorative use of automated content analysis to measure regulatory focus Psychology Research and Behavior Management |
| title | Language of motivation and emotion in an Internet support group for smoking cessation: explorative use of automated content analysis to measure regulatory focus |
| title_full | Language of motivation and emotion in an Internet support group for smoking cessation: explorative use of automated content analysis to measure regulatory focus |
| title_fullStr | Language of motivation and emotion in an Internet support group for smoking cessation: explorative use of automated content analysis to measure regulatory focus |
| title_full_unstemmed | Language of motivation and emotion in an Internet support group for smoking cessation: explorative use of automated content analysis to measure regulatory focus |
| title_short | Language of motivation and emotion in an Internet support group for smoking cessation: explorative use of automated content analysis to measure regulatory focus |
| title_sort | language of motivation and emotion in an internet support group for smoking cessation explorative use of automated content analysis to measure regulatory focus |
| url | http://www.dovepress.com/language-of-motivation-and-emotion-in-an-internet-support-group-for-sm-a15518 |
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