Iowa State University

Rick Gibbons

Rick Gibbons' work at the institute contributed to significant findings involving the development of a model of adolescent health risk behavior. He and his wife, Meg Gerrard, formed a model including a variety of factors - familial, social, dispositional and cognitive - that they believe (and hypothesized) combine to determine whether young people will choose to engage or not engage in various behaviors that put their health in jeopardy, such as smoking, heavy drinking, drug usage and unprotected sex. The model has been able to explain more of the variance in these behaviors (i.e., predict them more effectively) than have previous models. There are two elements of the model that distinguish it from other models of adolescent behavior:

That the images or prototypes that young people maintain of the type of person who does or does not engage in these behaviors are very influential in their risk-behavior decisions. The more favorable their image, the more likely they are to engage in the behavior under certain circumstances. Their research has helped to explain why these images are influential.

The construct of behavioral willingness. Unlike other social and health behavior theories, their model is based on an assumption that health risk behavior, though very common among young people, is often not intentional for them. Instead, it is an unplanned reaction to opportunity - the social situations in which young people frequently find themselves that include the possibility of risky behavior (e.g., the availability of alcohol, or drugs or a willing sexual partner). Adding this "social reaction" element to more or less traditional approaches (i.e., those based strictly on intention), has  increased the ability to effectively predict risky behaviors in many different situations. This new element also has a number of prevention and intervention implications that they will explore in future research.

Another finding in the same general area of health-risk behavior has to do with the relation between risk behavior and a particular type of risk cognition, perceptions of personal vulnerability. Specifically, they have demonstrated that perceptions of vulnerability are related to health maintenance and promotion. Prior to deciding to quit, for example, smokers' perceptions of their personal health risks from smoking are very high. In fact, these perceptions are the primary reason why they decide to quit. These perceptions remain high throughout the cessation effort. However, should the smoker begin smoking again, their perceptions of risk often decline significantly after the relapse - a form of self-esteem (or ego) protection - as they try to convince themselves that the behavior is, after all, not all that dangerous. Unfortunately, this self-persuasion effort is frequently successful, as the motivation to try and quit again usually declines along with these personal risk perceptions. This research suggests that efforts should be made during the cessation program, to combat this cognitive rationalization or justification process, thereby helping the individual to maintain a high level of motivation.

A third finding to come out of their research is related to the process of social comparison. Specifically, Gibbons and Gerrard have examined the relation between the level at which people choose to compare and their success on the dimension (behavior) of comparison. Simply put, the higher the chosen comparison level (up to a point, of course), the more likely the individual is to succeed at the behavior. For example, smokers who are trying to quit and choose to compare themselves (i.e., their quitting ability) with other smokers who have been successful in their cessation efforts are more likely to succeed at quitting than are those who compare themselves with individuals who have had more difficulty quitting.

Their research has shown essentially the same effect when it comes to academic performance: Comparing with others who are doing well in school is associated, in the long run, with higher grades. Interestingly, those who compare at a relatively low level - with others who have struggled in their cessation efforts, or students who are not doing well academically - are likely to feel better about themselves temporarily ("I may be having difficulty, but I'm doing better than she or he is."), but this type of comparison eventually erodes motivation, and efforts and performance decline. In contrast, comparing with others who are doing well is inspirational, and increases motivation. This increase in motivation will, in the long run, pay off in terms of greater success.

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