This special issue aims to increase appreciation of the diverse and promising research on implicit processes in health psychology, and to promote discussion about how this research improves understanding of health behavior change and can be harnessed to meet public health mandates.
The articles showcase this diversity and promise, and present not only new findings, but also new theories, new measures, and state-of-the-art summaries of progress. The research demonstrates the added value of considering implicit processes for understanding health behaviors, their interactions with explicit processes and neural mechanisms, as well as the benefits of targeting implicit processes in health behavior interventions.
At the same time, however, the papers also point to potential boundary conditions, the importance of good measures and appropriate tests of implicit processes, and the challenges involved in assessing implicit processes' causal role in determining health behaviors.
Guest Editors
Table of contents
Implicit Processes in Health Psychology: Diversity and Promise
Pages 761–766
Sheeran, Paschal; Bosch, Jos A.; Crombez, Geert; Hall, Peter A.; Harris, Jennifer L.; Papies, Esther K.; Wiers, Reinout W.
The Role of Attentional Bias in Obesity and Addiction
Pages 767–780
Field, Matt; Werthmann, Jessica; Franken, Ingmar; Hofmann, Wilhelm; Hogarth, Lee; Roefs, Anne
Using Fuzzy-Trace Theory to Understand and Improve Health Judgments, Decisions, and Behaviors: A Literature Review
Pages 781–792
Blalock, Susan J.; Reyna, Valerie F.
Techniques for Modifying Impulsive Processes Associated With Unhealthy Eating: A Systematic Review
Pages 793–806
van Beurden, Samantha B.; Greaves, Colin J.; Smith, Jane R.; Abraham, Charles
Macro-Level Implicit HIV Prejudice and the Health of Community Residents With HIV
Pages 807–815
Miller, Carol T.; Varni, Susan E.; Solomon, Sondra E.; Desarno, Michael J.; Bunn, Janice Y.
Automatic Attitudes and Health Information Avoidance
Pages 816–823
Howell, Jennifer L.; Ratliff, Kate A.; Shepperd, James A.
Self-Reported and Automatic Cognitions Are Associated With Exercise Behavior in Cancer Survivors
Pages 824–828
Endrighi, Romano; Basen-Engquist, Karen; Szeto, Edwin; Perkins, Heidi; Baum, George; Cox-Martin, Matthew; MacIntyre, Jessica M.; Waters, Andrew J.
Implicit Attitudes Predict Drinking Onset in Adolescents: Shaping by Social Norms
Pages 829–836
Payne, B. Keith; Lee, Kent M.; Giletta, Matteo; Prinstein, Mitchell J.
The Association Between Implicit Alcohol Attitudes and Drinking Behavior is Moderated by Baseline Activation in the Lateral Prefrontal Cortex
Pages 837–841
Friese, Malte; Gianotti, Lorena R. R.; Knoch, Daria
Perceived Controllability of Condom Use Shifts Reliance on Implicit Versus Explicit Affect
Pages 842–846
Ellis, Erin M.; Collins, R. Lorraine; Homish, Gregory G.; Parks, Kathleen A.; Kiviniemi, Marc T.
Pairing Images of Unhealthy and Healthy Foods With Images of Negative and Positive Health Consequences: Impact on Attitudes and Food Choice
Pages 847–851
Hollands, Gareth J.; Marteau, Theresa M.
Generalization of Evaluative Conditioning Toward Foods: Increasing Sensitivity to Health in Eating Intentions
Pages 852–855
Bui, Elise T.; Fazio, Russell H.
To Accurately Estimate Implicit Influences on Health Behavior, Accurately Estimate Explicit Influences
Pages 856–860
Blanton, Hart; Burrows, Christopher N.; Jaccard, James
Implicit Stigmatization-Related Biases in Individuals With Skin Conditions and Their Significant Others
Pages 861–865
van Beugen, Sylvia; Maas, Joyce; van Laarhoven, Antoinette I. M.; Galesloot, Tessel E.; Rinck, Mike; Becker, Eni S.; van de Kerkhof, Peter C. M.; van Middendorp, Henriët; Evers, Andrea W. M.
Smokers Exhibit Biased Neural Processing of Smoking and Affective Images
Pages 866–869
Oliver, Jason A.; Jentink, Kade G.; Drobes, David J.; Evans, David E.
A Randomized Controlled Trial of Web-Based Attentional Bias Modification to Help Smokers Quit
Pages 870–880
Elfeddali, Iman; de Vries, Hein; Bolman, Catherine; Pronk, Thomas; Wiers, Reinout W.
Attentional Bias to Negative Affect Moderates Negative Affect's Relationship With Smoking Abstinence
Pages 881–890
Etcheverry, Paul E.; Waters, Andrew J.; Lam, Cho; Correa-Fernandez, Virmarie; Vidrine, Jennifer Irvin; Cinciripini, Paul M.; Wetter, David W.
Attentional Effects of Self-Affirmation in Response to Graphic Antismoking Images
Pages 891–897
Kessels, Loes T. E.; Harris, Peter R.; Ruiter, Robert A. C.; Klein, William M. P.
When Is an Image a Health Claim? A False-Recollection Method to Detect Implicit Inferences About Products' Health Benefits
Pages 898–907
Klepacz, Naomi A.; Nash, Robert A.; Egan, M. Bernadette; Hodgkins, Charo E.; Raats, Monique M.
Implicit Alcohol Associations, Especially Drinking Identity, Predict Drinking Over Time
Pages 908–918
Lindgren, Kristen P.; Neighbors, Clayton; Teachman, Bethany A.; Baldwin, Scott A.; Norris, Jeanette; Kaysen, Debra; Gasser, Melissa L.; Wiers, Reinout W.
Targeting Implicit Approach Reactions to Snack Food in Children: Effects on Intake
Pages 919–922
Folkvord, Frans; Veling, Harm; Hoeken, Hans
Snack Intake Is Reduced Using an Implicit, High-Level Construal Cue
Pages 923–926
Price, Menna; Higgs, Suzanne; Lee, Michelle
