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The Social Relations Model (SRM), which has been an important tool for personality researchers, presumes the variabilities in the SRM components, perceiver, target, and relationship effects, are consistent across perceivers and targets. We introduce the extended SRM (eSRM) to examine individual differences in the variances of each component of the SRM. We explore the tendency for perceivers to see targets in different ways, Dissimilation, and the tendency for targets to be viewed in different ways, Dissensus. Furthermore, slopes are used to tap the extent to which perceivers agree with other perceivers, Sensitivity, and the extent to which target judgments depend on how perceivers generally see others, Prototypicality. Moreover, the correlation of a perceiver's judgments with how the target is generally viewed measures Accuracy, and the correlation of judgments of a target with how the perceiver generally views others measures Amplification. Standard deviations assess how a perceiver uniquely views targets, Differentiation, and how a target is uniquely viewed by perceivers, Volatility. A study illustrates the utility of these elements to understand response styles, the accuracy of judgment, and the meaning of SRM effects. The eSRM is discussed in relation to Funder's Realistic Accuracy Model and Biesanz's Social Accuracy Model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Effectively communicating with parents about children's obesity risk is of critical importance for preventive medicine and public health.Purpose: The current study investigates the efficacy of communications focused on two primary causes of obesity: genes and environment.Methods: We compared parental feeding responses to messages focused on (i) genetics alone, (ii) family environment alone, (iii) genetics-family environment interaction (G × FE), and (iv) no causal message. We also examined whether parental guilt mediates the effect of message type on feeding. Our sample consisted of 190 parents, half mothers and half fathers, of children 3-7 years old. After receiving one of the four types of messages, parents chose foods for their child using the Virtual Reality Buffet measure. Parents responded to questionnaires in the lab and at 1-week follow-up.Results: In the VR Buffet, parents did not feed their children differently in message provision conditions versus control. There were, however, differences among message provision conditions wherein mothers who received any genetic information chose higher-calorie meals in the VR Buffet. At 1-week follow-up, parents who received information about genetics alone reported feeding their child more junk food and fatty meat on self-report food frequency assessments; there were no such differences for sugary beverages, sugary foods, or fast foods. Parental guilt was typically higher for participants who received family environment information alone but did not mediate the relation between information provision and feeding outcomes.Conclusions: While none of the messages improved feeding above the control condition, GxFE messages were associated with a better overall profile of outcomes. As such, it may be beneficial for messaging for parents about children's obesity risk to include content that reflects the complexity of genetic and environmental contributions to obesity risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is a pressing need to craft optimal public health messages promoting healthy feeding behaviors among parents. How these messages influence such feeding decisions are affected by multiple interactive factors including emotional states, message framing, and gender, but these factors have not been studied in the domain of parents' feeding of their children.Purpose: To evaluate the role of message framing, emotional state, and parent gender on feeding choices that parents make for their children.Methods: In 2016-2017, 190 parents (126 mothers) of 4- to 7-year-old children were randomly assigned to an anger or fear emotion induction and read either a gain- or loss-framed message about the importance of children's fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption prior to choosing foods for their child from a virtual reality buffet.Results: Mothers in an angry state who received a gain-framed message chose relatively more FV for their child in the virtual buffet, F(3, 180) = 4.77, p = .027. However, fathers in this group did not feed more FV, but rather reported greater intention to improve future FV feeding, F(3, 180) = 4.91, p = .028.Conclusions: Providing gain-framed messages to parents, particularly mothers, in an anger state may be most effective for motivating healthy dietary choices for children.Clinical Trial Information: clinicaltrials.gov NCT02622035. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]