Arie Dijkstra

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at University of Groningen

Simple Summary People can develop meaningful relationships with companion animals, and they behave towards them in specific ways. For example, they spend time together in close proximity, apologize or talk to them as if they are human, and experience social support from their pets. This study aims to explain these types of interactions in a sample...

Little is known about how pet owners make end-of-life (EoL) decisions regarding their pets. We analyzed data from 1542 pet owners from North America and Europe that had made EoL decisions involving their dogs (n = 546) or cats (n=996). We measured participants’ empathy towards animals, emotion regulation, and attitudes toward pets, and asked for de...

Introduction In addition to being a source of valuable nutrients, meat consumption has several negative consequences; for the environment, for animal welfare, and for human health. To persuade people to lower their meat consumption, it is assumed that the personal relevance of the topic of lowering meat consumption is important as it determines how...

Describing the relationship with one’s cat in human terms might reflect an underlying anthropomorphic view of the relationship which might be associated with an owner’s behavior towards their cat and the cat’s living environment. Owners self-categorized the relationship with their cat as either a ‘member of the family’, ‘as a child’, ‘best friend’,...

Background: The endorsement of Conspiracy Beliefs concerning corona (CBc) may make people reject information from the general media, leading them to not follow recommendations on prevention behaviours, getting tested, and getting vaccinated. The aim of the present study was to understand the relationship between CBc and engaging in these corona-rel...

Objective: Persuasive messages regarding fruit and vegetable consumption often meet defensive reactions from recipients, which may lower message effectiveness. Individual differences in emotion regulation and gender are expected to predict these reactions. In the working memory account of persuasion, inducing voluntary eye movements during the proc...

Making the right decision before acquiring a dog may help prevent the development of canine behavior problems and increase the likelihood of a satisfactory relationship. In this study, social-cognitive factors in decision-making were assessed in the phase before the acquisition of a dog (the motivational phase) to see whether they were associated w...

Simple Summary People who plan to own a dog have expectations about what this experience will be like and are initially in the motivational phase of dog-ownership. Their expectations about taking care of a dog and the benefits of this relationship determine if they will acquire a dog. Once they have acquired a dog, their expectations are tested aga...

Background. Several studies have found an effect of pet ownership on human health and well-being. We propose that these benefits can only occur when the pet owner perceives the dog in a certain way: As having a human-like psychological functioning and experience of the world (anthropomorphism), and as part of one’s identity (assimilation). These pe...

To prevent potential problems in the relationship between people and their dogs, it is important to engage in a thoughtful decision-making process with regard to acquiring a dog. To map the most important elements in the decision-making process, a social cognitive model was applied using seven psychological constructs: perceived advantages of havin...

Objective: Because the working memory (WM) has a limited capacity, the cognitive reactions towards persuasive information in the WM might be disturbed by taxing it by other means, in this study, by inducing voluntary eye movements (EMi). This is expected to influence persuasion. Methods: Participants (N = 127) listened to an auditory persuasive mes...

Objective: Intervening on barrier beliefs (BBs) may inhibit the role of barriers as mediating factors in lifestyle behavior. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of a barrier-belief counseling intervention (BBCI) on physical activity (PA) and healthy food intake. Methods: An RCT was conducted in a primary care setting among adults (a...

Unhealthy eating and low levels of physical activity are major health risks, especially for older adults and people with a low socioeconomic status. The aim of this article is to describe the development of a community-based intervention aimed at promoting physical activity and healthy eating among people aged 55 years and over, in a socioeconomica...

Successful smoking cessation appears to be facilitated by identity change, that is, when quitting or nonsmoking becomes part of smokers’ and ex-smokers’ self-concepts. The current longitudinal study is the first to examine how identity changes over time among smokers and ex-smokers and whether this can be predicted by socioeconomic status (SES) and...

Personalizing persuasive technologies can increase their efficacy at motivating the desired behavior change. Building on the success of the 2016 workshop which witnessed 16 paper presentations, 2 keynote presentations, and 43 participants from over 10 different countries, this year's workshop aims to advance the research area even further by addres...

Objective: Health messages can be tailored by applying different tailoring ingredients, among which personalisation, feedback and adaptation. This experiment investigated the separate effects of these tailoring ingredients on behaviour in auditory health persuasion. Furthermore, the moderating effect of self-efficacy was assessed. Design: The betwe...

Aim: To explore (1) general practitioners' (GPs') motivations to refer to lifestyle interventions and to investigate the association between GPs' own lifestyle behaviors and their referral behavior and (2) patient indicators in the decision-making process of the GPs' referral to lifestyle interventions. Method: A cross-sectional study was conduc...

Background: Mobile phone apps are increasingly used to deliver health interventions, which provide the opportunity to present health information via different communication modes. However, scientific evidence regarding the effects of such health apps is scarce. Objective: In a randomized controlled trial, we tested the efficacy of a 6-month inte...

Background: An integrated community-based intervention was developed to stimulate physical activity (PA) and healthy eating in older adults in a socioeconomically disadvantaged area. This study aims to assess whether its short-term effects among older adults vary by sociodemographic, psychosocial and health-related variables. Methods: The study...

The aim of this study is to assess the reach and effectiveness of an integrated community-based intervention designed to promote physical activity and healthy eating among older adults in a socioeconomically disadvantaged community in the Netherlands. The intervention was evaluated with a controlled pre–post quasi-experimental design, with 430 rand...

Lifestyle is an important aspect in maintaining good health in older adults, and home health care (HHC) workers can play an important role in promoting a healthy lifestyle. However, there is limited evidence in the literature regarding how to develop an effective training programme to improve the physical activity level and fruit and vegetable cons...

Persuasive health messages can be presented through an auditory channel, thereby enhancing the salience of the source, making it fundamentally different from written or pictorial information. We focused on the determinants of perceived source reliability in auditory health persuasion by investigating it from two distinct angles. First, inferences o...

Background: Male-to-female transgender (waria) individuals are at high risk for HIV. This study aims at mapping the psychological determinants of four HIV-related health-seeking behaviors. This knowledge can be used to develop effective interventions to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Methods: The study involved 209 waria from five districts in...

Key practitioner message: In addition to beliefs indicating Activity Engagement and Pain Willingness, Affective acceptance of pain may also be a relevant dimension and manifestation of acceptance Social comparisons, temporal comparisons and counterfactual comparisons are related to acceptance of pain In patients with pain psychological comparison...

Introduction: The present study aims to contribute to our knowledge on the causes of variations in experienced craving of (ex)smokers. The general idea is tested that when (ex)smokers are exposed to a smoking-cue, their level of craving is determined by the momentary state of mind through which the smoking-cue is interpreted. Methods: A cue-reactiv...

We examined how 'smoker' and 'non-smoker' self- and group-identities and socio-economic status may predict smoking behaviour and responses to antismoking measures (i.e. the Dutch smoking ban in hospitality venues). We validated a measure of responses to the smoking ban. Longitudinal online survey study with one year follow-up (N = 623 at T1 in 2011...

Experimental studies on the effects of graphic fear appeals on cigarette packages typically expose smokers in a single session to a fear appeal, although in practice the exposure is always repeated. The present study applied an improved study design with repeated exposure to fear appeals on cigarette packages. In this field-experiment, 118 smokers...

The male-to-female transgender (waria) is part of a key population at higher risk for HIV. This study aims to test whether psychosocial determinants as defined by the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) can explain behaviours related to condom use among waria. Three preparatory behaviours (getting, carrying, and offering a condom) and two condom use...

Mentioning the recipient’s name in a persuasive message is one way to personalize messages in an attempt to increase persuasion. However, this type of personalization may lead to a self-threat that activates defensive reactions and to a subsequent decrease in persuasion. A self-affirmation procedure that induces open-mindedness may prevent this dra...

In de gezondheidszorg worden we vaak geconfronteerd met de dood; nou ja, in ieder geval vaker dan in de HEMA of in de snackbar: Er zijn doodzieke mensen, mensen die sterven en behandelingen om de dood af te wenden of uit te stellen.

Niet bang zijn, maar voorzichtig, dat zei mijn vader altijd. Aangezien hij springlevend is, lijkt het me een goed advies. Bang zijn gaat gepaard met angst. Angst voelt slecht, het is een negatieve emotie waar we zo snel mogelijk van af willen. En zo is het ook bedoeld. Angst is er niet voor niks.

To understand inactivity and relapse from PA, and to develop theory-based behavior change strategies to stimulate and support maintenance of PA. We conducted a literature search to explore barriers to PA. Social cognitive theories and empirical evidence were evaluated and guided the process developing a theoretical framework and counseling strategi...

Objective. As public discourse surrounding obesity highlights the societal costs of obesity and individual’s own responsibility for their weight, being overweight is often framed as immoral. Such “moralizing” messages about being overweight may be a psychological threat for those with high body mass. Attempting to counter-moralize the public discou...

Background The Allen Carr training (ACt) is a popular one-session smoking cessation group training that is provided by licensed organizations that have the permission to use the Allen Carr method. However, few data are available on the effectiveness of the training. Methods In a quasi-experimental design the effects of the existing practice of pro...

Mensen uit verschillende landen, volkeren, streken, buurten, en van verschillende opleidingsniveaus, geslachten en leeftijden kunnen heel verschillend zijn; ze hebben een eigen cultuur.

In de participatiemaatschappij verandert de gezondheidzorg en dit zal zijn weerslag hebben op de relaties tussen mensen. Ik zag onlangs een presentatie van Pieternel Dijkstra daarover en die ging ongeveer zo.

Meer ouderen, relatief minder geld voor de zorg, dus is meer mantelzorg nodig.

Het klimaat verandert, de aarde warmt op, vrij zeker wel 2 graden.

Onderzoekers en beleidsmaker onderscheiden sociaaleconomische klassen in onze maatschappij. Ruwweg kun je de lage klasse, de middenklasse en de hoge klasse onderscheiden. Hoewel de grenzen tussen de klassen onduidelijk zijn, kunt u zich er vast wel iets bij voorstellen. We hebben wel een beeld van bijvoorbeeld mensen uit de lage klasse, waarvan de...

Hoe eerder je een ziekte ontdekt, hoe beter je die kunt behandelen. Dus screenen maar.

Objective: In the process of behaviour change, intonation of speech is an important aspect that may influence persuasion when auditory messages are used. In two experiments, we tested to what extent different levels of intonation are related to persuasion and whether for some recipients the threat posed by the message information might become too...

Objective: Former cancer patients' quality of life can be improved by offering social comparison information. Whether patients, however, benefit from the information may depend on how negative they perceive their present and their future. Design: We conducted a randomised experimental field study with a pre- and post-measurement. Dutch former ca...

Er werken dagelijks honderdduizenden mensen aan het verbeteren van de volksgezondheid. Ook de goede doelen zoals de Hartstichting, de Kankerbestrijding, het Longfonds en het Diabetesfonds doen hun best. Ze doen dat op hun eigen manier: geld inzamelen voor wetenschappelijk onderzoek naar een betere behandeling van, bijvoorbeeld, diabetes of kanker....

Meneer Plunter (MP) is 77 en moet wat meer bewegen; hij zou daar in januari mee beginnen. De zuster (Z) informeert hoe het daar mee staat.Z: Hoe gaat het nu met bewegen?MP: Ach, ik ben er alweer mee gestopt.Z: Oh, wanneer wilt u weer beginnen?MP: Volgende week ga ik weer wandelen.Maar dat kan beter:Z: Prima, volgende week begint u weer. Wanneer?MP:...

Meneer Plunter is 77 en heeft het zwaar; hij is aan zijn teennagel geholpen maar heeft nu pijn aan zijn heup. Daarom loopt hij moeilijk en zit hij veel; hij is ongeveer gestopt met lopen. Daardoor wordt hij zo stijf als een plank waardoor het lopen helemaal pijnlijk is. Ook is hij snel kortademig als hij een stukje loopt. Dat komt door zijn lichte...

Ik begin het nu toch soms echt te merken dat ik geen 20 meer ben. Zo keek ik gisterenochtend in de spiegel en had ik het idee dat het me nu toch echt aan te zien is dat ik 51 jaar ben: mijn vergrijzing, verrimpeling, roestplekken en beginnende herfstwangen zijn niet meer te ontkennen. De lichamelijke neergang is ingezet, die is niet te stuiten, mis...

In the present study, the method of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is studied to understand and prevent defensive reactions with regard to a negatively framed message advocating fruit and vegetable consumption. EMDR has been shown to tax the working memory. Participants from a university sample (n = 124) listened to the persua...

We krijgen informatie over ons eigen lichaam via onze zintuigen. We kunnen ons zelf zien; in de spiegel zien we onze eigen omvang, die pukkel of onze rode ogen. We ruiken ons zelf; op het toilet of na een drukke dag. Ook kunnen we ons zelf horen; hoesten, hijgen, darmactiviteit. We kunnen ons zelf ook proeven; bloed na een tand-door-de-lip of zweet...

Hoe zorg je ervoor dat verpleegkundigen of verzorgenden in een team hun fouten melden, de juiste protocollen volgen en gemotiveerd blijven werken? En hoe zorg je ervoor dat ze die nieuwe werkmethode goed gebruiken, goed samenwerken en zich bijvoorbeeld meer richten op zelfzorgondersteuning? Door goed leiding te geven! Maar dat is geen eenvoudige ta...

It is well-established among (oral) health professionals that oral hygiene behavior is an essential aspect of general health throughout life. Nevertheless, adequate oral hygiene behavior (OHB) is not simply a matter of daily removal of dental plaque by just tooth brushing and flossing'. The MondiX was developed as an index for assessing and evaluat...

Objective: In 2008, smoke-free legislation was implemented in hospitality venues (HV) in the Netherlands. We investigated how continuing smokers with a lower educational background respond behaviourally and psychologically to the legislation and the norm it communicates. Design: In 2010, 18 lower-educated daily smokers were interviewed. Transcri...

Bij de omgang met patienten kom je heel wat lichaamsproducten tegen. Dat is niet altijd lekker, soms nogal onsmakelijk of zelfs walgelijk. Hoe kan dat?

Two studies examined the relationship between social comparison orientation (SCO) and two types of closeness (dimensional closeness and psychological closeness) in the context of appearance-related comparisons among women. A pilot study showed that these two types were relatively independent constructs, and provided evidence for the differential va...

The current research shows that people differ in their inclination to use positive self-images when their self is threatened (i.e., cognitive self-affirmation inclination, CSAI). Just as self-affirmation manipulations do, the use of positive self-images induces open mindedness towards threatening messages. The aim of the current studies was to show...

Objective: Life, following curative treatment, can be a struggle for former cancer patients. In this phase of their illness, social comparison information may help to improve a patient's quality of life (QOL). The objective of this study was to determine whether the effects of this information depend on the following two variables: (1) the individ...

To assess the validity and reliability of the Dutch version of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) in a sample of patients of a forensic psychiatric hospital

Objective: For cancer survivors, the recovery phase after hospital treatment can be bothersome. Social comparison information from fellow cancer survivors can improve the quality of life in this situation. Method: In a randomized field experiment, 139 Dutch cancer survivors (M(age) = 52 years; 70.5% women) were assigned to a control condition or...

The purpose of this persuasion research was to show that self-affirmation (SA) increases intentions in the advocated direction and that these intentions predict actual health behaviour change. That is, these intentions not only serve the function of short-term relief of the threat caused by the persuasive message. We proposed that the effect of SA...

When people are confronted with the potential negative physical outcomes of their own health risk behaviour, they experience a self-threat. This threat is felt as negative self-evaluative emotions. We hypothesise that the threat will lead to more private self-evaluative emotions (e.g. regret) in a private social context, whereas more public self-ev...

The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of oral hygiene behaviour (OHB) based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) among dental care seekers in two cultural different regions: the Caribbean (Aruba/Bonaire) and Nepal. In addition, measures of oral health knowledge (OHK) and the expected social outcomes of having healthy teeth (ESO)...

Ambivalence can be viewed as a normal temporary psychological state in a decision process, for example, on quitting smoking. However, when ambivalence is still present after the decision has been made, it may undermine the motivation to stick to the decision. In smoking cessation, ambivalence can be expected to increase the risk for relapse. In a c...

According to Regulatory Focus theory (RFT), outcomes in persuasive messages can be framed in four different ways, as gains, non-gains, losses or non-losses. In study 1, the persuasiveness of all four frames was compared and the presence/absence effect that was expected on the basis of the feature-positive effect was verified: Statements about prese...

The present study examined social comparisons among employees in Spain (Study 1) and The Netherlands (Study 2). We expected differences in social comparison frequency and dimension between employees from public and private organizations as well as between men and women. In addition, among Dutch workers, we expected social comparisons to be relative...

Fibromyalgiepatiënten kunnen baat hebben bij zelfmanagementtechnieken in het omgaan met hun pijnklachten. Niet alle patiënten zijn echter bereid om deze technieken aan te leren, dat wil zeggen, om hun gedrag te veranderen. Volgens het Transtheoretische model van gedragsverandering doorlopen mensen bij het veranderen van hun gedrag verschillende fas...

In most computer-tailored interventions, the recipient's name is used to personalize the information. This is done to increase the process of persuasion but few empirical data exist that support this notion. An experimental laboratory study was conducted to test the effects of mentioning the participants name and to study whether it was related to...

Two new psychological concepts related to relapse in smoking cessation were tested. 'Temporal comparisons' are ex-smokers' evaluations of their present situation compared to their situation as a smoker. 'Exposure evaluations' are evaluations of situations ex-smokers encountered when they used to smoke. In a cohort study among 323 ex-smokers, both c...

The aim of this study was to develop an index for oral hygiene behavior (OHB) and to examine potential predictors of this actual behavior based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Measures of oral health knowledge (OHK) and the expected effect of having healthy teeth on social relationships were included too. Using an Internet questionnaire, 4...

Because dental health and oral pathology may affect forensic psychiatric patients' well being, it is important to be able to assess oral health related quality of life (OH-QoL) in these patients. Two studies were conducted among Dutch forensic psychiatric male patients to assess the psychometric properties and some potential predictors of the Oral...

Smoking is a remarkable risk factor in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with negative effects on Crohn's disease (CD) and positive effects on ulcerative colitis (UC). This makes different changes in smoking behaviour after diagnosis between CD and UC likely. Changes in active smoking, cessation plans and passive smoking were studied in IBD patient...

Theoretically, acceptance of chronic pain (CP) is an important determinant in the functional status and well-being of patients with CP. Several questionnaires that aim to measure acceptance of CP have been developed. An overview of the psychometric properties of these questionnaires is unavailable. A systematic review of the literature of the psych...

In the framework of the development and evaluation of oral health interventions that take into account people’s oral health-related quality of life (OH-QoL), it is important to know what determinants and effects of OH-QoL are. Because the processes involved in the experience of OH-QoL may differ for different populations, this study mapped the rela...

To make practical recommendations for improving oral hygiene behavior (OHB) potential predictors based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) were assessed. Measurements of oral health knowledge (OHK) and the expected social effect for having healthy teeth were included. 216 recruits in the Dutch Army ground forces completed a questionnaire about...

Disengagement beliefs function to reduce cognitive dissonance and a number of predictions with regard to disengagement beliefs have been tested and verified. However, the influence of disengagement beliefs on persuasion has not been studied yet. In a field-experiment, 254 smokers were randomly assigned to a persuasive message condition or a no-info...

Smoking is a remarkable risk factor for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), aggravating Crohn's disease (CD) while having beneficial effects on ulcerative colitis (UC). We studied the effects of active and passive smoking in Dutch IBD patients. A questionnaire focusing on cigarette smoke exposure was sent to 820 IBD patients. Returned questionnaires...

One individual difference that is conceptually closely related to the positive and negative framing of outcomes in persuasive communications is the person's self-discrepancy. It was expected that a match between a person's self-discrepancy and framing will lead to more persuasion, under the condition that the information is processed centrally (hig...

What social psychology can do for prevention of illness and adaptation to illness The progress in fundamental social psychological research has become smaller and because of this, our society increasingly pushes scientific social psychology, and other sciences, into the direction of utility and valorisation. At the same time there is a painful shor...

To evaluate the use of patient self-completion concordance forms and to determine the effect of patient counselling by using concordance forms on adherence to chronic medication. Patients with a prescription for new chronic treatment were randomised in an intervention or control group. The intervention group received a concordance form to fill in a...

Severity of illness is not an important determinant of drug-compliance. In this paper we hypothesize that the perceived severity of illness rather than the true severity of illness is a determinant of drug-compliance. If this is true, then it will be worthwhile for physicians to look for factors determining this perceived severity of illness. (I) T...

Long-term benzodiazepine use is associated with a variety of negative health consequences. Cessation of long-term use is therefore an important health goal. In a prospective study among chronic benzodiazepine users (N=356) social-cognitive factors of benzodiazepine cessation were examined with a nine-month follow-up. Results showed that outcome exp...

General practitioners and pharmacists do not properly educate their patients about the disadvantages of benzodiazepines. In order to increase and improve education, this study will investigate which psychological factors (i.e., beliefs, outcome expectation, social norm and self-efficacy) predict the intention to educate. A cross-sectional survey st...

‘Tailoring’ refers to any of a number of methods for creating communications individualized for their receivers, with the expectation that this individualization will lead to larger intended effects of these communications. Results so far have been generally positive but not consistently so, and this paper seeks to explicate tailoring to help focus...