
Thomas Llewelyn WebbThe University of Sheffield | Sheffield · Department of Psychology (Faculty of Science)
Thomas Llewelyn Webb
BA, MSc, PhD
Professor at the University of Sheffield
About
179
Publications
166,688
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
18,015
Citations
Introduction
I am a social psychologist, interested in self-regulation and behaviour change.
Additional affiliations
Education
September 2000 - September 2003
September 1999 - September 2000
September 1996 - June 1999
Publications
Publications (179)
Monitoring one’s current standing with respect to goals can promote effective self-regulation. However,
the present review suggests that there is an ostrich problem such that, in many instances, people have a
tendency to “bury their head in the sand” and intentionally avoid or reject information that would help
them to monitor their goal progress....
The present research explores how justifications for indulgence influence the translation of 'good' intentions into action. Three studies investigated the nature of such justifications and their relation to indulgence. Study 1 identified six ways that people justify indulgence to themselves - that they are deserving or curious, that the indulgence...
The present meta-analysis investigated the effectiveness of strategies derived from the process model of emotion regulation in modifying emotional outcomes as indexed by experiential, behavioral, and physiological measures. A systematic search of the literature identified 306 experimental comparisons of different emotion regulation (ER) strategies....
Introduction
Obesity is a serious and prevalent problem in dogs. The causes are multifactorial, but owners play a key role and so this paper reports the development and evaluation of a health pack designed to help owners to manage the weight of their dogs.
Method
The pack was informed by previous research, behavior change theory (i.e., the COM-B m...
There has been a rapid expansion in the quantity and complexity of data, information and knowledge created in the behavioural and social sciences, yet the field is not advancing understanding, practice or policy to the extent that the insights warrant. One challenge is that research often progresses in disciplinary silos and is reported using incon...
Reuse packaging systems (both return and refill) are a key part of achieving a circular economy, however adoption and uptake are low. A reuse system must be environmentally beneficial, economically viable and acceptable to users such that they are willing to use, and reuse, the system. Here we focus on returnable takeaway food containers and develo...
Body dissatisfaction reflects a person's negative perceptions, thoughts, and feelings regarding their body. Two factors—(1) self‐compassion, a positive attitude of self‐acceptance despite flaws, and (2) gratitude, the capability to notice and appreciate the positive aspects of life—may help to reduce body dissatisfaction. The present research aimed...
Systems for reusing packaging (e.g., refillable bottles for laundry detergent) have the potential to reduce plastic waste and lower the environmental impact of delivering products to consumers. However, despite the potential of reusable packaging, uptake of reuse systems is typically low and so the present research investigated whether informing co...
Systems for reusing containers (e.g., for takeaway food) represent one way to reduce waste. However, evidence suggests that people are relatively unwilling to reuse containers, especially if they show signs of previous use. The present research investigated the hypothesis that providing information about cleaning would increase willingness to reuse...
Zoos and aquariums are well placed to connect visitors with the issues facing biodiversity globally and many deliver interventions that seek to influence visitors’ beliefs and behaviors with respect to conservation. However, despite primary studies evaluating the effect of such interventions, the overall effect of engaging with zoos and the factors...
Background
Health-risk behaviours such as smoking, unhealthy nutrition, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity (termed SNAP behaviours) are leading risk factors for multimorbidity and tend to cluster (i.e. occur in specific combinations within distinct subpopulations). However, little is known about how these clusters change with age in older...
Smoking, unhealthy nutrition, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity (SNAP risk behaviours) are leading risk factors for multimorbidity and tend to cluster within specific subpopulations. Little is known about how these clusters change with age in older adults and their association with multimorbidity. Repeated measures latent class analysis...
Reusable packaging systems can help tackle the global problem of plastic waste by keeping material in circulation. Furthermore, technology now makes it possible to trace material as it moves through the reuse process, which potentially confers benefits across the supply chain. However, research into these digital reuse systems remains limited, part...
We previously conducted two studies that investigated the relationship between family functioning and emotion regulation. Both studies were preregistered on OSF, and the protocols for these studies can be found via the following links: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/HMUE6 (Study 1) and https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/P7AK8 (Study 2). In Study 1, w...
Packaging is typically viewed as a product delivery system to be discarded having fulfilled this function, thereby wasting the resources and potentially causing further harm. Changing this situation will likely involve new technologies, systems, and approaches, but will also require people to rethink their relationship with packaging, potentially i...
Despite research indicating that responding with self-compassion to lapses in goal pursuit can help people to achieve their goals, there is evidence that people often struggle to respond with self-compassion when it would benefit them. One reason is that people may not be familiar with the concept of self-compassion or may think negatively of self-...
While a growing number of studies report on relationships between behaviours (e.g. alcohol consumption, political behaviours, sleep, recycling), there is a need for a shared understanding of behaviour (e.g. how to characterise and differentiate between behaviours) and the ability to integrate insights on the relations between behaviours. Semantic t...
Introduction: Emotion regulation, or the way that people manage their emotional experiences, has been associated with mental health and wellbeing (Aldao et al., 2016; Kraiss et al., 2020). In turn, family functioning, which reflects the quality of family relationships and interactions, has been shown to play a role in emotion regulation (Cheung & P...
Single-use packaging is one of the biggest contributors to plastic waste, and reuse has been identified as a key strategy to reduce such waste. However, reusable containers typically become worn, which may influence how consumers think and feel about reuse. The present research explored whether and how evaluations of a takeaway food service changed...
Eliminating plastic waste relies, in part, on changing human behaviour. This review aimed to (a) use the AACTT (Action-Actor-Context-Target-Time) framework to identify and categorise relevant behaviours, (b) use the COM-B (Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behaviour) model to identify, categorise and evaluate variables that might be associated with...
Objective: Despite significant advancements in behavioural science it is unclear whether behaviour change techniques (or BCTs) can be delivered to large numbers of people in a cost-effective and reliable way. The current study investigated whether it is possible to reliably deliver BCTs using short text messages. Methods: Short text messages were d...
Reusing packaging and containers can significantly reduce plastic waste, yet little research has considered whether people are willing to reuse containers, especially as they start to show signs of use. The present research developed a novel method for identifying how worn or dirty a container needs to be before people become unwilling to reuse it...
Introduction Despite evidence that public pressure can promote sustainability in various domains (for example, retail and travel), no research has considered the public's attitudes towards sustainability in dentistry.
Methods A questionnaire was developed to measure attitudes towards sustainable dentistry among adults living in the UK and their wil...
Responding with self‐compassion to lapses in goal pursuit helps people to achieve their goals, yet evidence suggests that some people struggle to respond with self‐compassion. The current research proposes that social cognition models such the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Prototype Willingness Model could explain why some people, such as tho...
How do people choose how to regulate others’ emotional responses? We extended previous work on how the intensity of an emotional situation influences which strategies people choose to regulate their emotions (i.e., intrapersonal emotion regulation choice) to also consider the effect of intensity on which strategies people choose to regulate other p...
The extent to which sleep is causally related to mental health is unclear. One way to test the causal link is to evaluate the extent to which interventions that improve sleep quality also improve mental health. We conducted a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials that reported the effects of an intervention that improved sleep on composite...
Day-to-day life is inundated with attempts to control emotions and a wealth of research has examined what strategies people use and how effective these strategies are. However, until more recently, research has often neglected more basic questions such as whether and how people choose to regulate their emotions (i.e. emotion regulation choice). In...
Cycling has the potential to address a number of personal and societal challenges, not least with respect to health and the need for more sustainable modes of transport. However, the best way(s) to promote cycling is still unclear. In an effort to answer this question, we identified 39 interventions designed to promote cycling, with a total sample...
The extent to which sleep is causally related to mental health difficulties is unclear. One way to test the causal link is to evaluate the extent to which interventions that improve sleep also improve mental health. We conducted a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials that reported the effects of an intervention that improved sleep on compo...
The introduction of reusable packaging systems (both refill and return) has the potential to significantly reduce waste from single-use plastic packaging. However, for these schemes to be successful, both the environmental impact and the willingness of consumers to engage with such systems need to be carefully considered. This paper combines and di...
The development of social robots has the potential to address significant societal concerns, however, most people have limited experience of such technology. The present research investigated whether techniques borrowed from the psychology of intergroup relations – namely direct and extended contact – affect people's attitudes towards robots. Parti...
As social robots become more common, there is a need to understand how people perceive and interact with such technology. This systematic review seeks to estimate people’s attitudes toward, trust in, anxiety associated with, and acceptance of social robots; as well as factors that are associated with these beliefs. Ninety-seven studies were identif...
We investigate whether the tendency to self-affirm in response to threat is associated with how people feel when they weigh themselves. People who were preoccupied with their weight anticipated feeling less negative (Studies 1a and 1b) and felt less negative (Study 2) when self-weighing if they typically affirmed their strengths. Study 3 experiment...
Despite extensive evidence that time perspective is associated with a range of important outcomes across a variety of life domains (e.g., health, education, wealth), the question of why time perspective has such wide-reaching effects remains unknown. The present review proposes that self-regulatory processes can offer insight into why time perspect...
Rationale
Striving for goals is a key part of psychological therapy, but people often struggle to translate their goals into action. Prior evidence has found that forming if then plans (or ‘implementation intentions’) is an effective way to bridge the gap between goals and action. However, it is unclear if therapists naturally prompt their clients...
Background: Sleep and mental health go hand-in-hand, with problems sleeping being associated with a variety of mental health difficulties. Recently, insomnia has been linked with the experience of paranoia, a relationship that is likely to be mediated by negative affect. Given these links, the present research aimed to test whether a self-help inte...
Single Use Plastics are an essential and invaluable component of modern, safe and effective medical and dental care. They are used in the manufacturing of complex compound products, devices and their associated packaging. The volumes used are in the thousands of tones/year and to date, the vast majority of this ends its single-use life as waste in...
Despite evidence that exposure therapy is an effective way to treat anxiety, many clinicians fail to implement it appropriately. The current review investigated whether training can improve practicing clinicians’ beliefs about and implementation of exposure therapy. A systematic search of four databases (PsycINFO, Medline, Scopus, and ProQuest Diss...
This research aimed to improve our understanding of how owners’ beliefs and behaviour are associated with obesity in companion dogs. To do this, we employed new theoretical frameworks and integrated previously reported measures to curate a collection of brief, user-friendly self-report measures to assess owner factors. The reliability and validity...
Objective. What happens when people see others making progress toward a goal that they also hold? Is it motivating or could it undermine goal pursuit because people feel that they have made progress themselves (i.e., they experience vicarious goal satiation)? Methods. We investigated these questions in a longitudinal field context – a group weight...
What happens when people see others making progress toward a goal that they also hold? Is it motivating or could it undermine goal pursuit because people feel that they have made progress themselves (i.e., they experience vicarious goal satiation)?
We investigated these questions in a longitudinal field context – a group weight loss programme. N =...
Despite the potential of brief online interventions for reducing alcohol consumption, their effectiveness may be compromised by low levels of engagement and the inclusion of ineffective behavior change techniques. To test whether (i) a tunneled version of an intervention (where the content is delivered in a prespecified order) leads to greater enga...
Refugees often experience poor physical and mental health outcomes following resettlement. These outcomes have been linked to the conditions that are experienced by refugees in the post‐migration context, but little is known about the mechanisms by which these conditions influence health. We therefore conducted secondary analyses of the Survey of N...
Behaviour Change Techniques, Promoting Cycling, Randomized Controlled Trial, RCT, Intervention
Previous theorizing and research has linked exposure to counter-stereotypical diversity (e.g., an Oxford-educated bricklayer) to enhanced cognitive performance and creativity. However, it is unclear whether people’s motivation to cognitively engage with the counter-stereotypical information (i.e., need for cognition [NFC]) influences this effect. A...
The present research sought to (i) understand the challenges that dog owners encounter in helping their pet lose weight, and (ii) develop and test an intervention designed to help dog owners to deal with these challenges.
The present research sought to (i) understand the challenges that dog owners encounter in helping their pet lose weight, and (ii) develop and test an intervention designed to help dog owners to deal with these challenges. A series of focus groups (N = 79 dog owners, veterinarians, and industry experts) informed the content of an intervention design...
Objective: Excessive alcohol consumption, including binge drinking, increases when students enter university. This study tests whether combining messages targeting theory of planned behaviour (TPB) constructs with if-then plans (i.e. implementation intentions) to avoid binge drinking reduces binge drinking in new university students.
Design: One mo...
Objective: The present review sought to evaluate whether – and to what extent – targeting owners’ behaviour is an effective way to reduce the problem of overweight and obesity among companion dogs. Methods: A systematic search of electronic databases identified 14 studies that evaluated the effect of an intervention targeting owners’ behaviour on (...
Objectives: Athletes’ experiences of transition out of elite sport have been well documented. Less is known, however, about how the family members of athletes experience the process of transition. This study aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of parents and partners’ experiences and the way that they managed and interpreted their role in the p...
Objective
To use theory to design and evaluate an intervention to promote sleep hygiene and health among adolescents.
Methods
The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) were used to develop an intervention, which was then evaluated in a cluster randomized trial. Participants were high school students (N = 2,...
Scientists and practitioners often seek to understand people’s attitudes towards new technologies, such as robots. Attitude Representation Theory suggests that what people think and feel about a category is likely to depend on the specific representation that comes to mind when asked questions about that category. The aim of this research was there...
People’s attitudes likely play a significant role in the extent to which they are willing to accept and use new technologies, including social robots. Although a number of studies have sought to assess people’s attitudes toward social robots; to date, there has been no attempt to integrate these insights. We therefore propose to conduct a systemati...
Background
Self-monitoring of blood glucose helps people with type 1 diabetes to maintain glycemic control and reduce the risk of complications. However, adherence to blood glucose monitoring is often suboptimal.
Purpose
Like many health behaviors, self-monitoring of blood glucose involves exerting effort in the present to achieve future benefits....
Online_Appendix_CGB_Scale – Supplemental material for The Role of Compensatory Beliefs in Rationalizing Environmentally Detrimental Behaviors
Objective: When do people decide to do something about problematic health behaviours? Theoretical models and pragmatic considerations suggest that people should take action when they feel bad about their progress – in other words, when they experience negative progress-related affect. However, the impact of progress-related affect on goal striving...
Objectives
The sources and types of social support that athletes receive during the transition out of sport have been well documented. However, less is known about how athletes perceive, mobilise, and manage supportive relationships. This study aimed therefore to gain a more comprehensive insight into the ways that social support may influence how...
Background
A growing body of evidence points to relationships between insomnia, negative affect, and paranoid thinking. However, studies are needed to examine (i) whether negative affect mediates the relation between insomnia and paranoid thinking, (ii) whether different types of insomnia exert different effects on paranoia, and (iii) to compare th...
Introduction
Sleep and mental health go hand-in-hand, with many, if not all, mental health problems being associated with problems sleeping. Although sleep has been traditionally conceptualised as a secondary consequence of mental health problems, contemporary views prescribe a more influential, causal role of sleep in the formation and maintenance...
Objectives:
Excessive alcohol consumption increases when students enter university. This study tests whether combining (1) messages that target key beliefs from the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) that underlie binge drinking, (2) a self-affirmation manipulation to reduce defensive processing, and (3) implementation intentions (if-then plans to...
Objective: To evaluate an intervention programme based on the Health Action Process Approach and designed to increase the intake of fruit and vegetables (F&V) among Iranian adolescents aged 13 to 18.
Design: A randomised controlled trial with three arms examined the short- (1 month) and long-term (6 months) effects of the intervention. There were t...
Introduction
Both theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that time perspective is likely to influence self-regulatory processes and outcomes. Despite the theoretical and practical significance of such relations, the relationship between time perspective and self-regulatory processes and outcomes across different measures, samples and life doma...
Introduction Both theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that time perspective is likely to inluence self-regulatory processes and outcomes. Despite the theoretical and practical signiicance of such relations, the relationship between time perspective and self-regulatory processes and outcomes across different measures, samples and life domain...
Three studies examined how people assess their progress on personal goals (e.g., whether they compare their progress to the past and/or to a desired target state), along with factors that might influence the nature of progress monitoring (e.g., whether the goal involves attaining a positive outcome or avoiding a negative outcome). Study 1 involved...
Objectives:
The present research investigated whether Temporal Self-Regulation Theory (TST) can be used to help understand healthy and unhealthy eating intentions and behaviour.
Design:
A prospective design with two waves of data collection one week apart.
Method:
An online survey measured the key components of TST (i.e., connectedness, timing...
When do people check the balance of their personal bank accounts? To investigate this issue, we examined whether the monitoring of personal finances is influenced by peoples’ perceptions of their progress toward financial goals and their regulatory focus (i.e., whether the goal involves attaining a positive outcome or avoiding a negative outcome)....
Background
The present research aimed to investigate the efficacy of a multifaceted intervention that included motivational interviewing (MI) and psychoeducation in improving medication adherence (MA) among patients with bipolar disorder (BD).
Method
A multicenter, cluster randomized, observer-blind, controlled, parallel-group trial was conducted...
Objective: When do people decide to do something about problematic health behaviours? Theoretical models and pragmatic considerations suggest that people should take action when they feel bad about their progress – in other words, when they experience negative progress-related affect. However, the impact of progress-related affect on goal striving...
Objectives:
The primary objective was to explore young people's risk appraisals of bowel cancer, including whether they had a coherent understanding of the protective effects of physical activity (PA). A secondary objective was to examine whether the illness risk representations (IRRs) framework could be used to understand beliefs underlying bowel...
Previous theorizing and research has linked exposure to counter-stereotypical diversity (e.g., an Oxford-educated bricklayer) to enhanced cognitive performance and creativity. However, it is unclear to what extent people’s motivation to cognitively engage with the counter-stereotypical information (i.e., need for cognition, NFC) influences this eff...
Compensatory green beliefs (CGBs) reflect the idea that a pro-environmental behavior (e.g., recycling) can off-set the negative effects of an environmentally detrimental behavior (e.g., driving). It is thought that CGBs might help explain why people act in ways that appear to contradict their pro-environmental intentions, and inconsistently engage...
Three studies examined how people assess their progress on personal goals (e.g., whether they compare their progress to the past and/or to a desired target state), along with factors that might influence the nature of progress monitoring (e.g., whether the goal involves attaining a positive outcome or avoiding a negative outcome). Study 1 involved...