(1) Background: Although social cognitive theory (SCT) has been widely tested and applied in numerous interventions aimed at optimizing physical activity behavior, the complete theory has rarely been tested in its entirety. Only selected elements have been tested, and specific samples, some of them pathological, have been studied rather than the general population, for whom a lack of physical activity is a huge problem. The present study addresses these two research gaps and tests the tenability of the theoretical assumptions of SCT to explain physical activity behavior in the general population. (2) Methods: A total of 194 German adults (109 male, 85 female) with a mean age of 26.03 years (SD = 10.33) completed two validated questionnaires concerning their expressions on SCT components (t1) and their physical activity (t2). SCT was modeled using a structural equation model with latent variables. (3) Results: The results showed the very good fit of the structural model, indicating that the theoretically stated relations between the constructs in SCT seem to be corroborated, despite some paths seeming to be more important than others. (4) Conclusions: The use of SCT to explain and predict behavior can be seen as justified, even though it once again appears that some aspects (i.e., self-efficacy) are more crucial than others.

Latent variables in structural equation models do not have an observable scale. Hence, researchers resort to scaling methods, such as fixed marker, effects coding, or fixed factor, to assign scales to the latent variables. The use of such procedures results in numerically different estimates, in spite of a single underlying population model. In this paper, we provide a framework which not only allows for a translation between estimates obtained under different scaling methods, but also helps to explore the relation between the underlying population parameters and their estimates, thus providing a basis for the interpretation of estimated parameters. Additionally, the framework proves useful for demonstrating that the choice of scaling method affects the power of the Wald test for testing parameters’ significance.

The present study investigates the effects of an intervention presenting resolvable, scientific controversies and an epistemological sensitization measure on the changes in psychology students’ epistemological beliefs. Drawing on the notion that the presentation of resolvable scientific controversies induces epistemological doubt and the notion that inducing epistemological doubt is eased in the presence of an epistemological sensitization, we used an epistemological beliefs intervention consisting of five resolvable controversies that were applied in a sample consisting of psychology students. We hypothesized that the intervention would reduce absolutist and multiplist epistemological beliefs while, at the same time, increasing evaluativist beliefs. We also assumed that the epistemological sensitization would enhance the effect of the intervention. For a domain-specific questionnaire, the results indicated a reduction of absolutist epistemological beliefs regardless of the presence of the epistemological sensitization. Unexpectedly, there was a backfire effect indicated by a rise of multiplist beliefs. For a domain- and topic-specific questionnaire, there was no significant reduction of absolutist and multiplist beliefs but a significant increase in evaluativist beliefs when the epistemological sensitization was present. A measure assessing argumentation skills revealed an increase in argumentation skills only when the epistemological sensitization is present. Finally, we discuss limitations, educational implications, and directions for future research.

Based on different theories in media research (₃AM, catalyst model of violent crime, reinforcing spirals model), we further explore the relationship between pornography use, sexual fantasy, and behavior. We suggest that pornography use appears so persistent across time and culture because it is related to a human universal, the ability to fantasize. Consequently, pornography use seems to be an opportunity to acquire media-mediated sexual fantasies, and we believe that pornography use interacts with sexual fantasies and, to a much weaker extent, with sexual behavior. To assess our assumptions, we conducted a network analysis with a large and diverse sample of N = 1338 hetero- and bisexual participants from Germany. Analyses were done separately for men and women. Our network analysis clustered parts of the psychological processes around the interaction of sexual fantasies, pornography use, and behavior into communities of especially strong interacting items. We detected meaningful communities (orgasm-centered intercourse, BDSM) consisting of sexual fantasies and behavior, with some containing pornography. However, pornography use was not part of communities we perceive to account for mainstream/everyday sexuality. Instead, our results show that non-mainstream behavior (e.g., BDSM) is affected by pornography use. Our study highlights the interaction between sexual fantasies, sexual behavior, and (parts of) pornography use. It advocates for a more interactionist view of human sexuality and media use.

In this paper, we explain the reasons behind constraint interaction, which is the phenomenon that the results of testing equality constraints may depend heavily on the scaling method used. We find that the scaling methods interfere with the testing procedures because scaling methods determine which transformations of population quantities model parameters actually estimate. We therefore also develop rules on how to correctly interpret estimates of model parameters under alternative scaling methods.

The aim of the present study was to introduce a general theoretical model of scientific competencies in higher education and to adapt it to three social sciences, namely psychology, sociology, and political science, by providing evidence from expert interviews and program regulations. Within our general model, we distinguished and specified four building blocks of scientific competencies: input, operations, and output, as well as personal characteristics. We defined input as content students are exposed to in their respective domains, operations as cognitive processes stated by Anderson et al. (2001), and output as content students create as a result of applying operations on input. We considered scientific competencies to be the constructive use of operations on input and the creation of output thereby. Furthermore, we considered personal characteristics that are relevant for competency acquisition and for working in a scientifically competent manner. In the present article we provide main results for the four building blocks of scientific competencies in psychology, sociology, and political science. Furthermore, we discuss limitations of our current model such as the necessity to determine criteria to further clarify what the constructive use of operations on input looks like in the different cycles of higher education.