0000000000372575
AUTHOR
Torleif Halkjelsvik
The distribution and role of causal beliefs ...
- The purpose of this study was to explore the distribution and role of causal beliefs, inferences of responsibility, and moral emotions on deservingness of help to addicts among Norwegian adults using the social motivational model of Weiner. The data derives from a web panel survey of Norwegian adults aged 20 to 69 years (N = 1062, response rate 67%) in 2011. They responded to a questionnaire tapping into the above measures for nine different addictions in terms of a hypothetical person: "Think of a person addicted to-." The respondents mainly located the cause of the addictions inside the person and attributed the responsibility for the problem to the individual. In general, addicted pers…
The effects of an abrupt increase in taxes on candy and soda in Norway: an observational study of retail sales
Abstract Background Fiscal policies are used to promote a healthier diet; however, there is still a call for real-world evaluations of taxes on unhealthy foods and beverages. We aimed to evaluate the effect of an abrupt increase, of respectively 80 and 40%, in the excising Norwegian taxes on candy and beverages on volume sales of candy and soda. We expected sales to fall. Methods We analyzed electronic point of sale data covering approximately 98% of volume sales of grocery stores in Norway. In two pre-registered models with weekly (log-)sales of taxed candy and soda from 3884 individual stores, we modeled the difference between the jump (discontinuity) in the trend around the time of the i…
Mental States of Addiction
An increasing number of studies have examined lay meanings of addiction. The purpose of this study was to explore whether a generalized conception of an addiction mind-set was evident in the beliefs of a sample of 1,062 Norwegian adults responding to an online survey. The respondents were given a rating task in the following form: “Addiction to [substance/behavior] is/represents [descriptive term].” For each of the nine different addictive behaviors (cocaine, cannabis, alcohol, gambling, smoking, amphetamine, sedatives, snus, and heroin), the respondents rated their endorsement of 11 descriptive terms (mental states): reduced self-determination, obsession, strong urge, strong appetite, stro…