Using a knowledge-and-appraisal model of personality architecture to understand consistency and variability in smokers' self-efficacy appraisals in high-risk situations

The present research used idiographic methods for identifying intraindividual, cross-contextual patterns of consistency and variability in self-efficacy appraisal among smokers. Building on a knowledge-andappraisal model of personality architecture, the authors assessed (a) schematic self-knowledge, (b) beliefs about the relevance of high-risk smoking-related situations to those schematic attributes, and (c) appraisals of self-efficacy for smoking avoidance in specific contexts. The idiographic assessments of situational and self-knowledge robustly predicted patterns of intraindividual consistency and variability in self-efficacy appraisal. A response-time measure revealed that speed in making positive self-appraisals varied systematically across schema-relevant contexts. Results speak to the field's need for assessment strategies to detect, and theoretical models to explain, within-person, across-context variations in self-efficacy for avoiding addictive behaviors.