BeUpright: Posture Correction Using Relational Norm Intervention

Research shows the critical role of social relationships in behavior change, and the advancement of mobile technologies brings new opportunities of using online social support for persuasive applications. In this paper, we propose Relational Norm Intervention (RNI) model for behavior change, which involves two individuals as a target user and a helper respectively. RNI model uses Negative Reinforcement and Other-Regarding Preferences as motivating factors for behavior change. The model features the passive participation of a helper who will undergo artificially generated discomforts (e.g., limited access to a mobile device) when a target user performs against a target behavior. Based on in-depth discussions from a two-phase design workshop, we designed and implemented BeUpright, a mobile application employing RNI model to correct sitting posture of a target user. Also, we conducted a two-week study to evaluate the effectiveness and user experience of BeUpright. The study showed that the RNI model has a potential to increase efficacy, in terms of behavior change, compared to conventional notification approaches. The most influential factor of RNI model in the changing the behavior of target users was the intention to avoid discomforting their helpers. RNI model also showed a potential to help unmotivated individuals in behavior change. We discuss the mechanism of the RNI model in relation to prior literature on behavior change and implications of exploiting discomfort in mobile behavior change services.

[1]  Mark R. Beauchamp,et al.  Group Dynamics in Exercise and Sport Psychology , 2014 .

[2]  Ulrich John,et al.  Continuous individual support of smoking cessation using text messaging: a pilot experimental study. , 2009, Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.

[3]  J. Kagel,et al.  Other Regarding Preferences: A Selective Survey of Experimental Results , 2012 .

[4]  L. Doob.  The psychology of social norms. , 1937 .

[5]  Silvia Lindtner,et al.  Fish'n'Steps: Encouraging Physical Activity with an Interactive Computer Game , 2006, UbiComp.

[6]  Janienke Sturm,et al.  Influencing social dynamics in meetings through a peripheral display , 2007, ICMI '07.

[7]  James A. Landay,et al.  Design requirements for technologies that encourage physical activity , 2006, CHI.

[8]  M. Deutsch.  An Experimental Study of the Effects of Co-Operation and Competition upon Group Process , 1949 .

[9]  F. H. Hankins,et al.  The Psychology of Social Norms , 1937 .

[10]  J. Horowitz,et al.  Fairness in Simple Bargaining Experiments , 1994 .

[11]  Eric Baumer,et al.  Prescriptive persuasion and open-ended social awareness: expanding the design space of mobile health , 2012, CSCW.

[12]  D. Rennie.  Grounded Theory Methodology , 1998 .

[13]  Z. Dörnyei.  Psychological Processes in Cooperative Language Learning: Group Dynamics and Motivation. , 1997 .

[14]  N. Lane,et al.  MoodScope: building a mood sensor from smartphone usage patterns , 2013, MobiSys '13.

[15]  Alex Pentland,et al.  Social fMRI: Investigating and shaping social mechanisms in the real world , 2011, Pervasive Mob. Comput..

[16]  Mark R. Beauchamp,et al.  Into the mix: Personality processes and group dynamics in sport teams , 2014 .

[17]  David W. McDonald,et al.  Activity sensing in the wild: a field trial of ubifit garden , 2008, CHI.

[18]  G. Hofstede.  Dimensionalizing cultures: The Hofstede model in context , 2011 .

[19]  E Grandjean,et al.  Ergonomics of posture--review of various problems of standing and sitting posture. , 1977, Applied ergonomics.

[20]  M. Magill,et al.  How do people recover from alcohol dependence? A systematic review of the research on mechanisms of behavior change in Alcoholics Anonymous , 2009 .

[21]  J. Averill.  Anger and Aggression in Biological Perspective , 1982 .

[22]  Kevin J. Williams,et al.  Behavioral Compliance: Theory, Methodology, and Results. , 2006 .

[23]  A. Bandura.  Social Foundations of Thought and Action , 1986 .

[24]  Noah J. Goldstein,et al.  The Constructive, Destructive, and Reconstructive Power of Social Norms , 2007, Psychological science.

[25]  R. Brislin.  Back-Translation for Cross-Cultural Research , 1970 .

[26]  Cecilia Mascolo,et al.  EmotionSense: a mobile phones based adaptive platform for experimental social psychology research , 2010, UbiComp.

[27]  William Riley,et al.  Computer and manual self-help behavioral strategies for smoking reduction: initial feasibility and one-year follow-up. , 2002, Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.

[28]  Alex Pentland,et al.  Sensing, Understanding, and Shaping Social Behavior , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems.

[29]  S. Schachter.  Deviation, rejection, and communication. , 1951, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[30]  John Zimmerman,et al.  Toss 'n' turn: smartphone as sleep and sleep quality detector , 2014, CHI.

[31]  Karen Holtzblatt,et al.  Contextual design , 1997, INTR.

[32]  S. May,et al.  Sitting posture of subjects with postural backache. , 2006, Journal of manipulative and physiological therapeutics.

[33]  Hyeon-Jeong Suk,et al.  Altruistic interaction design: a new interaction design approach for making people care more about others , 2011, DPPI.

[34]  Martin A. Nowaka,et al.  nformation , irrationality , and the evolution of trust , 2012 .

[35]  Shelley Hurwitz,et al.  Using Daily Text-Message Reminders to Improve Adherence With Oral Contraceptives: A Randomized Controlled Trial , 2010, Obstetrics and gynecology.

[36]  Wai-Yin Wong,et al.  Detecting spinal posture change in sitting positions with tri-axial accelerometers. , 2008, Gait & posture.

[37]  K. R. Priya.  Grounded Theory Methodology , 2013 .

[38]  Carl A. Kallgren,et al.  A Focus Theory of Normative Conduct: A Theoretical Refinement and Reevaluation of the Role of Norms in Human Behavior , 1991 .

[39]  B. Skinner,et al.  The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis , 2016 .

[40]  Meng-Chieh Chiu,et al.  Playful bottle: a mobile social persuasion system to motivate healthy water intake , 2009, UbiComp.

[41]  Michael S. Bernstein,et al.  Twitch crowdsourcing: crowd contributions in short bursts of time , 2014, CHI.

[42]  Other-Regarding Preferences and Social Norms , 2001 .

[43]  Martin A. Nowak,et al.  Information, Irrationality and the Evolution of Trust , 2012 .

[44]  M. Becker,et al.  Sociobehavioral Determinants of Compliance with Health and Medical Care Recommendations , 1975, Medical care.

[45]  Dorwin Cartwright,et al.  Achieving Change in People: Some Applications of Group Dynamics Theory , 1951 .

[46]  A. Strauss,et al.  Grounded theory methodology: An overview. , 1994 .

[47]  A. Ahtinen,et al.  “My Phone is a Part of My Soul” – How People Bond with Their Mobile Phones , 2008, 2008 The Second International Conference on Mobile Ubiquitous Computing, Systems, Services and Technologies.

[48]  Mária Bieliková,et al.  Move2Play: an innovative approach to encouraging people to be more physically active , 2012, IHI '12.

[49]  A. Pentland,et al.  Meeting mediator: enhancing group collaborationusing sociometric feedback , 2008, CSCW.

[50]  Walter Bender,et al.  The Impact of Increased Awareness While Face-to-Face , 2007, Hum. Comput. Interact..

[51]  Matthias Baumgarten,et al.  Optimal model selection for posture recognition in home-based healthcare , 2011, Int. J. Mach. Learn. Cybern..

[52]  Bonnie Brinton Anderson,et al.  How Polymorphic Warnings Reduce Habituation in the Brain: Insights from an fMRI Study , 2015, CHI.