George C Williams
Biographic Data
| ID | 252000 |
|---|---|
| NAME | George C Williams |
| GIVEN NAMES | George C |
| FAMILY NAME | Williams |
| SIGNATURE | WILLIAMS G C |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Rochester |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2050-5658 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 39 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 112 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 38 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1957 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
All Work and No Play”
Translating ‘work’ as ‘travail’ (noun) or ‘travailler’ (verb) may seem straightforward, but in reality the underlying collocational resonances are very different. This text looks at the concept of collocational resonance, a theory first mooted in 2005, as the sub-conscious meaning potentials of words within different collocational environments over time. The text takes a diachronic analysis of the two words through a series of legacy dictionaries…
Motivation and accessing care among drug treatment court involved women
Drug treatment courts (DTC) address substance use disorders (SUD) but not cooccurrencing HIV or hepatitis C virus (HCV). This pilot explored feasibility and preliminary outcomes of the Women's Initiative Supporting Health (WISH) intervention and health-related motivation, both based in self-determination theory (SDT) regarding HIV/HCV and SUD treatment. WISH feasibility study: 79 DTC women completed a one-time survey regarding motivation and will…
Client-Centered Care Coordination (C4TM) for HIV/STI Prevention
Implementation of a self-determination based clinical program to reduce cardiovascular disease risk
Health behaviors are the cornerstone of cardiovascular risk reduction but change is challenging and maintenance is uncommon. The use of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) can promote long-term change however the pathway is uncertain related to cardiovascular risk reduction. A multi-disciplinary clinical team trained in SDT counseled 294 individuals with high cardiovascular risk. Our participants had a significant decrease in cholesterol as well as a…
Mindfulness buffers the adverse impact of need frustration on employee outcomes
According to the job demands–resources model, job demands (or hindrances) can drain energy and yield physiological and psychological costs by requiring sustained physical and/or mental effort at work. Using self-determination theory, the current study examined the associations among role conflict (as a proxy for job demands), frustration of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, mindfulness, and employees’ health…
Evaluation of a technology-enhanced intervention for older women with HIV infection
The syndemic effects of HIV infection, side effects of highly active antiretroviral medications, and age-related changes lead to increased risk for comorbidities and functional decline for older people with HIV. This proof of concept (PoC) study evaluated perceived usefulness, satisfaction, acceptability, intervention processes, resource management, and outcome effect variances of ThE CARE Intervention guided by the Self-Determination Theory. To …
A classification of motivation and behavior change techniques used in self-determination theory-based interventions in health contexts.
While evidence suggests that interventions based on self-determination theory have efficacy in \nmotivating adoption and maintenance of health-related behaviors, and in promoting adaptive \npsychological outcomes, the motivational techniques that comprise the content of these \ninterventions have not been comprehensively identified or described. The aim of the present \nstudy was to develop a classification system of the techniques that comprise …
US Physicians’ Work Motivation and Their Occupational Health
BACKGROUND: Poor occupational health among physicians poses a serious risk both to physicians themselves and the patients under their care. Prior research has found that occupational health among nonphysicians is associated with both degree and type of work motivation. OBJECTIVE: The main purpose of this article was to assess the association between physician work motivation and their occupational health. RESEARCH DESIGN: This study was a nationa…
The role of motivation in predicting antiretroviral therapy adherence in China
Patient motivation is important in managing medication regimens such as antiretroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS. We tested whether self-determination theory could predict adherence behavior among 115 HIV-positive patients in the China Adherence through Technology Study, a randomized controlled trial of an intervention using text reminders and supportive counseling to increase adherence. Being in the treatment group had a significant effect on impro…
Group Selection
Brief report of virtual clinician research tools for tobacco dependence or dyslipidemia
Health avatars were created to deliver previously tested live interventions for tobacco dependence and cholesterol management. The exploratory aims were to develop and test whether the avatar can be reliably assessed for autonomy supportiveness using the Health Care Climate Questionnaire and estimate the mean changes in motivation variables and correlate the avatars' autonomy supportiveness with the motivation variables and health outcomes. The a…
Testing satisfaction of basic psychological needs as a mediator of the relationship between socioeconomic status and physical and mental health
This research applied self-determination theory to examine the degree to which satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence explained the association between socioeconomic status and physical and mental health outcomes, while controlling for age, exercise, and smoking status. This was a survey research study with 513 full-time employees in professions representative of a hierarchal organization. The results …
Self-Determination Theory Applied to Health Contexts
Behavior change is more effective and lasting when patients are autonomously motivated. To examine this idea, we identified 184 independent data sets from studies that utilized self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000) in health care and health promotion contexts. A meta-analysis evaluated relations between the SDT-based constructs of practitioner support for patient autonomy and patients’ experience of psychological need satisfaction, a…
Self-determination theory
Mounting evidence implicates health behaviors (e.g., nutrition, physical activity, tobacco abstinence) in various health outcomes. As the science of behavior change has emerged, increasing emphasis has been placed on the use of theory in developing and testing interventions. Self-determination theory (SDT)-a theoretical perspective-and motivational interviewing (MI)-a set of clinical techniques-have both been used in health behavior intervention …
How self-determination theory can assist our understanding of the teaching and learning processes in medical education. Amee Guide No. 59
Self-determination Theory (SDT), designed by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, serves among the current major motivational theories in psychology. SDT research has been conducted in many areas, among which are education and health care, but its applications in medical education are rare. The potential of SDT to help understand processes in medical education justifies this Guide. SDT is explained in seven principles, one of which is the distinction of…
Evaluation of a standard provision versus an autonomy promotive exercise referral programme
The trial is registered as Current Controlled trials ISRCTN07682833
A Multilingual Matter
Testing a self-determination theory intervention for motivating tobacco cessation
A longitudinal randomized trial tested the self-determination theory (SDT) intervention and process model of health behavior change for tobacco cessation (N = 1006). Adult smokers were recruited for a study of smokers' health and were assigned to intensive treatment or community care. Participants were relatively poor and undereducated. Intervention patients perceived greater autonomy support and reported greater autonomous and competence motivat…
Validating the theoretical structure of the Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire (TSRQ) across three different health behaviors
Nearly 40% of mortality in the United States is linked to social and behavioral factors such as smoking, diet and sedentary lifestyle. Autonomous self-regulation of health-related behaviors is thus an important aspect of human behavior to assess. In 1997, the Behavior Change Consortium (BCC) was formed. Within the BCC, seven health behaviors, 18 theoretical models, five intervention settings and 26 mediating variables were studied across diverse …
Testing a Self-Determination Theory Process Model for Promoting Glycemic Control Through Diabetes Self-Management.
A longitudinal study tested the self-determination theory (SDT) process model of health behavior change for glycemic control within a randomized trial of patient activation versus passive education. Glycosylated hemoglobin for patients with Type 2 diabetes (n=159) was assessed at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. Autonomous motivation and perceived competence were assessed at baseline and 6 months, and the autonomy supportiveness of clinical pra…
Physician Autonomy, Paternalism, and Professionalism
The American Board of Internal Medicine and other leading medical organizations recently articulated "A Physician Charter" based on 3 principles: (1) the primacy of patient welfare; (2) patient autonomy; and (3) social justice The charter is intended to establish a system of core values for everyone working in the medical profession, and for physicians in particular. These 3 principles function as the proverbial 3-legged stool. Overall, patients …
You Can Pay Me Now, Or You Can Pay Me Later”
Physicians can take an active role in disease prevention by learning counseling skills and
Activating Patients for Smoking Cessation Through Physician Autonomy Support
OBJECTIVE: Test whether physicians' counseling patients for smoking cessation with an autonomy supportive rather than controlling style would increase patients' active involvement in the counseling session and increase maintained abstinence. DESIGN: Randomized trial of 27 community-based physicians using two interview styles, with observer ratings of patient active involvement and assessments of patient smoking status at 6 months, 12 months, and …
Extrinsic Life Goals and Health‐Risk Behaviors in Adolescents 1
Guided by self‐determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985), two studies examined adolescents' risk behaviors as a function of their extrinsic aspirations for wealth, fame, and image relative to their intrinsic aspirations for growth, relationships, and community; and as a function of their perceptions of their parents' autonomy support. In the first study, adolescents who reported using cigarettes had significantly stronger relative extrinsic aspira…
The Raymond Pearl memorial lecture, 1997
Darwinian natural selection is the only factor in evolution that maintains and improves adaptation. It does so by favoring genes that enhance the genetic success of their bearers under historically prevalent conditions, and need not favor health or happiness or conformity to some universally normal state. It may favor unpleasant departures from medical normalcy if they contribute to long-term genetic success, either directly or as unavoidable cos…
Motivational predictors of weight loss and weight-loss maintenance
Self-determination theory proposes that behavior change will occur and persist if it is autonomously motivated.Autonomous motivation for a behavior is theorized to be a function both of individual differences in the autonomy orientation from the General Causality Orientations Scale and of the degree of autonomy supportiveness of relevant social contexts.We tested the theory with 128 patients in a 6-month, very-low-calorie weight-loss program with…
Internalization of biopsychosocial values by medical students
Testing satisfaction of basic psychological needs as a mediator of the relationship between socioeconomic status and physical and mental health
This research applied self-determination theory to examine the degree to which satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence explained the association between socioeconomic status and physical and mental health outcomes, while controlling for age, exercise, and smoking status. This was a survey research study with 513 full-time employees in professions representative of a hierarchal organization. The results …
Motivation underlying career choice for internal medicine and surgery
Self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 1985) was used to predict medical students' career choices for internal medicine or surgery based on their experiences of the autonomy support provided by the instructors in the two corresponding third-year clerkships. Fourth-year medical students (n = 210) at three medical schools completed questionnaires that assessed (1) retrospective prior likelihood (as of the end of second year) of their going into …
The role of motivation in predicting antiretroviral therapy adherence in China
Patient motivation is important in managing medication regimens such as antiretroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS. We tested whether self-determination theory could predict adherence behavior among 115 HIV-positive patients in the China Adherence through Technology Study, a randomized controlled trial of an intervention using text reminders and supportive counseling to increase adherence. Being in the treatment group had a significant effect on impro…
Client-Centered Care Coordination (C4TM) for HIV/STI Prevention
Brief report of virtual clinician research tools for tobacco dependence or dyslipidemia
Health avatars were created to deliver previously tested live interventions for tobacco dependence and cholesterol management. The exploratory aims were to develop and test whether the avatar can be reliably assessed for autonomy supportiveness using the Health Care Climate Questionnaire and estimate the mean changes in motivation variables and correlate the avatars' autonomy supportiveness with the motivation variables and health outcomes. The a…
A Multilingual Matter
Pleiotropy, Natural Selection, and the Evolution of Senescence
Natural Selection, the Costs of Reproduction, and a Refinement of Lack's Principle
Group Selection
Mysteries of Sex and Recombination The Evolution of Sex. John Maynard Smith
Evolution and Ethics
T. H. Huxley (1825-1895) was not only an active protagonist in the religious and scientific upheaval that followed the publication of Darwin's theory of evolution but also a harbinger of the sociobiological debates about the implications of evolution that are now going on. His seminal lecture Evolution and Ethics, reprinted here with its introductory Prolegomena, argues that the human psyche is at war with itself, that humans are alienated in a c…
The Dawn of Darwinian Medicine
While evolution by natural selection has long been a foundation for biomedical science, it has recently gained new power to explain many aspects of disease. This progress results largely from the disciplined application of what has been called the adaptations program. We show that this increasingly significant research paradigm can predict otherwise unsuspected facets of human biology, and that it provides new insights into the causes of medical …
Natural Selection
This important new volume in the Oxford Series in Ecology and Evolution examines the mechanism and action of natural selection in evolution. Williams offers his own synthesis of modern evolutionary theory -including discussions of the gene as the unit of selection, clade selection and macroevolution, diversity within and among populations, stasis, and other timely and provocative issues central to the study of evolution. Williams’ preeminent posi…
Need satisfaction and the self-regulation of learning
Self-regulation is analyzed in terms of self-determination theory using the concepts of intrinsic motivation and the internalization of extrinsic motivation. Laboratory experiments and field studies are reviewed indicating that: (1) intrinsic motivation and fully internalized extrinsic motivation are positively associated with high quality learning and personal adjustment; and (2) maintaining intrinsic motivation and internalizing extrinsic motiv…
Internalization of biopsychosocial values by medical students
Motivational predictors of weight loss and weight-loss maintenance
Self-determination theory proposes that behavior change will occur and persist if it is autonomously motivated.Autonomous motivation for a behavior is theorized to be a function both of individual differences in the autonomy orientation from the General Causality Orientations Scale and of the degree of autonomy supportiveness of relevant social contexts.We tested the theory with 128 patients in a 6-month, very-low-calorie weight-loss program with…
Motivation underlying career choice for internal medicine and surgery
Self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 1985) was used to predict medical students' career choices for internal medicine or surgery based on their experiences of the autonomy support provided by the instructors in the two corresponding third-year clerkships. Fourth-year medical students (n = 210) at three medical schools completed questionnaires that assessed (1) retrospective prior likelihood (as of the end of second year) of their going into …
Autonomous regulation and long-term medication adherence in adult outpatients.
Self-determination theory was applied to explore the motivational basis of adherence to long-term medication prescriptions. Adult outpatients with various diagnoses who had been on a medication for at least I month and expected to continue (a) completed questionnaires that assessed their autonomous regulation, other motivation variables, and perceptions of their physicians' support of their autonomy by hearing their concerns and offering choice; …
Supporting Autonomy to Motivate Patients With Diabetes for Glucose Control
OBJECTIVE: We applied the self-determination theory of human motivation to examine whether patient perceptions of autonomy supportiveness (i.e., patient centeredness) from their diabetes care providers related to improved glucose control over a 12-month period. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study of patients with diabetes from a diabetes treatment center at a university-affiliated community hospital. Participants …
Extrinsic Life Goals and Health‐Risk Behaviors in Adolescents 1
Guided by self‐determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985), two studies examined adolescents' risk behaviors as a function of their extrinsic aspirations for wealth, fame, and image relative to their intrinsic aspirations for growth, relationships, and community; and as a function of their perceptions of their parents' autonomy support. In the first study, adolescents who reported using cigarettes had significantly stronger relative extrinsic aspira…
The Raymond Pearl memorial lecture, 1997
Darwinian natural selection is the only factor in evolution that maintains and improves adaptation. It does so by favoring genes that enhance the genetic success of their bearers under historically prevalent conditions, and need not favor health or happiness or conformity to some universally normal state. It may favor unpleasant departures from medical normalcy if they contribute to long-term genetic success, either directly or as unavoidable cos…
The Raymond Pearl memorial lecture, 1997
Darwinian natural selection is the only factor in evolution that maintains and improves adaptation. It does so by favoring genes that enhance the genetic success of their bearers under historically prevalent conditions, and need not favor health or happiness or conformity to some universally normal state. It may favor unpleasant departures from medical normalcy if they contribute to long-term genetic success, either directly or as unavoidable cos…
Activating Patients for Smoking Cessation Through Physician Autonomy Support
OBJECTIVE: Test whether physicians' counseling patients for smoking cessation with an autonomy supportive rather than controlling style would increase patients' active involvement in the counseling session and increase maintained abstinence. DESIGN: Randomized trial of 27 community-based physicians using two interview styles, with observer ratings of patient active involvement and assessments of patient smoking status at 6 months, 12 months, and …
You Can Pay Me Now, Or You Can Pay Me Later”
Physicians can take an active role in disease prevention by learning counseling skills and
Testing a Self-Determination Theory Process Model for Promoting Glycemic Control Through Diabetes Self-Management.
A longitudinal study tested the self-determination theory (SDT) process model of health behavior change for glycemic control within a randomized trial of patient activation versus passive education. Glycosylated hemoglobin for patients with Type 2 diabetes (n=159) was assessed at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. Autonomous motivation and perceived competence were assessed at baseline and 6 months, and the autonomy supportiveness of clinical pra…
Physician Autonomy, Paternalism, and Professionalism
The American Board of Internal Medicine and other leading medical organizations recently articulated "A Physician Charter" based on 3 principles: (1) the primacy of patient welfare; (2) patient autonomy; and (3) social justice The charter is intended to establish a system of core values for everyone working in the medical profession, and for physicians in particular. These 3 principles function as the proverbial 3-legged stool. Overall, patients …
Testing a self-determination theory intervention for motivating tobacco cessation
A longitudinal randomized trial tested the self-determination theory (SDT) intervention and process model of health behavior change for tobacco cessation (N = 1006). Adult smokers were recruited for a study of smokers' health and were assigned to intensive treatment or community care. Participants were relatively poor and undereducated. Intervention patients perceived greater autonomy support and reported greater autonomous and competence motivat…
Validating the theoretical structure of the Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire (TSRQ) across three different health behaviors
Nearly 40% of mortality in the United States is linked to social and behavioral factors such as smoking, diet and sedentary lifestyle. Autonomous self-regulation of health-related behaviors is thus an important aspect of human behavior to assess. In 1997, the Behavior Change Consortium (BCC) was formed. Within the BCC, seven health behaviors, 18 theoretical models, five intervention settings and 26 mediating variables were studied across diverse …
A Multilingual Matter
Evaluation of a standard provision versus an autonomy promotive exercise referral programme
The trial is registered as Current Controlled trials ISRCTN07682833
How self-determination theory can assist our understanding of the teaching and learning processes in medical education. Amee Guide No. 59
Self-determination Theory (SDT), designed by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, serves among the current major motivational theories in psychology. SDT research has been conducted in many areas, among which are education and health care, but its applications in medical education are rare. The potential of SDT to help understand processes in medical education justifies this Guide. SDT is explained in seven principles, one of which is the distinction of…
Psychology (27 works) · Medicine (22 works) · Social Psychology (20 works) · Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports (18 works) · Autonomy (15 works) · Behavioral Health and Interventions (11 works) · Computer Science (11 works) · Family medicine (10 works) · Clinical Psychology (9 works) · Psychiatry (9 works)