Attitudinal Orientation Research Articles

Robert (Bob) Anthony Altemeyer (1940-2024).

Robert (Bob) Anthony Altemeyer (June 6, 1940-February 7, 2024) was an influential social psychologist who also shaped personality and political psychology. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Bob was educated at Yale (undergraduate) and Carnegie-Mellon (graduate). Following a 2-year stint at Doane College in Nebraska, he established his career at the University of Manitoba (Winnipeg, Canada) from 1968 to 2008. In 1986, Bob was awarded the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science Prize for Behavioral Science Research, largely for his development of the right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) construct. Whereas the authoritarian personality construct developed by Adorno and colleagues in the 1950s was rooted in psychodynamics, Bob drew on social learning principles and conceptualized authoritarianism as both an attitudinal orientation and trait. Not all of Bob's ideas held true, such as the social learning underpinnings that he proposed for RWA. But true to his inquisitive nature, he wrote that he would be excited to learn of RWA's strong heritable components if uncovered (as they later were). An anticonformist to the core, Bob published almost exclusively in books despite the field prioritizing journal articles, typically as sole author and working with few collaborators, and writing about complex ideas with rather informal and unconventional language. His legacy is proof that fighting the odds and remaining authentic, rather than chasing conventions and norms, can leave an indelible mark on science. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Acculturation Strategies of Indigenous Students in Learning English: A Qualitative Inquiry

This qualitative descriptive study aimed to identify the factors that contribute to social and psychological distance of indigenous English learners, their strategies to reduce these factors, and their insights about acculturation. To this end, ten indigenous English major students at the University of Mindanao were interviewed. Through thematic analysis, findings revealed that the factors involved in the social distance of the participants were incongruence and dissimilarity between 2LL and TL group, negative attitudinal orientation towards the TL group, and cohesiveness of the 2LL group, while the psychological factors were language shock, high affective filter, and ego permeability. To address these factors, the participants implemented the following strategies: positive intergroup relationship, accommodation of the TL, perceptual distortions in favor of outgroup vitality, cultivation of positive self-image, and development of TL skills. In terms of the insights of the participants, this study observed empowerment of indigenous community, enhancement of exposure to second language input, instructional scaffolding in L2 teaching, implementation of intercultural approach, immersion to the outgroup, and alleviation of affective filter. The results evinced how the acculturation dilemmas faced by indigenous English learners prevented effective second language acquisition. From this, appropriate solutions may be formulated to ensure successful acculturation in the classroom.

Review Essay: Am I Blue?: Black Music & White Male Self-Construction

Review Essay: <i>Am I Blue?: Black Music &amp; White Male Self-Construction</i>

Miniseries 1-Part III: 'Behind the scenes' in the triangle of Koch.

To take full advantage of the knowledge of cardiac anatomy, structures should be considered in their correct attitudinal orientation. Our aim was to discuss the triangle of Koch in an attitudinally appropriate fashion. We reviewed our material prepared by histological sectioning, along with computed tomographic datasets of human hearts. The triangle of Koch is the right atrial surface of the inferior pyramidal space, being bordered by the tendon of Todaro and the hinge of the septal leaflet of the tricuspid valve, with its base at the inferior cavotricuspid isthmus. The fibro-adipose tissues of the inferior pyramidal space separate the atrial wall from the crest of the muscular interventricular septum, thus producing an atrioventricular muscular sandwich. The overall area is better approached as a pyramid rather than a triangle. The apex of the inferior pyramidal space overlaps the infero-septal recess of the subaortic outflow tract, permitting the atrioventricular conduction axis to transition directly to the crest of the muscular ventricular septum. The compact atrioventricular node is formed at the apex of the pyramid by union of its inferior extensions, which represent the slow pathway, with the septal components formed in the buttress of the atrial septum, thus providing the fast pathway. To understand its various implications in current cardiological catheter interventions, the triangle of Koch must be considered in conjunction with the inferior pyramidal space and the infero-septal recess. It is better to consider the overall region in terms of a pyramidal area of interest.

How to use the 12-lead ECG to predict the site of origin of idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias

Idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias may arise from anywhere in the heart, and the majority of them can be effectively treated with catheter ablation. The 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) is the initial mapping tool to predict the most likely site of origin and is valuable to choose the appropriate ablation strategy. Crucial to ECG interpretation is understanding the attitudinal orientation of the heart within the chest and the relationship between the different cardiac structures. In this review, we provide a stepwise anatomical approach for the localization of idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias based on sequential analysis of the most relevant ECG features.

Patient-Doctor relationship in underserved environment: A cross-sectional study of attitudinal orientation, practice inclination, barriers and benefits among medical practitioners in Abia State, Nigeria.

Healthcare has become complex requiring balance of ever-increasing demands on physicians against humanness of medicine. As the impetus for the delivery of patient-centred care grows, there is need to study the attitude and practice orientations of medical practitioners to patient-doctor relationship (PDR). The study was aimed at describing the attitude, practice, barriers and benefits of PDR among medical practitioners in Abia State. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 210 medical practitioners in Abia State who were consecutively recruited for the study. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaire that elicited information on attitude, practice, barriers and benefits of PDR. Attitude was assessed with the 18-item Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS) with subscales of caring and sharing. The age of the participants ranged from 26 to 77 years with the mean of 36 ± 8.4 years. There were 173 (82.4%) male. The caring attitude score (mean = 3.57 ± 0.80) was higher than sharing (mean = 3.42 ± 0.65) (P = 0.036). Practice was predominantly doctor-centred (86.7%) than patient-centred (64.3%, P < 0.0001). The most common barrier to PDR was patient-doctor communication, while the most common benefit of PDR was improvement in patient satisfaction. Medical practitioners with duration of practice <10 years had significantly higher mean scores in attitudinal subscale of caring when compared with those with duration of practice ≥10 years (P < 0.0001). The study participants with duration of practice ≥10 years had significantly higher adequate practice (75.0%) of patient-centred care when compared with their counterparts with duration of practice <10 years (47.6%) (P = 0.00005). The attitude to caring did not translate to comparative disposition to sharing. The practice was more doctor-centred than patient-centred. The most common barrier and benefit of PDR were communication drawbacks and improvement in patient satisfaction, respectively. Duration of practice was associated with caring attitude and practice of patient-centred care, respectively.

Plagiarism in a resource-constrained context: A cross-sectional study of post-graduate medical college trainees and fellows in a tertiary health institution in South East Nigeria

Background: Globally, plagiarism is a crack on academic and professional integrity that has permeated the fabrics of medical education and constitutes a threat to genuine scholarships. Objective: The study was aimed at describing the prevalence, attitude, enabling factors, punitive, and preventive measures for plagiarism in a cross-section of postgraduate medical college trainees and fellows in a tertiary health institution in South-East Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A descriptive study was carried out in a cross-section of one hundred and 43 study participants from postgraduate medical college trainees and fellows in a tertiary health institution in Nigeria. Data collection was done using pretested, self-administered questionnaire that elicited information on awareness, prevalence, and attitude toward plagiarism (ATP). ATP was assessed with 29-item prevalidated ATP tool. Operationally, favorable range of scores for academic integrity was low-positive attitude, high-negative attitude and low subjective norms, respectively. Enabling factors, punitive and preventive measures were also studied. Results: The age of trainees ranged from 26 to 47 years with a mean of 36 ± 9.8, whereas the age of fellows ranged from 35 to 59 years with a mean of 43 ± 8.2. All the respondents were aware of plagiarism. The prevalence of plagiarism was 23.8%. Committals of plagiarism predominantly occurred during undergraduate project writings. For trainees, the mean scores for positive attitude, negative attitude, and subjective norms were 53 ± 5 (high), 12 ± 2 (low), and 30 ± 8 (moderate), respectively, while for fellows, the mean scores for positive attitude, negative attitude, and subjective norms were 35 ± 6 (moderate), 22 ± 3 (moderate) and 30 ± 5 (moderate), respectively. The most common enabling factor and punishment were ignorance of what constitutes plagiarism and demotion, respectively. The most common preventive measures were the use of anti-plagiarism software and education on what constitutes plagiarism. Conclusion: This study has shown that plagiarism occurred among the study participants. The level of awareness of plagiarism was very high but did not translate to appropriate positive, negative, and subjective norms attitudinal orientation required for academic integrity. The most common enabling factor and punishment for plagiarism were ignorance of what constitutes plagiarism and demotion, respectively.

Teachers' Attitudinal Orientation Towards the Socially Disadvantaged Students and their Education

In the context of education of socially disadvantaged pupils and the perspective of inclusive education, the teacher occupies a significant position. The presented study focuses on the issue of education of socially disadvantaged pupils, respectively its aim is to present results of the research survey focused on the attitudinal orientation of teachers in Pardubice, Liberec and Ústí nad Labem regions (n = 122) towards the socially disadvantaged pupils. Further, its goal is to find out whether there exists a relation between the teacher's attitudinal orientation and the region, his/her age, the length of the teaching experience, his/her experience with socially disadvantaged pupils education and their self-efficacy. In order to achieve research goals the Likert-type questionnaire method was used and as a research tool Teacher self-efficacy. The obtained data were subjected to factor analysis, in order to verify the relation between individual variables ANOVA was used, further Kruskal-Wallis test, Mann-Whitney test and Pearson correlation coefficient were used. It was found out that teachers evaluate the group of socially disadvantaged pupils rather negatively, on the other hand, they evaluate the possibility to reduce or overcome their disadvantage originating from the family environment they come from rather positively and also they perceive the relationship between the school and the socially disadvantaged pupils rather positively. The teachers' attitudinal orientation is not related to the previous experience with the education of socially disadvantaged pupils, the length of their teaching experience and region where the teachers work. On the contrary, the relation between teachers' attitudinal orientation and age and self-efficacy was proved.

Patients' rights in an underserved Nigerian environment: A cross-sectional study of attitude and practice orientation of medical professionals in Abia State

BACKGROUND: Globally, medical care have an age long history, but the rights of patients are more recent and occupy front burner in the quality of care metrics and medical jurisprudence and are on the rise, particularly in emerging and developing economies. AIM: The study was aimed at describing the attitude and practice of patients' rights among medical professionals in Abia State, Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive study was carried out on a cross-section of 185 medical practitioners in Abia State, Nigeria. Data collection was done using pretested, self-administered questionnaire that elicits information on awareness, attitude, and practice of basic patients' rights. Each item of attitude and practice of patients' rights was scored on a five-point Likert scale ordinal responses of all-times, most-times, sometimes, rarely, and none. Attitude and practice of patient's rights were assessed in the previous 1 year. RESULTS: The age of the participants ranged from 28 to 71 years. There were 166 males and 19 females. All the participants were aware of the patient's rights. The overall positive attitude to patients' rights was 87.3% with the most common positive attitudinal orientation being right to confidentiality (100.0%), and the least was right to know the identity/professional status of the physician (52.4%). The overall practice of patient rights was 85.8% with the most commonly practiced being right to confidentiality (100.0%) and the least was right to know the identity/professional status of the physician (51.4%). Attitude (P = 0.037) and practice (P = 0.048) of the right to know the identity/professional status of the physician were significantly associated with >10 years of medical practice. CONCLUSION: The level of awareness of patient's rights was very high but did not translate to comparative overall positive attitude and practice orientation. Patient rights should be the focus of intensive continuing medical education and professional development in addition to greater administrative and governmental support, especially in developing economies where there are limited options to safeguard patients' rights.

Assessment of the attitude of public health workers in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria towards people living with HIV/AIDS using the aids attitude scale

Context: According to the UNAIDS, Nigeria has the second heaviest burden of HIV/AIDS in Africa, with 3,459,363 people now living with the condition. Cross River State currently has HIV prevalence of 7.1%, almost double the national prevalence of 4.1%. One of the greatest challenges militating against HIV/AIDS control is stigma and discrimination. When exhibited by health care providers, stigma and discrimination can deter people living with HIV/AIDS from utilising HIV/AIDS care and services.&#x0D; Objective: To assess the attitude of healthcare providers towards people living with HIV/AIDS.Materials and methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study among 194 public health workers in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria, using a semi-structured questionnaire with a 15- point AIDS Attitude Scale. Data collected from the study were analyzed using SPSS Software.&#x0D; Results: Majority of respondents, 58.8%, agreed that despite all they know concerning how HIV is transmitted, they are still afraid of contacting it while 61.4% indicated that HIV/AIDS has made their jobs a high risk occupation. Nearly 83% of respondents indicated that they don't find it hard to be sympathetic to HIV/AIDS patients and 66% indicated that they would not feel resentful if AIDS patients accounted for a significant part of their caseload.&#x0D; Conclusion: There was evidence of stigmatizing and discriminatory attitude among the respondents that need to be addressed. There is need for further attitudinal orientation and re-orientation and health education of health-workers so as to remove any vestiges of stigmatizing attitude and ensure quality health care for PLWHAs.

Finnish parents’ attitudes toward entrepreneurship education

This study set out to investigate parental attitudes toward entrepreneurship education as evaluative directing components of social representations. A nationwide sample of parents (N = 625) was asked to indicate their opinions on a set of statements about entrepreneurship education. The parents’ attitudinal orientation suggested that they would rather avoid entrepreneurship education than approach it. Additionally, parental evaluations contained indecision and polarised opinions, and most parents saw it as unlikely or were unsure whether their children would become entrepreneurs. Parental attitudes correlated with the established representations of education and subsequent policy stands, suggesting that entrepreneurship education has been made familiar by anchoring attitudes in the field of educational debates. It was suggested that current trends in educational policy and work life may stimulate the formation of polemical social representations pertaining to entrepreneurship education.

Agripreneurial attitude among the farmers of national capital region of Delhi

Agriculture is still the mainstay of livelihood for millions of farmers in India. However, farmers are getting disenchantment with the agriculture due to climatic and production risks and more importantly due to the poor returns and high cost of cultivation. As entrepreneurship has assumed greater significance in economic development across the world, it is essential to set an entrepreneurial culture in farming and the farmers need to be motivated to shift from subsistence cultivation to commercial cultivation. Various agripreneurs in the country have proved that agriculture can be economically viable if various agricultural enterprises are followed up with post-harvest processing, value addition and marketing. However, favorable attitudinal orientation is an important prerequisite before taking up agripreneurial venture. Hence, understanding agripreneurial attitude has been a subject of interest for many researchers as agripreneurs exhibit varied types of characteristics that constitute agripreneurial attitude. The study was conducted in selected villages of National Capital Region of Delhi. Total 110 farmers, consisting of eighty agripreneurs selected purposively based on predetermined criteria (e.g. self-starter of agribusiness, extent of commercialization, recognition and awards secured, adoption of innovation in production system), and 30 non-agripreneurs selected randomly comprised the sample size of the study. The agripreneurial attitude was measured using the modified version of the entrepreneurial attitude scale of Robinson et al. (1991). About 53 and 22% of agri-preneurs were found to possess high and very high level of agripreneurial attitude respectively. Mann Whitney U-test revealed that agripreneurs and non-agripreneurs differed highly significantly (P<0.01) with respect to all the four variables namely achievement motivation, innovativeness, personal control and self-esteem.

Operationalizing and measuring individual entrepreneurial orientation using cognitive mapping and MCDA techniques

Despite the widely acknowledged importance of entrepreneurial orientation in the establishment of successful ventures, identifying entrepreneurship attitudinal orientation, and finding its determinants in particular, is a complex undertaking due to the variety of intuition- or subjectivity-based factors underlying individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO). Grounded on the integrated use of cognitive maps and the measuring attractiveness by a categorical-based evaluation technique (MACBETH), this paper aims to develop a multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) framework to assist the measurement of IEO. This evaluation mechanism makes it possible to classify individuals according to their entrepreneurial profiles, allowing managers and investors to make more informed decisions regarding business partnerships or funding allocations. Specific guidelines on how to construct such a mechanism, implications for scholars and practitioners, as well as the strengths and shortcomings of our measurement system, are also discussed.

Effective Management of Tertiary Education in Nigeria as a Panacea to Good Governance and National Security

Tertiary education is widely accepted in Nigeria today as a form of investment in human capital development that yields economic benefits and contributes significantly to the nation’s future wealth and development by increasing the productive and consumptive capacity of the citizens. Tertiary education equips the individual with relevant knowledge, skills and attitudinal orientation required to progress in one’s chosen career in life and contribute meaningfully to the economic growth and security of the nation, through purposeful governance. Ironically, tertiary education in Nigeria today is facing myriads of problems. Effective management of the tertiary education entails that the administrators of the tertiary institutions must identify these critical problems and harness judiciously available resources towards alleviating them. Effective management of tertiary education in Nigeria as a panacea for good governance and national security depends greatly upon the quality and quantity of all resources earmarked for this level of education, by all its stakeholders as well as prudential management of the resources.

The rejection of science frames in the news coverage of the golden rice experiment in Hunan, China

In this article, we examine the ways in which media frames and rhetorical devices in the Chinese media shaped the representation of the genetically modified (GM) golden rice. We draw on a study of Chinese media representations of an experiment designed to test the efficacy of golden rice as a source of Vitamin A using school children in China’s Hunan province as subjects. The study analysed Chinese web news stories about the Hunan experiment posted between 30 August 2012 (when Greenpeace first reported on the issue) and 30 October 2012. This experiment resulted in allegations of breaches in scientific protocols and created a hostile public reaction. The incident fuelled the long-standing debate about the risks and benefits of GM crops in China. In this article, we analyse 25 online news reports, examining the attitudinal orientation of the articles, the readers’ comments on the articles and GM crops, the writing style and rhetorical devices employed, the emotions provoked and the frames manifest and embedded in these articles and comments. We found that although only one-third of the articles manifested an obviously negative attitude towards golden rice and GM foods, their use of strident metaphors and analogies were designed to arouse readers’ fear and concerns about GM crops. In the anti-golden rice articles, we identified conspiracy frames, including the view that the West was using genetic engineering to establish global control over agriculture and that GM products were instruments for genocide. The pro-golden rice articles emphasised the scientific humanitarian progress, but it appears to be less attractive to the readers.

Affective implications of the mating/parenting trade-off: Short-term mating motives and desirability as a short-term mate predict less intense tenderness responses to infants

Drawing on life-history theory, it is predicted that individuals’ attitudinal orientation toward unrestricted short-term mating behavior, as well as their ability to engage in such behavior, are inversely related to nurturant emotional responses (tenderness) to infants. To test these hypotheses, participants (N=305) completed measures assessing individual differences in short-term mating orientation, self-perceived physical attractiveness, dispositional tendency to experience tenderness, and their affective responses to photographs of human infants. Results revealed that (when controlling for other relevant individual difference variables) men’s short-term mating orientation and self-perceived attractiveness were inversely associated with dispositional tenderness. Also, among men only, short-term mating orientation and self-perceived attractiveness predicted less intense tenderness responses to infants.

Dream Orientation as a Function of Hyperactivating and Deactivating Attachment Strategies

This study establishes a connection between adult attachment style and attitudinal orientation toward dreams. Presumably, the frequently emotional nature of dreams would lead adults high on attachment anxiety to construe their dreams as more important and, consequently, to engage with them more extensively than those low on attachment anxiety, whereas adults high on attachment avoidance (compared to those low on avoidance) would disengage from their dreams and minimize their importance. In the present study 173 women and 79 men participating via the internet reported three dreams and completed questionnaires assessing their attachment style, beliefs and attitudes about dreams, and dream experiences. Asexpected, attachment anxiety predicted high involvement with dreams, while attachment avoidance generally predicted dismissiveness toward dreams.

Understanding the experience of living with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): A qualitative study.

e20618 Background: As non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatments improve and patients live longer, it is increasingly important to develop interventions to help patients live fuller lives. We sought to identify key components of quality of life (QOL) and social support in determining therapeutic decision-making and overall value of life-extension, in patients with NSCLC. Methods: Three semi-structured focus groups (n=16) and telephone interviews (n=15) were conducted and recorded with NSCLC patients (N=31), to explore the full range of symptoms that patients considered important to QOL. A tradeoff format assessed the value of life-extension relative to QOL. Patients were asked to consider a hypothetical treatment option that offered on average a 3 month life extension. Results: Mean age was 61.6 years, 67.6% were female, 77.4% white, 61.3% were not employed/retired, 58.1% were living with a spouse/other, 93.5% had health insurance, and 48.4% were Stage III/IV. Sixty-Eight percent of patients conceptualized emotions and attitudinal orientation as symptoms of NSCLC. Key symptoms/concerns changed over time – 74% of patients reported shock and fear at diagnosis, 55% felt fear or loneliness during the beginning of therapy, 52% successfully connected with other NSCLC patients (peers) and support groups, and reported a positive shift in feelings with social/emotional support from all social networks. 26% of patients reported confusion and isolation during treatment due to education gaps. Financially, 23% of patients reported being adversely impacted by co-pays, 36% by unexpected gaps in coverage, 39% by other bills, and 52% accepted help from any/all sources. The most important factor driving treatment-decision making about life-extending therapy was the somatic (i.e., physical symptom) dimension (84% cited as important), followed by functional (32%), relational (23%), and emotional (10%) factors. Conclusions: Patients with advanced NSCLC tend to conflate emotional well-being post diagnosis with symptoms of their cancer and treatment toxicities. However, somatic QOL concerns, ahead of functional, emotional and relational QOL, emerge as the dominant driver of therapeutic decision-making.

A Response to Helen Lauer’s Critique of the Tradition Versus Modernity Dichotomy

The need to shed modernity of its Euro-centric overtone owing to its link with modern science, for which the tradition versus. modernity dichotomy has come under suspicion and is misunderstood mostly by African cultural revivalists, has become imperative. Does the contrast implied by the dichotomy turn primarily on the modern scientific content of a culture or on the extent of reflective critical attitude towards cultural elements? Against the backdrop of Helen Lauer's view that the dichotomy is false, the essay seeks to rehabilitate it as an intellectual framework for appraising African socio-cultural lag, and for pursuing the needed development in Africa. To this end, the essay proposes alternative definitions of tradition, modernity , and modernization in terms of attitudinal orientation towards cultural elements instead of modern science and 'scienticization' in the Western tradition. The method adopted is one of critical analysis.

MOVING INTO THE NEW AID APPROACH, DILEMMAS FOR NGOs: THE BELGIAN CASE

SUMMARYUnder the new aid approach, nongovernmental development organizations (NGOs) are expected to move from “delivery” (service delivery projects) to “leverage” (lobbying and advocacy). In line with this international tendency, the Belgian government has signed a pact with the NGO sector in which a move away from delivery and toward leverage is being proposed. Given that Belgian NGOs are heavily dependent on government funding and strongly oriented toward the “delivery” model, this pact implies that a number of NGOs will have to undergo organizational changes. This article shows that there is a major cleavage in the NGO landscape in Belgium. Some organizations clearly favor the leverage, whereas others prefer the delivery roles. Those that are more dependent on government funding tend to incline toward the leverage orientation. The attitudinal orientation toward the leverage model however does not imply that organizations are effectively willing and able to change. A number of identity and legitimacy concerns are perceived by NGOs to be important sources of organizational inertia. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.