Consistent Beliefs Research Articles

Assessment Beliefs, Practices and Competence Vis-À-Vis Demographic Characteristics of Senior High School Social Studies Teachers in Ghana

This study examined the impact of demographic factors on the assessment beliefs, practices and competence of Social Studies teachers in selected Senior High / Technical Schools in the Volta and Oti Regions of Ghana. The study was guided by the Human Capital Theory (HCT). It utilized a quantitative research approach and a cross-sectional research design. Employing a two-stage simple random sampling method, 196 Social Studies teachers were randomly selected from 80 Senior High Schools (SHS) and Senior High Technical Schools (SHTS) in the Regions. Data was collected through a questionnaire, covering the participants’ demographic information and assessment beliefs, practices and competence. Statistical data treatment was done through frequency distributions. It was displayed using a contingency table and Cramer's V analysis. Findings indicated no significant correlation between the teachers’ gender, educational background, teaching experience, assessment beliefs, practices and competence. The study concludes that the demographic did not influence the teachers’ assessment beliefs. Based on the conclusions, it is recommended that professional development should focus on individualized training that targets specific needs of teachers in assessment literacy rather than generalizing based on demographic factors. This could help foster more robust and consistent assessment beliefs across the teaching population. In addition, teacher education programs should prioritize skills-based training on contemporary assessment methodologies and address competency gaps regardless of demographic factors.

One policy, two implementations: probing policy specifications in two EMI courses in a Macao university

ABSTRACT Despite growing literature on EMI policy implementation in higher education contexts, there is a lack of research on how these policies are enacted at the micro-level, particularly in the classroom settings. The present study explores the language beliefs and practices of a psychology professor in two English-medium instruction (EMI) courses which differed in course types and students’ preparedness, in an effort to understand how language policy was enacted in nuanced EMI settings. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, classroom observation, and course artifacts, the study reveals that the non-native English speaking participant held a consistent belief in enforcing a strict English-only policy within the classroom, yet she managed students’ and her own language practices slightly differently (e.g. speak time, pace, vocabulary, L1 proportion) based on specific course objectives. The findings highlight the importance of consistent and mindful language policies that allow for flexible implementation where unique features of individual EMI contexts are accommodated. Through highlighting the agency of EMI teachers as language policy arbiters, we reimagined the original ROAD-MAPPING framework [Dafouz, E., & Smit, U. (2016). Toward a dynamic conceptual framework for English-medium education in multilingual university settings. Applied Linguistics, 37(3), 397–415] to capture the granular and dynamic process of EMI policy enactment and implementation in authentic classrooms. Practical implications are drawn accordingly.

Approximations of system W for inference from strongly and weakly consistent belief bases

In this article, we investigate approximations of the inductive inference operator system W that has been shown to exhibit desirable inference properties and to extend both system Z, and thus rational closure, and c-inference. For versions of these inference operators that are extended to also cover inference from belief bases that are only weakly consistent, we first show that extended system Z and extended c-inference are captured by extended system W. Then we introduce general functions for generating inductive inference operators: the combination of two inductive inference operators by union, and the completion of an inductive inference operator by an arbitrary set of axioms. We construct the least inductive inference operator extending system Z and c-inference that is closed under system P and show that it is still strictly extended by extended system W. Furthermore, we introduce an inductive inference operator that strictly extends extended system W and that is strictly extended by lexicographic inference. This leads to a comprehensive map of inference relations between rational closure and extended c-inference on the one side and lexicographic inference on the other side with extended system W and its approximations at its centre, where all relationships also hold for the unextended versions.

Inspiring sport event volunteer engagement and sense of pride: the importance of organisational environmental factors

ABSTRACT The success of sport events is closely related to volunteer dedication. Sport event organisations must recognise volunteers’ needs and motivate and retain loyal volunteers. However, the approach to motivate sport event volunteers and the role of consistent values, beliefs, and affiliation needs in guiding volunteers’ performance in event duties remain unexplored. This study explored the role of organisational environmental factors in influencing volunteers’ engagement, sense of pride, and intent to continue volunteering. A theoretical model was constructed to verify their inner relations by incorporating person – environment fit, social exchange, and social identity theories. Data were collected from 452 volunteers who participated in two marathon races in China and analysed using structural equation modelling with SmartPLS 4.0. The findings show that perceived organisational support has a positive impact on individual – organisation value congruence and volunteer engagement, thus jointly boosting volunteers’ sense of pride and intent. These findings expand theoretical understanding on the psychological mechanisms of volunteer sport events and optimising volunteer management.

Collision Avoiding Max-Sum for Mobile Sensor Teams

Recent advances in technology have large teams of robots with limited computation skills work together in order to achieve a common goal. Their personal actions need to contribute to the joint effort, however, they also must assure that they do not harm the efforts of the other members of the team, e.g., as a result of collisions. We focus on the distributed target coverage problem, in which the team must cooperate in order to maximize utility from sensed targets, while avoiding collisions with other agents. State of the art solutions focus on the distributed optimization of the coverage task in the team level, while neglecting to consider collision avoidance, which could have far reaching consequences on the overall performance. Therefore, we propose CAMS: a collision-avoiding version of the Max-sum algorithm, for solving problems including mobile sensors. In CAMS, a factor-graph that includes two types of constraints (represented by function-nodes) is being iteratively generated and solved. The first type represents the task-related requirements, and the second represents collision avoidance constraints. We prove that consistent beliefs are sent by target representing function-nodes during the run of the algorithm, and identify factor-graph structures on which CAMS is guaranteed to converge to an optimal (collision-free) solution. We present an experimental evaluation in extensive simulations, showing that CAMS produces high quality collision-free coverage also in large and complex scenarios. We further present evidence from experiments in a real multi-robot system that CAMS outperforms the state of the art in terms of convergence time.

Behavioural determinants shaping infection prevention and control behaviour among healthcare workers in Dutch general practices: a qualitative study reflecting on pre-, during and post-COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundSince the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, awareness of infection prevention and control (IPC) has increased in primary care settings. This study aimed to examine behavioural determinants shaping IPC behaviour pre-, during, and post-pandemic among healthcare workers (HCWs) in general practices, to inform optimised IPC in primary care.MethodsFor this qualitative study, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted during two study periods: (1) pre-COVID-19 pandemic: July 2019-February 2020, with 14 general practitioners (GPs) and medical assistants, and (2) during the COVID-19 pandemic: July 2022-February 2023, with 22 GPs and medical assistants. The design was informed by behaviour change theories. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.ResultsMain themes were: (1) risk perception and IPC awareness, (2) attitudes towards IPC and professional responsibility, (3) decision-making process and risk considerations for IPC adherence, (4) social norm and social influence in GP practice team, and (5) environmental context and resource availability in GP practice. During the pandemic, risk perception and awareness of the importance of IPC increased compared to the pre-pandemic period. A consistent belief emerged that IPC is part of professional responsibility, while needing to be balanced with other aspects of patient care. Decision-making is dependent on the individual GP and mainly influenced by risk assessments and sustainability considerations. The social context in the practice team can reinforce IPC behaviours. GP practice building and layout, and limited IPC resource and material availability were reported as main barriers.ConclusionsThe theory-informed insights of this study can be used for targeted interventions to optimise IPC behaviour in general practices. Adopting multifaceted strategies to target the various determinants is recommended to sustain IPC, by implementing continuous education using tailored communication, integrating IPC in work routines and organisational workflows, refining existing IPC protocols by incorporating decision-making tools for HCWs, fostering a culture of IPC through knowledge-sharing and teamwork, and addressing GP practice physical environment and IPC resource barriers.

Initiating the dialogue between infant mental health and family therapy: a qualitative inquiry and recommendations

AbstractThis qualitative study explores infant‐family mental health experts' perspectives and experiences regarding the inclusion of infants in the family therapy setting. Infant socioemotional development is relational in nature and evolves in the context of both dyadic attachment relationships and broader multi‐person co‐parenting systems. Given this, we sought to understand why family therapy interventions involving families with infants rarely include the infant in a triangular or family systemic approach. Interviews were completed by clinical and/or research experts whose work integrates tenets of both infant mental health (IMH) and family theory and therapy. All interviewees brought at least 5 years of expertise and were actively engaged in the field. Interviewees expressed consistent beliefs that infants have a rightful and helpful place in family therapy approaches. They maintained that infants' innate social drive and communicative capacities position them to make meaningful and clinically significant contributions within family and systemic psychotherapy contexts. Noting that infants have remained on the periphery of these practices, experts advocated expansion and greater integration between IMH and family therapy, while preserving each field's distinctive identity. Experts reported that the interplay between IMH and family therapy fields has been uni‐directional as family systems concepts are embedded within IMH approaches, but few IMH premises are incorporated in mainstream family therapy practices. The disconnect was attributed to multiple factors, including graduate and professional training and theoretical, clinical, research, and sociocultural barriers, which were mutually reinforcing. Experts also identified clinical gains for both infants and family members when infants were meaningfully included in family interventions. Common ground was identified between the disciplines, with a belief that relationally distressed young children and parents are best served by clinical engagement with their network of relationships. Results call for greater collaboration between disciplines to challenge existing traditions and to more fully include infants in mainstream family therapy. Recommendations for integration of family therapy and IMH in clinical, theoretical, research, training, and sociocultural domains are offered.

Students’ changing conceptualizations of university internationalization in Australia

ABSTRACT Interrupted international mobility since 2020 emphasized the limited nature of focusing higher education internationalization on the recruitment of international students. Likewise, the term ‘internationalization’ has lost appeal as it connotes for some the imposing of Western approaches and colonialist assumptions about best practices. To assist universities as they reimagine international education in Australia, this article discusses a study that explored how students conceptualize an internationalized university and the importance they place on various strategies. Analysis compared the responses of those who commenced their studies pre-pandemic, at the start of the pandemic and mid-pandemic to explore the influence of the pandemic on students’ ideas. Findings suggest consistent beliefs that common internationally minded strategies and graduate skills are important; however, some university characteristics, such as a diverse student population, seem more strongly associated with ‘internationalization’ than others. Slight differences based on when students commenced their studies suggest that some characterizations of internationalization are more static while others might be outdated. Such insights can assist universities in restructuring their internationalization approaches for this current period of change or future crises.

Understanding and practice of active learning among upper primary school science and mathematics teachers

Active learning methods have established significance in the teaching-learning of science and mathematics. This study investigated the understanding, beliefs, self-efficacy, practices, and challenges of active learning among upper primary school (grades 7 and 8) science and mathematics teachers in Ethiopia. Data were collected from 155 teachers drawn from nine schools of Addis Ababa, Amhara, and the Southern Regional States using validated questionnaires and observation. Descriptive analysis was employed to make meaning of the collected data. The result showed that teachers lack to have an appropriate understanding of active learning. But they have shown fairly consistent positive belief and self-efficacy about the outcomes of active learning if they use them in their classes. Teachers believed that they implement active learning to a higher extent. The result further indicated that teachers differ in their understanding, practices, and efficacy of active learning across their gender and educational levels. High teaching load, large class size, lack of teachers' motivation, shorter instructional time, the subject they teach, absence of guidelines for active learning methods at school, and lack of appropriate knowledge and skill of active learning methods were the common challenges reported by teachers. The findings of this study imply that there is a need to enhance teachers’ understanding of active learning and to provide continuous support to them to use active learning even in challenging situations.

Game Theory and the First World War

Books by Scott Wolford and Roger Ransom show how economic theories of games and decisions can be fruitfully applied to problems in World War I. This vital application offers fundamental insights into the analytical methods of game theory. Public random variables may be essential factors in war-of-attrition games. An assumption that nations can coordinate on Pareto-superior equilibria may become less tenable when nations are at war. Interpreting a surprising mistake as evidence of an unlikely type can have serious consequences. The ability of leaders to foster consistent beliefs within a cohesive society can create inconsistency of beliefs between nations at war. (JEL C70, D74, D83, F51, N40)

Balancing the Drinking Act: A Grounded Theory of Youth Drinking, Policy and COVID-19 in Botswana

Stakeholder and consumer participation is generally seen as a critical part of effective alcohol policy making as it has a direct impact on policy implementation. In the advent of COVID-19, the views and experiences of stakeholders and consumers were integral to how countries responded to the virus. The involvement of alcohol stakeholders and consumers raises critical questions about policy making practices. Using Grounded Theory (GT) methods amongst 20 drinkers and six alcohol stakeholders, I examined the views and experiences of stakeholders and alcohol consumers in Botswana during COVID-19. I identified two interrelated core categories of Balancing the Drinking Act and Problematic Youth Drinking that were prominent as the country dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic. First, I argue that balancing the drinking act suggests the need for government to balance alcohol regulation with the needs of drinkers. Second, I highlight that problematic youth drinking relates to an emerging yet consistent belief that young people in Botswana are collectively responsible for alcohol “problems.” These key themes center consumer and stakeholder participation in alcohol policy development. Moreover, the current analysis demonstrates the interplay between alcohol use and prohibition during COVID-19, and how it might be mediated by cultural scripts used by consumers and stakeholders in Botswana.

Complied by Belief Consistency: The Cognitive-Information Lens of User-Generated Persuasion

Confirmation biases make consumers feel comfortable because consistent beliefs simplify the processing of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). Whether the helpfulness of eWOM is a belief of information underlying biased information, i.e., positive–negative asymmetry, or an illusion of overconfidence underlying biased judgment, i.e., belief consistency, is crucial to the foundation of theory and the advance of practice in user-generated persuasion. The questions challenge the literature that the helpfulness of product reviews relies on unbiased information and/or unbiased judgment. Drawing on the cognitive-information lens, we developed a research model to explain how belief consistency affects the helpfulness beliefs of eWOM, and examined the effects of positive–negative asymmetry. Using a scenario-based questionnaire survey, we collected 334 consumer samples to test the research model. According to the empirical results, the conflicts of influence between positive and negative confirmation indicated that perceived review helpfulness was a belief of information and constrained by the positive–negative review frame. Without using personal expertise, respondents’ consistent beliefs were significant to confirm positive reviews as useful and thereby perceive the review content as helpful, which is an illusion of overconfidence and constrained by belief consistency. Whether personal expertise reinforces the effect of belief consistency depends on the positive–negative asymmetry.

Transgender inclusion in competitive sport: athletes’ attitudes toward transgender athlete participation in intercollegiate sport

ABSTRACT Legislators who support current anti-transgender, sport-focused legislation argue that they are protecting cisgender athletes who oppose transgender inclusion. In particular, laws are being proposed and passed that aim to prevent transgender women from participating on women’s sports teams. However, little is known about whether athletes themselves are concerned about inclusion of transgender athletes. To fill this gap in the literature, we recruited 270 current and former intercollegiate athletes in the United States between September 2020 and April 2021 to participate in a quantitative study. Participants completed questions about scenarios involving a trans man athlete and a trans woman athlete, general attitudes toward transgender people, sport-specific attitudes toward transgender people, and religiosity. Our primary research questions were: do athletes generally support inclusion of binary transgender people in sport and how is support associated with variables measured in the study? Analyses included descriptive statistics, correlations, and t-tests. Results indicated that levels of support for transgender people were associated with a variety of sport-related variables. Namely, women were significantly more supportive of transgender athlete inclusion compared to men, and individuals who had prior contact with transgender people outside of support were significantly more supportive of transgender people both within and outside of sport. Participants demonstrated inconsistencies in beliefs that may be associated with unfamiliarity or misunderstandings of transgender terminology and issues. Policy implications and implications for transgender athletes are discussed.

The Dynamics of Kha Phra Kaeo Identity in the Context of Thai-Lao History and Politics

Abstract This research reports on findings from an ethnographic study on the Kha Phra Kaeo ethnicity to uncover its formation and to analyze its dynamics and cultural negotiations in the context of Thai-Lao history and politics. The ethnonym Kha Phra Kaeo designates an ethnic group descended from the Bru, with a consistent cultural structure, language and belief system. They were first perceived as an ethnic group due to events connected to the possession of a contested Buddha image called Phra Kaeo Phaluek Mok. They are seen as more distinctly Kha Phra Kaeo than the Bru, to whom they were related. Due to state power and political changes in Laos, The Kha Phra Kaeo underwent cultural assimilation and formed a distinct cultural group based on their legends and ritual reproductions, which are related to the Buddha image, to emphasize the group’s historical significance and to negotiate a higher place for the group within the Lao social hierarchy. The Kha Phra Kaeo people have the ability to adapt to changes while constructing a distinct ethnic and cultural identity.

A hobgoblin of large minds: Troubles with consistency in belief.

Beliefs are, in many ways, central to psychology and, in turn, consistency is central to belief. Theories in philosophy and psychology assume that beliefs must be consistent with each other for people to be rational. That people fail to hold fully consistent beliefs has, therefore, been the subject of much theorizing, with numerous mechanisms proposed to explain how inconsistency is possible. Despite the widespread assumption of consistency as a default, achieving a consistent set of beliefs is computationally intractable. We review research on consistency in philosophy and psychology and argue that it is consistency, not inconsistency, that requires explanation. We discuss evidence from the attitude, belief, and persuasion literatures, which suggests that accessibility of beliefs in memory is one possible mechanism for achieving a limited, but psychologically plausible, form of consistency. Finally, we conclude by suggesting future directions for research beginning from the assumption of inconsistency as the default. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Reasoning and Decision Making Psychology > Theory and Methods Philosophy > Knowledge and Belief.

Belief-based momentum indicator and stock market return predictability

Li et al. (2022) propose a new momentum indicator that combines past returns and consistent belief information, and show that the indicator positively predicts cross-sectional stock returns. Based on the momentum indicator of Li et al. (2022), we further develop a conditional past return (CPR) indicator that additionally adds the direction information for the investors' consistent belief. We examine the effectiveness of CPR as a predictor for stock market returns. Our evidence shows that CPR significantly and positively predicts future one-month market returns. And CPR provides unique predictive information that is not related to the other popular predictors. The abundant out-of-sample evidence further supports CPR’s predictive ability. Additionally, we detect the asymmetric role of CPR in predicting market returns and find that much of the predictive ability of CPR is attributed to the interaction between the positive past returns and the positive consistent belief.

Is There an “Ideal Remote Worker”? The Gendered Implications of the Rise of Remote Work

Scholars have previously theorized that employers believe an “ideal worker” is completely committed to work, which conflicts with widely held cultural beliefs of “mothers” as primarily devoted to caregiving. These theories assume employers utilize traditional work arrangements, including an in-person setting. But the rapid expansion of remote work, often assumed to be a more flexible work arrangement, raises the question: is there an “ideal remote worker?” Using an online survey experiment, we explore evaluators’ gender and parental status preferences when assessing candidates for in-person or remote positions. We find that the effect of parental status on certain hiring outcomes is negative and similar in magnitude for women and men candidates for in-person positions. However, among candidates for remote positions, the effect of parental status is more negative for women than for men. The difference in parental status penalties across remote versus in-person positions is explained by participants’ consistent beliefs that mothers are less committed to work than nonmothers, combined with increased concern with invisible productivity in remote work. We conclude that while the rise of remote work may have appealing features for parents, business leaders will need to ensure that these benefits are equally accessible to women and men.

Cognitive Dissonance Bias Among Stock Market Investors

The cognitive dissonance theory, formulated by Psychologist Leon Festinger, revealed that inconsistency in beliefs or behaviour among individuals causes psychological tension or dissonance due to exposure to new information. Investor behaviour is prone to several biases that refrains them from making rational decisions. They often reluctantly stick to their original decision even though it is costly. An online and offline survey using a structured questionnaire was used and data was collected from 250 stock market investors of Visakhapatnam, India. With the use of mean and one-way ANOVA - the relationship between independent variable (income, investment amount, education qualification, age, gender and investor experience) and dependent variables (cognitive dissonance) - it was revealed that investors were prone to cognitive dissonance bias. The research shows that cognitive dissonance bias causes investors to make sub-optimal choices. Based on the findings, recommendations were put forth to help investors mitigate their susceptibility to cognitive dissonance bias.

Ethics of Belief in Paranormal Phenomena

The philosophical school of Evidentialism holds that people should form, amend, and relinquish a belief wholly in accordance with the available evidence for that belief. This paper reviews the extent to which believers in paranormal phenomena respect Evidentialism’s so-called “ethics of belief.” The analysis focuses on several common violations of evidentialist principles, namely, those pertaining to belief formation as a moral issue, belief inflexibility, belief inconsistency, confirmation bias, and disconfirmation effects. Despite some gaps and methodological shortcomings in the available data, the empirical literature documents an association between paranormal beliefs and a broad lack of sympathy with evidentialist ethics, although the effect sizes of these relations typically are small. The possible basis of this characteristic is briefly explored.

A new momentum measurement in the Chinese stock market

Literature shows that the traditional momentum effect is absent in China, and our evidence also confirms this. However, considering the information of short-term investors' consistent beliefs in price movements, we can capture a significant momentum effect. The short-term information horizon for reflecting the investor belief is relative to the longer information horizon of asset past performance in capturing basic momentum. By constructing an indicator of CB to reflect investors' short-term consistent belief in price movements, we develop a new momentum indicator, CBMOM, as the product of short-term CB and long-run past returns. Based on the data from January 2000 to December 2020 in China, our results show that CBMOM has an advantage of capturing the momentum effect over the past-return measure. In particular, the momentum strategy based on CBMOM with the one-month CB and the one-year past return has the strongest profit. Furthermore, we examine the nonlinear impact of the synergy between CB and the one-year past return on stock returns. Specifically, the one-year past return has a greater positive impact as the cross-sectional CB level increases, but the significance is strong only for the highest-level CB.