Best Predictor Of Attitudes Research Articles

Public Opinion and the Politics of America's Obesity Epidemic

Recently, health policy experts have sounded the warning about the severe health and economic consequences of America's growing obesity epidemic. Despite this fact, obesity has not yet entered America's political consciousness and we have little information about what average Americans think of obesity or whether they support obesity related policies. The nascence of the obesity epidemic presents an interesting opportunity to examine public opinion at the beginning of an issue's evolution. Using unique survey data collected by the authors, this paper presents the first examination of public attitudes towards obesity and obesity policy. We find that, contrary to the views of health experts, most Americans are not seriously concerned with obesity, express relatively low support for obesity-targeted policies, and still view obesity as resulting from individual failure rather than environmental or genetic sources. Given the absence of elite discourse on this problem, we also find that typical determinants of policy preferences, such as ideology or partisanship, are not good predictors of attitudes on obesity policy. Rather, with a low valence issue like obesity, the public relies on prior awareness, policy heuristics, and causal explanations to inform their opinions. The implications of these findings for obesity policy and research on public opinion are discussed.

Gender-Role Variables and Attitudes Toward Homosexuality

Two studies examined the relationships of gender-role variables to attitudes toward homosexuality. Study 1, a meta-analysis, found that endorsement of traditional gender-role beliefs, modern sexism, and hypermasculinity were related to attitudes, but that gender-role self-concept was not. Study 2 examined the relationships of endorsement of male role norms, attitudes toward women, hostile sexism, benevolent sexism, modern sexism, hypermasculinity, and hyperfemininity to attitudes toward homosexuality and self-reported antigay behaviors in a college student sample. The best predictors of attitudes were participant gender, endorsement of male role norms, attitudes toward women, benevolent sexism, and modern sexism. The best predictors of antigay behavior were participant gender and hyper-gender-role orientation; attitudes toward women and modern sexism were also predictors for men but not for women.

Managing equal opportunities for women: sorting the friends from the foes

Employees working in Hong Kong were surveyed on their attitudes towards managing equal opportunities for women. Results indicate that gender is a better predictor of attitudes than work identity. Manager/employee work identity has an add‐on moderating effect on some women‐friendly policies but not on others. Out of seven women‐friendly dimensions, women as managers are less receptive of only two: 'training and development' and 'positive equal opportunities'; men as managers, in contrast, are less resistant to 'training and development' and 'flexitime'. The findings suggest that there are three levels of gatekeeping: one, male employees; two, male managers; and three, female managers. We suggest that to help women employees break the glass ceiling, different organisational and societal change programmes are needed to target the different groups of gatekeepers.

Attitudes towards homoeopathy in particular and beliefs about complementary medicines in general

Over 400 participants completed a three-part questionnaire. In the first part, participants rated 39 different complementary medicine treatments listed alphabetically (acupuncture to yoga) which were rated on four dimensions (heard of it, know how it works, ever tried it, and perceived efficacy). In the second part, they rated 38 attitudinal statements specifically toward homoeopathy. On the third part of the questionnaire participants gave personal details as well as aspects of their medical history. There were wide differences in beliefs of the efficacy of different therapies, with acupuncture, chiropractice, massage, meditation, relaxation therapy and yoga receiving highest efficacy scores and crystal/gem therapy and ozone therapy the lowest. The 39 therapies factored into four clear factors accounting for over half the variance. While the attitude factors about homoeopathy factored into three clear interpretable factors, the attitude statements showed participants moderately well disposed to homoeopathy. The total number of different complementary therapies tried was the best predictor of attitudes towards homoeopathy. Results are discussed in terms of the beliefs of clients of complementary medicine.

Nursing Students' Attitudes Toward Victims of Domestic Violence as Predicted by Selected Individual and Relationship Variables

Access to quality health care for victims of abuse is often limited by the attitudes of health care professionals. Data collected from female nursing students (n = 155) revealed that those students with more egalitarian sex-role beliefs and a greater sense of control over life events were more sympathetic to battered women than those students with more traditional sex-role attitudes and less perceived control. Sex-role egalitarianism was found to be the best predictor of attitudes toward victims of domestic violence. Implications for health care practitioners and policy makers are presented.

Exploring Minority Empowerment: Symbolic Politics, Governing Coalitions and Traces of Political Style in Los Angeles

Theory: Symbolic politics and governing coalition theories are used to predict orientations of blacks, whites, and Hispanics in cities with long-term minority regimes. Hypotheses: Positive attitudes toward the minority regime and its policies are a function of the symbolic value people place on minority empowerment and whether one is part of the dominant governing coalition. Methods: Analysis of variance and multivariate regression analysis of Los Angeles area public opinion data. Results: Membership in the governing coalition is the best predictor of attitudes toward the administration and its policies. The standard symbolic politics model is revised to incorporate ideas about competing political styles in the African-American community.

Decision making in health care institutions: the health care practice paradigm.

Based on research reported in the health care literature, this paper adapts Blake and Mouton's (1985) two dimensional Managerial Grid to develop a model called the Health Care Practice Paradigm. The paradigm postulates two primary dimensions to represent the behavior of health care providers and practitioners: (1) patient orientation and (2) task orientation. To illustrate the usefulness of this approach, a study of the decision making processes of dietitians with respect to a new product was conducted. Based on a national sample of dietitians, the findings suggest that health care orientation of the dietitians is a better predictor of attitudes toward trying a new product than traditional demographic factors such as hospital size. Key implications for health care providers targeting new products toward hospitals and other health care institutions are highlighted.

The Impact of Newspaper Ombudsmen on Journalists' Attitudes

This article explores how one of the principal mechanisms of media accountability — press ombudsmen — affects journalists. The article uses data from a national survey of journalists to examine the extent to which journalists who work at newspapers with ombudsmen hold different attitudes about appropriate behavior and about their newspaper's performance than do journalists who work at newspapers without ombudsmen. The study shows that the presence of newspaper ombudsmen does not affect journalists' views of controversial newsgathering techniques. Age turns out to be the best predictor of attitudes, with younger journalists more likely to see controversial news-gathering techniques as justified.

Park–People Relations in Kosi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal: A Socio-economic Analysis

Park-people interactions in Kosi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, located in the lowlands of Southeastern Nepal, were studied intensively over a two-years' period from 1986 to 1988, through a variety of economic and attitu-dinal surveys. The Reserve had been established for the conservation of wild Water Buffalo and migratory waterfowl, and protects some of the most important wetland habitat in Nepal; it is therefore vital for the conservation of biodiversity on a national and regional level. The results showed that people in the area are dependent on the Reserve for the collection of grasses etc. which they use as building materials, while the Reserve provides fish which are sold cheaply in local markets. Other products, such as fuel-wood, edible and medicinal plants, and seeds, are occasionally collected legally in the Reserve.Despite the measurable benefits, attitudes about the Reserve are generally poor in the region, at least among local inhabitants who do not understand its main raisons d'être. The best predictors of attitudes were the caste or ethnic group and the literacy rate of the family of the respondent, and not the socio-economic standing of, or the direct cost to, the respondent due to crop damage by wildlife. These results suggest that religious inculcation, societal discrimination, and education, may all play a role in shaping attitudes and therefore influencing park-people relations. Short-term solutions to park-people conflicts should include more education and extension programmes on the part of the Reserve's management, and legal efforts to return at least some control to local villages.

Democratic Values and the Transformation of the Soviet Union

Our purpose in this article is to determine the degree to which the cultural requisites to democracy are present in the contemporary political culture of the USSR. We focus on support for core democratic rights, liberties, and institutions. Data for this project come from a survey of 504 citizens of the Moscow Oblast conducted between February 17, 1990, and March 4, 1990. In absolute terms, support for democratic values is fairly widespread in the Moscow Oblast. We found significant levels of endorsement of competitive elections and for many democratic rights and liberties such as liberty and the norms of democracy. Many of the scales measuring support for democratic rights were intercorrelated, leading us to hypothesize the existence of a general underlying dimension of democratic values. The best predictors of attitudes toward general democratic values were education, gender, and age. The better educated, males, and the young tended to be more supportive of democratic institutions and processes. We take...

Physical Educators’ Attributes and Attitudes Toward Teaching Students with Handicaps

This study examined the relationship between selected attributes of physical educators (N=94) and their attitudes toward teaching students labeled educable mentally retarded, behaviorally disordered, and learning disabled. Data were collected through the administration of the Physical Educators’ Attitude Toward Teaching the Handicapped–II (PEATH–II) instrument. A forward stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that, of the eight selected teacher variables assessed, physical educators’ perceived competence in teaching students with handicaps was the best predictor of attitudes. A repeated-measures ANOVA and subsequent post hoc comparison tests indicated that learning disabled students were viewed more favorably than educable mentally retarded and behaviorally disordered students.

Maybe on my Street

The increasing deinstitutionalization of the mentally disabled has instigated research on neighborhood receptivity to this group. Using a random household sample from a midwestern Canadian city, we investigate the contribution of neighborhood types and individual characteristics in predicting the likelihood of supportive or opposing political responses from residents. Overall, twice as many respondents consider the placement of community mental health facilities in their neighborhood as desirable compared to those considering such facilities undesirable. Neighborhood types, however, are not particularly good predictors of attitudes or intended political actions. Supporters of such facilities consistently are more likely than those opposed to report a willingness to take political action consistent with their viewpoint.

Attitude Change

Measurement of attitudes before and after an educational intervention generally reflects both the impact of the session and the fact that the best predictor of attitudes after the session are attitudes before the session. Statistics currently available provide contradictory information; both measures of association and measures of difference are statistically significant. Current tests of the significance of change either have restrictive assumptions or do not take into account people who do not change. A new measure is proposed which incorporates information on amount and direction of change. Delta is calculated from a contingency table of the pre-and postmeasurements. It ranges from + 1, signifying that everyone changed in one direction to -1, that is, everyone changed in the opposite direction, and becomes 0 when there is perfect correlation in scores or equal change in both directions. Delta is useful in assessing which attitudes have been most influenced by the educational intervention.

Who are the Japan Bashers? Evidence from national surveys, 1974–1985

Analysis of surveys of the American population during 1974—1985 displays a relatively stable, positive evaluation of Japan. Almost half (40%) of the 1985 respondents gave Japan one of the three most favorable ratings on a scale of ten. Regression analysis indicates that age, education, and family income form the best predictors of attitudes toward Japan. Those who are older, less educated and poorer hold less favorable attitudes toward Japan.

College Student Attitudes Toward Forcible Date Rape: Changes After Taking a Human Sexuality Course

The author earlier found that the two best predictors of attitudes toward forcible date rape were how sure students were that a date rape vignette was definitely rape, and their attitudes toward wo...

Resistance to Affirmative Action

Despite the decade-long debate in the media and in the social science literature over affirmative action programs, relatively little information has appeared about attitudes toward these programs. In this article racial threat or self-interest, new symbolic racism, and old-fashioned racism are examined as predictors of attitudes about affirmative action programs. The data are from a national survey conducted in the late fall of 1978 by Louis Harris and Associates for the National Conference of Christians and Jews. Self-interest, new symbolic racism, and old-fashioned racism are all found to be related to attitudes about affirmative action programs and remain so when a variety of control variables are included in the regression analyses. The new racism scale was clearly the best predictor of attitudes about affirmative action programs but is shown to have many underpinnings from traditional sources of racism. Possible reasons for the effect of self-interest on attitudes about affirmative action programs that had not been related to racial attitudes in earlier studies are discussed.

Attitudes Toward Nuclear Power: A Longitudinal Analysis of Expectancy-Value Models

Three expectancy-value models were applied to attitudes toward a nuclear power plant in a sample of residents that twice completed a survey at 5-year intervals. Attitudes were predominantly favorable at the first survey but became predominantly negative over time. A basic expectancy-value model and two extensions of the model based on factor scores accounted for significant proportions of variance in attitudes at both times. All three models lost some predictive power by the second survey, but the two modifications showed less loss than the basic model. Perceived hazards of the nuclear plant, its potential economic benefits, and its potential to create social disruption were the best predictors of attitudes in the two factor-based models. Findings suggest that attitudes of residents reflected a cognitive trade-off. Implications for expectancy-value models and social impact assessment are discussed.

Gender Difference May Be a Factor in Teachers' Perceptions of Students

In his reply (3), Prawat concludes that the analyses used are logically inappropriate, although not statistically inappropriate. The appropriateness of any statistical analysis follows from a logical evaluation of problems the analysis might create. I applaud the recognition of this, although elaboration of the logical versus statistical inappropriateness would have been interesting. The author minimizes the importance of the inappropriate analysis in the original conclusions. What is the basis of the conclusions? No statistical comparisons of relative importance are presented. The author says that conclusions were based on the size of standardized regression coefficients and effect magnitudes. Sex was a significant factor in three of six analyses. Only IQ was significant in more analyses (4). This certainly cannot be taken as evidence of the insignificance of sex as a factor. Prawat is critical of the Miller and Asher discussion of suppression. This brief discussion did not elaborate upon the two types of suppression that can be expected (1). Miller and Asher (2) contend that variables like grade and age gain significance on the his of their relationship to irrelevant variance in SORT (grade/SORT r = .81) rather than by predicting relevant variance in the dependent variables as Prawat suggests. The specifics of these suppression effects could not be discussed until the correlation matrix was made available. It is suggested that readers consult Conger (I), the correlation matrix, and the original article to draw condusions about suppression. Prawat ignores the main point of the criticism of his use of effect size; his measure of achievement was a measure of reading achievement while his teachers' perceptions were perceptions of general achievement. Of the eight items, only one perception item dealt with reading. Sex differences in reading are likely to be different from sex differences in mathematics, spelling, etc. Why didn't they compare sex differences in IQ (which is acrually general achievement) to perceptions of general achievement? Obviously the results would have been quite different. If we want to test whether perceptions of gender differences can be explained away by differences in reading ability, the appropriate method is ordered regression, testing to see whether sex remains significant after differences in ability are panialled out (with consideration for true scores). It appears, based upon their regression statistics, that sex does predict variance over and above that partialled out by reading ability. If teachers hold biases, the biases may begin with differences ia boys' and girls' behavior in school. Perhaps reading performance is the major determinant of percep tions of reading ability, which leads to more general perceptions. A biased attitude does not require that sex, race, origin, or whatever is the best predictor of attitudes. Wh~le the evidence is not well established, this author suspects that intelligence plays a blgger role in teachers' perceptions than sex. But if sex plays a role over and above ind~v~dual differences in ability, gender difference is an important factor in teachers' perceptions of students.

LOCAL ATTITUDES TOWARD ALTERNATIVE USES OF A RESERVOIR PROJECT1

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to examine the correlates of attitudes toward alternative uses which could have been made of public resources employed to construct a multipurpose reservoir. A sample of 303 adult residents of a rural community impacted by lake construction was asked to evaluate several alternative development options which could have been implemented in lieu of the lake project. The alternative options evaluated were: rural industrialization, keeping land in agriculture and forests, improving public services, building a state or national park, drilling water wells for urban water supply, aid to small business, helping poor people, building several smaller impoundments, and private recreation development. The findings revealed the local people preferred the lake project to every option except keeping the land in agriculture and forest. Even this option was not strongly supported when compared with the lake project. Socio‐demographic, attitude, and cost assessment factors were investigated using a “vested interest” perspective for hypotheses development. These findings demonstrated that costs and benefits were relatively good predictors of attitudes toward alternative development options and were supportive of the theoretical perspective advanced in this paper.

Public support for the courts: An examination of alternative explanations

Public opinion surveys consistently show that there are generally high levels of support for the court system. While there exists general public support for the courts, the most often heard criticism is that the courts are too lenient. The purpose of this study is to describe public attitudes toward the courts and examine a number of explanations of public support for, or against, the courts. The article examines five hypotheses: (1) respondents who are pro-punishment would not be supportive of the courts; (2) respondents who are supportive of the police and the correctional system would be supportive of the courts; (3) respondents who are supportive of the police would not be supportive of the courts; (4) respondents who identify themselves as conservative would not be supportive of the courts; and (5) respondents who express fear and/or concern about crime, and/or who have experienced victimization would not be supportive of the courts. It is found that members of the public express diffuse support for the courts, but criticism center around court leniency and plea bargaining. At least partial support is found for all five hypotheses with support for strong punitive sanctions the best predictor of attitudes toward the courts.