Cognitive Component Of Attitude Research Articles

Attitudes of students towards the use of video-based media in physical education

Introduction
 The importance of teachers’ attitudes regarding the use of technology and media in schools and classrooms gains more recognition in the development of their professional competence. However, students often still hold limited views about digital media in educational settings. This limited perspective is likely due to the significant increase in media usage over the past two decades. It’s assumed that students also desire to use media for learning purposes, which is particularly questionable in the subject of physical education, where physical activity is of central importance. Therefore, understanding students' attitudes toward media use, both inside and outside of school, is crucial, and it's a focal point of media educational efforts. To comprehensively study this, the social-psychological construct of attitude, with its cognitive, affective, and behavioral components, is considered (Zimbardo & Gerrig, 1996). Key questions revolve around characterizing student attitudes toward media use in physical education, identifying relationships between attitude components, and determining external factors that can promote positive attitudes.
 Methods
 Following the Technology Acceptance Model (Park, 2009), a questionnaire was developed to assess attitudes and validated through a survey of eighth-grade students (N = 202). External variables, cognitive attitude, affective attitude, and behavioral attitude dimensions were examined as separate aspects. These dimensions were refined and validated through reliability analysis and factor analyses. Using these validated scales and collected data, a structural equation model was created to illustrate the relationships between external factors and attitudinal dimensions.
 Results
 The proposed model demonstrated satisfactory fit to the data (RMSEA = .06; χ2/df ratio = 1.72; CFI = 0.90). The findings indicate that the use of media in physical education and the related self-efficacy in using media have a positive impact on the cognitive aspect of attitude. However, the cognitive component of attitude does not directly influence the intention to use media in physical education. Instead, positive evaluations of media use mediate the relationship between the cognitive component and the intention to use media. The intention to use media in physical education is primarily increased through positive affective evaluations.
 Conclusion
 A negative attitude toward using media in physical education can be attributed to a lack of access and insufficient self-efficacy in utilizing it. Therefore, interventions at both the student and teacher levels should focus on effectively introducing the benefits of media-supported physical education, with the goal of enhancing self-efficacy and reducing negative attitudes. This model will be further validated at the teacher level in subsequent studies to identify external factors suitable for targeted interventions.
 References
 Park, S. Y. (2009). An analysis of the Technology Acceptance Model in understanding university Students’ behavioral intention to use e-learning. Educational Technology & Society, 12(3), 150-162.
 Zimbardo, P. G., & Gerrig, R. J. (1996). Psychologie. (7th transl. and rev. ed.). Springer.

Tasting to preserve: An educational activity to promote children's positive attitudes towards intraspecific diversity conservation.

On the edge of causing the sixth big mass extinction event, the development of positive attitudes towards the conservation of intraspecific diversity from early ages is essential to overcome the biodiversity crisis we currently face. However, there is no information available on elementary school students' attitudes toward intraspecific diversity conservation nor is there a framework available to perform such analysis. For this study we designed, implemented, and evaluated an educational activity planned for third graders (8 to 13 years old) to explore the intraspecific diversity of vegetables and promote healthy eating habits. Additionally, a framework was developed to evaluate students' attitudes towards intraspecific diversity conservation and applied to semi-structured interviews conducted with students before and after engaging in the educational activity. In this paper we present a reliable framework, developed aligned with the ABC model of attitudes, based on literature, and adapted to elementary school students' responses, to evaluate students' attitudes toward intraspecific diversity. Our results show that, before the educational activity, most students choose a non-biodiverse option, justifying this choice with the affective component of attitudes: mostly emotional factors but also aesthetic and social/cultural factors. After the educational activity, we observed a significant increase in the frequency of students that choose the biodiverse option and that justified it with the cognitive component of attitudes: mainly with biology and health knowledge factors, but also with economic and ethical knowledge factors. Our findings support the positive impact of educational activities that explore vegetable varieties on students' attitudes toward intraspecific diversity conservation. This activity may also be used to foster education for sustainability and address socioscientific issues aligned with diverse sustainable development goals.

A59: The Influence of Chinese Junior Middle School Students' Expectancy-Value on Their Attitude Towards Physical Education Class

Purpose: Physical education is an important way to improve the sports skills and physical health level of Chinese junior middle school students, help students master sports health knowledge, and cultivate students' sports behavior. It is of great significance to improve the teaching quality of physical education class and solve the practical problem that students like physical education but don't enjoy having physical education class by improving students' expectancy-value of physical education class and correcting students' attitude toward PE (physical education) class. Therefore, to explore the differences between the expectancy-value and attitude of different types of students participating in physical education class, and to clarify the impact of the expectancy-value of different types of students on their attitude toward PE class, can provide a reference for the classified optimization of the expectancy-value and attitude of junior high school students in physical education. Methods: A questionnaire was collected from 2809 Chinese junior middle school students, with an average age of 13.37 years. Among them, 1397 boys and 1412 girls; There are 1010 students in urban schools and 1799 students in rural schools. The contents of the survey include students' age, gender, grade, school type (urban or rural) and other demographic variables, as well as students' expectancy-value and attitude towards PE. The expected value was measured by the Expectancy Value Questionnaire, which includes two dimensions: expectancy beliefs for success and perceived task values (attainment value, intrinsic/interest value, utility value). The construct validity of the questionnaire exceeds 0.90. The attitude toward PE class was measured by the Attitude toward Physical Education Questionnaire for Middle School Students, which includes two dimensions: affective component (α=. 89) and cognitive component (α= .86). Using SPSS 25.0 software, using ANOVA, correlation analysis and regression analysis and other statistical analysis methods, this paper analyzes the differences and effects of different types of junior high school students' expectancy-value on their attitude towards PE class, as well as the moderating effects of demographic variables. Results: (1) The total score of expectancy-value (F=82.45, p < 0.001), total score of attitude toward PE class (F=93.43, p < 0.001) and scores of each dimension of junior middle school boys were significantly higher than those of girls; (2) The scores of rural students' expectancy beliefs for success (F=4.84, p < 0.05), perceived task values (F=7.01, p < 0.01), and affective component of attitude toward PE class (F=5.05, p < 0.05) were significantly higher than those of urban students; (3) There are significant differences in the total score of the expectancy-value (F=8.24, p < 0.001), the score of the expectancy beliefs for success (F=13.74, p < 0.001), the score of the perceived task values (F=8.35, p < 0.001), the total score of the attitude towards PE class (F=5.64, p < 0.01), and the score of the affective component (F=8.04, p <0.001) of the students in Grade one, Grade two, and Grade three. (4) The expectancy-value of physical education of junior high school students can significantly predict their attitudes towards PE class, which is mainly reflected in the predictive effect of perceived task values on the affective component and cognitive component of attitude toward PE class and are moderated by school type (B=0.11, p < 0.01) and grade (B=0.09, p < 0.05). Conclusion: (1) The expectancy-value and attitude toward PE class of junior middle school boys are better than that of girls, the expectancy-value and attitude toward PE class of rural school students are better than those of urban school students, and the expectancy-value and attitude toward PE class of students in grade three are better than those in grade one and grade two; (2) The perceived task values of junior high school students has a predictive effect on the affective and cognitive component of the attitude towards PE class, and are positively moderated by the school type and grade.

Analysis of a Second-Order Factor Model of Attitude Toward Mathematics

Based on a multidimensional definition of attitude, this study tested a second-order factor model of attitude toward mathematics using data from 1960 7th-grade students. This study found that students’ attitudes toward mathematics are identified with cognitive, affective, and behavioral factors. This study confirmed three hypotheses: the cognitive component of attitude toward mathematics is explained by students’ confidence in learning mathematics and their beliefs about the usefulness and importance of mathematics; the affective component of attitude toward mathematics is explained by their liking of mathematics and mathematics anxiety; and the behavioral component of attitude toward mathematics is explained by learner behaviors toward mathematics and the time they spent on mathematics at home. Moreover, the final model obtained through factor analysis revealed strong relationships between the three components of attitude and attitude toward mathematics.

Students’ Attitudes Towards Using ChatGPT as a Learning Tool: The Case of the University of Jordan

This research aims to examine students’ attitudes toward using ChatGPT as a learning tool using a quantitative approach with a descriptive study design. For data collection, researchers have developed attitude measures that utilize the ABC model, which encompasses three components of attitudes (affective, cognitive, and behavioral). The study was conducted among a random sample of 623 undergraduates who enrolled at the University of Jordan, consisting of 476 females and 147 males. The results of the descriptive statistics indicate that there is a high level of positive attitude toward utilizing ChatGPT as a learning tool. Furthermore, the findings confirm moderate affective and high behavioral and cognitive components of attitudes toward using ChatGPT as a learning tool among undergraduate students. A proportion of respondents (73.2%) agreed on the potential ability of ChatGPT to facilitate the learning process. In comparison, 20.7% of the study participants raised apprehensions regarding the precision of the data produced by ChatGPT, while an equivalent percentage (20.7%) reported feeling uncomfortable utilizing the platform; conversely, 14.6% of those surveyed acknowledged experiencing anxiety when unable to access ChatGPT’s services. The results of this study encourage decision-makers and educators at the University of Jordan to incorporate ChatGPT into curricula and instructional practices, considering student concerns and the risk of misuse.

Attitude and Achievement of First-Year Chemistry Undergraduate Students at The University of the South Pacific

Student attitude toward chemistry may influence engagement and achievement in chemistry-related courses, however, equivocal results in studies conducted in Western countries to date indicate this relationship requires further investigation. In this study, we investigated the correlation between attitude toward chemistry and achievement amongst a cohort of first-year undergraduate students from The University of the South Pacific (USP). A cluster analysis was used to identify low- and high-achieving groups of students to further explore potential correlations. There was a positive correlation between the cognitive and affective components of attitude among low-achieving students, but not among high-achieving students. The cognitive component of attitude did not appear to be strongly correlated with achievement in students from either group, although the affective component was positively correlated with achievement. The single item most strongly correlated with student achievement was their response on the Worthless-Beneficial scale. One of the notable findings was the differences in the attitude-achievement relationship between low-achieving and high-achieving students, suggesting that combining these clusters of students into a single group for analysis may obscure underlying correlations. Chemistry educators should continue to target their teaching styles to cater to different learning styles and achievement levels of students, including cognitive and non-cognitive learning styles.

Bilingual children acting as language brokers in Italy: Their affective and cognitive attitudes about the practice

Aims and objectives: This paper sets out to examine Italian bilingual children’ attitudes about Child Language Brokering (CLB), with a focus on the perceived feelings (affective component of attitudes) and benefits (cognitive component of attitudes) related to CLB. The aim is to study the presence of any relationship between the affective and cognitive components of child language brokers’ attitudes, since they can affect the outcomes of CLB and their analysis can provide tools to reduce the stressors related to it. Methodology: A survey was carried out among 150 immigrant students attending vocational high schools in the Northern and Central regions of Italy. Demographic and linguistic data were processed by means of a descriptive analysis, while attitudinal scales were processed by means of both descriptive and inferential analysis. Findings: The results will show that the child language brokers who perceive stronger positive feelings about CLB also report stronger attitudes towards the benefits of the practice. Originality: Considering the lack of research examining child language brokers’ attitudes in Italy by means of attitude scales, and the lack of attention to the affective and cognitive dimensions of such attitudes, this study addresses this gap by investigating these two dimensions of CLB.

Społeczny rynek współczucia, targi o współczucie i społeczna przestrzeń zinstytucjonalizowanej bezkarności. Kryzysy humanitarne w Polsce w latach 2021–2022

Centralnym pojęciem artykułu jest współczucie, analizowane jako zjawisko społeczne i kategoria, która może znaleźć zastosowanie w interpretacjach indywidualnych i zbiorowych zachowań oraz postaw. W sporach światopoglądowych, jakie toczą się obecnie w przestrzeni publicznej, ujawnia się mechanizm znany w socjologii z analiz biedy i wykluczenia społecznego – a mianowicie podział na zasługujących na współczucie i tych, którym współczucia odmówić należy. Uzasadnienia tego podziału, odwołujące się do sfery aksjologicznej, ujawniają się także ze szczególną ostrością w sytuacji kryzysów humanitarnych – tego na granicy polsko-białoruskiej oraz tego spowodowanego powtórną agresją Rosji wobec Ukrainy, w różnym stosunku do „bliższych” i „dalszych” Obcych. Stoję na stanowisku, że uzasadnienia odwołujące się do kategorii współczucia, zawarte w poznawczym komponencie postaw, tworzą społeczny rynek współczucia, konceptualizowany jako przestrzeń, w której odbywają się dyskursywne w swym charakterze targi o współczucie. Jednocześnie uzasadnienia te stanowią podstawę praktyk społecznych, zarówno działań o charakterze pomocowym i ratowniczym jednostek, samoorganizujących się grup identyfikujących się ze społeczeństwem obywatelskim oraz organizacji pozarządowych odwołujących się do wartości wspólnoty i humanitas, jak i formalnych oraz nieformalnych działań anormatywnych podejmowanych przez aktorów społecznych w społecznej przestrzeni (zinstytucjonalizowanej) bezkarności.

The cognitive component of attitudes to health by people of different ages

The cognitive component of attitudes to health by people of different ages

Attitudes of early childhood education teachers towards educational inclusion and the social adjustment of students with disabilities

Research shows that teachers' attitudes are a decisive element of the effective inclusion of students with disabilities, thereby conducive to the social adaptation of these students. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education and the social adjustment of students with disabilities. The sample consisted of 79 teachers of early childhood education working in a mainstream school and having a student in their class with a decision on the need for special education. The study used the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale towards Inclusive Education and the Classroom Behaviour Inventory Preschool to Primary. The results obtained in the study allow the conclusion that the positive beliefs of a teacher towards inclusive education (cognitive component of attitude) are most strongly associated with the social adaptation of a student with a disability. The conducted study showed that the teacher's readiness to modify the physical environment, his communication method and the methods of assessment with regard to the student's abilities and needs is related to the social adaptation of students with disabilities in a mainstream class. These aspects seem to be essential for the optimal functioning of a student with a disability in a mainstream class. The role of teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education in shaping the social adjustment of students with disabilities was emphasized.

Contribution of rationality to vaccine attitudes: Testing two hypotheses.

Although previous studies have demonstrated an association between vaccine attitudes and cognitive biases, often resulting in vaccination hesitancy, the exact contribution of rationality has not been fully clarified. We tested two hypotheses regarding the impact of rationality on vaccine attitudes stemming from bounded and expressive rationality. We focused on parental vaccine attitudes operationalized by the affective, behavioral, and cognitive attitude components and investigated how these are influenced by disillusionment toward authorities and ability to engage in rational thinking operationalized using cognitive reflection and heuristics and biases tasks. The study was of a cross‐sectional correlational design with a non‐probabilistic sample of 823 volunteer participants surveyed online in April and May 2018 in Croatia. The results identified disillusionment toward authorities as a predictor of all components. Furthermore, performance on heuristics and biases tasks also predicted the affective and cognitive, but not the behavioral component, whereas cognitive reflection had no impact on vaccine attitudes. Next, a moderation effect of disillusionment toward authorities on the association between the omission bias task and all attitude components was identified. Parents with low disillusionment demonstrated positive vaccine attitudes regardless of their rationality, whereas for parents with high disillusionment a significant positive correlation between performance on the omission bias task as assessed with a vaccination vignette and attitudes was identified. This suggests that the ability to resist vaccine specific omission bias, that is, higher rationality, can decrease the negative effects of disillusionment, which supports the bounded rationality hypothesis.

A reexamination of pre-service physical education teacher attitudes toward school-based health-related fitness testing in the USA

Pre-service physical education teachers (PPETs) may be implementing health-related fitness testing (HRFT) in schools in the future. Thus, exploring their attitudes toward HRFT would help us understand physical education (PE) teachers’ attitudes toward HRFT. This study investigated PPET attitudes toward HRFT in the USA and the effects of teacher characteristics (i.e. gender, ethnicity, year in university, and previous experience with fitness tests) on attitudes. A total of 501 PPETs (283 males, 56.5%; 218 females, 43.5%) aged 28.12 years (SD = 7.34) were included. The previously validated PPETs’ attitudes toward HRFT survey was used to collect the data using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha were first used to examine the validity and reliability of the instrument. Then analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of variance were performed to test overall attitude differences and attitude subdomain differences in teacher characteristics, respectively. The results generated by the reliable and valid scale indicated that only slightly positive overall attitudes toward HRFT were found among PPETs. Year in university had a significant effect only on the cognitive component of attitude. PPETs’ previous experience with fitness tests had significant effects on all aspects of attitudes. No gender or ethnicity differences were found, however. More efforts are needed to improve fitness education in both higher education and K-12 PE programmes in order to help students develop positive attitudes and experiences toward HRFT. Future studies should focus on exploring how PETE programmes prepare PPETs for using HRFT in K-12 programmes.

Affective and cognitive components of students\u2019 attitudes towards communication learning - validation of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale in a cohort of polish medical students

BackgroundThe Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) is a recognized tool for assessment of attitudes towards communication learning. In the original version, it consists of 26 items divided on theoretical assumptions into two subscales: Positive and Negative Attitudes Scales. However, the evidence for its structure seems unsatisfactory, and a simple division into positive and negative attitudes may be insufficient to describe attitudes of medical students towards communication learning. Moreover, the existing evidence of the test-retest reliability of the CSAS seems limited. Consequently, this study aimed to provide more evidence on its psychometric properties while validating the CSAS questionnaire in a cohort of Polish medical students.MethodsThe CSAS was translated, adapted into Polish, and validated in a cohort of 389 Polish medical students. Statistical analysis involved, among others, parallel analysis to determine the number of factors, confirmatory factor analysis to compare the proposed model with theory-based ones, and test-retest reliability analysis.ResultsConducted analysis revealed that in the examined population, the CSAS should rather consist of four than two subscales. Proposed four subscales addressed perceived outcomes of communication learning, positive and negative attitudes towards it (affective components), and factors motivating students to learn communication (a cognitive component of attitudes). Results of test-retest reliability were satisfactory for individual items and subscales.ConclusionsThis study presented a valid and reliable version of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale for Polish medical students and confirmed previous assumptions that CSAS may also be appropriate for assessment of affective and cognitive components of attitudes. Future research should, based on Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior, make attempts to develop a tool assessing not only attitudes but also subjective norms and perceived behavioral control.

The symmetric and asymmetric impacts of cognitive attitude components on overall mass tourism destination image: gender comparison

Mass tourism has become the preferred travel type for millions of people. All-inclusive (AI) initially emerged as an accommodation type for mass tourism destinations but has evolved to become its own form of tourism. Factors motivating tourists towards a mass-tourism destination offering all-inclusive products may vary according to market segments and demographic attributes. Research shows that cognitive factors that affect a destination’s image, which is one factor that attracts tourists, are not symmetrical in all cases. This study examines the effect of cognitive attitude components on the general destination image perception of tourists by using Asymmetric Impact-Performance Analysis (AIPA) to assess Antalya, a prominent AI mass-tourism destination. Regression analysis results provide important insights for destination management organisations (DMO) by classifying the asymmetric effects of each destination’s cognitive attitude component on overall destination image perception, according to gender.

A fogyasztói attitűd kognitív komponensének a pálinka imázsában betöltött szerepe

A kutatás célja a hazai pálinkafogyasztás, valamint a pálinkához kapcsolódó imázs megismerése volt. A korábbi hazai kutatásokhoz képest új megközelítést alkalmaztunk, melyben a fogyasztói attitűd komponensek imázs kialakító szerepét vizsgáltuk a bolti pálinkára, valamint a házi párlatra koncentrálva. A szakirodalom tanulmányozását követően kvalitatív vizsgálatot végeztünk, amely feltárta a kvantitatív kutatás legfontosabb aspektusait. A kvantitatív vizsgálat standard kérdőívezés volt, kvótás mintavétel módszerével, a minta 626 érvényes kitöltővel nem, korcsoport, és régió szempontjából megegyezik a 18 év feletti magyarországi lakosság összetételével. A Magyarországon legtöbbet fogyasztott égetett szeszes italokhoz kapcsolódó fogyasztói attitűd mérésére Fishbein attitűd modelljét alkalmaztuk. Az összehasonlításban a vizsgált hét ital közül a házi párlat rendelkezett a legkedvezőbb attitűddel, a bolti pálinka pedig a legkedvezőtlenebbel. A kereskedelmi pálinka gyártóinak további rossz hír, hogy a fogyasztói attitűd kognitív komponensét részletesen vizsgálva megállapítottuk, hogy a bolti pálinkának a házi párlatokhoz képesti rossz imázsa mögött ismereti, tudásbeli hiányosságok és tévedések húzódnak meg. A bolti pálinka helyzetének a javítása, a piaci szereplők versenyképességének a növelése átfogó marketingstratégiát igényel. Az attitűd komponensekre vonatkozó kutatásunk jelen tanulmánnyal összefüggő további eredményeit – melyben az attitűd affektív és konatív komponenseit vizsgáljuk a pálinkafogyasztás vonatkozásában – egy későbbi publikációban ismertetjük majd. JEL besorolás: M31

Teaching changes interest and attitudes of students towards bedbugs

ABSTRACT Parasites evoke an array of emotions that subsequently can govern our action as well as our precautionary measures. If parasites are unknown, an important question is how people can be educated about this parasite. Bedbugs are blood-sucking human parasites that (i) stigmatise hosts, (ii) are hardly correctly identified by people in the western world and (iii) have seemingly undergone a huge resurgence. Here, we study how education influences students̕ beliefs and attitudes towards bedbugs. A biology lesson for students aged 14–16, where we showed living bedbugs and taught about their biology, served as a test. We measured pre- and post-test affective, behavioural and cognitive components of attitudes and interest. Learners showed a significantly higher post-test interest in bedbugs compared to pre-test interest. In the pre-test, 98% of learners did not identify the bedbug correctly and partly had wrong ideas about the reasons for its spread. The post-test revealed a negative, and significantly reduced affective component of attitudes, compared to the pre-test. The behavioural component, expressed in proactive behaviour, increased significantly. These results show that teaching episodes sensibilise learners to bedbugs. This may be important to society to help reduce the stigmata unjustly associated with some human parasites.

Cognitive illness representation and anxiety in older men and women with type 2 diabetes.

In the elderly, type 2 diabetes is a frequent chronic condition that requires the attention of health care. As patient involvement is a prerequisite for treatment, it seems crucial to assess psychosocial aspects, including patient's cognitive component of attitude towards the condition, as early as upon diagnosis. The aim of this study was to examine whether the cognitive illness representation in older female and male patients with type 2 diabetes is differentiated. Considering disease duration, we determined the effect of cognitive illness representation on older diabetes emotional wellbeing. The study in 99 older adults with type 2 diabetes used Disease-Related Appraisals Scale (Skala Oceny Własnej Choroby; SOWCh) to assess cognitive illness representation and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) to assess the severity of state anxiety. In a subgroup with short-standing diagnosis, women scored significantly higher than men on subscales of Threat, Obstacle/Loss and Profit. In a subgroup with long-standing diagnosis, women scored significantly higher than men on the subscale of Threat and significantly lower than men on the subscale of Value. The associations between the individual dimensions of cognitive illness representation and anxiety were also determined. These correlations differed between sexes and stages of the disease. Both at early and late stages of type 2 diabetes, women perceive their illness as a threat significantly more than men do. This appraisal persists throughout the entire duration of the illness. Men with long-standing diagnosis, attribute higher value to diabetes than women do, perceiving it as an opportunity to appreciate values they did not pay attention to before. Anxiety reported by older women and men can be explained to a significant extent by certain dimensions of their respective cognitive illness representation.

‘PE should be an integral part of each school day’: parents’ and their children’s attitudes towards primary physical education

ABSTRACTFormation of positive attitudes is an objective in primary physical education. Children are more likely to engage in physical activity if they adopt positive attitudes towards physical education and parents play a large role in their development. This study explores parents’ and children’s attitudes toward their school’s physical education provision. Overall, parents and children had positive attitudes towards their school’s physical education programme. Children and parents valued fun and enjoyment in the physical education programme (affective component). Health and fitness as well as team sport discourses were felt important by parents, but they had little knowledge of the content of their child’s physical education programme (cognitive component). There was little difference in either of the affective or cognitive components of attitude across gender or class groups in each of the areas explored except in responses about what physical education does and should do in their child’s school. The school community must explore ways to inform parents about, and support their child’s learning in, physical education ensuring positive attitudes (cognitive and affective) are fostered and encouraged towards influencing positive physically active behaviours.

Beliefs and attitudes towards organ donation in young Mexicans

Aim The objective of this work was to demonstrate the relationship between beliefs and attitudes towards organ donation in Sonoran university students, which required the adaptation and validation of the scales of beliefs and attitudes towards organ donation proposed by León (2015) for the Mexican Sonoran state population. Method From a non-probabilistic sample of 225 college students of both sexes, between 17 and 25 years of age, each scale was analyzed using the Rasch model, where relevant values of unidimensionality were found for almost all items. Subsequently, an exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation showed theoretically interpretable factors, as well as a total explained variance greater than 50% in both scales. Results Using structural equations, a model of beliefs and attitudes towards organ donation was confirmed, identifying considerable correlations between negative beliefs on donation and positive attitude (r = -.73) and prosocial attitudes towards donation (r = -.44), showing relevant adjustment criteria (SRMR = .053; RMSEA = .056; CFI = .926). Conclusion The findings corroborate the importance of beliefs as a cognitive component of attitudes, as well future studies with sample extension are suggested to confirm the results obtained.

Role of attitudes in Brazil's country brand image

For the past three decades, the academic community has sought to advance the analysis relating to the image of several countries around the world. However, despite the importance of the theory of attitude in evaluating the image of a country, the majority of papers in the field has focused on the cognitive component of attitude only, having the other components, affective and conative, not thoroughly being examined. The purpose of this paper is to investigate Brazil's country brand image, based on the three-attitudinal categories 'cognitive', 'affective', and 'conative'. The study population consisted of the 427 undergraduate students at foreign institutions partaking agreements with a Brazilian public university. Attitudes were analysed using exploratory factor analysis to correlate potential impact on Brazils' country brand image. Results of this study indicate that the conative dimension received the highest scores of the respondents implying strong behavioural intentions in relation to Brazil's country brand image.