Belief Gap Research Articles

A behavioral gap in survival beliefs

AbstractLife span uncertainty (longevity risk) impacts several economic decisions. Individuals can form and revise their survival beliefs making use of behavioral heuristics. We propose a model of sentiment, in which individuals are assumed to switch between optimistic and pessimistic expectations of their health. When optimism is persistent in the face of health shocks, or when individuals are more likely to change their sentiment from pessimistic to optimistic than otherwise, our model predicts survival underestimation at young ages and overestimation at old ages. An empirical analysis based on the longitudinal data from Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe validates our model.

Bio-foods through the prism of generations

One of the main problems faced by marketers in recent years is the study of food needs and their degree of satisfaction in different generations: the baby boomers, generations X, Y and Z. The four generations that make up a significant portion of today's workforce, their incomes and purchasing power pose different questions for marketers, so how to communicate with each of them to make marketing strategy effective. There is a noticeable gap in beliefs, consumer demands and lifestyles among their representatives. There are a number of studies that show and prove that the leading factors influencing the purchase decision process are different across generations. This paper explores and analyses the main factors influencing consumer choice and purchase of bio food products. It seeks to answer the question, which attributes of a bio food product are leading and provoking the implementation of its purchase? The study focuses on the factors that influenced the consumption behavior of the generational sample studied: education, income, price of the product, for whom the product is purchased. Beyond the suggested factors, other factors of a subjective and objective nature, as well as an imposed healthy, lifestyle are applicable over the consumer’s influence, behavior and choices of bio-foods.

Experiences of Ambulatory Patients With Huntington's Disease With Case Management: A Qualitative Study.

Huntington's disease (HD) requires high-quality care to reduce disruption of the patient system, prevent crisis situations, and prevent early admission in a nursing home. In the Netherlands, case management has been available for the last to 9 years for people with HD. However, there is a notable gap in understanding experiences and beliefs of HD patients regarding case managers' care, guidance, and support for quality of life. To improve the international quality of care for people with HD, insight in experiences of ambulatory HD patients with the care, guidance, and support received from a case manager HD (CMHD) is crucial. Ambulatory care. Ambulatory patients with HD highly appreciate and value the role and support of the CMHD. This was reflected in four themes: (1) the CMHD as a person, with commitment, sympathy, and reliability as central concepts; (2) the CMHD as a professional, with the key roles of coordinator, point of contact, expert, and supporter; (3) impact of the CMHD on quality of life, with support of coping with decline and monitoring the home situation as important subthemes; and (4) support of the CMHD for family members, with providing help and giving attention as subthemes. This insight into patients' experiences of the CMHD's role adds value to the improvement of the international quality of care for people with HD. Commitment, expertise, support for both family members and patients, and bond of trust from the CMHD are experienced as very valuable. These qualitative findings from a patient's perspective add significantly to the body of knowledge on CMHD's role and practices as "spider at the center of the web."

Knowledge is Power…to misinform: Examining how knowledge gaps affect engagement with COVID-19 misinformation

This study examined how the knowledge gap hypothesis (KGH), the belief gap hypothesis (BGH), partisan media use, and interpersonal discussion affected COVID-19 knowledge and social media engagement (SME) with related misinformation. The KGH partially affected knowledge and reduced SME with misinformation regarding income. The BGH increased knowledge and reduced SME with misinformation among Liberals. Right-leaning media use and interpersonal discussion increased SME with misinformation respectively. Overall, knowledge was inversely associated with SME with misinformation.

Politically Contested Beliefs: Support for Trump Better Predicts Having Inaccurate Beliefs About COVID-19 Than Conservative/Republican Political Identity

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic poses an unprecedented risk to society. Studies suggested that people’s beliefs about COVID-19 are divided depending on partisan affiliations. Building on the belief gap hypothesis, this study adopts a nationally representative survey (N = 1,119) to examine whether political identity or support for Trump is more strongly related to having false beliefs about COVID-19. Results showed that support for Trump is a better predictor of having false beliefs about COVID-19 than conservative/Republican political identity. Support for Trump predicted having false beliefs, and such a tendency increased when they were more educated. Trust in scientific and news media institutions and conservative news use mediated the relationship between support for Trump and having false beliefs. Our findings bear implications on belief gap studies by introducing new mediators such as different dimensions of institutional trust and shed light on why people who support Trump are more susceptible to false claims about COVID-19.

Television News, Political Comedy, Party, and Political Knowledge in Global Warming Belief: Evidence From a Large-Scale Panel Survey

Secondary analysis of panel data found, after controlling for prior belief and many covariates, that 2011 Fox News viewing was negatively related to belief in global warming in 2016 and 2019, while MSNBC, broadcast news, and political comedy viewing in 2016 and CNN in 2019 had positive relationships. Partisan belief gaps in 2016 widened with CNN viewing and narrowed with viewing broadcast news, Fox News (especially with higher knowledge) and MSNBC (especially with lower knowledge), while political comedy viewing was associated both with wider (with lower knowledge) and narrower gaps (with higher knowledge). Implications for practice and theory are discussed.

Promoting better mental health care for patients with psychosis by focusing on differences in causal beliefs between patients and clinicians

IntroductionNonadherence to antipsychotic medications and disengagement from psychiatric services are frequent among people with psychosis. Research indicates how the beliefs of people with psychosis about the etiology of their symptoms, or their causal beliefs, affect treatment choice and outcomes. Yet, there is less research on causal beliefs of clinicians or on the impact of patient–clinician disagreements on treatment and adherence.ObjectivesThis review aimed to explore the scope of the literature focusing on clinicians’ causal beliefs and to map the degree of patient–clinician concordance in causal beliefs.MethodsA systematic literature search of PubMed, Embase, Scopus, PsycInfo, and ASSIA and a grey literature search of PsyArXiv and MedNar yielded 11,821 eligible references.Results Forty-two articles indicated that whereas clinicians endorse mainly biogenetic beliefs (9/15 articles, 60%), patients endorse mainly psychosocial causal beliefs (16/31, 52%) and other non-biogenetic causal beliefs (8/31, 26%). Most studies did not compare causal beliefs of people with psychosis and their treating clinicians.ConclusionsWhile clinicians and people with psychosis often hold complex causal models, a gap in causal beliefs between these groups appears to exist, which may affect the therapeutic relationship and pose barriers to treatment adherence. Future studies should address this gap by developing interventions that facilitate open communication about causal beliefs to promote treatment alliance and an agreed-on treatment plan.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Bridging the gap: Introducing a socio-cultural dimension to explain beliefs about man-made threats.

The belief gap hypothesis focuses on why individuals differ in beliefs about the causes and consequences of issues despite expert consensus. Offering ideological rationalization and media use as an explanation for diverting beliefs, it, so far, has focused on ideological priors that describe traditional socio-economic cleavages-even if scientific and environmental issues go beyond monetary questions. In this study, we aim to counter this shortcoming by introducing a socio-cultural dimension of ideology to research on the belief gap hypothesis. Comparing two issues of man-made threats-climate change and antimicrobial resistance-and emphasizing more strongly the role of media use for belief gaps, we find that a socio-cultural dimension of ideology serves as a better predictor for diverting beliefs about climate change but not for antimicrobial resistance. In contrast to left-leaning media, using right-leaning media outlets widens climate change belief gaps.

An ethnographic approach to understand cultural perspectives of tribes on branding practice for sick children in Odisha, India.

Traditional beliefs on child healthcare at time lead to potentially harmful practices like branding. However, there is a gap in people's perceptions, attitudes and beliefs about branding practice. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to document the cultural motivation, ability and opportunity for branding practice in a tribal district of Odisha, India. Initially, such practices were observed in the tribal community for three months. Then, 18 in-depth interviews were conducted - ten among women having under-five children, and eight among traditional healers. Six focus group discussions were conducted with community health workers as well. The responses were digitally recorded, transcribed and translated and were further used for thematic framework analysis. The primary determinants of branding practice were cultural beliefs compounded with low-health literacy, proximity to conventional care and influence of family and friends. The key driver for branding practices was traditional cultural beliefs on child healthcare decisions and health-seeking behaviours. Opportunities in the health system - availability and quality of health services - frequently drive them to seek healthcare from the system structure and routine health communication improves their ability to make better healthcare decisions. Culture significantly affects the conceptualisation of illness and care-seeking pathways in a society. The indigenous community used to consult local traditional healers for their health concerns. While the government has made efforts to increase community health literacy through various platforms and multiple stakeholders' engagements, the doorstep availability of modern care and health promotion interventions remains critical for meeting the health needs of the indigenous community.

Gender differences in perceived risk of COVID-19.

ObjectiveWe examine gender‐based differences in perceived risks related to COVID‐19.MethodsWe analyze published findings from COVID‐related research on beliefs and attitudes about the health risks posed by the pandemic. We also design and administer a pair of online survey experiments (n = 502) to test if and how responsive men's attitudes are to information about male‐specific risks.ResultsAcross 16 studies, men consistently express lower perceived risk of contracting COVID‐19 and less concern about the potential health consequences if they were to catch it. Our experimental results are mixed: Results for one information treatment indicate that men report greater relative risk of adverse outcomes. Men in one of the risk information treatments express less concern for their health if they were to contract the disease. Risk perceptions are positively correlated with self‐reported propensity toward protective behaviors.ConclusionOur review of recent studies finds a small‐but‐consistent gap in men and women's beliefs about their health risks related to the present pandemic. These risk beliefs are crucial determinants of whether individuals take protective measures. Our experimental results suggest that informing men of male‐specific risks associated with COVID‐19 can reduce their risk perceptions and perceptions of risk and widen the gap between men and women's perceptions.

Beliefs About the Causes of Psychosis Among Persons With Psychosis and Mental Health Professionals: A Scoping Review.

The beliefs that people with psychosis hold about causes of their illness (causal beliefs) can affect their choice to adhere to treatment and engage in mental health services. However, less is known about causal beliefs of mental health professionals (MHPs) and their impact on treatment adherence and service engagement. This review explored literature focusing on MHPs' causal beliefs and mapped the degree of concordance between their causal beliefs and those of people with psychosis. A systematic literature search of PubMed, Embase, Scopus, PsycINFO, and Applied Social Sciences Index Abstracts and a gray-literature search of PsyArXiv and MedNar yielded 11,821 eligible references. The first author reviewed all titles and abstracts, and the coauthors reviewed 10% (N=1,200). Forty-two articles were included. Most articles indicated that MHPs tend to endorse biogenetic beliefs (9 of 15 articles assessing MHPs' beliefs, 60%), whereas people with psychosis tend to endorse psychosocial beliefs (16 of 31 articles, 52%) and other nonbiogenetic beliefs (in 8 of 31 articles, 26%). Most studies did not compare causal beliefs of people with psychosis and their treating MHP. Studies varied in design, setting, and measures. MHPs and people with psychosis often hold complex views composed of different types of causal beliefs. However, a gap in causal beliefs between these groups appears to exist, which may affect the therapeutic relationship and pose barriers to treatment adherence. Future studies should address this gap by developing interventions that facilitate open communication about causal beliefs to promote treatment alliance and shared decision making.

Mind The Gap! The Role of Political Identity and Attitudes in the Emergence of Belief Gaps

Abstract To more fully understand the belief gap hypothesis, this study examines the effect of political identity, education, and partisan media consumption on the formation of attitudes and false beliefs. Using a two-wave, nationally representative online survey of the U.S., we assess people’s attitudes and beliefs toward climate change, on the one hand, and Syrian refugees, on the other. Building on previous studies, we demonstrate that the effect of one’s political identity on attitudes and false beliefs is contingent upon education, which appears to widen the belief gap in consort with political identity.

A behavioural gap in survival beliefs

Life span uncertainty (longevity risk) impacts several economic decisions. Individuals can form and revise their survival beliefs making use of behavioural heuristics. We propose a model of sentiment, in which individuals are assumed to switch between optimistic and pessimistic expectations on their health. When optimism is persistent in the face of health shocks, or when individuals are more likely to change their sentiment from pessimistic to optimistic than otherwise, our model predicts survival under-estimation at young ages and over-estimation at old ages. An empirical analysis based on the longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) validates our model.

The Attitudes and Beliefs of Australian Midwives and Obstetricians About Birth Options and Labor Interventions.

The global rise in the rate of induction of labor and cesarean birth shows considerable unexplained variation both within and between countries. Prior research suggests that the extent to which women are engaged in the decision-making process about birth options, such as elective cesarean, induction of labor, or use of fetal monitoring, is heavily influenced by clinician beliefs and preferences. The aim of this study was to investigate the beliefs about labor interventions and birth options held by midwives and obstetric medical staff from 8 Sydney hospitals and assess how the health care providers' beliefs were associated with discipline or years of experience. This is a survey study of midwives and obstetric staff that was distributed between November 2018 and July 2019. Modified from the previously validated birth attitudes survey for the Australian context, survey domains include (1) maternal choice and woman's role in birth, (2) safety by mode or place of birth, (3) attitudes toward cesarean birth for preventing urinary incontinence, (4) approaches to decrease cesarean birth rates, and (5) fears of birth mode. Responses were compared between professions and within professions by years of experience using Mann-Whitney U testing. A total of 217 midwives and 58 medical staff completed the survey (response rate, 30.5%). Midwifery staff responses generally favored a physiologic approach to birth, versus beliefs more in favor of intervention (particularly cesarean birth) among medical staff. There was interprofessional discrepancy on most items, particularly regarding safety of mode or place of birth and approaches to decrease cesarean birth rates. Within disciplines, there was more variation in medical staff attitudes than within the midwifery staff. No clinically important differences in beliefs by years of experience were noted. Clinicians need to be aware of their own beliefs and preferences about birth as a potential source of bias when counselling women, particularly when there are a range of treatment options and the evidence may not strongly favor one option over another. As both groups had similar perceptions about the importance of women's autonomy, shared decision-making training could help bridge belief gaps and improve care around birth decisions.

Relational age and leader–member exchange: mediating role of perceived trust

PurposeDrawing on similarity-attraction hypothesis and generational gap literatures, this study aims to examine the impact of age difference in a leader–member dyad on leader–member exchange (LMX). The study hypothesized that relational age would impact the subordinates-reported LMX. However, given that leaders have structural power over subordinates and hence have mechanisms of interaction available to them, the age difference might not determine their perception of quality of LMX. The study also hypothesized that generation gap in values and beliefs leads to lack of trust, on the part of subordinates, which in turn might be the reason for poor quality of LMX.Design/methodology/approachA total of 200 leader–member dyads from five organizations in the National Capital Region of India were used in this study. Data were collected via separate structured questionnaires for leaders and members, which comprised of standard scales of LMX and perceived trust, and demographics.FindingsHypotheses received substantial support from the data with a few exceptions. Only the loyalty dimension of perceived trust mediates the relationship between relational age and member perception of LMX.Research limitations/implicationsResults have implications for relational age and LMX interventions. However, the results are to be viewed in the light of members’ perspective. While this is a common practice in LMX research, it would be interesting to explore leaders’ trust and psychological reactions as well, for additional insights into leadership practice.Originality/valueLimited work has been done to explore the impact of relational age on LMX, that too mediated by trust. An attempt has been made in this study to do so via leader–member dyads.

Why Would I Use Location-Protective Settings on My Smartphone? Motivating Protective Behaviors and the Existence of the Privacy Knowledge–Belief Gap

Smartphones have become essential for functioning in society, but as more personal information is accessed, transferred, or stored on smartphones, users struggle to control the release of their information via privacy settings. To enhance their privacy, individuals must be knowledgeable about their smartphone and motivated to use the device’s settings. Therefore, we explore the roles of knowledge and motivation in affecting smartphone owners’ use of settings to limit sharing of location-based information. The authors find that personal motivation is the strongest factor affecting such use, and the opinions of others do not matter. This is likely because of the personal nature of smartphones. Furthermore, privacy knowledge and individuals’ perceptions of their abilities to use privacy settings also affect this usage. However, a privacy knowledge–belief gap exists by which people with high levels of privacy knowledge utilize less restrictive privacy settings when their confidence in protecting themselves is low. The combined lack of effect from social motivation and the importance of perceived and actual privacy knowledge suggest that asking parents, teachers, or “important” others to tell individuals how to better protect themselves is unlikely to give the intended results. Instead, we need to appeal to individuals’ personal motivation and offer them training via experiential learning, such as games or educational apps.

Combined Effects of Race and Socioeconomic Status on Cancer Beliefs, Cognitions, and Emotions.

Aim: To determine whether socioeconomic status (SES; educational attainment and income) explains the racial gap in cancer beliefs, cognitions, and emotions in a national sample of American adults. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, data came from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) 2017, which included a nationally representative sample of American adults. The study enrolled 2277 adults who were either non-Hispanic Black (n = 409) or non-Hispanic White (n = 1868). Race, demographic factors (age and gender), SES (i.e., educational attainment and income), health access (insurance status, usual source of care), family history of cancer, fatalistic cancer beliefs, perceived risk of cancer, and cancer worries were measured. We ran structural equation models (SEMs) for data analysis. Results: Race and SES were associated with perceived risk of cancer, cancer worries, and fatalistic cancer beliefs, suggesting that non-Hispanic Blacks, low educational attainment and low income were associated with higher fatalistic cancer beliefs, lower perceived risk of cancer, and less cancer worries. Educational attainment and income only partially mediated the effects of race on cancer beliefs, emotions, and cognitions. Race was directly associated with fatalistic cancer beliefs, perceived risk of cancer, and cancer worries, net of SES. Conclusions: Racial gap in SES is not the only reason behind racial gap in cancer beliefs, cognitions, and emotions. Racial gap in cancer related beliefs, emotions, and cognitions is the result of race and SES rather than race or SES. Elimination of racial gap in socioeconomic status will not be enough for elimination of racial disparities in cancer beliefs, cognitions, and emotions in the United States.

Women in a men’s world: Risk taking in an online card game community

Analyzing a large data set from an online card game platform, a traditionally masculine environment with low female representation, we provide novel field evidence for gender differences in risk taking. Our paper complements existing laboratory experiments by studying a setting where selection into and out of the choice environment is endogenous, choices and outcomes are publicly observable and decisions are repeated over hundreds of rounds. We show that despite the possibility of sorting, imitation or learning, female players persistently choose lower risk-return profiles than men. We argue that the observed gender differences in risk taking result from true preference differences rather than a gap in skill, confidence or beliefs.

When Gaps Become Huuuuge: Donald Trump and Beliefs About Immigration

Immigration became a hot issue during the 2016 presidential election, in part due to Donald Trump’s offensive campaign against immigrants and minorities in general. Drawing upon the belief gap hypothesis, we tested if support for Donald Trump increased false beliefs about immigrants. The belief gap hypothesis explains differences in beliefs about empirically verifiable and politically contested issues, relying on ideology and partisanship—instead of education— to predict people’s beliefs. By using nationally representative panel data, this study explored how political ideology and education work together to predict belief gaps about immigrants. Findings suggest that conservative ideology and education interact to predict attitudes, showing that highly educated conservatives hold more negative beliefs about immigrants as compared to highly educated liberals or less educated conservatives. We also found that Trump’s supporters exhibit negative attitudes and beliefs about immigration—yet results indicate that Donald Trump is not the cause of such attitudes but the catalyst that reveals them. Implications for theory and future research are discussed.

A STUDY ON BUSINESS SCHOOL BRANDING

The study stemmed from the idea of “Action belief gap” in the sense that often institutions talk of ideals and when comes to action, it ends up in indifference to it. Vision statement one such thing, often it remains as a mere rhetoric in many companies. While Customer Based Brand Equity (CBBE) is an external litmus test of brand power, this research is an internal driver of brand and Brand Vision, Brand Objectives,Brand Essence, Brand Culture and Brand Resource and Implementation as variables studied. The study was a pan India one with Business Schools across the nation with the use of questionnaire to find efforts under way to build the brand around the institution. The study being a first of its kind globally, now the questionnaire serves as template for an institution to introspect on their work on branding.