Lay Theories Research Articles

Lay Theories for Social Anxiety: Examining the Impact of Viewing Social Anxiety as Malleable Due to Personal Effort versus Fixed in Nature in a Non-clinical Sample

Lay Theories for Social Anxiety: Examining the Impact of Viewing Social Anxiety as Malleable Due to Personal Effort versus Fixed in Nature in a Non-clinical Sample

Health risk perception and exercise intention of college students: a moderated mediation model of health anxiety and lay theories of health.

Health risk perception is an important predictor of health-protective behaviors according to the health belief model. However, the underlying mechanism connecting health risk perception and exercise behaviors is not well understood. The current study investigates how health risk perception predicts college students' exercise intention in the post-pandemic era in China and analyzes the mediating effect of health anxiety and the moderating effect of lay theories of health. This cross-sectional study adopted convenience sampling and recruited 767 students from a province in central China. The Health Risk Perception Scale, Health Anxiety Scale, Lay Theories of Health Scale, and the Chinese version of the Exercise Intention Scale were used to measure the levels of health risk perception, health anxiety, implicit health theory, and exercise intention, respectively. The results of the moderated mediation model indicated that the health risk perception of college students significantly and positively affected exercise intention (β = 0.110, t = 2.852, p < 0.01). Meanwhile, the indirect effect of health anxiety on the relationship between health risk perception and exercise intention was significant. Furthermore, lay theories of health buffered the association between health anxiety and exercise intention, according to the moderated mediation analysis (β = 0.068, t = 2.067, p < 0.05). For college students holding incremental health theory, the influence of health anxiety on exercise intention was positively and statistically significant. The health risk perception of college students can lead to health anxiety, which can positively affect their exercise intention. In addition, lay theories of health can moderate the effect of health anxiety on exercise intention. The results have practical implications for developing effective, applicable, and scalable interventions to promote physical exercise by reducing the level of entity theory of health or increasing the level of incremental theory.

Lay theories of mating interest and mate retention strategies for atheists and theists in the Southern United States.

Lay theories of mating interest and mate retention strategies for atheists and theists in the Southern United States.

Lay theories of place effects

AbstractCombining research in political geography and social psychology, this article investigates lay theories of “place effects”—that is, ordinary citizens' beliefs about the effects that urban or rural places have on the individuals who live in them. We do so using a novel survey vignette embedded in a large‐scale survey of the Canadian public. Our results suggest that (1) citizens see rural identities as less malleable than urban identities, (2) lay theories of place effects depend on citizens' own place identities, and (3) lay theories of place effects are stronger for nonpolitical than for political place‐based characteristics. We also find that lay theories of place effects are associated with individual‐level characteristics that are connected to cosmopolitan‐communitarian divides, such as ideology and postsecondary education. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our findings for the growing literature on urban–rural divides and for research on citizens' implicit theories of places and their political consequences.

Interviewees’ Lay Theories and Social Categorization of Robot Therapy Dogs

Interviewees’ Lay Theories and Social Categorization of Robot Therapy Dogs

Social Awareness of the Causes, Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder and the Review of Lay Theories

Social Awareness of the Causes, Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder and the Review of Lay Theories

Lay theories of decreasing homophobia in the UK among an older heterosexual cohort

ABSTRACT Within the last 50 years, the UK has moved from prosecuting male homosexuality to identifying sexual orientation as a protected characteristic. There have been differing explanations for how this change has occurred. In the present study, we investigate how this political and moral change is understood by those who witnessed it, with the aim of gaining new insight into this change process. We elicited accounts from 25 heterosexual UK residents over the age of 65 years. First, we conducted individual semi-structured interviews with 21 participants. Second, we used a memory work method. Specifically, a group of four participants met four times with one of the researchers to share and discuss memories relevant to the research question. The analytic process aimed to reconstruct and make sense of the participants’ theorisations based on a thematic reading of the transcripts. Contact with LGBTQ people and increased awareness through the media were construed as central to the shift in societal homophobia. Participants remembered contact with LGBTQ people mediated by friends and family members but accounts show a complex understanding of social change that includes but also transcends direct personal experience and extant psychological theorising. Overall, this was a fragmented story of changing social norms, albeit one embedded within a canonical narrative of tolerance, decency and fairness.

Undergraduate Lay Theories of Abilities: Mindset, universality, and brilliance beliefs uniquely predict undergraduate educational outcomes.

Students' beliefs about their abilities (called "lay theories") affect their motivations, behaviors, and academic success. Lay theories include beliefs about the potential to improve intelligence (mindset), who (i.e., everyone or only some people) has the potential to be excellent in a field (universality), and whether reaching excellence in a field requires raw intellectual talent (brilliance). Research demonstrates that each of these beliefs influences students' educational experiences and academic outcomes. However, it remains unclear whether they represent distinct latent constructs or are susceptible to the "jangle fallacy" (i.e., different names given to the same underlying construct). We conducted a multiphase, mixed-methods study to 1) evaluate whether mindset, universality, and brilliance beliefs represent conceptually and empirically discriminable concepts, and 2) evaluate whether mindset, universality, and brilliance beliefs contribute unique explanatory value for both psychosocial (e.g., sense of belonging) and academic outcomes (e.g., course grades). To address these questions, we developed and collected validity evidence for a new measure of science and math undergraduates' lay theories, called the Undergraduate Lay Theories of Abilities (ULTrA) survey. Factor analyses suggest that mindset, brilliance, and universality are distinct and empirically discriminable constructs. Structural Equation Models indicate that each lay theory contributes unique predictive value to relevant outcomes.

Internal, external, genetic, or cultural? Lay theories about racial health disparities predict perceived threat, adherence, and policy support

AbstractDuring the COVID‐19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that Black and Latinx communities experienced a disproportionate burden of illness. The goal of this study is to investigate laypeople's attribution of these disparities. We hypothesized the following four potential attributions: external causes (e.g. systemic racism), internal causes (e.g. personal choices), cultural causes (e.g., being close knit), or genetic causes (e.g., being more vulnerable for genetic reasons). Data from 447 participants revealed that lay theories involving external factors were the most endorsed, whereas theories relating to genetic causes were the least endorsed. Our analyses further revealed that external attributions predicted broader COVID‐19 relevant outcomes (i.e., perceived threat of COVID‐19, adherence to CDC guidelines, and support for government policies in response to COVID‐19), even after controlling for political orientation, participant race, and other attributions. This research provides insight into how lay people's explanations for disparities can predict their reactions to the pandemic.

Lay theories of diversity initiatives: Theory and measurement of zero-sum and win-win beliefs

Three studies introduce a novel individual-difference construct to explain majority group members’ responses to organizational diversity efforts: lay theories of diversity initiatives. Zero-sum beliefs (ZSBs) presume that efforts to advance diversity come at the expense of majority group members. Win-win beliefs (WWBs) posit that diversity initiatives can benefit all racial groups. Study 1 created and validated measures of ZSBs and WWBs. Study 2 showed that ZSBs and WWBs are distinct from 10 intergroup measures (e.g., social dominance orientation, modern racism) and that each lay theory accounts for unique variance in explaining Whites’ reactions to diversity initiatives. Study 3 demonstrated that ZSBs and WWBs predict Whites’ reactions to diversity policies of a hypothetical company. These findings suggest that ZSBs and WWBs both help explain majority group members’ backlash against and support for organizational diversity initiatives.

Meaning‐making within inclusion: Exploring parents, teachers and students lay theories of ADHD and their implications for inclusive practice

AbstractThis paper explores the Lay Theories of ADHD of stakeholders (teacher, parent and student) in an Irish context. Academic theories of difference have and continue to evolve, moving from medicalisation, through more socially oriented ideas, to more current trend around neurodivergence. However, inclusion as a process is socially negotiated within classrooms and the wider community. An understanding of stakeholders' lay theories or their beliefs about ADHD (e.g., what causes it and how to respond) gives us insights into this process. This paper draws on findings from a multi‐case study (N = 15) that explored the lay theories of 17 parents, 15 students (7–18 year; Mean = 12.8; SD = 3.09), and 12 teachers (4 primary and 8 secondary) affected by ADHD in mainstream schools. Participants took part in a semi‐structured interview. A data‐driven Thematic Analysis identified three themes: what is ADHD, do they have control, and medication. Each stakeholder group held distinctly different views, which created considerable confusion. Findings are discussed in terms the need for the education of key stakeholders, and what those educational initiatives might include, as well as for the role of collaboration within the process of inclusion.

How Metaphor and Political Ideology Shape Lay Theories of Mental Disorders

Introduction: Lay theories of mental disorders impact social attitudes, stigma, and treatment seeking. We investigated whether common metaphors in mental health discourse shape lay beliefs about clinical disorders. Methods: Participants (N = 685) read a paragraph describing drug addiction (Experiment 1) or depression (Experiment 2) as either a demon or brain disease. They then reported their beliefs about and attitudes toward the condition. Results: Participants exposed to the brain disease frame expressed more support for a “medicalized” lay theory associated with a belief in underlying biological causes. We also found that participants with conservative political views held a more “moralized” view of both addiction and depression. This view is associated with a belief in personal causes, support for informal—as opposed to medical or psychological—treatments, and greater attributions of personal responsibility. Discussion: These findings help illuminate the factors that shape lay theories of mental disorders and have important implications for health communications.

What Are We Fighting For? Lay Theories About the Goals and Motivations of Anti-Racism Activism

What Are We Fighting For? Lay Theories About the Goals and Motivations of Anti-Racism Activism

Lay theories about collective power in the context of racial oppression

AbstractSocial psychological research has generally assumed that oppressed groups are powerless because they often have less control over resources and outcomes and power is usually defined as dominance or influence and control. We juxtapose this theoretical assumption with lay beliefs about the ingroup's collective power expressed in semi‐structured interviews among Black Americans (N = 28). Thematic analysis revealed that participants’ beliefs about ingroup power varied: whereas some participants perceived that the ingroup lacked power, others believed that the ingroup did have power, or the potential to gain it. These beliefs were based on distinct lay theories about collective power, conceptualized at different levels of analysis: the intragroup level (power as community resilience, enhancing ingroup solidarity), intergroup level (power as resistance against oppression, building coalitions between groups) and structural level (power as relative control over resources). We discuss the theoretical and methodological contributions and implications for research on collective power.

Lay theories about emotion recognition explain cultural differences in willingness to wear facial masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

Given that mask-wearing proved to be an important tool to slow the spread of infection during the COVID-19 pandemic, investigating the psychological and cultural factors that influence norms for mask wearing across cultures is exceptionally important. One factor that may influence mask wearing behavior is the degree to which people believe masks potentially impair emotion recognition. Based on previous research suggesting that there may be cultural differences in facial regions that people in Japan and the United States attend to when inferring a target's emotional state, we predicted that Americans would perceive masks (which cover the mouth) as more likely to impair emotion recognition, whereas Japanese would perceive facial coverings that conceal the eye region (sunglasses) to be more likely to impair emotion recognition. The results showed that Japanese participants reported wearing masks more than Americans. Americans also reported higher expected difficulty in interpreting emotions of individuals wearing masks (vs. sunglasses), while Japanese reported the reverse effect. Importantly, expectations about the negative impact of facial masks on emotion recognition explained cultural differences in mask-wearing behavior, even accounting for existing social norms

Reducing Expenses to Face the Future: The Role of Lay Theories About Wealth Creation in Retirement Allocations

Reducing Expenses to Face the Future: The Role of Lay Theories About Wealth Creation in Retirement Allocations

Supplemental Material for Beliefs About Abstraction: Low-Level and High-Level Construal Signal Different Lay Theories

Supplemental Material for Beliefs About Abstraction: Low-Level and High-Level Construal Signal Different Lay Theories

Genetic essentialist beliefs about criminality predict harshness of recommended punishment.

Genetic essentialism is a set of beliefs holding that certain categories have a heritable, intrinsic, and biological basis. The current studies explore people's genetic essentialist beliefs about criminality, how such essentialism relates to beliefs about appropriate punishment, and the kinds of judgments and motivations that underlie these associations. Study 1 validated a novel task, in which respondents estimated how possible it would be for a child to inherit criminal behavior from a sperm donor with whom they had no contact. Studies 2-4 used this task to address how genetic essentialist beliefs related to the harmfulness of a crime and the harshness of recommended punishment. Results indicated a tendency to essentialize both low- and high-harm crimes, though genetic essentialism was higher for more harmful crimes. Moreover, genetic essentialist beliefs predicted recommendations for harsher punishments, with retributive and protective motivations, as well as perceptions of recidivism risk, partially mediating this association. Further, Studies 3 and 4 found that genetic essentialism positively predicted support for harsh punishments such as the death penalty, as well as support for directing financial resources more toward law enforcement and less toward social support. Lay theories about criminality may have profound implications for decisions about appropriate punishment for wrongdoers, as well as broader policy decisions about crime, punishment, and resource allocation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Between discovery and exploitation of history: Lay theories of history and their connections to national identity and interest in history

One of the distinctions in modern historiography is that between collective memory and history. Although ideal historical research is presented as objective and driven by the search for accuracy, collective memory is nearly always distorted by the current group’s needs. In the current study, we assess whether common people use this professional distinction and whether these two concepts are used by the general population. Our findings are based on several different lines of quantitative studies with a total sample size of 3949: two representative Polish samples, a study of the collective memory of Oświęcim inhabitants and one representative study of inhabitants of six Polish cities. The findings show that laypeople distinguish between three different forms of historical understanding, corresponding to the (1) realistic view of history (history as a search for truth), (2) instrumental view of history (history as a construction in the service of the group’s current needs) and (3) relativistic view of history (disbelief in the possibility of historical cognition). The meta-analysis of correlations revealed that instrumental lay theory was positively related to the nationalistic in-group identity that glorifies the in-group. By contrast, realistic theory was positively related to patriotism – a form of in-group attachment that is open to criticism. The realistic theory was positively related, whereas the instrumental view was negatively related to the expressed interest in history. Moreover, the instrumental view of history was positively related to the explicit denial of the value of historical heritage and a strong focus on the present.

Examining the Double-Edged Sword Effects of Lay Theories of Mental Health on Perceptions and Treatment of Others with Mental Health Problems

INTRODUCTION: We examined the implications of viewing mental health problems as changeable through personal effort (incremental lay theory), fixed due to genetics (entity lay theory), or manageable through perseverance on perceptions of others with mental health problems. METHOD: In two preregistered studies, samples of online American participants were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions: manageable, incremental (changeable), entity (fixed), or control, and completed self-report measures of onset responsibility, offset efficacy, blame, stigma, willingness to help, and perceived likelihood of success of interventions aimed at helping those with mental health problems. RESULTS: In both studies, the manipulation had a significant effect on each outcome except willingness to help. Compared to the entity (fixed) condition, individuals in the incremental (changeable) condition reported significantly higher offset efficacy and perceived likelihood of success, but also higher onset responsibility and blame. Results for the manageable condition were similar to the incremental (changeable) condition but individuals in the manageable condition also reported lower responsibility (Study 1) as well as lower blame and stigma (Study 2). DISCUSSION: This work informs the ‘double-edged sword’ effects of holding incremental (changeable) or entity (fixed) lay theories concerning mental health problems. Findings also provide evidence that viewing mental health problems as manageable may reduce some of the negative and boost the positive implications associated with incremental (changeable) and entity (fixed) lay theories.