Measures Of Beliefs Research Articles

Implicit motives across cultures

In recent years, methodological and substantial progress has been made in the field of cross-cultural studies on implicit motives. We propose that cross-cultural studies on implicit motives are indispensable to understand universal and culture-specific variations in individuals’ mental processes and behavior. It is assumed that implicit motives represent the first motivational system to be shaped in a human being’s ontogeny and that they have far-reaching consequences for individuals’ development, their feelings and actions in everyday life across different cultural groups. Applying psychometrically sound measurements cross-culturally, researchers have revealed a number of universal relationships between implicit motives and psychological and behavioral correlates. Despite these promising advancements, fundamental work still needs to be done with respect to the developmental antecedents of motives and behavioral correlates, particularly focusing on affiliation and power, which have received much less attention compared to the achievement motive. We conclude that if we want to do a better job at predicting behavior both within and across cultural groups, we need to supplement our typical reliance on explicit measures with implicit measures of motivation, beliefs, and values.

Implicit Motives Across Cultures

In recent years, methodological and substantial progress has been made in the field of cross-cultural studies on implicit motives. We propose that cross-cultural studies on implicit motives are indispensable to understand universal and culture-specific variations in individuals’ mental processes and behavior. It is assumed that implicit motives represent the first motivational system to be shaped in a human being’s ontogeny and that they have far-reaching consequences for individuals’ development, their feelings and actions in everyday life across different cultural groups. Applying psychometrically sound measurements cross-culturally, researchers have revealed a number of universal relationships between implicit motives and psychological and behavioral correlates. Despite these promising advancements, fundamental work still needs to be done with respect to the developmental antecedents of motives and behavioral correlates, particularly focusing on affiliation and power, which have received much less attention compared to the achievement motive. We conclude that if we want to do a better job at predicting behavior both within and across cultural groups, we need to supplement our typical reliance on explicit measures with implicit measures of motivation, beliefs, and values.

The Spiritual Contagion Scale: A Measure of Beliefs In The Transfer of Metaphysical Properties

The Spiritual Contagion Scale: A Measure of Beliefs In The Transfer of Metaphysical Properties

The Relationship Between School Counselors’ Role Beliefs and Practice with and on Behalf of LGBTQQI Youth

School counselors completed measures of school counselor activity and role beliefs; competence with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and intersex (LGBTQQI) issues; and school-based LGBTQQI advocacy and awareness. Hierarchical multiple regression identified that LGBTQQI clinical skill predicts school counselor LGBTQQI advocacy and awareness, adjusting for school counselor demographics, sexual-affective and gender identities, activity beliefs, building level, and LGBTQQI training. We discuss implications for school counselor training and practice.

Skepticism, cynicism, and cognitive style predictors of the generality of unsubstantiated belief

AbstractIn three samples (Ns = 286, 304, and 273), we found that endorsement of conspiracy theories, paranormal beliefs, and psychological misconceptions were all positively intercorrelated, supporting an individual difference in the tendency to generally endorse unsubstantiated claims. Multiple regression analyses further supported generality, showing that intuitive cognitive style positively predicted all three types of unsubstantiated beliefs in all samples, except conspiracy theory belief in the third sample, while rational‐analytic cognitive style was a less consistent predictor. Unexpectedly, in all samples, a new measure of cynicism was a significant, positive predictor of all three unsubstantiated beliefs (not only conspiracy theory belief as predicted). Although general skeptical attitude did not predict any unsubstantiated belief measure, a new measure of scientific skepticism negatively predicted both paranormal and conspiracy theory belief. Discussion centers on whether cynicism and scientific skepticism should be added to dual‐process accounts of the tendency to generally accept unsubstantiated claims.

A comparative study of knowledge, beliefs, and opportunities to learn afforded to physical science B.Ed students

Since large-scale studies show country and institutional differences in the preparation of B.Ed students, there is growing interest in the determination of the opportunities-to-learn afforded to them and the effects thereof in South African universities and elsewhere. There are, however, few studies that provide a contextually nuanced view of the effects of teacher education programmes on B.Ed students. This study therefore compares opportunities-to-learn afforded to physical science B.Ed students and their levels of competence that include knowledge and beliefs at four South African universities. Quantitative analysis reveals that some universities afforded these students more opportunities-to-learn in agreement with the nature of these universities. Furthermore, some opportunities-to-learn afforded to B.Ed students are provisionally related to measures of beliefs but they are not related to knowledge measures. Our findings suggest that while the B.Ed students seem to be afforded sufficient opportunities-to-learn at some universities, this does not readily translate into higher levels of competence.

Evaluation of the Polish version of the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale in parents of typically developing children and children with autism spectrum disorders.

Parental self-efficacy describes parents' self-perceived competence in fulfilling their roles. The Parenting Sense of Competence Scale (PSOC) is one of the most commonly used self-report instruments, allowing for parental self-efficacy measurement. This paper summarizes the results of three studies (total N= 2088) conducted to examine factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability and criterion validity of the Polish version of PSOC (PSOC-PL). The studies were carried out among parents (mothers and fathers) of typically developing 14- and 15-year-olds (Study 1, n= 1404) as well as among parents of typically developing children aged 6-16 (Study 2, n= 248), parents of typically developing children and children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (Study 3, n = 436, ages ranged from 6 to 13). Confirmatory factor analysis (Study 1) demonstrated an acceptable fit of the theorized two-factor model, with theorized Satisfaction and Efficacy factors. The subscales' internal consistencies were satisfactory across all studies (Studies 1-3), and PSOC's test-retest reliability (Study 2) over a 3-week interval was very high. Parents of children with developmental disorders (Study 3) reported lower efficacy than parents of typically developing children. The results of these three studies attest that the Polish version of PSOC is a reliable and valid measure of parental self-efficacy beliefs.

CONSIDER New Mexico: Effects of naloxone training among pharmacists and pharmacy technicians

BackgroundPharmacists serve a critical role in providing health care, especially in medically underserved areas. Despite the opioid crisis and legislation in most states allowing pharmacists to dispense naloxone without a prescription from another provider, pharmacists face multiple barriers to dispensing naloxone. ObjectiveThis study tested the effectiveness of CONSIDER New Mexico, an innovative educational initiative designed to increase naloxone dispensing by pharmacies. MethodsA quasi-experimental study was conducted in New Mexico in 2019-2020. Community pharmacists and pharmacy technicians were recruited from a purposive sample of pharmacies. Data were collected through pre- and postintervention surveys with 65 pharmacists and 44 technicians from 49 pharmacies. Data analysis included hybrid fixed-effects regression models of variables associated with pre-post intervention change in intent to dispense naloxone and generalized least squares with maximum likelihood estimation for pre-post intervention change in naloxone dispensing. ResultsPositive intervention effects were observed for measures of normative beliefs, self-efficacy, and intent to dispense naloxone (P < 0.05). Changes in normative beliefs and self-efficacy were associated with greater intent to offer naloxone to patients (P < 0.05). In addition, the median number of naloxone prescriptions dispensed per month increased 3.5 times after intervention. A statistically significant positive association was observed between the intervention and naloxone dispensing after adjusting for other factors (P < 0.001). Pharmacies providing more than 4 additional health services were more likely to increase naloxone dispensing postintervention than pharmacies offering not more than 2 services (P < 0.01). This difference averaged 19 naloxone prescriptions per month. Estimated change in dispensing postintervention was statistically significantly lower at independent, clinic-based, and other pharmacies where an average of 36 fewer naloxone prescriptions were dispensed per month compared with chain drug stores (P = 0.03). ConclusionThe CONSIDER New Mexico intervention effectively increased self-efficacy, intent to dispense, and naloxone dispensing. Findings will inform future research examining widespread dissemination and implementation of the intervention and the sustainability of intervention effects.

Epistemic Beliefs: Relationship to Future Expectancies and Quality of Life in Cancer Patients

ContextExpectations about the future (future expectancies) are important determinants of psychological well-being among cancer patients, but the strategies patients use to maintain positive and cope with negative expectancies are incompletely understood. ObjectivesTo obtain preliminary evidence on the potential role of one strategy for managing future expectancies: the adoption of “epistemic beliefs” in fundamental limits to medical knowledge. MethodsA sample of 1307 primarily advanced-stage cancer patients participating in a genomic tumor testing study in community oncology practices completed measures of epistemic beliefs, positive future expectancies, and mental and physical health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Descriptive and linear regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationships between these factors and test two hypotheses: 1) epistemic beliefs affirming fundamental limits to medical knowledge (“fallibilistic epistemic beliefs”) are associated with positive future expectancies and mental HRQOL, and 2) positive future expectancies mediate this association. ResultsParticipants reported relatively high beliefs in limits to medical knowledge (M = 2.94, s.d.=.67) and positive future expectancies (M = 3.01, s.d.=.62) (range 0–4), and relatively low mental and physical HRQOL. Consistent with hypotheses, fallibilistic epistemic beliefs were associated with positive future expectancies (b = 0.11, SE=.03, P< 0.001) and greater mental HRQOL (b = 0.99, SE=.34, P = 0.004); positive expectancies also mediated the association between epistemic beliefs and mental HRQOL (Sobel Z=4.27, P<0.001). ConclusionsEpistemic beliefs in limits to medical knowledge are associated with positive future expectancies and greater mental HRQOL; positive expectancies mediate the association between epistemic beliefs and HRQOL. More research is needed to confirm these relationships and elucidate their causal mechanisms.

Perceiving More Age-Related Losses? The Role of General Control Beliefs and Daily Disturbance to Plans

We examined daily fluctuations in future time perspective within the daily stress and awareness of aging processes. Awareness of age-related change (AARC) focuses on everyday experiences that highlight changes in behavior and functioning as a result of growing older. We integrated individual differences in control beliefs because those with higher control tend to be more resilient to stressors. We conducted a daily diary study of 112 older adults (aged 60-90) who completed measures of control beliefs at baseline and then daily measures of stressor exposure, appraisal (e.g., threats to future plans), and AARC for eight consecutive days. Increases in threats to future plans were associated with increases in AARC losses, and those with low control were especially vulnerable to increases in threats to future plans. With a constricted future time perspective, any threats to future plans may be especially harmful for older adults who are low in control beliefs.

Investigating message framing to improve adherence to technology-based cognitive interventions.

A cognitive intervention study was conducted with the purpose of exploring methods to improve adherence to a technology-based cognitive intervention and uncover individual differences that predict adherence (N = 120). The study was divided into two phases: Phase 1, in which participants were asked to follow a prescribed schedule of training that involved gamified neuropsychological tests administered via tablet, and Phase 2, in which participants were asked to play as frequently as they wished. Positive- and negative-framed messages about brain health were delivered via the software program, and measures of cognition, technology proficiency, self-efficacy, technology attitudes, and belief in the benefits of cognitive training were collected. Generalized linear mixed-effects models revealed that positive-framed messages encouraged greater adherence over negative-framed messages, but this effect was restricted to Phase 2 of the study in the absence of social pressure. Measures of memory and self-efficacy demonstrated some, but limited, ability to predict individual differences in adherence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Brief measures of the four highest-order primal world beliefs.

Primal world beliefs ("primals") are beliefs about the basic character of the world (e.g., "the world is an abundant place"). The first effort to empirically map primals identified over two dozen such beliefs. The four highest-order beliefs--the overall belief that the world is Good (vs. bad), followed by Good's three dimensions of Safe (vs. dangerous), Enticing (vs. dull), and Alive (vs. mechanistic)-were novel and strongly correlated to many theoretically relevant outcomes such as depression. However, measuring these four beliefs currently requires administering the 99-item Primals Inventory (PI-99) and computing lengthy subscales (71, 29, 28, and 14 items). This article validates briefer measures. Study 1 (N = 459) and Study 2 (N = 5,171) examines the dimensionality, internal reliability, and test-retest reliability of scores on an 18-item measure of Good, Safe, Enticing, and Alive (PI-18). Study 3 (N = 3,947) does the same for a briefer 6-item measure of overall Good world belief (PI-6). Study 4 (N = 5,794) compares both versions to the PI-99 (the gold standard) and 14 of its correlates, including depression and life satisfaction. We conclude by recommending the PI-6 and PI-18 for most research and clinical uses and note that correspondence of three parallel forms implies not only scale accuracy but also robustness of the latent phenomena. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

\u201cThe Real Cost\u201d Smokeless campaign: changes in beliefs about smokeless tobacco among rural boys, a longitudinal randomized controlled field trial

BackgroundThe prevalence of current smokeless tobacco (SLT) use in 2019 among high school students was 4.8%, and the overall rate of SLT use was higher among high school boys (7.5%) than girls (1.8%). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched “The Real Cost” Smokeless media campaign in April 2016 to educate rural youth about the dangers of SLT use. In this study, we evaluate the effectiveness of “The Real Cost” Smokeless campaign.MethodsWe use a 3-year (Jan 2016 – Dec 2018) randomized controlled longitudinal field trial that consists of a baseline survey of boys and a parent/guardian and four follow-up surveys of the boys. The cohort includes 2200 boys who were 11 to 16 years old at baseline and lived in the rural segments of 30 media markets (15 treatment markets and 15 control). “The Real Cost” Smokeless campaign targets boys who are 12 to 17 years old in 35 media markets. It focuses primarily on graphic depictions of cosmetic and long-term health consequences of SLT use. The key outcome measures include beliefs and attitudes toward SLT that are targeted (explicitly or implicitly) by campaign messages.ResultsUsing multivariate difference-in-difference analysis (conducted in 2019 and 2020), we found that agreement with 4 of the 11 explicit campaign-targeted belief and attitude measures increased significantly from baseline to post-campaign launch among boys 14 to 16 years old in treatment vs. control markets. Agreement did not increase for boys 11–13 years old in treatment vs. control markets and only increased for one targeted message for the overall sample.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that “The Real Cost” Smokeless campaign influenced beliefs and attitudes among older boys in campaign markets and that a campaign focused on health consequences of tobacco use can be targeted to rural boys, influence beliefs about SLT use, and potentially prevent SLT use.

Effects of online continuum and categorical belief manipulations on schizophrenia stigma, help-seeking, and help-provision

Most research investigating the effect of continuum beliefs on stigma has used weak manipulations which may contribute to mixed findings within the experimental literature. There is also a lack of research into how continuum belief manipulations may impact help-seeking and help-provision. This study used an online manipulation of continuum and categorical beliefs about schizophrenia to examine the subsequent impacts on stigma, help-seeking, and help-provision. A total of 271 participants were randomised into either a continuum, categorical, or control condition. Participants received an informational video, a magazine article, and research highlights relevant to their condition. Prosocial support behaviour was assessed through a novel volunteering measure. The magnitude of change between pre-intervention and post-intervention measures of continuum and categorical beliefs was large. Continuum presentations reduced prognostic pessimism and negative stereotyping. Meanwhile, categorical presentations increased prognostic pessimism. Participants across conditions showed increased help-providing intentions after removing the highest scores to avoid ceiling effects. Fear and blame also decreased significantly across all conditions. There was no difference between conditions on our novel volunteer help-provision measure. Our findings have implications for anti-stigma programs and may help inform the design of future continuum belief manipulations.

Metacognitive Beliefs and Suicidal Ideation: An Experience Sampling Study.

The current study aimed to examine the relationship between metacognitive beliefs about suicidal ideation and the content and process of suicidal ideation. This was to examine the potential contribution of the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model (Wells and Matthew, 2015) to suicidal ideation. Twenty-seven participants completed both trait and state-level measures of suicidal ideation, negative affect, defeat, hopelessness, entrapment and metacognitive beliefs. Experience Sampling Methodology (ESM) was adopted to measure state-level measurements with participants invited to complete an online diary up to seven times a day for six days. Multi-level modelling enabled a detailed examination of the relationships between metacognitive beliefs and suicidal ideation. Positive (β = 0.241, p < 0.001) and negative (β = 0.167, p < 0.001) metacognitive beliefs about suicidal ideation were positively associated with concurrent suicidal ideation even when known cognitive correlates of suicide were controlled for. The results have important clinical implications for the assessment, formulation and treatment of suicidal ideation. Novel meta-cognitive treatments targeting beliefs about suicidal ideation are now indicated. A limited range of characteristics reported by participants affects the generalizability of findings. Future research is recommended to advance understanding of metacognition and suicide but results demonstrate an important contribution of the S-REF model.

Lay beliefs about the causes and treatment of depression: Tests of measurement models and associations

BackgroundThere is reason to expect beliefs about depression's causes and treatment to influence use of psychotherapy, but the literature is marked by theoretical, methodological, and empirical inconsistencies. This study assessed the factorial validity of measures of beliefs about depression's causes and formal treatment versus self-management. It also tested the links of causal attributions to general treatment/self-management beliefs and endorsement of specific interventions. MethodsThe revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) adapted for depression was administered online to a non-patient, U.S. sample (N = 319). ResultsConfirmatory factor analyses yielded three causal dimensions, Environmental Stressors, Biological Factors, and Personal Attributes, and two control dimensions, (Formal) Treatment and Personal. Both models fit irrespective of whether respondents believed they had ever experienced depression. A structural equation model (SEM) showed a positive relationship for Environmental and Biological attributions, and an inverse relationship for Personal attributions, in predicting general preferences for Formal Treatment. A second SEM, focusing on specific interventions, linked Environmental causation to endorsement of psychotherapy, dietary changes, and self-help, and Biological causation to endorsement of medication and exercise, with Personal causation inversely associated with endorsement of psychotherapy. LimitationsA cross-sectional, correlational design precludes causal inferences. Potential sociocultural influences were not assessed. ConclusionsModifications to the IPQ-R suggested by this study improved its psychometric properties, validated its distinction between Treatment and Personal Control beliefs, and supported examination of both general and specific beliefs about ways to deal with depression. Relationships linking cause and treatment beliefs warrant further investigation as potential intervention targets to increase treatment utilization.

Brazilian version of headache management self-efficacy scale

Background Headache-management self-efficacy has been associated with pain severity and headache-related disability. Objective The aim of this study was to test the cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of a Brazilian version of the Headache Management Self-Efficacy Scale (HMSE) in a sample of patients coming from three tertiary headache centers in Brazil. Methods 137 migraine outpatients completed the Headache Management Self-Efficacy Scale (HMSE) and measures of psychopathological symptoms, pain catastrophizing, depression, anxiety, quality of life and headache-related disability. Results HMSE-10 showed good reliability (α = 0.84) and adequate corrected item-total correlation, ranging from 0.46 to 0.64. HMSE-10 was positively correlated with 6 of 8 domains of overall health status and negatively correlated with psychopathological symptoms, depression, anxiety, pain catastrophizing, headache-related disability, headache frequency and headache intensity. The difference between the means of the episodic and chronic headache patients had a magnitude of moderate effect in all the study measures, being headache-related disability the largest one found (d = 0.68). Along with headache intensity and depression, Efficacy Scale beliefs were predictors of headache-related disability. Conclusions The Brazilian short version of Headache Management Self-Efficacy Scale (HMSE-10) was revealed as a valid and reliable measure of headache-specific Efficacy Scale beliefs.

Assessing cyber resilience of additive manufacturing supply chain leveraging data fusion technique: A model to generate cyber resilience index of a supply chain

The ever-increasing use of technology in manufacturing and other sections of a supply chain make it more susceptible to cyber threats. Perhaps additive manufacturing (AM) supply chains possess higher degrees of threats than other supply chains due to their heavy dependence on technology and information sharing. Therefore, an assessment of the cyber resilience of an additive manufacturing (AM) supply chain is a crucial task to make the AM supply chain safe from the cyber intrusion and to secure competitive business advantages. Consequently, it is essential to develop a strategic decision-making framework to address the vulnerabilities associated with the AM supply chain. The assessment process involves various information sources that are incomplete, subjective, and also uncertain in type. Therefore, to handle the incomplete, uncertain, and subjective nature of the data, in this study, a data fusion technique named hierarchical evidential reasoning-based approach has been adopted. This study proposes an integrated and comprehensive approach based on Dempster-Shafer (D-S) theory as a methodology of developing a framework for assessing the cyber resilience of an additive manufacturing supply chain. A case study involving an additive manufacturing organization was selected to test the proposed methodology. The output of the proposed framework shows reasonable results as an index of cyber resilience of additive manufacturing supply chain considering the amount of uncertainty or unassigned data associated with the measure of belief. Later, Yager’s recursive rule of combination is applied to validate the output of the D-S theory. An index value was generated regarding the organization’s cyber resilience state; it depicts a numerical measure of how resilient the organization is. The proposed methodology also can be adopted and materialized by the practitioners to assess the condition state of cyber resilience of the additive manufacturing supply chain. In addition, the proposed model can be extended to compare multiple organizations in terms of their condition state of cyber resilience through a unified model.

Research on Synchronization Mechanism of Artificial Intelli-gence Model Based on Belief Measure and Its Application in Pumped Storage Power Station

For the security monitoring of pumped storage power station, a model synchroniza-tion mechanism for cloud edge cooperation framework is proposed. The method uses the belief function to describe the threshold and uses the ping-pong operation strategy to update the model alternately, which solves the problem of artificial intelligence model synchronization and update of edge equipment. The cloud is based on Baidu BML platform, the edge uses customized servers, and the average model update cycle is about three months.

Strategic thinking in contests

We examine motives for ‘overbidding’ in contests between individuals using a “two-headed” approach to decision-making. In “two-headed” contests, subject pairs send suggested bids and messages to a partner. Content analysis of the messages provides insight into an individual’s bidding motives. In addition, we elicit measures of preferences, beliefs, and impulsiveness. We find that beliefs about others’ bids and messages that emphasize winning (i.e., utility of winning) are the most robust predictors of ‘overbidding’. Our results suggest that analyzing communication provides a rich window into an individual’s thought process when making decisions, and can complement insights from elicited values from common decision tasks (Replication materials, including data, do files, and software, are available at https://sites.google.com/view/david-bruner/research).