Specific Beliefs Research Articles

"Attitudes to voices": a survey exploring the factors influencing clinicians' intention to assess distressing voices and attitudes towards working with young people who hear voices.

Due to the general psychopathological vulnerability of young people who hear distressing voices, research has stressed the importance for clinicians to assess this experience in youth. Nonetheless, the limited literature on the topic comes from studies with clinicians in adult health services and it primarily reports that clinicians do not feel confident in systematically assessing voice-hearing and doubt the appropriateness of doing so. We applied the Theory of Planned Behavior and identified clinicians' job attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and perceived subjective norms as putative predictors of their intent to assess voice-hearing in youth. Nine hundred and ninety-six clinicians from adult mental health services, 467 from Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) and Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) services and 318 primary care clinicians across the UK completed an online survey. The survey gathered data on attitudes toward working with people who hear voices, stigmatizing beliefs, and self-perceived confidence in voice-related practices (screening for, discussing and providing psychoeducation material about voice-hearing). Responses from youth mental health clinicians were compared with professionals working in adult mental health and primary care settings. This study also aimed to identify what youth mental health clinicians believe about assessing distressing voices in adolescents and how beliefs predict assessment intention. Compared to other clinicians, EIP clinicians reported the most positive job attitudes toward working with young voice-hearers, the highest self-efficacy in voice-hearing practices, and similar levels of stigma. Job attitudes, perceived behavioral control and subjective norms explained a large part of the influences on clinician's intention to assess voice-hearing across all service groups. In both CAMHS and EIP services, specific beliefs relating to the usefulness of assessing voice-hearing, and perceived social pressure from specialist mental health professionals regarding assessment practices predicted clinician intention. Clinicians' intention to assess distressing voices in young people was moderately high, with attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control explaining a large part of its variance. Specifically in youth mental health services, promoting a working culture that encourages opening and engaging in discussions about voice-hearing between clinicians, and with young people, and introducing supportive assessment and psychoeducation material about voice-hearing could encourage conversations about voices.

Using the precaution adoption process model and the health belief model to understand radon testing and mitigation: a pre-post quasi-experimental study

BackgroundDespite being the leading cause of lung cancer for non-smokers, few Canadians take action to test for and mitigate radon. This study’s aim was twofold: (1) to investigate predictors of radon testing and mitigation using the Precaution Adoption Process Model (PAPM) and Health Belief Model (HBM); and (2) to assess the impact on beliefs of receiving radon results above health guidelines.MethodsA convenience sample within Southeastern Ontario households was recruited to test their homes for radon (N = 1,566) for a pre-post quasi-experimental study. Prior to testing, participants were surveyed on risk factors and HBM constructs. All participants whose homes tested above the World Health Organization’s radon guideline (N = 527) were surveyed after receiving their results and followed for up to 2 years after. Participants were classified into PAPM stages and regression analyses were conducted to determine predictors between different stages (from deciding to test onwards). Paired bivariate analyses compared responses before and after receiving results.ResultsPerceived benefits from mitigating was associated with progressing through all stages in the study’s scope. Perceived susceptibility to and severity of illness and perceptions of cost and time to mitigate were associated with progression through some PAPM stages. Homes with smokers or individuals under 18 were associated with not progressing through some stages. Home radon level was associated with mitigation. Attitudes towards many HBM constructs significantly decreased after receiving a high radon result.ConclusionsPublic health interventions should target specific radon beliefs and stages to ensure households test and mitigate for radon.

The role of self-efficacy beliefs in dealing with misinformation among adolescents.

The present study aims to understand the processes involved in misinformation among adolescents by examining the role of self-efficacy beliefs in dealing with misleading news. Specifically, we argue that the perceived capability to analyze and reflect critically on the reliability of online information sources should be stayed with the perceived self-regulatory capability to resist online social pressures to share unverifiable news. Moreover, we posited that specific online self-efficacies beliefs can be promoted by the capabilities related to regulating emotions and reflecting on new problems. In a sample of 273, we tested a path analysis model. The results attest that self-efficacy beliefs in dealing with online misinformation refer to specific capabilities: an active one, related to checking the sources of the news in order to validate their content, and an inhibitory one, related to the capability to refrain from sharing the news that seems unreliable. Moreover, self-efficacy beliefs in self-control during online interaction spreading misleading news are supported by cognitive reflective capability and self-efficacy in regulating negative emotion. The relationship between active self-efficacy related to fact-checking and sharing misleading news is not significant. The role of regulation in sharing misinformation during activated online dynamics is discussed.

Alcohol abuse in African traditional religion: Education and enlightenment as panacea for integration and development

Alcoholism is endemic in Nigeria’s traditional religion and society. This abuse is especially common at New Yam festivals, Ekpe, Ekpo and Nmanwu masquerades festivals, burial rituals, birth, marriage and naming ceremonies. Some claim that this is driven by specific beliefs and activities in African culture, such as beliefs in ancestors, libation, hospitality and entertaining guests and strangers and the desire to maintain the cultural traditions of the ancestors. Alcohol abuse has generated major health and social issues for abusers, their families and society, plunging families, towns and tribes into crises and conflicts that bring economic and political retrogression. This research studied how the African traditional religion encourages alcohol misuse and how to decrease it for national development. This study was on Nigeria’s South-South region. The study uses qualitative and ethnographic research methodologies, including key informants, in-depth and focus group interviews and the reward deficiency syndrome as a theoretical framework. Although African Traditional Religion (ATR) supports alcohol usage, greed, a lack of self-control, peer pressure, indiscipline and lack of moral upbringing led to alcohol misuse, which harms the person, family, community and country as a whole. Education and enlightenment are a remedy to free alcoholics and utilise them for national integration and development.Contribution: Some say Africans drink a lot because their religious heritage promotes drinking, leading to abuse. However, peer pressure, selfishness, a lack of self-control, bad parenting and not religion push persons with reward deficiency syndrome into alcoholism, according to this research.

“These attitudes are a pressure”: women with disabilities’ perceptions of how stigma shapes their sexual health choices

Women with disabilities face numerous barriers to achieving sexual health on an equitable basis to others, including stigma about disability and sexuality. Yet, how specific stigmatising beliefs about disability and sexuality influence the choices women with disabilities make about their sexual health has not been studied widely. The present study sought to address this gap in the context of Sierra Leone. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with women with disabilities (N = 32) and women without disabilities (N = 10). Societal stigma of disability linked with witchcraft was seen as a deterrent to accessing sexual and reproductive health services. Stigma about women with disabilities as burdens and about childless women with disabilities as pitiable were perceived as sources of pressure on disabled women’s reproductive choices. Concurrently, women with disabilities rejected common stigmatising beliefs held about their lives. Results are discussed in terms of practical implications for healthcare providers and policymakers in Sierra Leone.

What motivates German consumers to reduce their meat consumption? Identifying relevant beliefs

High levels of meat consumption cause problems related to public health, the environment, and animal welfare. Therefore, it is crucial to improve our understanding of the drivers and barriers involved in reducing meat consumption. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), we examined to what extent attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) affect intention and willingness to reduce meat consumption. In line with the TPB and going beyond existing literature, we also explored which specific beliefs determine these three constructs. In 2021, we conducted an online survey with a sample representative of the German population (N = 1093). Hierarchical regression models revealed that after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, the TPB constructs explained 55% of the variance in intention and 61% of the variance in willingness. Importantly, each of the three TPB constructs affected intention and willingness to reduce meat consumption, with attitude having the largest impact. Habit strength and past behavior in addition to the TPB constructs did not improve prediction. Multiple linear regression models showed that attitude was determined by the beliefs that reducing meat consumption leads to a healthier diet, a reduced risk of developing certain diseases, a more natural diet, and the feeling of missing meat. In contrast, environmental and animal welfare concerns showed no significant effect on attitude. Both family and friends contributed to the perceived social pressure. The beliefs of being able to prepare meat-free meals, having enough time to spend on one's diet, and being able to easily purchase meat substitutes led to higher PBC. Based on these findings, we provide recommendations for intervention strategies and derive implications for future research.

Liberalism versus Liberalism: An Analysis of Muslim-American Amicus Curiae Arguments Concerning Complicity-Based Conscience Claims

AbstractIn 2015, Douglas NeJaime and Reva Siegel identified complicity-based conscience claims as a subcategory of religious liberty claims, which feature objections to generally applicable laws based on religious convictions that harm third parties. Here, we observe that Muslim-Americans have filed or joined amicus curiae briefs in support of litigants on both sides of the recent complicity-based conscience cases of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado (2018), Bostock v. Clayton County (2020), and Fulton v. City of Philadelphia (2021). This divergence of legal views within the Muslim-American community points to a broader rift in society generally toward issues involving the navigation of identity and faith in the context of American liberalism. In this article, we show that opposing arguments by Muslim-Americans in these complicity-based conscience cases presuppose two different conceptions of liberalism: (1) liberalism as the pursuit of broad religious, cultural, and value pluralism (modus vivendi), and (2) liberalism as the pursuit of social cohesion, assimilation, and fraternité among diverse constituencies (vivre ensemble). Muslim-Americans who advance a modus vivendi vision of liberalism base their arguments mainly on the view that Islam and other minority religions involve specific beliefs, doctrines, and moral injunctions regarding, inter alia, rules of personal conduct in society that deserve distinctive legal protections. Muslim-Americans who support a vivre ensemble conception of liberalism prioritize the uniform enforcement of civil rights laws over religion-based objections and, in doing so, seek an overlapping consensus between their beliefs and prevailing conceptions of expansive civil liberties.

An Appraisal of the Work of Gustave Le Bon Within the Case Studies of Fascist Spain (1936–1975) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945)

In a bid to explore the work of French sociologist Gustave Le Bon on dissimulating specific beliefs within a populace, this article will localise the factors he purported to amount to propagandistic success within the case studies of Nazi Germany and fascist Spain. This will be done using a consideration of primary visual sources and qualitative data associated with the campaigns in which they were used. Additionally, this work will analyse whether one can quantify propagandistic success, and whether this is at odds with the academic bases of Le Bon’s work. This research will ultimately provide a novel reading of Le Bon’s theory, demonstrating how the work can indeed allow for interesting analyses of different propagandistic contexts while concluding that there are limitations with the means through which the factors he brought to the fore directly contribute to successful propaganda initiatives.

An Exploratory Study on the Impacts of Individual Skills and Health Information Exposure on Perceptions of Cancer Control and Expert Competence.

People's perceptions of control over their risk of cancer, and their perceptions of health experts' abilities to manage cancer risks, shape their beliefs about the effectiveness of expert-recommended cancer-preventive behaviors and actions. The aims of this exploratory study were to investigate the impact of individual skills and sources of health information on (i) internal locus of cancer control (ILOC) and (ii) perceived expert competence. Using a cross-sectional survey (n = 172), we collected data on individual health expertise, numeracy, health literacy, amounts of health information received from various sources, ILOC for cancer prevention and perceived expert competence (i.e., believing that health experts have the knowledge to correctly estimate cancer risks). Significant associations between health expertise and ILOC, and between health literacy and ILOC, were not observed in this study (OR = 2.15, 95%CI = 0.96-5.98; OR = 1.78, 95%CI = 0.97-3.63, respectively). Participants who received more health information from the news were more likely to perceive experts as competent (OR = 1.86, 95%CI = 1.06-3.57). Logistic regression analyses suggested that higher levels of health literacy among individuals with lower numeracy may promote ILOC but discourage expert competence beliefs. Analyses by gender suggested females with low educational attainment and lower numeracy may especially benefit from educational interventions to improve health literacy and promote ILOC. Our findings build off existing literature that point to a possible interaction between numeracy and health literacy. This research, with follow up work, may have practical implications for health educators aiming to promote specific cancer beliefs that lead to the uptake of expert-recommended cancer-preventive behaviors.

The Sidama Model of Human Development.

Human ontogeny has been shaped through evolution, resulting in markers of physical, cognitive, and social development that are widely shared and often used to demarcate the lifespan. Yet, development is demonstrably biocultural and strongly influenced by context. As a result, emic age categories can vary in duration and composition, constituted by both common physical markers as well as culturally meaningful indicators, with implications for our understanding of the evolution of human life history. Semi-structured group interviews (n = 24) among Sidama adults and children, as well as individual interviews with children (n = 30), were used to identify age categories across the lifespan and to specifically investigate acquisition of sociocultural skills and cognitive development. Ten major age categories were identified, covering birth through death. These largely map onto patterning of human universals, but specific cultural beliefs and behaviors were indicated as important markers of development. Adults and children are oriented toward the dynamic relationships between physical development and acquisition of skills tied to social and cultural success. Culture, ecology, and ontogeny are co-determinants of human development, and the interactions among them should be considered in studies examining human life history and its evolution.

Trait anger and approach motivation are related to higher endorsement of specific and generic conspiracy beliefs

Previous research examining personality correlates of conspiracy beliefs has not often examined trait emotions, even though it is well-documented that emotions and beliefs influence each other. Some findings suggest that trait anger might be particularly important for better understanding conspiracy beliefs, but these findings are limited. We addressed this issue in four studies. We also tested whether approach motivation might contribute to the anger-conspiracy association. As predicted, trait anger was positively associated with conspiracy beliefs and it was more likely to increase conspiracy beliefs when state trait anger was evoked. Trait anger and approach motivation did not interact to predict conspiracy beliefs. We conclude that trait anger is a trait emotion that exhibits unique associations with conspiracy beliefs.

LEARNING THE STRUCTURE OF BAYESIAN NETWORKS FROM INCOMPLETE DATA USING A MIXTURE MODEL

In this paper, we provide an approach to learning optimal Bayesian network (BN) structures from incomplete data based on the BIC score function using a mixture model to handle miss- ing values. We have compared the proposed approach with other methods. Our experiments have been conducted on different models, some of them Belief Noisy-Or (BNO) ones. We have performed experiments using datasets with values missing completely at random having differ- ent missingness rates and data sizes. We have analyzed the significance of differences between the algorithm performance levels using the Wilcoxon test. The new approach typically learns additional edges in the case of Belief Noisy-or models. We have analyzed this issue using the Chi-square test of independence between the variables in the true models; this approach reveals that additional edges can be explained by strong dependence in generated data. An important property of our new method for learning BNs from incomplete data is that it can learn not only optimal general BNs but also specific Belief Noisy-Or models which is using in many applica- tions such as medical application.

Irrational Beliefs Among Competitive High School Student Athletes: Are they General or Context-Driven?

While student-athletes strive for high performance both athletically and academically, understanding the role of beliefs as it relates to objective measures of performance has not been readily studied (Turner and Barker in J Appl Sport Psychol 25:131-147, 2013) and even less so among youth. This research examined if irrational beliefs that are context specific to performance settings (academic vs. athletic) are more predictive of academic and athletic performance than those more general irrational beliefs among 30 high-school student athlete basketball players. While both general and context-specific irrational beliefs were predictive of athletic performance as measured by performance analysis from game video footage and academic performance as measured by Grade Point Average, there were no differences in terms of their predictive ability. Implications for researchers and practitioners are provided to guide the scholarly research and applied implications regarding the role of specific beliefs as it relates to performance with this population.

Affirming and nonaffirming religious beliefs predicting depression and suicide risk among Latter-Day Saint sexual minorities.

Sexual minorities (SMs) who are current/former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDSs) report high levels of depression and risk for suicide. Recent research has suggested that specific LDS religious beliefs may be related to these negative mental health outcomes. Using two independent online samples of current/former LDS SMs (Sample 1 = 403; Sample 2 = 545), we tested associations of affirming/nonaffirming LDS beliefs with depression and suicide risk cross-sectionally (Sample 1), and then longitudinally (Sample 2) tested if religious/spiritual struggles and internalized stigma mediated these relationships. Cross-sectionally, nonaffirming LDS beliefs were associated with higher depression, but effects disappeared when religious/spiritual struggles and internalized stigma were entered in the model. Affirming LDS beliefs were unrelated to depression and suicide risk. Longitudinally, after including earlier levels of internalized stigma, religious/spiritual struggles, depression, and suicide risk as controls, nonaffirming beliefs indirectly predicted more depression 2 months later (Time 3) through internalized stigma at 1 month (Time 2). These results suggest LDS beliefs may play an important role in the development and experience of depression for LDS sexual minorities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

An Argument for Including Critical Media Literacy in EFL Curriculum and Pedagogy

The purpose of this paper was to provide a theoretical outline of why critical media literacy (CML) should be included in Korean English education teaching practices and teacher training curricula. CML is a pedagogy designed to sensitize students to ideological meanings embedded in media that socialize people into specific values, beliefs, and behaviors. This paper begins with a review of theoretical foundations of CML including the symbolic nature of human consciousness signification and the processes of socialization, which are theoretically encapsulated within the dialectic among post-structural theories of discourse and representation. A review of literature on CML and its application to English as a foreign language (EFL) is then presented. Applications of CML include situated inquiry, discussion, creation of group multimodal projects suggests, how it fosters the development of critical thinking skills, the acquisition and use of new vocabulary idioms, and transforming student perceptions of themselves and their society.

When monetary profit maximization does not rule: historical analysis of English Quakers and the role of religious institutional logic

Purpose This paper examines the limitations on monetary profit maximization assumption in Quaker businesses, historically one of England's most successful set of business people. This view challenges the central theoretical assumptions of management and strategic entrepreneurship by demonstrating the influence of religious institutional logic over the profit maximization drive in business. Design/methodology/approach Using a historical analysis of Quaker religious institutional logic, the authors demonstrate how Quakers’ religious logic of simplicity in lifestyle and equality of all people led, in turn, to actions by Quaker businesses that limited the monetary profit maximizing for their businesses. Such actions are consistent with the Quakers’ belief that linked their business activities to their religious beliefs. Findings The present analysis shows that English Quakers had specific beliefs, enforced by the group’s willingness to expel members that limited monetary profit maximization among Quaker businesses. Thus, the authors challenge the typical assumptions of business scholars by demonstrating that business entities can succeed economically even when they do not embrace profit maximization as their core element. This paradoxical finding has the potential to significantly expand management and strategic entrepreneurship theory. Originality/value The authors discuss how religious logic can replace profit maximization as a foundation for business. This insight enriches not only the understanding of business but also of religious institutional logic. Finally, the authors address the call for greater use of historical analysis in the management literature.

Toward Parsimony in Bias Research: A Proposed Common Framework of Belief-Consistent Information Processing for a Set of Biases

One of the essential insights from psychological research is that people’s information processing is often biased. By now, a number of different biases have been identified and empirically demonstrated. Unfortunately, however, these biases have often been examined in separate lines of research, thereby precluding the recognition of shared principles. Here we argue that several—so far mostly unrelated—biases (e.g., bias blind spot, hostile media bias, egocentric/ethnocentric bias, outcome bias) can be traced back to the combination of a fundamental prior belief and humans’ tendency toward belief-consistent information processing. What varies between different biases is essentially the specific belief that guides information processing. More importantly, we propose that different biases even share the same underlying belief and differ only in the specific outcome of information processing that is assessed (i.e., the dependent variable), thus tapping into different manifestations of the same latent information processing. In other words, we propose for discussion a model that suffices to explain several different biases. We thereby suggest a more parsimonious approach compared with current theoretical explanations of these biases. We also generate novel hypotheses that follow directly from the integrative nature of our perspective.

Social Political Roots of Leadership Power In Ulu Malay Lampik Empat Merdike Duwe

Traditional leadership in modern societies still influences decisions made and social behavior. Emerging influences can be specific values, norms, beliefs, leadership, and knowledge. In the face of social change, even traditional identities are characterized as moral rituals. One is Lampik Empat Merdike Duwe, his four in the leadership tradition of Jagat Besemah. This practice is an ethical standard maintained and passed down in the Basemah community. Phenomenological and qualitative methods were used to interpretively analyze behavioral properties, values, norms, and knowledge data. Using theories of formative and constructive and cultural transformation, the forces and influences of civilization can be divided into three fundamental parts: social, cultural, and behavioral systems. The three methods are interrelated to form a dynamic space based on reference and action. The study found that Lampik empat merdike duwe leadership was socioculturally unable to function in the local leadership power space and only became a moral standard for the Besemah community. The Lampik Empat Merdike Duwe concept of power is more similar to the attribution and attainment status models. Attribution status is the social status given to a person by birth or genetic affiliation. A person cannot choose or achieve this status but is "given" by circumstances.

Metacognitions about suicidal thoughts

BackgroundRumination about suicide has recently been identified as a risk factor for suicidal behavior. According to the metacognitive model of emotional disorders, the activation and maintenance of rumination is dependent on specific metacognitive beliefs. On this background, the current study is concerned with the development of a questionnaire to assess suicide-specific positive and negative metacognitive beliefs. MethodsFactor structure, reliability and validity of the Scales for Suicide-related Metacognitions (SSM) were investigated in two samples comprised of participants suffering from lifetime suicide ideation. Participants of sample 1 (N = 214; 81.8% female; Mage = 24.9, SDage = 4.0) took part in a single assessment using an online survey. Participants of sample 2 (N = 56; 71.4% female; Mage = 33.2, SDage = 12.2) took part in two online assessments within a two week time-period. To establish convergent validity questionnaire-based assessments of suicidal ideation, general and suicide specific rumination and depression were used. Furthermore, it was analyzed whether suicide-related metacognitions predict suicide-specific rumination cross-sectionally and prospectively. ResultsFactor analyses revealed a two-factor structure of the SSM. Results indicated good psychometric properties, and provided evidence for construct validity and stability of the subscales. Positive metacognitions predicted concurrent and prospective suicide-specific rumination beyond the effect of suicide ideation and depression and rumination predicted concurrent and prospective negative metacognitions. ConclusionTaken together the results provide initial evidence that the SSM is a valid and reliable measure of suicide-related metacognitions. Furthermore, findings are in line with a metacognitive conceptualization of suicidal crises and provide first indications of factors that might be relevant for the activation and maintenance of suicide-specific rumination.

Beyond guideline knowledge: a theory-based qualitative study of low-value preoperative testing

BackgroundChoosing Wisely Canada and most major anesthesia and preoperative guidelines recommend against obtaining preoperative tests before low-risk procedures. However, these recommendations alone have not reduced low-value test ordering. In this study, the theoretical domains framework (TDF) was used to understand the drivers of preoperative electrocardiogram (ECG) and chest X-ray (CXR) ordering for patients undergoing low-risk surgery (‘low-value preoperative testing’) among anesthesiologists, internal medicine specialists, nurses, and surgeons.MethodsUsing snowball sampling, preoperative clinicians working in a single health system in Canada were recruited for semi-structured interviews about low-value preoperative testing. The interview guide was developed using the TDF to identify the factors that influence preoperative ECG and CXR ordering. Interview content was deductively coded using TDF domains and specific beliefs were identified by grouping similar utterances. Domain relevance was established based on belief statement frequency, presence of conflicting beliefs, and perceived influence over preoperative test ordering practices.ResultsSixteen clinicians (7 anesthesiologists, 4 internists, 1 nurse, and 4 surgeons) participated. Eight of the 12 TDF domains were identified as the drivers of preoperative test ordering. While most participants agreed that the guidelines were helpful, they also expressed distrust in the evidence behind them (knowledge). Both a lack of clarity about the responsibilities of the specialties involved in the preoperative process and the ease by which any clinician could order, but not cancel tests, were drivers of low-value preoperative test ordering (social/professional role and identity, social influences, belief about capabilities). Additionally, low-value tests could also be ordered by nurses or the surgeon and may be completed before the anesthesia or internal medicine preoperative assessment appointment (environmental context and resources, beliefs about capabilities). Finally, while participants agreed that they did not intend to routinely order low-value tests and understood that these would not benefit patient outcomes, they also reported ordering tests to prevent surgery cancellations and problems during surgery (motivation and goals, beliefs about consequences, social influences).ConclusionsWe identified key factors that anesthesiologists, internists, nurses, and surgeons believe influence preoperative test ordering for patients undergoing low-risk surgeries. These beliefs highlight the need to shift away from knowledge-based interventions and focus instead on understanding local drivers of behaviour and target change at the individual, team, and institutional levels.