Strength Of Belief Research Articles

Associations Among HIV Risk Perception, Sexual Health Efficacy, and Intent to Use PrEP Among Women: An Application of the Risk Perception Attitude Framework.

HIV risk perception is a known determinant of HIV prevention behaviors among vulnerable populations. Lesser known is the combined influence of risk perception and efficacy beliefs on PrEP use. We examined the associations between levels of risk perception and strength of efficacy beliefs on intent to use PrEP in a sample of adult Black and Latina women. Guided by the risk perception attitudes (RPA) framework, we used cluster analysis to identify four interpretable groups. We ran analysis of covariance models to determine the relationship between membership in the RPA framework groups and intention to use PrEP. Among the 908 women, the mean age was 29.9 years and participants were Latina (69.4%) and Black (25.6%). Results of the analysis show that women with low perception of HIV risk and strong efficacy beliefs had significantly less intent to use PrEP than women with high risk perception and weak efficacy beliefs.

Correction to Bagby et al. (2020).

Reports an error in "Examining the "traditional background hypothesis" for the MMPI-2-RF L-r scores in a Muslim faith-based sample" by R. Michael Bagby, Karin A. Onno, Ardeshir Mortezaei and Martin Sellbom (Psychological Assessment, Advanced Online Publication, Jul 27, 2020, np). In the article "Examining the 'Traditional Background Hypothesis' for the MMPI-2-RF L-r Scores in a Muslim Faith-Based Sample," by R. Michael Bagby, Karin A. Onno, Ardeshir Mortezaei, and Martin Sellbom (Psychological Assessment, 2020, Vol. 32, No. 10, pp. 991-995, http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1037/pas0000941), the word "not" was missing in the abstract from the text "(b) direct assessments of strength of faith or positive impression management were included or measured independently." The correct sentence should have read as follows: "(b) direct assessments of strength of faith or positive impression management were not included or measured independently." All versions of this article have been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2020-54974-001.) The traditional background hypothesis (TBH) is a long-standing belief associated with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) L scale; a validity scale, which appears on every version of the family of MMPI instruments including the soon-to-be released MMPI-3. The L scale was originally designed to assess whether test respondents presented themselves in an unrealistically favorable light. Both researchers and clinicians noted, however, that those from traditional Christian faith-based groups produced elevated L-scale scores. A recent meta-analysis supported this observation, reporting an average L-scale elevation 0.50 SD greater than the MMPI-2 normative sample compared to samples of those with presumptively strong Christian-Judeo faith. Some limitations of this meta-analysis are that (a) the samples used in it included those undergoing an evaluative assessment, which could elevate L-scale scores independent of strength of faith belief, and (b) direct assessments of strength of faith or positive impression management were included or measured independently. Our primary goal in this study was to examine the TBH addressing these limitations with a sample of those who self-identified as believers in the Muslim faith (N = 267), the examination of which expands the scope beyond those of the Christian-Judeo faith. Consistent with previous results, the mean L-r (MMPI/MMPI-2 L scale counterpart on the MMPI-2-Restructured Form) was 56.41 T. Higher L-r scale scores were associated with increasing strength in the Muslim faith, and although increasing L-r scores were primarily associated with impression management, increasing Muslim-based faith values had a nontrivial influence on L-r scores and especially in the moderate score range of this scale. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

"We Never Graduate from Care Giving Roles"; Cultural Schemas for Intergenerational Care Role Among Older Adults in Tanzania.

This paper examines the cultural schemas underlying older persons' perception of intergenerational care roles. Thirty qualitative in-depth interviews and twenty focus group discussions (N = 120) were conducted among older women and men aged 60 and above. By using this theory, we were able to identify a series of cultural schemas found in older people's discussions of intergenerational caregiving role. The most prominent shared schemas are; caregiving for elderly is a cultural obligation not a choice, caregiving is a sign of respect, caregiving is a sign of love, caregiving is a source of pride, and caregiving leads to attachment and emotional bonds. Based on these schemas, older people perceived getting care from one's children as a cultural obligation and not an individual (child) choice. However, the findings show that older people's life experience differed greatly from the cultural schemas they had as majority were not cared for by their children. Thus, the discrepancies between schemas/expectations and realities of older people led to tension, sadness, frustration and feeling of being neglected. This study suggests that there is need to put in place interventions that encourage intergenerational caregiving. These intervention programmes should seek not only to consider but also to build upon the strength of cultural values and beliefs.

Beliefs and emotions about social conventions

Deontic assertions concern what people should and shouldn't do. One sort concern moral principles, such as: People should care for the environment; and another sort concern social conventions, such as: People should knock before entering an office. The present research examined such deontic assertions and their corresponding factual assertions, such as: People care for the environment and People knock before entering an office. Experiment 1 showed a correlation between emotions and beliefs for both sorts of deontic assertion, but not for their factual counterparts in which the word “should” had been deleted (as in the preceding examples). Experiment 2 showed that changing the pleasantness of participants' emotions about social conventions changed their strength of belief in them. Experiment 3 showed conversely that changing the participants' strength of belief in social conventions changed the pleasantness of their emotions about them. These results corroborate the mental model theory of deontic assertions, which postulates that emotions and beliefs about deontics depend on parallel systems that interact with one another.

Theory of Mind Following the Violation of Strong and Weak Prior Beliefs.

Recent work in psychology and neuroscience has revealed differences in impression updating across social distance and group membership. Observers tend to maintain prior impressions of close (vs. distant) and ingroup (vs. outgroup) others in light of new information, and this belief maintenance is at times accompanied by increased activity in Theory of Mind regions. It remains an open question whether differences in the strength of prior beliefs, in a context absent social motivation, contribute to neural differences during belief updating. We devised a functional magnetic resonance imaging study to isolate the impact of experimentally induced prior beliefs on mentalizing activity. Participants learned about targets who performed 2 or 4 same-valenced behaviors (leading to the formation of weak or strong priors), before performing 2 counter-valenced behaviors. We found a greater change in activity in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) and right temporo-parietal junction following the violation of strong versus weak priors, and a greater change in activity in DMPFC and left temporo-parietal junction following the violation of positive versus negative priors. These results indicate that differences in neural responses to unexpected behaviors from close versus distant others, and ingroup versus outgroup members, may be driven in part by differences in the strength of prior beliefs.

The Sensitivity of the Bible Verse Selection Task to the Relationship between Christian Fundamentalism and Religious Outgroup Prejudice

Four different studies provide evidence to support the validity of the Bible Verse Selection Task (BVST) as a measure of the strength of Christian fundamentalist beliefs by showing correlations between BVST scores and measures of negativity toward people who often represent “outgroups” for Christians. That is, respondents who obtained high scores on the BVST (representing a greater tendency to select biblical passages associated with fundamentalism as most central to their faith or belief system) also showed a tendency to obtain high scores on measures of negative feelings, beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes toward atheists, gay men, lesbian women, and Muslims. These relationships were generally consistent across both Christian-only samples and general samples, with statistically significant coefficients obtained for 30 of 32 predicted correlations. These results support the utility of this scale for research purposes.

Policy Learning and Information Processing

Policy learning is an important concept in the study of policymaking, yet it is difficult to model and empirically estimate. Additionally, work on policy learning has not fully drawn from the work on information processing in the policy process. In this paper, I propose a model of policy learning that incorporates the Advocacy Coalition Framework's notion of policy‐oriented learning and the theory of disproportionate information processing within a Bayesian learning framework. Policy learning through Bayesian updating occurs as individuals adjust their prior beliefs in light of new information, and in the approach posited here, learning is a function of the strength of prior beliefs and the weight given to new information. Additionally, learning is thought to occur only when subsequent beliefs move in the direction of the information. Then, I demonstrate the policy learning model using public opinion data about Yucca Mountain, a proposed repository site for nuclear waste. Finally, I conclude with suggesting ways in which the policy learning model can be incorporated into current policy learning theories and frameworks.

Factors Conditioning Sexual Behavior in Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies.

The sexual behavior of older adults, especially women, has undergone changes in recent years, though there are still certain stereotypes today related to pathophysiology, beliefs, culture and tradition that negatively affect older adults’ sexual activity. The aim of our review is to present the main qualitative studies analyzing how physiological and psychosocial factors affect sexual behavior in older adults. A systematic review of these qualitative studies was carried out. All stages of this review were carried out peer-to-peer in order to guarantee minimized bias. A bibliographical search was completed between February and April 2019, in Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed Medline, PsycINFO ProQuest and CINAHL. To analyze the findings of the selected qualitative studies, a “Thematic Synthesis Analysis” was performed, using Eppi-Reviewer 4 software (UCL Institute of Education, University of London, UK). The quality of the studies was assessed with a CASP-Qualitative-Checklist. A total of 16,608 references were screened and 18 qualitative studies were included in this review. The studies involved 2603 participants across seven countries, most being women (approximately 80%). We identified a wide variety of physiological and psychological factors that can influence the sexual behavior of older adults, such as the presence of pathologies (erectile dysfunction and menopause), the strength of spiritual beliefs, and patriarchal roles upheld by upbringings conveying that women’s role is to provide men with sexual pleasure. Biological age in relation to stereotypical models of sexual behavior, emphasized as a risk factor in the contraction of sexual diseases, seems to play a relevant role as a factor limiting sexual behavior in older adults.

Nonreligious Identity in Three Western European Countries: A Closer Look at Nonbelievers’ Self-identifications and Attitudes Towards Religion

ABSTRACT The growing secularism generates considerable interest in the manifestations of religious unbelief. In this study, conducted in Finland, Denmark, and the Netherland (N = 4404), we asked participants which of the following terms best describes their religious/spiritual identity: religious believer, spiritual but not religious, spiritual seeker, atheist, anti-religious, agnostic, nonbeliever, secular, or other. We also examined the participants’ God beliefs and their attitudes toward religion. While connotations of identity terms varied considerably across individuals and countries, the nonreligious identification groups consistently differed in the strength and certainty of God belief, and by the valence, ambivalence, importance, and reflection of the attitudes toward religion. The anti-religious had the most negative and unequivocal attitudes, and the agnostics, seculars, and spiritual seekers had the most uncertain God beliefs. By associating distinct attitude profiles with non-religious self-identification labels, the findings improve our understanding of why people choose a specific label in surveys on non-religiosity.

Behaviour Change Domains Likely to Influence Occupational Therapist Use of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure.

Introduction Occupational therapists have shown low adoption rates for many evidence-based practices. One such practice is the limited uptake of standardized outcome measures such as the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure. Use of this measure has not consistently translated into practice despite decades of encouragement. Theory-based approaches to understanding healthcare provider behaviour change are needed if we are to realize the goal of attaining practice that is in keeping with evidence. This study utilized the Theoretical Domains Framework, a theory-based approach for understanding barriers to evidence-based practice, in order to increase our understanding of the limited uptake of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure in occupational therapy practice. Methods Theoretical Domains Framework methods were followed. First, primary data was collected from occupational therapists through semistructured interviews that focused on key behaviour change domains as they related to the use of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure. Two independent researchers coded interview data into domains, derived belief statements from the data, and used belief strength, conflict, and frequency to determine the more and less influential domains for using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure. Results Interviews with 15 practicing occupational therapists across a range of practice areas yielded six key behaviour change domains for increasing the use of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure. The more relevant domains were Social influences, Social professional role and identity, Beliefs about consequences, Beliefs about capabilities, Skills, and Behavioural regulation). The other eight domains were found to be less relevant. Conclusion We identified important domains and beliefs that influence the use of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure by occupational therapists. Results inform our understanding of the use of this measure in practice and identify potential targets for behaviour change interventions.

Acculturation is Associated with Dietary Patterns in South Asians in America.

Acculturation may influence diet pattern, a risk factor for cardiometabolic disease. We assessed whether strength of traditional cultural beliefs and practices, a robust measure of acculturation, affects diet pattern among South Asians in America. With data from the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA) cohort, we used ordinal logistic regression to assess the association between strength of traditional cultural beliefs, 6 cultural practices and diet pattern. Of 892 participants, 47% were women. Weaker traditional cultural beliefs [OR(95%CI) 1.07(1.04,1.10)] and cultural practices (p < 0.05) were associated with consuming more of the Animal Protein dietary pattern and less [0.95(0.93,0.97)] of the Fried snacks, Sweets, High-fat dairy (FSHD) pattern (P < 0.05). South Asians in America with stronger traditional cultural beliefs and practices were more likely to consume the FSHD pattern. Prevention programs may consider dietary pattern modification as part of comprehensive risk reduction in South Asians.

Exploring the ins and outs of biodiversity in the moral community

If moral concern for nonhuman nature underpins conservation, it is essential to understand how individuals populate their “moral communities,” a core concept from environmental ethics, with various elements of biodiversity. Using data from an online survey of the United States public (N = 1331), we investigated the extent to which respondents' moral communities align with four worldviews discussed in the environmental ethics literature: anthropocentrism, zoocentrism, biocentrism, and ecocentrism. Each worldview provides a vision for how the moral community should be constituted. To assess inclusion in terms consistent with ethical theory, we measured whether and the extent to which respondents included abstract sets of entities (humans, sentient/subjective entities, living organisms, entities with vital interests). To assess inclusion in terms relevant to conservation, we measured whether and the extent to which respondents included specific kinds of entities within those sets (e.g., Americans, cougar, fungus, rainforest ecosystem). Roughly half the sample could be affiliated with anthropocentrism, zoocentrism, biocentrism, or ecocentrism, but these respondents did not always include the specific entities they were expected to include based on ethical theory. However, respondents with more inclusive worldviews did believe more entities are included in the moral community, and also professed those beliefs more strongly than respondents with less inclusive worldviews. If strength of inclusivity beliefs is associated with other pro-conservation attitudes, intentions, and behaviors, then people with larger, more diverse moral communities may more strongly support biodiversity conservation.

Modulations of Insular Projections by Prior Belief Mediate the Precision of Prediction Error during Tactile Learning.

Awareness for surprising sensory events is shaped by prior belief inferred from past experience. Here, we combined hierarchical Bayesian modeling with fMRI on an associative learning task in 28 male human participants to characterize the effect of the prior belief of tactile events on connections mediating the outcome of perceptual decisions. Activity in anterior insular cortex (AIC), premotor cortex (PMd), and inferior parietal lobule (IPL) were modulated by prior belief on unexpected targets compared with expected targets. On expected targets, prior belief decreased the connection strength from AIC to IPL, whereas it increased the connection strength from AIC to PMd when targets were unexpected. Individual differences in the modulatory strength of prior belief on insular projections correlated with the precision that increases the influence of prediction errors on belief updating. These results suggest complementary effects of prior belief on insular-frontoparietal projections mediating the precision of prediction during probabilistic tactile learning.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT In a probabilistic environment, the prior belief of sensory events can be inferred from past experiences. How this prior belief modulates effective brain connectivity for updating expectations for future decision-making remains unexplored. Combining hierarchical Bayesian modeling with fMRI, we show that during tactile associative learning, prior expectations modulate connections originating in the anterior insula cortex and targeting salience-related and attention-related frontoparietal areas (i.e., parietal and premotor cortex). These connections seem to be involved in updating evidence based on the precision of ascending inputs to guide future decision-making.

Understanding the Influence of Belief and Belief Revision on Consumers’ Purchase Intention of Liquid Milk

An unsustainable milk value chain can make consumers’ retention of preferences fragile, leading to a reduction in belief. One of the major ways of changing this belief is “belief revision” which accounts an interaction between a change in an individual’s preference with reference to its source and a belief expectancy and affects consumers’ behavioral intentions effectively. As there is little research on belief revision, the present study aims to investigate the impact of belief revision on purchase intention under an extended model for the theory of planned behavior. In doing so, the data were collected via a survey design regarding buying and drinking of liquid milk (LM) of the urban area. Principal component analysis and the binary logit model were the main research methods employed to analyze the data. The results of the study show that in a high level of belief expectancy, consumers’ behavioral belief revision and control belief have a negative effect, and the strength of behavioral belief has a positive significant effect on the purchase intention of LM. Moreover, among three social cognitive factors (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control [PBC]), only the PBC is associated positively and significantly with the purchase intention of LM, while no modal salient belief (beliefs, belief expectancies, belief values) affects the social cognitive factors. The study fundamentally adds to the literature, in that it first demonstrates the significance of belief revision in assessing the purchase intention.

Material Interests, Identity and Linked Fate in Three Countries

AbstractThis article examines the theoretical connections between identity and linked fate, extending the latter concept across three countries and four types of (potential) identity groups. This belief, that what happens to one's ethnic group, religious group, region, or class shapes one's own life chances, is an understudied middle ground between ideational and material drivers of political attitudes. The study uses experimental and observational analyses to show that the strength of individuals' beliefs in linked fate and that belief's consequences vary in systematic and predictable ways. From the very material effect of labor market uncertainty to the highly ideational effect of regional identity, linked fate is a cognitive bridge between two very different kinds of social–psychological experiences that can (and should) be applied across a wide range of countries and groups.

775 The Spiritual and Religious Beliefs and Needs of Burn Reconstruction Patients

Abstract Introduction Acutely injured burn patients demonstrate a range of spiritual and religious needs, but little is known about the variability of their beliefs over time, as well as the impact of reconstruction on these spiritual and religious beliefs. We examined the faith needs of burn reconstruction patients over the course of their reconstruction. Methods After obtaining consent, we assessed the spiritual and religious beliefs of 34 burn patients who were referred to Plastic Surgery for reconstruction, using the validated Belief into Action Scale (BIAC), which measures strength of beliefs on a scale from 10 to 100. A Likert scale from 1 to 10 was used to evaluate spiritual needs. Patients were reassessed 2 years later by telephone interview, after the majority of had completed their reconstruction. We compared before and after BIAC scores, including subscales, using paired Student’s T tests, with p&amp;lt; 0.05 assigned statistical significance. Results BIAC scores increased from 43.6 to 45.6 (p&amp;lt; 0.05) in burn reconstruction patients, over a period of two years. The only subscale that was statistically different was “conforming your life to the teaching of your faith,” which increased from 5.8 to 6.8 (p&amp;lt; 0.05). Burn reconstruction patients reported the importance of their spirituality as a 7.6, the importance of spirituality in reconstruction as a 6.0, and meeting their spiritual needs as 8.6. Regarding demographics of these patients, mean age was 48.3 years, mean time from injury to reconstruction was 1.9 years, gender ratio was 17:17, mean TBSA was 12.4%, and 14/34 had significant neuro-psychiatric illness. 21/34 patients underwent some form of surgical reconstruction, with laser resurfacing of hypertrophic scars the most common procedure (n=16). Conclusions The spiritual and religious beliefs of burn reconstruction patients appear to strengthen over time, despite significant challenges that these patients encounter, either from their initial injury or concurrent neuro-psychiatric morbidity. Meeting these needs in the outpatient setting, through pastoral care and/or the local church community, may further enhance recovery. Applicability of Research to Practice Identifying the spiritual and religious needs of burn patients may enhance recovery from injury.

The unhealthy = tasty belief is associated with BMI through reduced consumption of vegetables: A cross-national and mediational analysis

Obesity is one of the greatest public health challenges of modern times and its prevalence is increasing worldwide. With food so abundant in developed countries, many people face a conflict between desires for short-term taste and the goal of long-term health, multiple times a day. Recent research suggests that consumers often resolve these conflicts based on their lay beliefs about the healthiness and tastiness of food. Consequently, such lay beliefs can play critical roles not just in food choice but also weight gain. In this research, we show, across six countries and through mediation analysis, that adults who believe that tasty food is unhealthy (the Unhealthy = Tasty Intuition, or “UTI”; Raghunathan, Naylor, & Hoyer 2006) are less likely to consume healthy food, and thereby have a higher body mass index (BMI). In Study 1, we conducted a cross-sectional survey in five countries (Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, and the UK), and found that greater strength of belief in UTI was associated with higher BMI, and this relationship was mediated by lower consumption of fruits and vegetables. The observed patterns largely converged across the sampled Western and Asian-Pacific countries. In Study 2, we teased apart the mediating role of vegetable versus fruit consumption and also addressed the issue of reversed causality by predicting BMI with a measure of UTI belief taken 30 months previously. We found that vegetable consumption, but not fruit consumption, mediated the association between UTI belief and BMI. Our findings contribute to the literature by showing how lay beliefs about food can have pervasive and long-lasting effects on dietary practices and health worldwide. Implications for public policy and health practitioners are discussed.

Caregiver Strengths, Attitudes, and Concerns About Reading and Child Development in the Dominican Republic.

Background. Parents’ beliefs about and engagement in reading aloud to young children and other positive parenting practices have been associated with early childhood development (ECD) and later achievement. Aim. This exploratory study sought to assess parental attitudes and self-reported practices regarding ECD in a rural, low-income community in the Dominican Republic with many risk factors for ECD delays, including high rates of poverty, iron-deficiency anemia, and malnutrition. Methods. We used the Parent Reading Belief Inventory and open-ended questions to evaluate parental beliefs regarding reading, self-efficacy in promoting child development, current positive parenting practices, and parents’ concerns about the development of their 0- to 5-year-old children in Consuelo, Dominican Republic. We explored associations between demographic factors and strength of positive parenting beliefs and practices. Results. Overall participants had positive attitudes toward reading and their own importance in promoting their children’s development. Participants with at least some high school education had significantly higher Parent Reading Belief Inventory scores (P = .03) than those with less formal education. Participants reported frequently singing, talking, and playing with their children, but less frequently reading with them. Few participants had access to reading materials for young children. Parental interest in programs to support ECD was high. Parents raised concerns about their children’s behavior, personal and educational attainment, and early literacy. Conclusion. Children whose parents have less formal education may benefit most from interventions to promote beliefs and practices likely to improve ECD. In this community, there is high interest in learning more about ECD.

Cross-Modal Integration of Reward Value during Oculomotor Planning.

Reward value guides goal-directed behavior and modulates early sensory processing. Rewarding stimuli are often multisensory, but it is not known how reward value is combined across sensory modalities. Here we show that the integration of reward value critically depends on whether the distinct sensory inputs are perceived to emanate from the same multisensory object. We systematically manipulated the congruency in monetary reward values and the relative spatial positions of co-occurring auditory and visual stimuli that served as bimodal distractors during an oculomotor task performed by healthy human participants (male and female). The amount of interference induced by the distractors was used as an indicator of their perceptual salience. Our results across two experiments show that when reward value is linked to each modality separately, the value congruence between vision and audition determines the combined salience of the bimodal distractors. However, the reward value of vision wins over the value of audition if the two modalities are perceived to convey conflicting information regarding the spatial position of the bimodal distractors. These results show that in a task that highly relies on the processing of visual spatial information, the reward values from multiple sensory modalities are integrated with each other, each with their respective weights. This weighting depends on the strength of prior beliefs regarding a common source for incoming unisensory signals based on their congruency in reward value and perceived spatial alignment.

Comparisons as Predictors of People’s Beliefs About the Importance of Changing Their Health Behaviors

Abstract. The current study tested relative strengths of different comparison beliefs for predicting people’s self-assessments of whether they should increase their health-relevant behaviors (exercise, sleep, and fruit and vegetable consumption). Comparison beliefs relevant to three standards (perceived global, local, expert standards) were evaluated. Data were combined from three similar studies (total N = 744) that had a cross-sectional, within-subject design. Participants completed importance-of-change scales regarding the three health behaviors and reported comparison beliefs and absolute behavior frequencies/amounts. Results were consistent across the three behaviors. Comparison beliefs predicted ratings of importance of changing one’s behavior, even beyond what is predicted by reports of absolute behavior frequency. Expert comparisons were consistently most predictive above and beyond the absolute estimates and the other comparison standards. There was no evidence of a local dominance effect when examining local versus global comparisons. Comparison beliefs have unique utility for predicting people’s perceived importance of changing their heath behavior. The fact that expert comparisons were consistently most predictive (and local comparisons the least) may have implications for interventions designed for encouraging behavior change.