Belief Systems Research Articles

Menyelusuri kearifan budaya Suku Osing warisan tradisi dan keunikan identitas lokal

In the background context, the Osing Tribe, an ethnic group in East Java, Indonesia, has been a custodian of rich cultural wisdom. This article explores important aspects of Osing life and identity, focusing on history, cultural values, traditions, and preservation challenges. Through a literature review approach, we gather and analyze various relevant sources to highlight the uniqueness of Osing culture and their preservation efforts. From ritual traditions to belief systems, we find that the Osing exhibit a close relationship between humans, nature, and spirituality in their daily lives. Despite facing pressures from globalization and modernization, Osing cultural preservation efforts continue through local community initiatives and external support. Our conclusion emphasizes the importance of appreciation and support for the sustainability of Osing culture as an integral part of Indonesia's cultural wealth. Thus, the article underscores the need to preserve and understand the valuable heritage of the Osing tribe for a sustainable future.

Optimization of Graph Clustering Inspired by Dynamic Belief Systems

Optimization of Graph Clustering Inspired by Dynamic Belief Systems

Hierarchy as a signal of culture and belonging: Exploring why egalitarian ideology predicts aversion to hierarchical organizations

Variation in people's ideological preference for the maintenance of inequality between social groups (i.e., social dominance orientation; SDO) predicts important sociopolitical outcomes, such as endorsement of different social policies, institutions, and belief systems. We argue that SDO may also inform people's engagement with work organizations. Specifically, we propose that SDO may impact attraction to different organizational structures. Across 6 experiments (N = 3034), we find that people with relatively egalitarian values are less attracted to organizations with much (vs. little) managerial hierarchy; this gap in attraction is attenuated for relative anti-egalitarians (Studies 1a-b). These effects are not moderated by whether dominant vs. subordinate group members occupy positions of power in hierarchical arrangements (Study 2a-b) and are driven by signals concerning likelihood of organizational belonging that egalitarians (vs. anti-egalitarians) derive from managerial hierarchy (Studies 3a-b). We discuss implications for social dominance theory and research connecting ideology to organizational attraction.

The Role of Faith in Medical Decision-Making

Abstract Background Ultra-Orthodox Israeli Jews face complex decisions when their doctors’ instructions contradict their rabbis’ advice. This study examines how their belief system affects their trust and decision-making in such situations, using socio-economic club theory and Gilligan’s listening guide. Methods Excerpts from 16 focus groups with 128 ultra-Orthodox Jews were analyzed to understand their perspectives on the relationship between doctors and rabbis. The socio-economic approach of Berman’s club theory was applied to explain their behavior, and Gilligan’s listening guide was used to analyze the focus group results. Results The strict behaviors in the relationships between doctors, rabbis, and patients function as social capital, raising the status of ultra-Orthodox Jews as members of an exclusive club. They balance critical health decisions with the social demand to obey religious leaders. However, listening to different voices (‘I,’ ‘we,’ and ‘they’) provides nuanced insights into their decisions, revealing dynamic changes in the community’s perceptions of the doctor-rabbi relationship and varying perspectives within the heterogeneous ultra-Orthodox community. Conclusions Combining Berman’s theory with Gilligan’s listening guide is an effective method for conducting in-depth qualitative research on sensitive issues with religiously strict groups. Understanding the belief systems underlying healthcare decisions is essential for providing culturally sensitive medical care to religious communities and training medical staff serving these communities. Key messages • Ultra-Orthodox Jews balance complex health decisions with social demands, revealing nuanced perspectives through strict doctor-rabbi relationships. • Combining theories and qualitative methods effectively studies sensitive issues in religious groups, informing culturally sensitive healthcare.

Evaluating mental health care initiatives after Ghana’s mental health act: a systematic analysis

Abstract Mental health disorders affect 970 million people worldwide. Particularly in Africa, mental health is a growing concern, as it faces poverty and limited healthcare services. The Ghana Mental Health Act (GMHA 2012) marked a significant milestone in the development of a legislative framework supporting the provision of mental healthcare. However, evidence of progress since then is scarce. This systematic review examines the mental health initiatives that have been implemented since GMHA. Bronfenbrenner’s Socio-Ecological and Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory are used as frameworks to organize the interventions by ecological layers and cultural practices. All peer-reviewed articles published since the GMHA were retrieved from PubMed, Cochrane and Science Direct, using “mental health interventions,” “-collaborations,” “-health programs” and “Ghana” as keywords. The search yielded 3839 articles. Next, publications that were not conducted in Ghana or did not focus on mental health were excluded yielding a final sample of 69 articles for the review. Consistent with the GMHA’s guidelines interventions were conducted in communities (n = 56; 81%) rather than hospitals (n = 13; 19%). Most of them focused on institutional ecological levels (i.e., schools, health centers, traditional healing conventions; n = 29; 42%), followed by interpersonal (n = 14; 20%) and community-level (n = 14; 20%) approaches. Half (n = 33; 48%) entailed some form of cultural responsiveness, such as adapting educational tools to cultural contexts or accounting for spiritual beliefs. Only 23% (n = 16) of the interventions targeted children or adolescents. The findings of this review suggest three implications for future mental health research. First, stigma reduction and mental health literacy need to become a stronger focus. Second, research on children and adolescents needs to be increased. Third, interventions led by European partners must be tailored carefully to the Ghanaian beliefs system. Key messages • Assessing the community-based approach of mental health interventions following the Mental Health Act’s legalization in Ghana. • European partners need to understand the context and the local culture before planning to research or implement intervention materials. Adaptation is key in the effectiveness of the intervention.

A qualitative case study on the development of the scholarship of teaching and learning: Centred on primary and secondary school teachers

This study aims to explore the perceptions of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) of primary and secondary school teachers in C City, China, as well as the challenges they face in developing these abilities. Through narrative inquiry involving five current teachers, the research collected their personal experiences in the development of teaching and academic abilities, with data gathered through semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that teachers are primarily driven by external forces, professional identity, personal growth, and the need to improve teaching quality in their efforts to enhance teaching and academic abilities. However, they also encounter challenges such as teaching pressures, time management difficulties, insufficient school support, and declining energy. To overcome these obstacles, teachers have adopted strategies such as time management, task allocation, and cognitive enhancement. The study concludes by recommending that through the combined efforts of teachers, schools, and society, a strong professional belief system should be established, and a supportive environment should be created to collaboratively promote the development of teaching and academic abilities among primary and secondary school teachers, thereby fostering their professional growth.

The Preparedness Paradox in Climate Attitudes: Democrats Worry, Republicans Prepare

ABSTRACT Political partisanship is one of the strongest correlates of climate change attitudes in the United States, with Democrats expressing greater concern than Republicans. As the climate crisis progresses, surveys increasingly examine preparedness for environmental emergencies, instead of climate attitudes alone. Does partisan identification associate with environmental preparedness actions as it does other climate attitude measures? We find a paradox: Republicans are more likely to say they have taken preparedness actions than Democrats. We replicate this finding in three survey samples (n = 1,053; n = 1,201; n = 2,318) and provide two sociological explanations. Theoretically, a culture of emergency preparedness integrated with conservative belief systems could strengthen the partisanship association, especially if preparedness is not closely tied to other climate attitudes. Empirically, household income is associated with specific types of preparedness actions, possibly introducing bias based on social class. We discuss the importance of measuring climate preparedness for the future of climate opinion research and climate policy and call for preparedness measures that are applicable to the general population.

Understanding Christian translation and its missiological relevance

Christian translation is integral to Christian missions that benefit the ingenious people and the gospel. Among early missionary activities, translations of the Bible to vernacular language have tremendous implications for the gospel propagation. Its roots are well spelt out in the early church, which endorsed Christianity as a universal faith. The researchers observe the historical and missiological perspective of Bible translation. They used library materials and internet sources to explain the meaning of translation, such as explaining a text language in the context of the recipients. This article contains a biblical basis for Bible translations, as it was from the early scriptures, and it concludes by explaining the relevance of Christian translation in terms of literacy, preservation of culture and freedom from slavery, among others. Christian translation has helped to create different versions of the Bible; the New Testament alone is available in 1551 languages out of over 7100 languages worldwide. Christian translation shows that Christian missionaries are not another form of a colonising agency because their activities resulted in actions that led to the end of colonisation in many parts of Africa. The author used a descriptive research method for this article.Contribution: From the analysis, Christian translation is a vital part of Christian missions that has many benefits for the ingenious people by preserving their cultural practices and language, among others. It also made Christianity not to be perceived as a foreign religion that has no link with the African Belief system. Christians are to seek to translate more materials, especially the Bible, into other peoples’ languages to have a lasting impact on the indigenous people.

The semiotic roots of worldviews: logic, epistemology, and contemporary comparisons

Abstract The logic of worldviews provides a consistent method of comparison between multiple worldviews. The present paper connects the logic of worldviews to important historical and contemporary influences. Beginning with its roots in semiotics, an account of epistemology emerges which is mediated by a belief system. We show that Charles Peirce’s pragmatistic theory of inquiry is the bedrock beneath the logic of worldviews. We formulate it as a generalized version of inquiry with underlying game-theoretic semantics. In this paper, we extend Peirce’s triadic model of signs to cover knowledge mediated by systems of beliefs. Michael Polanyi’s account of personal commitment includes a subsidiary/focal distinction that views theoretical frameworks as tools for interpreting orders of reality through actual practices of research. We also see how a precedent is set by Johan Georg Hamann’s epistemology of belief, recovered by Ludwig Wittgenstein, using reason as an interpretation of God’s speech in nature. We argue that Thomas Kuhn’s theory of inquiry and worldviews (or paradigms) may be fruitfully contrasted with Peirce’s theory, with reasoning by abduction, deduction, and induction occurring within the community of inquirers. The upshot is that although worldviews may be adopted for non-rational reasons, one can meaningfully compare worldviews through a method proposed by Alasdair MacIntyre: the proponent of a theory learns the language of competing theories and uses them as a metatheory to show how one’s own theory may not have the resources to resolve certain problematic situations. Our result is a meta-linguistic falsification in the sense of Peirce’s semiotics and pragmaticism: the competing theory may be used to show that the object theory does not have a strategy at its disposal to interpret the anomalous phenomenon.

Sweet Sensation: Humanity, Experimental Medicine and the Philadelphia Animal Cruelty Trial of 1914

Abstract In June 1913, Dr Joshua Sweet, Assistant Professor of Surgical Research at the University of Pennsylvania, was charged with ‘unnecessary cruelty to dogs’. Sweet’s trial would take place the following April. My account of that trial, its context and its aftermath, is primarily concerned with the contested experience of ‘humanity’: a nebulous concept that incorporates other-oriented feelings and practices, couched in broader social and moral frameworks. Ultimately, it is an account of the contextual entanglement of humane feelings – emotions and senses – with practices, politics, belief systems, knowledge systems, professional networks, gender and class dynamics and moral/ethical imperatives.

“Two normative orders”: Time, the body, and memory in Okey Ndibe’s Foreign Gods, Inc.

ABSTRACT Foreign Gods, Inc. by Nigerian American writer Okey Ndibe (2014) features the protagonist’s return to his native Nigeria to steal the statue of the local deity for monetary gain. The novel establishes the connection between the loss of respect for the Indigenous belief system and the forces of colonialism and their aftermath in a globalized context. This article argues that the novel’s theme occurs through unifying into realistic representation the three principles of Igbo epistemology – interconnectedness, cause and effect, and reincarnation – as encoded in time, the body, and memory. These dual orders endorse a powerful vision of nature and question the anthropocentric vision embedded in colonialism and capitalism. By incorporating the principles of these dual orders, the novel displays the rich cosmos of the Igbo community that disrupts the discourse of othering and discourages its continuation in the contemporary world.

Decentering governance models: education policy and school accountability in Post-Devolution Wales

ABSTRACT This paper investigates education policy reform in post-Devolution Wales with a focus on school accountability. Specifically, it provides a historicist analysis of Wales’ decision to abandon publicly mandated school league tables and subsequent accountability reforms. The paper uses the literature on four governance models to investigate successive accountability regimes in Wales through time. These have changed from a Trust and Altruism model, via a Transparent Public Rankings model, to a new, emerging model that relies on self-assessment and collaborative accountability standards. Notably, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has played an increasingly important role in shaping this process. Central to our analysis is Mark Bevir and Roderick Rhodes’ decentered theory. The paper argues that governance models need to be understood with reference to the dynamic interplay of historical constraints, power struggles and new belief systems that respond to policy dilemmas. As Wales has embarked on several substantial education policy reform initiatives, the paper demonstrates the importance of a historically informed approach to policy design and implementation which is responsive to competing traditions and beliefs.

Determination of Direct and Indirect Costs Incurred by Tuberculosis Patients During Diagnosis and Treatment in Urban Areas of South Gujarat: A Mixed Method Approach

Though many initiatives and monetary benefits are incorporated under RNTCP/NTEP, many patients might incur some out-of-pocket expenditure (OOP) related to diagnosis, treatment, and hospitalization. Such costs lead to further poverty and default. This study estimated OOP costs. A cross-sectional mixed method study was conducted in 2020. Data were collected from two selected UHCs (both public and private sectors) from all eight administrative zones. A total of 278 newly registered drug-sensitive tuberculosis patients at different stages of treatment were enrolled, and 18 IDIs were done after obtaining the consent. Among 278, 231 (83%) were seeking the treatment from the public sector and 47 (17%) from the private sector. The average direct, indirect, and total costs were Rs. 8812, Rs. 4825, and Rs. 13,637, respectively. Extra food and supplements are the major field of expenditure for those enrolled in the public sector. Higher costs were incurred by the private sector patients. Longer distances, a long waiting time, belief systems, and unavailability of facilities or drugs were the common reasons for not visiting the public sector. IDI results also supported the cost heads. The majority of the expenses occurred at the private settings before diagnosis. IDIs suggested to changes in the programmatic approach toward migrants, industrial workers, and women.

Social Rationality and Human Reasoning: Logical Expressivism and the Flat Mind.

This paper attempts to reconcile the claims that the mind is both flat (Chater, 2018) and highly rational (Oaksford & Chater, 2020). According to the flat mind hypothesis, the mind is a mass of inconsistent and contradictory fragments of experience. However, standard accounts of rationality from formal epistemology argue that to be rational, our beliefs must be consistent, and we must believe all the logical consequences of our beliefs. A social account of rationality is developed based on Brandom's (1994) logical expressivism, in which respecting the norms of logic and probability theory is still central but where these standards apply to our public commitments in social dialogical contexts rather than to our individual belief systems (Skovgaard-Olsen, 2017). According to this account, even if someone's individual beliefs are inconsistent, they cannot be condemned as irrational if they acknowledge the inconsistency and seek to resolve it. It is shown how this approach interacts with people's fragmented and shallow world knowledge, and its social distribution yields some counterintuitive consequences, such as it sometimes being rational individually not seeking to resolve contradictions. Other consequences of this social expressivist approach are considered, including for dual process theories of reasoning, our view of beliefs, the status of logic, and Fodor's (1983) view of central systems. It is concluded that people can have flat minds and yet be highly rational.

‘We are not simply Indians’: Intersecting ethnic identity diversity among the Chinese communities of Kolkata

Kolkata, known for its cultural diversity, reflects the inequalities of its informal sector, reminiscent of a feudal system. The city is home to various foreign communities, including Armenians, Jews, Parsis, and particularly the Chinese. Historically, Kolkata saw a significant influx of Chinese immigrants, followed by phases of exclusion. Despite challenges, the Chinese community has thrived for over two decades, contributing to the city’s cultural richness. This research explores how Chinese individuals in Kolkata, unfamiliar with local social structures, perceive and categorize others, defining their ethnic identity. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, the study finds that many Chinese in Kolkata identify as Indian-Chinese or Chinese-Indians. The community’s evolving belief systems reflect their ongoing search for a cultural identity. Through this exploration, they work to define their core values and roles within society, constantly adapting to the cultural landscape of Kolkata.

Trainee Teachers’ Shift towards Sustainable Actions in Their Daily Routine

The argument made in this study is that sustainability is a system of beliefs that extends beyond policy and the classroom to transform actions and societies into pro-sustainable behaviours. Therefore, it is crucial to equip trainee teachers to embrace their role as catalysts for change in driving Sustainable development goals, sustainable thinking, systems thinking, wise consumption, sustainable competencies, and sustainable action in their daily lives. The lack of practice-led research on incorporating Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into trainee teachers’ training programmes is noted in the literature. This qualitative practice-led research explored trainee mathematics and technology teachers’ (TMTTs) experiences learning about sustainability. Kolb’s experiential theory framed this study theoretically. The data were collated from twenty purposively selected TMTTs via semi-structured interviews and reflective diaries. All ethical protocols were observed. The analysis highlighted the core experiences TMTTs gained in learning about sustainability, transformative learning, design thinking, wise consumption, agency, and sustainable teaching strategies. Theoretically, the findings emphasise the importance of using an ESD perspective and experiential learning methods to integrate sustainability education into mathematics and technology teaching. The results suggest that when TMTTs are encouraged to actively engage with sustainability issues in their communities, informed decisions are made about their future roles as teachers, the teaching strategies they intend to use, and the type of learning they aim to foster in their learners.

Intergenerational Transmission of Wisdom Through Family Narratives: A Qualitative Analysis of Emerging Adults' Perspective

Family narratives are a medium for the intergenerational transmission of life wisdom, which may influence recipient’s beliefs system and behaviors. Despite a growing body of knowledge on wisdom, emerging adults remain insufficiently researched as to what wisdom from their perspective was conveyed to them through stories. The aim was to identify what wisdom emerging adults perceive in the narratives told them by their parents about themselves. The study was conducted in Poland. Convenience sampling was used. 42 emerging adults (33 female, 8 male, 1 non-binary) ranging from 19 to 22 years participated in the study. Participants were asked to write stories about their parents, separately, about mother and father when they were young. These were supposed to be stories both containing wisdom and told them by their parents. Then they were asked to describe what wisdom was contained in the recalled story and what they learned from it. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Twelve participants were not able to recall a story about one of their parents. They completed one part of the written task and explained the reasons for not knowing the story about the other. These responses were included in the analysis. The thematic analysis identifies the following main themes: transmission of life lessons, transmission of values, family myths, forms of wisdom transmitting. The wisdom read by emerging adults from the recalled stories took the form of advice, encouragement, warning and reprimand. They were usually expressed indirectly. It required effort to read the hidden message and give it meaning. The study showed the importance of family stories in the upbringing process and preparation for adulthood. In the face of the following changes in lifestyles and family communication, the results may be used to support and educate families in deepening intra-family relationships.

Public agreement with misinformation about wind farms

Misinformation campaigns target wind farms, but levels of agreement with this misinformation among the broader public are unclear. Across six nationally quota-based samples in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia (total N = 6008), over a quarter of respondents agree with half or more of contrarian claims about wind farms. Agreement with diverse claims is highly correlated, suggesting an underlying belief system directed at wind farm rejection. Consistent with this, agreement is best predicted (positively) by a conspiracist worldview (i.e., the general tendency to believe in conspiracy theories; explained variance ΔR² = 0.11–0.20) and (negatively) by a pro-ecological worldview (ΔR² = 0.04–0.13). Exploratory analyses show that agreement with contrarian claims is associated with lower support for pro-wind policies and greater intentions to protest against wind farms. We conclude that wind farm contrarianism is a mainstream phenomenon, rooted in people’s worldviews and that poses a challenge for communicators and institutions committed to accelerating the energy transition.

Impact of environmental change on the indigenous belief system of the Bayso Community of Gidicho Island, Southern Ethiopia

The environment and human existence are inextricably intertwined. Consequently, alterations in the environment’s natural characteristics can lead to severe resource shortages. This affects the institutions that have been crucial in shaping and guiding human lives and preserving the environment’s richness, as well as the endeavours of communities to sustain their livelihoods. This article examines the impact of environmental change on the indigenous belief system of the Bayso community of Gidicho Island, southern Ethiopia. Ethnographic data were collected through interviews, focus group discussions, observation, and photographs. The results showed that environmental change on Gidicho Island and its environs has disrupted the socio-economic and cultural life of the Bayso, essentially their religious rituals. Thus, we advise the federal government to amend the country’s development policies that exacerbate environmental degradation and intervene to reduce the effects of poverty on the resource-use behaviours of its people.

Accepting or criticizing religion in the process of globalization

Religion, a belief system closely linked to social life, is the subject of research analyzing religious tolerance and criticism in the struggle for human rights. The issue of religious tolerance and criticism will be clarified based on human rights and religious rights. In addition, the relationship between personal ethics and religious ethics is also different, in which the method of combining humanistic philosophy and social philosophy is used to clarify the complex relationships between religion, people, and society, especially the power and role of individuals in religious communities. Research shows that religion influences behavior and shapes people's value systems and rules of life. However, these value systems sometimes lead to discrimination and conflict. From there, the article concludes that religion is a product of human beings, and its existence can be both a positive and an opposing force in society, depending on specific historical conditions. Studying religious tolerance or criticism is essential to building a harmonious society. People must respect the diversity of beliefs and seek common values in reclaiming human rights in globalization.