WorldWideScience

Sample records for positive attitude change

  1. Factors associated with a positive attitude towards change among employees during the early phase of a downsizing process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Svensen, Erling; Neset, Gunnar; Eriksen, Hege R

    2007-04-01

    Most research on organizational changes in working life, including downsizing, focuses on the negative attitudes and negative consequences of the change. The aim of this study was to evaluate if the employee's previous learning experience and characteristics of the working environment were associated with positive attitudes towards organizational change. The 467 employees (73.5% males) working in a global oil company in the early phases of a downsizing process were asked to answer a questionnaire with demographic variables, perception of the working environment, and attitude to change (93% response rate). Corporate social responsibility (CSR), involvement and participation, team leadership and team effectiveness were important factors related to positive attitudes towards organizational change. Non-leaders and older employees were positive to change. We conclude that employees' perceptions of their psychosocial working environment, in particular the CSR, were highly related to their attitude to organizational change.

  2. Training Changes Professionals’ Attitudes Towards Dual Diagnosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pinderup, Pernille

    2016-01-01

    Studies have shown that mental health professionals in many cases have counterproductive attitudes towards patients with mental illnesses and comorbid substance use disorders (dual diagnosis). This is problematic because professionals’ attitudes are important for both the therapeutic alliance...... and treatment outcome. This study tested whether providing training in dual diagnosis treatment to mental health professionals will affect their attitudes positively. Twenty-one professionals completed a questionnaire on attitudes towards working with dual diagnosis (Comorbidity Problems Perceptions...... Questionnaire, CMPPQ) pre-training and post-training. Results showed that there was a significant positive change in total CMPPQ scores and a positive change in all six subscales of the CMPPQ following training, indicating that the training resulted in more positive attitudes. The study suggests that training...

  3. Attitudes and attitude change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bohner, Gerd; Dickel, Nina

    2011-01-01

    Attitudes and attitude change remain core topics of contemporary social psychology. This selective review emphasizes work published from 2005 to 2009. It addresses constructionist and stable-entity conceptualizations of attitude, the distinction between implicit and explicit measures of attitude, and implications of the foregoing for attitude change. Associative and propositional processes in attitude change are considered at a general level and in relation to evaluative conditioning. The role of bodily states and physical perceptions in attitude change is reviewed. This is followed by an integrative perspective on processing models of persuasion and the consideration of meta-cognitions in persuasion. Finally, effects of attitudes on information processing, social memory, and behavior are highlighted. Core themes cutting across the areas reviewed are attempts at integrative theorizing bringing together formerly disparate phenomena and viewpoints.

  4. Social psychology and energy attitude consumer change

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karimi, Y.; Saffarinia, M.

    2005-01-01

    One of the most issues in social Psychology is study of attitude. Attitudes are causes of human behavior. If we regard energy consumption as a behavior for changing behavior in field of energy we must to study attitude and attitude change.In social psychology attitude define as positive and negative affective state to a matter of object. In this paper try it describe approaches and theories about attitudes and attitude change such as classical conditioning operant conditioning, social learning and cognitive. We hope this paper will be useful for planners and expert that work in this field

  5. Attitudes and Attitude Change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albarracin, Dolores; Shavitt, Sharon

    2018-01-04

    This review covers research on attitudes and attitude change published between 2010 and 2017. We characterize this period as one of significant progress toward an understanding of how attitudes form and change in three critical contexts. The first context is the person, as attitudes change in connection to values, general goals, language, emotions, and human development. The second context is social relationships, which link attitude change to the communicator of persuasive messages, social media, and culture. The third context is sociohistorical and highlights the influence of unique events, including sociopolitical, economic, and climatic occurrences. In conclusion, many important recent findings reflect the fact that holism, with a focus on situating attitudes within their personal, social, and historical contexts, has become the zeitgeist of attitude research during this period.

  6. Peer Instruction in introductory physics: A method to bring about positive changes in students’ attitudes and beliefs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ping Zhang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyzes pre-post matched gains in the epistemological views of science students taking the introductory physics course at Beijing Normal University (BNU in China. In this study we examined the attitudes and beliefs of science majors (n=441 in four classes, one taught using traditional (lecture teaching methods, and the other three taught with Peer Instruction (PI. In two of the PI classes, student peer groups were constantly changing throughout the semester, while in the other PI class student groups remained fixed for the duration of the semester. The results of the pre- and post-test using the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey showed that students in traditional lecture settings became significantly more novicelike in their beliefs about physics and learning physics over the course of a semester, a result consistent with what was reported in the literature. However, all three of the classes taught using the PI method improved student attitudes and beliefs about physics and learning physics. In the PI class with fixed peer groups, students exhibited a greater positive shift in attitudes and beliefs than in the other PI class with changing peer groups. The study also looked at gender differences in student learning attitudes. Gender results revealed that female science majors in the PI classes achieved a greater positive shift in attitudes and beliefs after instruction than did male students.

  7. Incidental mood state before dissonance induction affects attitude change.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marie-Amélie Martinie

    Full Text Available The way that incidental affect impacts attitude change brought about by controlled processes has so far been examined when the incidental affective state is generated after dissonance state induction. We therefore investigated attitude change when the incidental mood occurs prior to dissonance state induction. We expected a negative mood to induce systematic processing, and a positive mood to induce heuristic processing. Given that both systematic processing and attitude change are cognitively costly, we expected participants who experienced the dissonance state in a negative mood to have insufficient resources to allocate to attitude change. In our experiment, after mood induction (negative, neutral or positive, participants were divided into low-dissonance and high-dissonance groups. They then wrote a counterattitudinal essay. Analysis of their attitudes towards the essay topic indicated that attitude change did not occur in the negative incidental mood condition. Moreover, written productivity-one indicator of cognitive resource allocation-varied according to the type of incidental mood, and only predicted attitude change in the high-dissonance group. Our results suggest that incidental mood before dissonance induction influences the style of information processing and, by so doing, affects the extent of attitude change.

  8. Research findings can change attitudes about corporal punishment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holden, George W; Brown, Alan S; Baldwin, Austin S; Croft Caderao, Kathryn

    2014-05-01

    Positive attitudes toward the use of corporal punishment (CP) predict subsequent spanking behavior. Given that CP has frequently been associated with behavior problems in children and child maltreatment, this prevention work was designed to test whether adults' attitudes could be changed by informing participants about the research findings on problematic behaviors associated with CP. Two random assignment studies are reported. In Study 1, we tested whether an active reading condition would result in more attitude change than a passive condition. With a sample of 118 non-parent adults, we found that after reading very brief research summaries on the problems associated with CP, there was a significant decrease in favorable attitudes toward CP. Contrary to expectations, the magnitude of the change was comparable for active and passive processing conditions. In Study 2, we extended our approach to a sample of 520 parents and included a control group. A significant decrease in positive attitudes toward spanking was observed in the intervention group, but no change for the control group. Parents who were unaware of the research showed more change after reading the summaries. Thus, these studies demonstrate that a brief and cost-effective approach to raise awareness of research findings can reduce positive attitudes toward CP. Implications for prevention and intervention are discussed. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  9. Positive expectations encourage generalization from a positive intergroup interaction to outgroup attitudes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deegan, Matthew P; Hehman, Eric; Gaertner, Samuel L; Dovidio, John F

    2015-01-01

    The current research reveals that while positive expectations about an anticipated intergroup interaction encourage generalization of positive contact to outgroup attitudes, negative expectations restrict the effects of contact on outgroup attitudes. In Study 1, when Blacks and Whites interacted with positive expectations, interaction quality predicted outgroup attitudes to a greater degree than when groups interacted with negative expectations. When expectations (Studies 2 and 3) and the actual interaction quality (Study 4) were manipulated orthogonally, negative expectations about the interaction predicted negative outgroup attitudes, regardless of actual interaction quality. By contrast, participants holding positive expectations who experienced a positive interaction expressed positive outgroup attitudes, whereas when they experienced a negative interaction, they expressed outgroup attitudes as negative as those with negative expectations. Across all four studies, positive expectations encouraged developing outgroup attitudes consistent with interaction quality. © 2014 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

  10. Attitudes and attitude change

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Scholderer, Joachim

    2010-01-01

    An attitude can be defined as the evaluation of an object as positive or negative. The term "object" in this definition should be understood in a broad sense; an attitude object may be any concrete or abstract entity that is in some way represented in our thoughts and memory. In other words......, attitude objects are simply the things we like or dislike. Consumer researchers are mainly interested in attitude objects of two classes, products and services, including the attributes, issues, persons, communications, situations, and behaviours related to them. Research on consumer attitudes takes two...... perspectives: Understanding attitude structure: how is an attitude cognitively represented in a consumer's mind, including its components (intra-attitudinal structure) and its associations with other psychological variables (inter-attitudinal structure)? Understanding information processing: what...

  11. Promoting entrepreneurship - changing attitudes or behaviour

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dreisler, P.; Blenker, P.; Nielsen, K.

    2003-01-01

    social change, examining whether they are trying to create a change in attitudes or in behaviour or in both? This analysis has implications beyond the Danish case, as general reflections on entrepreneurship policy are induced from the analysis. It is argued that policy makers should reflect whether...... the target groups towards which policy initiatives are directed: 1) have a positive or negative attitude towards entrepreneurship, and 2) are engaged or not engaged in entrepreneurial action....

  12. Lateral Attitude Change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glaser, Tina; Dickel, Nina; Liersch, Benjamin; Rees, Jonas; Süssenbach, Philipp; Bohner, Gerd

    2015-08-01

    The authors propose a framework distinguishing two types of lateral attitude change (LAC): (a) generalization effects, where attitude change toward a focal object transfers to related objects, and (b) displacement effects, where only related attitudes change but the focal attitude does not change. They bring together examples of LAC from various domains of research, outline the conditions and underlying processes of each type of LAC, and develop a theoretical framework that enables researchers to study LAC more systematically in the future. Compared with established theories of attitude change, the LAC framework focuses on lateral instead of focal attitude change and encompasses both generalization and displacement. Novel predictions and designs for studying LAC are presented. © 2014 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

  13. Attitude and position tracking

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Candy, LP

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Several applications require the tracking of attitude and position of a body based on velocity data. It is tempting to use direction cosine matrices (DCM), for example, to track attitude based on angular velocity data, and to integrate the linear...

  14. Positive implicit attitudes toward odor words.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bulsing, Patricia J; Smeets, Monique A M; van den Hout, Marcel A

    2007-07-01

    Associations between certain odors and for instance health effects may lead to positive or negative attitudes toward these odors. However, in experiments we conducted using the Implicit Association Test (IAT), we encountered attitudes even to odor "words." The IAT is based on the principle that reaction times measuring the association between words from a target dimension (in this case, odor vs. a neutral reference category) and an attribute dimension (i.e., positive or negative words) reflect the attitude to the target, where attitude-congruent associations between target and attribute are reflected by shorter reaction times. In a first experiment, we found distinctly positive attitudes to the concept odor in a student sample, which was replicated in a second experiment. In the main experiment, subjects in the aromatherapy group, who prefer using scented consumer products for relaxation purposes, showed a significantly more positive attitude toward odor words in the IAT than a control group, who did not have such a preference. The fact that results from the implicit test were not always associated with explicitly stated attitudes toward the odor words attests to the fact that the IAT measures the attitude of interest in a different way. As such, the IAT has added value in circumstances where explicit tests can be biased.

  15. Embodiment, agency, and attitude change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Cheryl A; Lord, Charles G; Bond, Charles F

    2009-12-01

    Attitude embodiment effects occur when the position or movement of a person's physical body changes the way the person evaluates an object. The present research investigated whether attitude embodiment effects depend more on biomechanical factors or on inferential cues to causal agency. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that actual movements of the physical body are not necessary to create attitude embodiment effects when inferential cues imply agency for another person's physical movements. Experiment 3 showed that actual movements of the physical body are not sufficient to create attitude embodiment effects when inferential cues imply nonagency for those movements. In all 3 experiments, inferential cues to agency played a more important role in attitude embodiment effects than did actual agency, suggesting that theories of embodiment and attitude embodiment need to consider inferential cues to agency alongside biomechanical mechanisms.

  16. Death Attitudes and Changes in Existential Outlook in Parents of Vulnerable Newborns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barr, Peter

    2015-01-01

    This study is an Actor-Partner Interdependence Model analysis of the relation of death attitudes with changes in outlook in 59 parent couples of neonatal intensive care newborns. Death attitudes effects with changes in outlook were mostly intrapersonal and they mainly occurred in fathers, though between gender differences were not usually significant. Death avoidance and neutral death acquiescence were positive predictors of positive changes in outlook, and fear of death and neutral death acquiescence were respective positive and inverse predictors of negative changes. Multidimensional measures of death attitudes and personal change should be used when studying these domains of psychological functioning.

  17. Evaluative language, cognitive effort and attitude change.

    OpenAIRE

    van der Pligt, J.; van Schie, E.C.M.; Martijn, C.

    1994-01-01

    Tested the hypotheses that evaluatively biased language influences attitudes and that the magnitude and persistence of attitude change depends on the amount of cognitive effort. 132 undergraduates participated in the experiment, which used material focusing on the issue of restricting adolescent driving over the weekends to reduce the number of fatal traffic accidents. Results indicate that evaluatively biased language can affect attitudes. Using words that evaluate the pro-position positivel...

  18. Generalization of positive and negative attitudes towards individuals to outgroup attitudes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stark, Tobias; Flache, Andreas; Veenstra, René

    The generalization of attitudes toward individual outgroup members into attitudes toward the outgroup as a whole can affect intergroup relations. However, little is known about the relative strengths of the generalization of negative and positive interpersonal attitudes into attitudes about the

  19. Positive dissimilarity attitudes in multicultural organizations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lauring, Jakob; Selmer, Jan

    2012-01-01

    Purpose – The purpose of this study is to contribute to the field of diversity studies with novel insights on how language diversity and communication frequency influence dissimilarity attitudes. Design/methodology/approach – The authors examine language diversity and communication frequency...... attitudes, namely openness to linguistic, visible and informational diversity. Contradicting our predictions, language diversity had positive associations with all variables portraying positive dissimilarity attitudes. The implications of these findings are discussed in detail. Originality/value – Few prior...

  20. Neural Correlates of Attitude Change Following Positive and Negative Advertisements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kato, Junko; Ide, Hiroko; Kabashima, Ikuo; Kadota, Hiroshi; Takano, Kouji; Kansaku, Kenji

    2009-01-01

    Understanding changes in attitudes towards others is critical to understanding human behaviour. Neuropolitical studies have found that the activation of emotion-related areas in the brain is linked to resilient political preferences, and neuroeconomic research has analysed the neural correlates of social preferences that favour or oppose consideration of intrinsic rewards. This study aims to identify the neural correlates in the prefrontal cortices of changes in political attitudes toward others that are linked to social cognition. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments have presented videos from previous electoral campaigns and television commercials for major cola brands and then used the subjects' self-rated affinity toward political candidates as behavioural indicators. After viewing negative campaign videos, subjects showing stronger fMRI activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex lowered their ratings of the candidate they originally supported more than did those with smaller fMRI signal changes in the same region. Subjects showing stronger activation in the medial prefrontal cortex tended to increase their ratings more than did those with less activation. The same regions were not activated by viewing negative advertisements for cola. Correlations between the self-rated values and the neural signal changes underscore the metric representation of observed decisions (i.e., whether to support or not) in the brain. This indicates that neurometric analysis may contribute to the exploration of the neural correlates of daily social behaviour. PMID:19503749

  1. Promoting Entrepreneurship - Changing Attitudes or Behavior?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dreisler, Poul; Blenker, Per; Nielsen, Kent T.

    . The choice of strategy depends on whether the target groups: 1) have a positive or negative attitude towards what is socially desired, and 2) are engaged or not engaged in socially desired action During the last 30 years, entrepreneurship has become what most nations would call a socially desirable action...... and Frazier's (1982) model of planned social change, examining whether initiatives can be a means of creating change in attitudes or in behaviour or in both? The basic idea underlying Sheth and Frazier's model is that different strategies can be used to bring about socially desirable attitudes and behaviour...... and thus a target for planned social change. However, the model introduced by Sheth and Frazier has never been used to analyse how this socially desirable action can be promoted. Undertaking such an analysis is the ambition of this paper, and based on this analysis, the paper will, will conclude...

  2. Neural correlates of attitude change following positive and negative advertisements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Junko Kato

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available Understanding changes in attitudes towards others is critical to understanding human behaviour. Neuropolitical studies have found that the activation of emotion-related areas in the brain is linked to resilient political preferences, and neuroeconomic research has analysed the neural correlates of social preferences that favour or oppose consideration of intrinsic rewards. This study aims to identify the neural correlates in the prefrontal cortices of changes in political attitudes toward others that are linked to social cognition. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI experiments have presented videos from previous electoral campaigns and television commercials for major cola brands and then used the subjects’ self-rated affinity toward political candidates as behavioural indicators. After viewing negative campaign videos, subjects showing stronger fMRI activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex lowered their ratings of the candidate they originally supported more than did those with smaller fMRI signal changes in the same region. Subjects showing stronger activation in the medial prefrontal cortex tended to increase their ratings more than did those with less activation. The same regions were not activated by viewing negative advertisements for cola. Correlations between the self-rated values and the neural signal changes underscore the metric representation of observed decisions (i.e., whether to support or not in the brain. This indicates that neurometric analysis may contribute to the exploration of the neural correlates of daily social behaviour.

  3. Using modeling and vicarious reinforcement to produce more positive attitudes toward mental health treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buckley, Gary I; Malouff, John M

    2005-05-01

    In this study, the authors evaluated the effectiveness of a video, developed for this study and using principles of cognitive learning theory, to produce positive attitudinal change toward mental health treatment. The participants were 35 men and 45 women who were randomly assigned to watch either an experimental video, which included 3 positive 1st-person accounts of psychotherapy or a control video that focused on the psychological construct of self. Pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 2-week follow-up levels of attitude toward mental health treatment were measured using the Attitude Toward Seeking Professional Help Scale (E. H. Fischer & J. L. Turner, 1970). The experimental video group showed a significantly greater increase in positive attitude than did the control group. These results support the effectiveness of using the vicarious reinforcement elements of cognitive learning theory as a basis for changing attitudes toward mental health treatment.

  4. Changes in Nursing Students’ Attitudes Towards Nursing During Undergraduate Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Čukljek, Snježana; Jureša, Vesna; Grgas Bile, Cecilija; Režek, Biserka

    2017-03-01

    The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes of nursing students towards nursing, and changes in their attitudes during the study. A quantitative study with pre-post survey was conducted among nursing students enrolled in first study year in the academic year 2012/2013 (N=115) and third study year in the academic year 2014/2015 (N=106). Students voluntarily and anonymously completed a questionnaire consisting of demographic information and the Nursing Image Questionnaire, which includes 30 items that assess how an individual looks at the roles and tasks, values, social stereotypes of nursing, professionalism and performance of nurses. The results indicated that students had positive attitude towards nursing at the beginning and during the study. During the study, there was a positive change in attitudes in the majority of items of the questionnaire, whereas at the end of the study lower attitude was expressed in only four items. The study conducted among nursing students indicated that students’ attitudes changed during the study, influenced by the acquisition of knowledge and skills. During the study, students acquire a more realistic perception of nursing, and adoption of professional values emerges.

  5. Neuroscientists' classroom visits positively impact student attitudes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janet L Fitzakerley

    Full Text Available The primary recommendation of the 2010 President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology report on K-12 education was to inspire more students so that they are motivated to study science. Scientists' visits to classrooms are intended to inspire learners and increase their interest in science, but verifications of this impact are largely qualitative. Our primary goal was to evaluate the impact of a longstanding Brain Awareness classroom visit program focused on increasing learners understanding of their own brains. Educational psychologists have established that neuroscience training sessions can improve academic performance and shift attitudes of students from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. Our secondary goal was to determine whether short interactive Brain Awareness scientist-in-the-classroom sessions could similarly alter learners' perceptions of their own potential to learn. Teacher and student surveys were administered in 4(th-6(th grade classrooms throughout Minnesota either before or after one-hour Brain Awareness sessions that engaged students in activities related to brain function. Teachers rated the Brain Awareness program as very valuable and said that the visits stimulated students' interest in the brain and in science. Student surveys probed general attitudes towards science and their knowledge of neuroscience concepts (particularly the ability of the brain to change. Significant favorable improvements were found on 10 of 18 survey statements. Factor analyses of 4805 responses demonstrated that Brain Awareness presentations increased positive attitudes toward science and improved agreement with statements related to growth mindset. Overall effect sizes were small, consistent with the short length of the presentations. Thus, the impact of Brain Awareness presentations was positive and proportional to the efforts expended, demonstrating that short, scientist-in-the-classroom visits can make a positive contribution to

  6. Positive media portrayals of obese persons: impact on attitudes and image preferences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pearl, Rebecca L; Puhl, Rebecca M; Brownell, Kelly D

    2012-11-01

    The purpose of this research was to assess the impact of nonstereotypical, positive media portrayals of obese persons on biased attitudes, as well as propose a change in media practices that could reduce public weight bias and consequent negative health outcomes for those who experience weight stigma. Two online experiments were conducted in which participants viewed either a stigmatizing or a positive photograph of an obese model. In Experiment 1 (N = 146), participants viewed a photograph of either a Caucasian or African American obese woman; in Experiment 2 (N = 145), participants viewed either a Caucasian male or female obese model. Multiple linear regression models were used to analyze outcomes for social distance attitudes toward the obese models depicted in the images, in addition to other negative attitudes and image preferences. Participants who viewed the stigmatizing images endorsed stronger social distance attitudes and more negative attitudes toward obese persons than participants who viewed the positive images, and there was a stronger preference for the positive images than the stigmatizing images. These results were consistent regardless of the race or gender of the obese model pictured. The findings indicate that more positive media portrayals of obese individuals may help reduce weight stigma and its associated negative health outcomes.

  7. Developing positive worker attitudes toward radiation protection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Millis, N.L.

    1987-01-01

    Teamwork, productivity, and reducing exposure are admirable goals presented to the workers in a nuclear power plant. A common thread to achievement in these areas resides in worker attitudes toward the tasks presented. A positive, alert, and cooperative attitude is an element in a worker's mind that must be created and maintained by good leadership and management practices. At the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, management has used certain strategies to foster good positive worker attitudes toward radiation protection and quality workmanship in all tasks. Strategies differ from management by objectives in that they have no deadlines or timetables in and of themselves. Rather, strategies are preplanned methods that can be called upon when the opportunity arises to improve worker attitudes. A series of five strategies for positive attitude development are described in the full paper. The strategies are identified with buzz words to allow the user a recall mechanism (as with the acronyms abounding in the nuclear industry). They cover the range of management techniques from example setting to reward/recognition. Although not unique to radiation exposure management, nor all inclusive, the strategies provide some though stimulation in creating productive worker attitudes

  8. Implicit and Explicit Racial Attitudes Changed During Black Lives Matter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sawyer, Jeremy; Gampa, Anup

    2018-07-01

    Lab-based interventions have been ineffective in changing individuals' implicit racial attitudes for more than brief durations, and exposure to high-status Black exemplars like Obama has proven ineffective in shifting societal-level racial attitudes. Antiracist social movements, however, offer a potential societal-level alternative for reducing racial bias. Racial attitudes were examined before and during Black Lives Matter (BLM) and its high points of struggle with 1,369,204 participants from 2009 to 2016. After controlling for changes in participant demographics, overall implicit attitudes were less pro-White during BLM than pre-BLM, became increasingly less pro-White across BLM, and were less pro-White during most periods of high BLM struggle. Considering changes in implicit attitudes by participant race, Whites became less implicitly pro-White during BLM, whereas Blacks showed little change. Regarding explicit attitudes, Whites became less pro-White and Blacks became less pro-Black during BLM, each moving toward an egalitarian "no preference" position.

  9. Perfectionism in students and positive career planning attitudes

    OpenAIRE

    Stoeber, Joachim; Mutinelli, Sofia; Corr, Philip J.

    2016-01-01

    In today's uncertain job market, university students who show positive attitudes in their career planning have an advantage. Yet, we know little what personality characteristics are associated with individual differences in career planning attitudes. The present study examined 177 university students to investigate whether perfectionism (self-oriented, other-oriented, and socially prescribed) predicted students' positive career planning attitudes (career adaptability, career optimism, and per...

  10. Who's Challenging Who? Changing Attitudes towards Those Whose Behaviour Challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutchinson, L. M.; Hastings, R. P.; Hunt, P. H.; Bowler, C. L.; Banks, M. E.; Totsika, V.

    2014-01-01

    Background: Although staff attitudes towards individuals with intellectual disability (ID) whose behaviour challenges may be an important part of a positive support culture, very little research has focused on the development of training specifically designed to change staff attitudes. Positive contact is hypothesised to be an effective way to…

  11. Right-Wing Authoritarianism Predicts weakened Attitude Change in an Evaluative Counter-conditioning Paradigm

    OpenAIRE

    Beffara, Brice; Mermillod, Martial; Mierop, Adrien; Bret, Amélie; Corneille, Olivier

    2017-01-01

    RWA is associated with higher social prejudice. It is unclear, however, (i) whether RWA plays a role in attitude acquisition or attitude change (or both), and (ii) whether it influences attitudes unrelated to in/outgroup concerns. We relied on an evaluative conditioning-then-counter-conditioning paradigm simulating prejudice formation and change to examine this question. Neutral fictive group exemplars were first conditioned positively or negatively (attitude learning) and then counter-condit...

  12. Using constructivist teaching strategies in high school science classrooms to cultivate positive attitudes toward science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heron, Lory Elen

    This study investigated the premise that the use of constructivist teaching strategies (independent variable) in high school science classrooms can cultivate positive attitudes toward science (dependent variable) in high school students. Data regarding the relationship between the use of constructivist strategies and change in student attitude toward science were collected using the Science Attitude Assessment Tool (SAAT) (Heron & Beauchamp, 1996). The format of this study used the pre-test, post-test, control group-experimental group design. The subjects in the study were high school students enrolled in biology, chemistry, or environmental science courses in two high schools in the western United States. Ten teachers and twenty-eight classes, involving a total of 249 students participated in the study. Six experimental group teachers and four control group teachers were each observed an average of six times using the Science Observation Guide (Chapman, 1995) to measure the frequency of observed constructivist behaviors. The mean for the control group teachers was 12.89 and the mean for experimental group teachers was 20.67; F(1, 8) = 16.2, p =.004, revealing teaching behaviors differed significantly between the two groups. After a four month experimental period, the pre-test and post-test SAAT scores were analyzed. Students received a score for their difference in positive attitude toward science. The null hypothesis stating there would be no change in attitude toward science as a subject, between students exposed to constructivist strategies, and students not exposed to constructivist strategies was rejected F(1, 247) = 8.04, p =.005. The control group had a generally higher reported grade in their last science class than the experimental group, yet the control group attitude toward science became more negative (-1.18) while attitude toward science in the experimental group became more positive (+1.34) after the four-month period. An analysis of positive

  13. Students' Changing Attitudes and Aspirations Towards Physics During Secondary School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheldrake, Richard; Mujtaba, Tamjid; Reiss, Michael J.

    2017-11-01

    Many countries desire more students to study science subjects, although relatively few students decide to study non-compulsory physics at upper-secondary school and at university. To gain insight into students' intentions to study non-compulsory physics, a longitudinal sample (covering 2258 students across 88 secondary schools in England) was surveyed in year 8 (age 12/13) and again in year 10 (age 14/15). Predictive modelling highlighted that perceived advice, perceived utility of physics, interest in physics, self-concept beliefs (students' subjective beliefs of their current abilities and performance) and home support specifically orientated to physics were key predictors of students' intentions. Latent-transition analysis via Markov models revealed clusters of students, given these factors at years 8 and 10. Students' intentions varied across the clusters, and at year 10 even varied when accounting for the students' underlying attitudes and beliefs, highlighting that considering clusters offered additional explanatory power and insight. Regardless of whether three-cluster, four-cluster, or five-cluster models were considered, the majority of students remained in the same cluster over time; for those who transitioned clusters, more students changed clusters reflecting an increase in attitudes than changed clusters reflecting a decrease. Students in the cluster with the most positive attitudes were most likely to remain within that cluster, while students in clusters with less positive attitudes were more likely to change clusters. Overall, the cluster profiles highlighted that students' attitudes and beliefs may be more closely related than previously assumed, but that changes in their attitudes and beliefs were indeed possible.

  14. The dynamics of CRM attitude change: Attitude stability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gregorich, Steven E.

    1993-01-01

    Special training seminars in cockpit resource management (CRM) are designed to enhance crew effectiveness in multicrew air-transport cockpits. In terms of CRM, crew effectiveness is defined by teamwork rather than technical proficiency. These seminars are designed to promote factual learning, alter aviator attitudes, and motivate aviators to make use of what they have learned. However, measures of attitude change resulting from CRM seminars have been the most common seminar evaluation technique. The current investigation explores a broader range of attitude change parameters with specific emphasis on the stability of change between recurrent visits to the training center. This allows for a comparison of training program strengths in terms of seminar ability to effect lasting change.

  15. Changing attitudes through persuasive communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarke, A

    Nurses are uniquely placed to provide effective health education with the aim of promoting attitude and behavioural change. This article explores the literature relating to attitude formation, attitude change and the nature of persuasive communication, and identifies specific strategies that will be useful to all nurses.

  16. Effects of Knowledge on Attitude Formation and Change Toward Genetically Modified Foods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Xiaoqin; Xie, Xiaofei

    2015-05-01

    In three waves, this study investigates the impact of risk and benefit knowledge on attitude formation toward genetically modified (GM) foods as well as the moderating effect of knowledge level on attitude change caused by receiving information. The data in Wave 1 (N = 561) demonstrate that both benefit and risk knowledge either directly contribute to attitude formation or indirectly affect attitudes through the mediating roles of benefit and risk perceptions. Overall, benefit and risk knowledge affect consumer attitudes positively and negatively, respectively. In Wave 2, 486 participants from Wave 1 were provided with information about GM foods, and their attitudes were assessed. Three weeks later, 433 of these participants again reported their attitudes. The results indicate that compared with the benefit and mixed information, risk information has a greater and longer lasting impact on attitude change, which results in lower acceptance of GM foods. Furthermore, risk information more strongly influences participants with a higher knowledge level. The moderating effect of knowledge on attitude change may result from these participants' better understanding of and greater trust in the information. These findings highlight the important role of knowledge in attitude formation and attitude change toward GM foods as well as the necessity of considering the determinants of attitude formation in attitude change studies. © 2014 Society for Risk Analysis.

  17. The Pluto debate: Influence of emotions on belief, attitude, and knowledge change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broughton, Suzanne H.

    In line with the "warming trend" (Sinatra, 2005), this study examined the influence of emotions during controversial conceptual change. Issues in science may trigger highly emotional responses (e.g., evolutionary theory). However, it is unclear whether these emotions facilitate or inhibit change. I investigated the nature of emotions engendered when learning about a controversial science topic, Pluto's reclassification, including the valence (positive/negative) and activation (activating/deactivating) of emotions (Pekrun et al., 2002). I also investigated whether belief, attitude, and/or conceptual change could be facilitated through rereading a refutation text and/or rereading during small group discussions. Refutation texts directly state a common misconception, refute it, and provide the scientific explanation as a plausible alternative (Hynd, 2001). Participants were randomly assigned to a group (reread text; reread text plus small group discussions). Participants in both groups read the same refutational text regarding the recent change in the definition of planet and Pluto's reclassification. The findings show that students' experienced a range of emotions towards Pluto's reclassification. Students reported experiencing more negative than positive emotions. Both positive and negative emotions were shown to be predictive of student's attitudes and attitude change. Emotions were also predictive of students' knowledge of planets and conceptual change. This suggests that emotions may have promoted deep engagement and critical thinking. Negative emotions may also be linked with resistance to attitude and conceptual change. The refutation text was effective in promoting belief change, attitude change, and conceptual change across both conditions. Students in both conditions reported more constructivist nature of science beliefs after rereading the text. Students also reported a greater level of acceptance about Pluto's reclassification. Conceptual change was

  18. Does a Well-Informed Employee Have a More Positive Attitude Toward Change? The Mediating Role of Psychological Contract Fulfillment, Trust, and Perceived Need for Change

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Heuvel, Sjoerd; Schalk, René; van Assen, Marcel A L M

    2015-01-01

    This study examined the mediating role of psychological contract fulfillment, trust, and perceived need for change in the relationship between change information and employee attitude toward organizational change. As one of the first studies in organizational change research, attitude toward change

  19. Can singular examples change implicit racial attitudes in the real-world?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leslie E. Roos

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Implicit attitudes about social groups persist independently of explicit beliefs and can influence not only social behavior, but also medical and legal practices. Although examples presented in the laboratory can alter such implicit attitudes, it is unclear whether the same influence is exerted by real-world exemplars. Following the 2008 US election, Plant et al. reported that the Implicit Association Test or IAT revealed a decrease in negative implicit attitudes towards African-Americans. However, a large-scale study also employing the IAT found little evidence for a change in implicit attitudes pre- and post-election. Here we present evidence that the 2008 US election may have facilitated at least a temporary change in implicit racial attitudes in the US. Our results rely on the Affective Lexical Priming Score or ALPS and pre- and post-election measurements for both US and non-US participants. US students who, pre-election, exhibited negative associations with black faces, post-election showed positive associations with black faces. Canadian students pre- and post-election did not show a similar shift. To account for these findings, we posit that the socio-cognitive processes underlying ALPS are different from those underlying the IAT. Acknowledging that we cannot form a causal link between an intervening real-world event and laboratory-measured implicit attitudes, we speculate that our findings may be driven by the fact that the 2008 election campaign included extremely positive media coverage of President Obama and prominently featured his face in association with positive words – similar to the structure of ALPS. Even so, our real-world finding adds to the literature demonstrating the malleability of implicit attitudes and has implications for how we understand the socio-cognitive mechanisms underlying stereotypes.

  20. [Attitude change toward body image: the role of elaboration on attitude strength].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gasco, Margarita; Briñol, Pablo; Horcajo, Javier

    2010-02-01

    Attitude change toward body image: The role of elaboration on attitude strength. Attitudes toward body image have been shown to play a central role in the understanding and treating of eating disorders. In the present research, participants' attitudes toward their body image were changed through a persuasive procedure involving high mental elaboration (self-persuasion) or through a less engaging procedure involving less active participation (passive exposure). As expected, participants in these two groups showed more favourable attitudes toward their bodies than those in the control group. Despite that both treatments were equally efficient in changing attitudes, the strength associated with those attitudes was significantly different depending on the amount of thinking involved in the process of change. Specifically, attitudes were stronger in the high rather than low thinking group of treatment. This finding is important because the strength of the attitude may determine the long-term consequences of an intervention.

  1. Comparative analysis of positive and negative attitudes toward statistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghulami, Hassan Rahnaward; Ab Hamid, Mohd Rashid; Zakaria, Roslinazairimah

    2015-02-01

    Many statistics lecturers and statistics education researchers are interested to know the perception of their students' attitudes toward statistics during the statistics course. In statistics course, positive attitude toward statistics is a vital because it will be encourage students to get interested in the statistics course and in order to master the core content of the subject matters under study. Although, students who have negative attitudes toward statistics they will feel depressed especially in the given group assignment, at risk for failure, are often highly emotional, and could not move forward. Therefore, this study investigates the students' attitude towards learning statistics. Six latent constructs have been the measurement of students' attitudes toward learning statistic such as affect, cognitive competence, value, difficulty, interest, and effort. The questionnaire was adopted and adapted from the reliable and validate instrument of Survey of Attitudes towards Statistics (SATS). This study is conducted among engineering undergraduate engineering students in the university Malaysia Pahang (UMP). The respondents consist of students who were taking the applied statistics course from different faculties. From the analysis, it is found that the questionnaire is acceptable and the relationships among the constructs has been proposed and investigated. In this case, students show full effort to master the statistics course, feel statistics course enjoyable, have confidence that they have intellectual capacity, and they have more positive attitudes then negative attitudes towards statistics learning. In conclusion in terms of affect, cognitive competence, value, interest and effort construct the positive attitude towards statistics was mostly exhibited. While negative attitudes mostly exhibited by difficulty construct.

  2. Patterns of healthy lifestyle and positive health attitudes in older Europeans

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kozlowska, Katarzyna; Szczecinka, A.; Roszkowski, Wojciech

    2008-01-01

    ) the association between healthy lifestyle behaviors and positive attitudes to health. Design: two distinct healthy behavioral measures were developed: (i) healthy lifestyles based on physical activity, no cigarette smoking, no/moderate alcohol drinking, maintaining a "healthy" weight and having no sleeping......Objectives: To determine (i) the extent to which recommended lifestyle healthy behaviors are adopted and the existence of positive attitudes to health; (ii) the relative influence of socio-demographic variables on multiple healthy lifestyle behaviors and positive attitudes to health; (iii...... problems and (ii) positive health attitudes based on having positive emotional attitudes, such as: self-perceived good health status, being calm, peaceful and happy for most of the time, not expecting health to get worse and regular health check-ups. A composite healthy lifestyle index, ranging from 0...

  3. Young women's attitudes toward continuous use of oral contraceptives: the effect of priming positive attitudes toward menstruation on women's willingness to suppress menstruation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rose, Jennifer Gorman; Chrisler, Joan C; Couture, Samantha

    2008-08-01

    The present study investigated American women's attitudes toward menstrual suppression and the effect of priming attitudes toward menstruation on women's willingness to suppress menstruation. One hundred college women randomly were assigned to either a positive priming group or a negative priming group. The positive priming group first completed the menstrual joy questionnaire (MJQ) followed by a willingness to suppress menstruation (WSM) questionnaire, the beliefs and attitudes toward menstruation (BATM) questionnaire, the menstrual distress questionnaire (MDQ), and a demographic questionnaire. The negative priming group completed, in the following order: the MDQ, WSM, BATM, MJQ, and demographics. Priming affected women's reports of positive cycle-related changes on the MDQ, but not women's willingness to suppress menstruation. Higher scores on the MJQ, positive attitudes toward menstrual suppression, and previous oral contraceptive (OC) use were predictors of women's willingness to suppress menstruation. Women's primary source of information about menstrual suppression was "media," and their primary concern was "safety." Thus, researchers should continue to investigate the long-term effects of continuous OC use and to analyze information about menstrual suppression in the popular press.

  4. Persuasive Communication and Feedback of Attitude Change

    OpenAIRE

    Yamaura, Kazuho; Kurokawa, Masaru; Suzuki, Kouhei

    1996-01-01

    This study examined how subjects who were persuaded to change their attitudes, actually changed their attitude after being told the degree of their changed attitudes. At first, 133 college students (Men : 27,Women : 106) were recorded for their initial attitudes (first session). After one week, the subjects were told opposite persuasion messages against their initial attitudes and their attitudes were measured again (second session). After another two weeks, the subjects were told how much th...

  5. Persuasion: Attitude/Behavior Change. A Selected, Annotated Bibliography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benoit, William L.

    Designed for teachers, students and researchers of the psychological dimensions of attitude and behavior change, this annotated bibliography lists books, bibliographies and articles on the subject ranging from general introductions and surveys through specific research studies, and from theoretical position essays to literature reviews. The 42…

  6. The persuasive power of emotions: Effects of emotional expressions on attitude formation and change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Kleef, Gerben A; van den Berg, Helma; Heerdink, Marc W

    2015-07-01

    Despite a long-standing interest in the intrapersonal role of affect in persuasion, the interpersonal effects of emotions on persuasion remain poorly understood-how do one person's emotional expressions shape others' attitudes? Drawing on emotions as social information (EASI) theory (Van Kleef, 2009), we hypothesized that people use the emotional expressions of others to inform their own attitudes, but only when they are sufficiently motivated and able to process those expressions. Five experiments support these ideas. Participants reported more positive attitudes about various topics after seeing a source's sad (rather than happy) expressions when topics were negatively framed (e.g., abandoning bobsleighing from the Olympics). Conversely, participants reported more positive attitudes after seeing happy (rather than sad) expressions when topics were positively framed (e.g., introducing kite surfing at the Olympics). This suggests that participants used the source's emotional expressions as information when forming their own attitudes. Supporting this interpretation, effects were mitigated when participants' information processing was undermined by cognitive load or was chronically low. Moreover, a source's anger expressions engendered negative attitude change when directed at the attitude object and positive change when directed at the recipient's attitude. Effects occurred regardless of whether emotional expressions were manipulated through written words, pictures of facial expressions, film clips containing both facial and vocal emotional expressions, or emoticons. The findings support EASI theory and indicate that emotional expressions are a powerful source of social influence. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  7. The effect of perceived person-job fit on employee attitudes toward change in trauma centers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zatzick, Christopher D; Zatzick, Douglas F

    2013-01-01

    Employee attitudes toward change are critical for health care organizations implementing new procedures and practices. When employees are more positive about the change, they are likely to behave in ways that support the change, whereas when employees are negative about the change, they will resist the changes. This study examined how perceived person-job (demands-abilities) fit influences attitudes toward change after an externally mandated change. Specifically, we propose that perceived person-job fit moderates the negative relationship between individual job impact and attitudes toward change. We examined this issue in a sample of Level 1 trauma centers facing a regulatory mandate to develop an alcohol screening and brief intervention program. A survey of 200 providers within 20 trauma centers assessed perceived person-job fit, individual job impact, and attitudes toward change approximately 1 year after the mandate was enacted. Providers who perceived a better fit between their abilities and the new job demands were more positive about the change. Further, the impact of the alcohol screening and brief intervention program on attitudes toward change was mitigated by perceived fit, where the relationship between job impact and change attitudes was more negative for providers who perceived a worse fit as compared with those who perceived a better fit. Successful implementation of changes to work processes and procedures requires provider support of the change. Management can enhance this support by improving perceived person-job fit through ongoing training sessions that enhance providers' abilities to implement the new procedures.

  8. Exploring changes in nursing students' attitudes towards the use of technology: A four-wave longitudinal panel study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tubaishat, Ahmad; Aljezawi, Ma'en; Al-Rawajfah, Omar M; Habiballah, Laila; Akhu-Zaheya, Laila M

    2016-03-01

    It is essential for nursing students to be equipped with the necessary technology skills throughout and after their study period. Their acceptance of this technology depends largely on their attitudes towards technology. To explore the evolution in nursing students' attitudes towards technology, and to determine whether there was a change in participants' formal education in technology over their four years of study. A longitudinal panel study was conducted in a single school of nursing in Jordan. A total of 140 students were followed over their four years of undergraduate study. They completed the same tool (the Technology Attitude Scale) each year, to capture any changes in their attitudes towards technology across the years. In all four waves of data collection, students showed positive attitudes towards technology, with the highest attitude scores being in their final year (M=6.19, SD=0.72). As the students spent more time on their nursing education, they were found to have a more positive attitude. Thus, a strong positive relationship existed between this formal education in technology and attitudes: as the students' education in technology increased, their attitudes were more positive. A remarkable development in students' attitudes towards technology is reported in this study. The positive attitudes displayed by the students should be enhanced by providing technology-related subjects during their studies in nursing schools at a very early stage. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Pornography and Attitude Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallace, Douglas H.; Wehmer, Gerald

    1971-01-01

    The results indicate that a voluntary three hour exposure to erotic pictures, some of which have been defined as being legally obscene," does not lead to a change in a person's attitudes toward such materials or in attitudes toward their censorship. (Author)

  10. Circumventing resistance: using values to indirectly change attitudes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blankenship, Kevin L; Wegener, Duane T; Murray, Renee A

    2012-10-01

    Most research on persuasion examines messages that directly address the attitude of interest. However, especially when message recipients are inclined to resist change, indirect methods might be more effective. Because values are rarely attacked and defended, value change could serve as a useful indirect route for attitude change. Attitudes toward affirmative action changed more when the value of equality was attacked (indirect change) than when affirmative action was directly attacked using the same message (Experiments 1-2). Changes in confidence in the value were responsible for the indirect change when the value was attacked (controlling for changes in favorability toward the value), whereas direct counterarguments to the message were responsible for the relative lack of change when the attitude was attacked directly (Experiment 2). Attacking the value of equality influenced attitudes toward policies related to the value but left policy attitudes unrelated to the value unchanged (Experiment 3). Finally, a manipulation of value confidence that left attitudes toward the value intact demonstrated similar confidence-based influences on policies related to the value of freedom (Experiment 4). Undermined value confidence also resulted in less confidence in the resulting policy attitudes controlling for the changes in the policy attitudes themselves (Experiments 3 and 4). Therefore, indirect change through value attacks presented a double threat--to both the policy attitudes and the confidence with which those policy attitudes were held (potentially leaving them open to additional influence).

  11. A change of attitude: from rescue to prevention

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Covalschi, Valentina I.

    2003-01-01

    The qualitative and quantitative leap recorded by economical companies after the Romanian Revolution occurred in 1989, has positively influenced the functioning of the workplaces and working environment by increasing the employees' occupational safety, well being, health and results of their activities. In fact it has determined a new approach of safety culture. This has resulted in a change of attitude: from rescue to prevention. The paper is addressing the steps in which this change has been occurred. (author)

  12. Changing attitudes and beliefs towards a woman's right to protect against HIV risk in Malawi.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fedor, Theresa M; Kohler, Hans-Peter; McMahon, James M

    2016-01-01

    Female empowerment and positive attitudes towards women's rights in sexual relationships have been found to be key elements of successful behaviour-based HIV prevention programmes. However, HIV prevention programmes that do not specifically engage with gender issues may also affect attitudes and beliefs towards women's rights within sexual relationships. Using data from the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health we compare measures of female empowerment and changing gender norms between intervention participants and non-participants. Results suggest that female intervention participants were more likely than non-participants to believe that: (1) women have more rights within sexual relationships in general and (2) women have the right to protect themselves against HIV risk (indicating possible increases in female self-efficacy in making HIV prevention decisions). Male intervention participants showed no substantial positive change in attitudes towards women's rights. These results highlight an important positive effect of HIV prevention programmes on women's attitudes towards their own rights.

  13. CHANGING ATTITUDES OF SPEED-LIMIT OFFENDERS USING A MULTIMEDIA PROGRAM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frank J.J.M. STEYVERS

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available An interactive multimedia computer program was developed to change speed-limit offenders' attitudes with respect to speeding. The computer program is meant to be used during speed controls; the offender may be remitted a part of the fine by completing the program. The objective of the program is to make speeders aware of the negative implications of their behavior and to change their attitude negatively towards offending speed limits. To attain this goal, offenders are confronted with possible negative consequences of speeding while their arguments for speeding are refuted, using small video-clips, demonstrations of counter-arguments and short verbal stories. The effects of this multimedia program were studied in a laboratory evaluation, in terms of knowledge and attitudes, compared with two information conditions, a general leaflet about traffic, and a specific leaflet about speeding. One week after participation in the study subjects were sent a questionnaire, to measure whether changes in knowledge and attitudes were retained afterwards. It appeared that the general attitude towards speeding was changed most in the multimedia program condition, subjects became more negative towards speeding and various related aspects. The specific speeding leaflet appeared to influence the attitude towards driving fun positively and obeying traffic rules negatively, which are unwanted directions. With regard to knowledge of speeding and its consequences the computer program did not do better than the other conditions. However, the subjects considered the program more impressive than the leaflet conditions and indicated that they would consent to participate when being stopped in real speeding conditions.

  14. Climate change and changing attitudes. Effect of negative emotion on information processing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Meijnders, A.L.

    1998-12-17

    Chapter 2 describes our first study of the relations between negative emotion, information processing, and attitudes within the field of environmental communication. This study examined how the level of fear with regard to climate change influenced the processing of information about energy-efficient lighting. The consequences for the relations between attitudes, intentions, and behaviour were also assessed. A moderate fear level merely seemed to have an effect on attitudes by stimulating systematic information processing. Provided that strong arguments were presented this resulted in more favourable attitudes. Although there were indications that a high fear level also increased systematic information processing, this effect seemed to be dominated by a direct positive effect on attitudes. Though the relation between attitudes and behavioural intentions was fairly strong regardless of fear level, actual behaviour could only be reliably predicted from behavioural intentions when the level of fear was high. Chapter 3 describes a study aimed at replicating the findings of the first study. In addition this study took into account the effect of pre-existing differences in concern about climate change. The consequences for attitude stability were also examined. Again some indications were found that a moderate fear level increased systematic processing. Regarding the effect of level of pre-existing concern, we mainly found a direct positive effect on attitudes. No evidence was found that the level of fear or concern through stimulating systematic processing resulted in more persistent attitudes. Chapter 4 describes a study examining the effects of induced fear level and the level of pre-existing concern on the processing of information about the implementation of a European energy tax. No evidence was found that the induced fear level influenced,the elaboration of this information. However, the level of pre-existing concern did appear to have an impact: Elaboration was

  15. Positive Attitude Toward Math Supports Early Academic Success: Behavioral Evidence and Neurocognitive Mechanisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Lang; Bae, Se Ri; Battista, Christian; Qin, Shaozheng; Chen, Tianwen; Evans, Tanya M; Menon, Vinod

    2018-03-01

    Positive attitude is thought to impact academic achievement and learning in children, but little is known about its underlying neurocognitive mechanisms. Using a large behavioral sample of 240 children, we found that positive attitude toward math uniquely predicted math achievement, even after we accounted for multiple other cognitive-affective factors. We then investigated the neural mechanisms underlying the link between positive attitude and academic achievement in two independent cohorts of children (discovery cohort: n = 47; replication cohort: n = 28) and tested competing hypotheses regarding the differential roles of affective-motivational and learning-memory systems. In both cohorts, we found that positive attitude was associated with increased engagement of the hippocampal learning-memory system. Structural equation modeling further revealed that, in both cohorts, increased hippocampal activity and more frequent use of efficient memory-based strategies mediated the relation between positive attitude and higher math achievement. Our study is the first to elucidate the neurocognitive mechanisms by which positive attitude influences learning and academic achievement.

  16. Impact and change of attitudes toward Internet interventions within a randomized controlled trial on individuals with depression symptoms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schröder, Johanna; Berger, Thomas; Meyer, Björn; Lutz, Wolfgang; Späth, Christina; Michel, Pia; Rose, Matthias; Hautzinger, Martin; Hohagen, Fritz; Klein, Jan Philipp; Moritz, Steffen

    2018-05-01

    Most individuals with depression do not receive adequate treatment. Internet interventions may help to bridge this gap. Research on attitudes toward Internet interventions might facilitate the dissemination of such interventions by identifying factors that help or hinder uptake and implementation, and by clarifying who is likely to benefit. This study examined whether attitudes toward Internet interventions moderate the effects of a depression-focused Internet intervention, and how attitudes change over the course of treatment among those who do or do not benefit. We recruited 1,004 adults with mild-to-moderate depression symptoms and investigated how attitudes toward Internet interventions are associated with the efficacy of the program deprexis, and how attitudes in the intervention group change from pre to post over a 3 months intervention period, compared to a control group (care as usual). This study consists of a subgroup analysis of the randomized controlled EVIDENT trial. Positive initial attitudes toward Internet interventions were associated with greater efficacy (η 2 p  = .014) independent of usage time, whereas a negative attitude (perceived lack of personal contact) was associated with reduced efficacy (η 2 p  = .012). Users' attitudes changed during the trial, and both the magnitude and direction of attitude change were associated with the efficacy of the program over time (η 2 p  = .030). Internet interventions may be the most beneficial for individuals with positive attitudes toward them. Informing potential users about evidence-based Internet interventions might instill positive attitudes and thereby optimize the benefits such interventions can provide. Assessing attitudes prior to treatment might help identify suitable users. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  17. Attitude change: persuasion and social influence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, W

    2000-01-01

    This chapter reviews empirical and theoretical developments in research on social influence and message-based persuasion. The review emphasizes research published during the period from 1996-1998. Across these literatures, three central motives have been identified that generate attitude change and resistance. These involve concerns with the self, with others and the rewards/punishments they can provide, and with a valid understanding of reality. The motives have implications for information processing and for attitude change in public and private contexts. Motives in persuasion also have been investigated in research on attitude functions and cognitive dissonance theory. In addition, the chapter reviews the relatively unique aspects of each literature: In persuasion, it considers the cognitive and affective mechanisms underlying attitude change, especially dual-mode processing models, recipients' affective reactions, and biased processing. In social influence, the chapter considers how attitudes are embedded in social relations, including social identity theory and majority/minority group influence.

  18. Change of position of constitutional judiciary

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Orlović Slobodan P.

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Constitutional judiciary is the youngest branch of authority in the horizontal level of state power. Constitutional judiciary has, during its existence - during two centuries as an ordinary court and during one century as a special authority, changed its position, role and importance. Those characteristics of constitutional judiciary had an increasing way - the position became better, in political and law sense, its role has expanded and the importance has increased. Today, constitutional judiciary is an inevitable subject of constitutional regimes in huge number of states (between them are almost all federations but, in the same time, constitutional judiciary is an authority which is at least limited by the constitution. The constitution is "soft" to the constitutional judiciary because the judiciary interpreted the constitution in accordance to its political and law attitudes, hidden by the guise of protection. Different separation of power, a rise of executive power, requests for better protections of fundamental human rights, a changed role of state and executive power, altogether, have influenced to change of position of constitutional judiciary.

  19. Change my body, change my mind: the effects of illusory ownership of an outgroup hand on implicit attitudes toward that outgroup.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farmer, Harry; Maister, Lara; Tsakiris, Manos

    2014-01-13

    The effect of multisensory-induced changes on body-ownership and self-awareness using bodily illusions has been well established. More recently, experimental manipulation of bodily illusions have been combined with social cognition tasks to investigate whether changes in body-ownership can in turn change the way we perceive others. For example, experiencing ownership over a dark-skin rubber hand reduces implicit bias against dark-skin groups. Several studies have also shown that processing of skin color and facial features play an important role in judgements of racial typicality and racial categorization independently and in an additive manner. The present study aimed at examining whether using multisensory stimulation to induce feelings of body-ownership over a dark-skin rubber hand would lead to an increase in positive attitudes toward black faces. We here show, that the induced ownership of a body-part of a different skin color affected the participants' implicit attitudes when processing facial features, in addition to the processing of skin color shown previously. Furthermore, when the levels of pre-existing attitudes toward black people were taken into account, the effect of the rubber hand illusion on the post-stimulation implicit attitudes was only significant for those participants who had a negative initial attitude toward black people, with no significant effects found for those who had positive initial attitudes toward black people. Taken together, our findings corroborate the hypothesis that the representation of the self and its relation to others, as given to us by body-related multisensory processing, is critical in maintaining but also in changing social attitudes.

  20. A change of attitude: From rescue to prevention

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Covalschi, Valentina

    2002-01-01

    The qualitative and quantitative leap recorded by economical companies after the Romanian Revolution occurred in 1989, has positively influenced the functioning of the workplaces and working environment by increasing the employees' occupational safety, well being, health and results of their activities. In fact it has determined a new approach of safety culture. This has resulted in a change of attitude: from rescue to prevention. (author)

  1. Numerical support, information processing and attitude change

    OpenAIRE

    de Dreu, C.K.W.; de Vries, N.K.

    1993-01-01

    In two experiments we studied the prediction that majority support induces stronger convergent processing than minority support for a persuasive message, the more so when recipients are explicitly forced to pay attention to the source's point of view; this in turn affects the amount of attitude change on related issues. Convergent processing is the systematic elaboration on the sources position, but with a stronger focus on verification and justification rather than falsification. In Exp 1 wi...

  2. The time for doing is not the time for change: effects of general action and inaction goals on attitude retrieval and attitude change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albarracín, Dolores; Handley, Ian M

    2011-06-01

    Implicit in many informal and formal principles of psychological change is the understudied assumption that change requires either an active approach or an inactive approach. This issue was systematically investigated by comparing the effects of general action goals and general inaction goals on attitude change. As prior attitudes facilitate preparation for an upcoming persuasive message, general action goals were hypothesized to facilitate conscious retrieval of prior attitudes and therefore hinder attitude change to a greater extent than general inaction goals. Experiment 1 demonstrated that action primes (e.g., "go," "energy") yielded faster attitude report than inaction primes (e.g., "rest," "still") among participants who were forewarned of an upcoming persuasive message. Experiment 2 showed that the faster attitude report identified in Experiment 1 was localized on attitudes toward a message topic participants were prepared to receive. Experiments 3, 4, and 5 showed that, compared with inaction primes, action primes produced less attitude change and less argument scrutiny in response to a counterattitudinal message on a previously forewarned topic. Experiment 6 confirmed that the effects of the primes on attitude change were due to differential attitude retrieval. That is, when attitude expression was induced immediately after the primes, action and inaction goals produced similar amounts of attitude change. In contrast, when no attitude expression was induced after the prime, action goals produced less attitude change than inaction goals. Finally, Experiment 7 validated the assumption that these goal effects can be reduced or reversed when the goals have already been satisfied by an intervening task. 2011 APA, all rights reserved

  3. The Time for Doing is Not the Time for Change: Effects of General Action and Inaction Goals on Attitude Retrieval and Attitude Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albarracín, Dolores; Handley, Ian M.

    2011-01-01

    Implicit in many informal and formal principles of psychological change is the understudied assumption that change requires either an active approach or an inactive approach. This issue was systematically investigated by comparing the effects of general action goals and general inaction goals on attitude change. As prior attitudes facilitate preparation for an upcoming persuasive message, general action goals were hypothesized to facilitate conscious retrieval of prior attitudes and therefore hinder attitude change to a greater extent than general inaction goals. Experiment 1 demonstrated that action primes (e.g., “go,” “energy”) yielded faster attitude report than inaction primes (e.g., “rest,” “still”) among participants who were forewarned of an upcoming persuasive message. Experiment 2 showed that the faster attitude report identified in Experiment 1 was localized on attitudes towards a message topic participants were prepared to receive. Experiments 3, 4, and 5 showed that, compared to inaction primes, action primes produced less attitude change and less argument scrutiny in response to a counterattitudinal message on a previously forewarned topic. Experiment 6 confirmed that the effects of the primes on attitude change were due to differential attitude retrieval. That is, when attitude expression was induced immediately after the primes, action and inaction goals produced similar amounts of attitude change. In contrast, when no attitude expression was induced after the prime, action goals produced less attitude change than inaction goals. Finally, Experiment 7 validated the assumption that these goal effects can be reduced or reversed when the goals have already been satisfied by an intervening task. PMID:21639651

  4. Changing expectations: a longitudinal study of community attitudes toward a nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hughey, J.B.; Lounsbury, J.W.; Sundstrom, E.; Mattingly, T.J. Jr.

    1983-01-01

    Initial and 5-year follow-up interviews were conducted with 213 residents of the host community for a nuclear power plant. The purpose was to determine possible changes in attitudes toward the plant and expectations about potential outcomes associated with construction. Large negative changes in attitudes toward the plant were noted and were accompanied most notably by decreased expectations of positive outcomes. The structure of the expectations remained essentially stable over the 5-year period. Perceptions of hazards, community disruption, and economic benefits as measured early in construction and during peak construction were found to be the best predictors of acceptance of the nuclear plant. Initial expectations were found to predict overall attitude toward the plant 5 years later. Results were discussed in terms of implications for social impact assessment, large-scale community change, and the predictability of community attitudes toward nuclear power plant construction

  5. Change my body, change my mind: the effects of illusory ownership of an out group hand on implicit attitudes towards that outgroup.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harry eFarmer

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The effect of multisensory-induced changes on body-ownership and self-awareness using bodily illusions has been well established. More recently, experimental manipulation of bodily illusions have been combined with social cognition tasks to investigate whether changes in body-ownership can in turn change the way we perceive others. For example, experiencing ownership over a dark-skin rubber hand reduces implicit bias against dark-skin groups. Several studies have also shown that processing of skin colour and facial features play an important role in judgements of racial typicality and racial categorization independently and in an additive manner. The present study aimed at examining whether using multisensory stimulation to induce feelings of body ownership over a dark-skin rubber hand would lead to an increase in positive attitudes towards black faces. We here show, that the induced ownership of a body-part of different skin colour affected the participants’ implicit attitudes when processing facial features, in addition to the processing of skin colour as shown previously. Furthermore, when the levels of pre-existing attitudes towards black people were taken into account, the effect of the rubber hand illusion on the post-stimulation implicit attitudes was only significant for those participants who had a negative initial attitude towards black people, with no significant effects found for those who had positive initial attitudes towards black people. Taken together, our findings corroborate the hypothesis that the representation of the self and its relation to others, as given to us by body-related multisensory processing, is critical in maintaining but also in changing social attitudes.

  6. Attitudes toward Immigration as a Sense of Group Position

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Farah, Abdulkadir Osman

    2018-01-01

    such as affirmative action and immigration, we examine the extent to which American attitudes toward immigration can be conceptualized from a Blumerian sense of group position without setting Allport’s contact theory as an alternative hypothesis. Our findings show cultural and ideological threat, and subjective...... economic threat as more important in informing attitudes toward immigration than objective economic conditions; and social and ethnic location threat. Our findings are consistent with and confirm Blumer’s argument that prejudice as a sense of group position is primarily derived from feelings, and are...

  7. Changes in Speech-Language Pathology Students' Attitudes Toward Breastfeeding During a Pediatric Dysphagia Course.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahurin-Smith, Jamie

    2017-11-01

    Speech-language pathologists provide infant feeding assessment and intervention; their training in breastfeeding management is highly variable. Research aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate student attitudes toward breastfeeding and self-identified factors in attitude change. Before and after their course in pediatric dysphagia, two cohorts of graduate students in speech-language pathology ( N = 36) completed an assignment designed to capture qualitative and quantitative data on changes in their attitudes toward breastfeeding. Students rated their reactions to two hypothetical breastfeeding scenarios before and after the class, which included multiple sources of information on the importance of human milk and on breastfeeding management. Additionally, they completed a postclass reflection describing the nature of any changes in their attitudes toward breastfeeding and their ideas about the factors that were responsible for these changes. Nonparametric statistical tests were used to assess quantitative results; the qualitative data were evaluated via content analysis to identify themes. Significant positive changes in student attitudes were measured at the completion of the course. Students identified parents' stories as a particularly compelling component of their increased openness to breastfeeding. Attitudes toward breastfeeding may improve significantly over a relatively short period of time following a targeted intervention. Implications for lactation consultants and continuing education providers are discussed.

  8. Changes in resident attitudes towards tourism development and conservation in the Okavango Delta, Botswana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mbaiwa, Joseph E; Stronza, Amanda L

    2011-08-01

    Negative attitudes of resident communities towards conservation are associated with resource decline in developing countries. In Botswana, Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) was adopted to address this challenge. CBNRM links rural development and conservation. However, the impact of CBNRM on changes of resident attitudes towards conservation and tourism is not adequately researched. This paper, therefore, assesses the impacts of CBNRM on resident attitudes towards tourism development and conservation in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. The study purposively sampled villages of Khwai, Mababe and Sankoyo. Household data using variables like: economic benefits from CBNRM; level of satisfaction with CBNRM; co-management of natural resources between resident communities and government agencies; and collective action was collected. This data was supplemented by secondary and ethnographic data. Using qualitative and quantitative analysis, results indicate changes in resident attitudes from being negative to positive towards tourism and conservation. These changes are triggered by economic benefits residents derived from CBNRM, co-management in resource management; and, collective action of communities in CBNRM development. Positive attitudes towards conservation and tourism are the first building blocks towards achieving conservation in nature-based tourism destinations. As a result, decision-makers should give priority to CBNRM and use it as a tool to achieve conservation and improved livelihoods in nature-based tourism destinations of developing countries. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Energy Project Professional Development: Promoting Positive Attitudes about Science among K-12 Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robertson, Amy D.; Daane, Abigail R.

    2017-01-01

    Promoting positive attitudes about science among teachers has important implications for teachers' classroom practice and for their relationship to science as a discipline. In this paper, we report positive shifts in teachers' attitudes about science, as measured by the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science (CLASS) survey, over the course of…

  10. Credibility and persuasion: A sociopsychological approach to changing the attitudes toward energy conservation of preservice elementary school science teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koballa, Thomas R., Jr.; Shrigley, Robert L.

    Tested was the effect of two persuasive messages presented by a credible communicator on the attitudes toward energy conservation of 180 preservice elementary teachers. The study asked the following questions: (1) Can attitudes toward energy conservation be positively changed with a brief, belief-laden communication? (2) Do positive attitude gains between pre- and post-tests, if any, dissipate within three weeks following the treatment? (3) Do the integrated and the nonintegrated communications affect energy attitudes of three subgroups (abstract, concrete differentiator and concrete thinkers) of the sample differently? The important finding was that both experimental treatments, integrated and nonintegrated, were equally effective and significantly more effective in attitude change than the control. Secondly, the finding that neither experimental treatment dissipated in effect, at least for three weeks, suggests some duration of brief treatment periods. And finally, the attitude changes are as likely to occur when concrete differentiators are presented with a nonintegrated as an integrated treatment, but abstract thinkers exposed to the integrated treatment and concrete thinkers exposed to the nonintegrated treatment sustain a changed attitude to a greater degree than other combinations of treatment and cognitive processing styles.

  11. Liking is not the opposite of disliking: the functional separability of positive and negative attitudes toward minority groups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pittinsky, Todd L; Rosenthal, Seth A; Montoya, R Matthew

    2011-04-01

    Two studies tested the hypotheses that positive and negative attitudes toward minority groups are not interchangeable in predicting positive versus negative behaviors toward those groups. In Study 1, positive attitudes about Latinos were a better predictor of a positive behavior toward Latinos than were negative attitudes or stereotyped positive attitudes. In Study 2, positive attitudes about African Americans were a better predictor of positive behavioral intentions toward that group than were negative attitudes, whereas negative attitudes were better predictors of negative behavioral intentions than were positive attitudes. Taken together, the studies support the perspective that positive and negative attitudes toward minority groups are theoretically and functionally distinct constructs. We conclude that it is important to measure both positive and negative attitudes to understand and predict behaviors toward minority groups.

  12. Nuclear power, climate change and energy security: Exploring British public attitudes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Corner, Adam; Venables, Dan [School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Tower Building, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT (United Kingdom); Spence, Alexa [School of Psychology/Horizon Digital Economy Research, University of Nottingham (United Kingdom); Poortinga, Wouter [Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University (United Kingdom); School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Tower Building, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT (United Kingdom); Demski, Christina [School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Tower Building, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT (United Kingdom); Pidgeon, Nick, E-mail: pidgeonn@cardiff.ac.uk [School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Tower Building, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT (United Kingdom)

    2011-09-15

    Public attitudes towards nuclear power in the UK have historically been deeply divided, but as concern about climate change and energy security has exerted an increasing influence on British energy policy, nuclear power has been reframed as a low-carbon technology. Previous research has suggested that a significant proportion of people may 'reluctantly accept' nuclear power as a means of addressing the greater threat of climate change. Drawing on the results of a national British survey (n=1822), the current study found that attitudes towards nuclear remain divided, with only a minority expressing unconditional acceptance. In general, people who expressed greater concern about climate change and energy security and possessed higher environmental values were less likely to favour nuclear power. However, when nuclear power was given an explicit 'reluctant acceptance' framing - allowing people to express their dislike for nuclear power alongside their conditional support - concerns about climate change and energy security became positive predictors of support for nuclear power. These findings suggest that concern about climate change and energy security will only increase acceptance of nuclear power under limited circumstances-specifically once other (preferred) options have been exhausted. - Highlights: > We report data from 2005 to 2010 of British attitudes towards nuclear power and climate change. > Changes in attitudes over the time period were relatively modest. > British population remained relatively divided on nuclear power in 2010. > Concern about climate change was negatively related to evaluations of nuclear power. > Different framings of the issue alter the balance of support for nuclear power.

  13. Nuclear power, climate change and energy security: Exploring British public attitudes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Corner, Adam; Venables, Dan; Spence, Alexa; Poortinga, Wouter; Demski, Christina; Pidgeon, Nick

    2011-01-01

    Public attitudes towards nuclear power in the UK have historically been deeply divided, but as concern about climate change and energy security has exerted an increasing influence on British energy policy, nuclear power has been reframed as a low-carbon technology. Previous research has suggested that a significant proportion of people may 'reluctantly accept' nuclear power as a means of addressing the greater threat of climate change. Drawing on the results of a national British survey (n=1822), the current study found that attitudes towards nuclear remain divided, with only a minority expressing unconditional acceptance. In general, people who expressed greater concern about climate change and energy security and possessed higher environmental values were less likely to favour nuclear power. However, when nuclear power was given an explicit 'reluctant acceptance' framing - allowing people to express their dislike for nuclear power alongside their conditional support - concerns about climate change and energy security became positive predictors of support for nuclear power. These findings suggest that concern about climate change and energy security will only increase acceptance of nuclear power under limited circumstances-specifically once other (preferred) options have been exhausted. - Highlights: → We report data from 2005 to 2010 of British attitudes towards nuclear power and climate change. → Changes in attitudes over the time period were relatively modest. → British population remained relatively divided on nuclear power in 2010. → Concern about climate change was negatively related to evaluations of nuclear power. → Different framings of the issue alter the balance of support for nuclear power.

  14. Level of Identification as a Predictor of Attitude Change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Robert H.; Williams, Sharon Ann

    1987-01-01

    Discussion of conditions under which simulation games promote changes in attitudes focuses on identification theory as a predictor of attitude change. Incentive theory and cognitive dissonance theory are discussed, and a study of community college students is described that tested the role of identification in changing attitudes. (LRW)

  15. “Hour of Code”: Can It Change Students’ Attitudes toward Programming?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hayden Wimmer

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science organized by Code.org, a non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science. This study investigated the impact of the Hour of Code on students’ attitudes towards computer programming and their knowledge of programming. A sample of undergraduate students from two universities was selected to participate. Participants completed an Hour of Code tutorial as part of an undergraduate course. An electronic questionnaire was implemented in a pre-survey and post-survey format to gauge the change in student attitudes toward programming and their programming ability. The findings indicated the positive impact of the Hour of Code tutorial on students’ attitude toward programming. However, the students’ programming skills did not significantly change. The authors suggest that a deeper alignment of marketing, teaching, and content would help sustain the type of initiative exemplified by the Hour of Code.

  16. Evaluating change in attitude towards mathematics using the 'then-now' procedure in a cooperative learning programme.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Townsend, Michael; Wilton, Keri

    2003-12-01

    Tertiary students' attitudes to mathematics are frequently negative and resistant to change, reflecting low self-efficacy. Some educators believe that greater use should be made of small group, collaborative teaching. However, the results of such interventions should be subject to assessments of bias caused by a shift in the frame of reference used by students in reporting their attitudes. This study was designed to assess whether traditional pretest-post-test procedures would indicate positive changes in mathematics attitude during a programme of cooperative learning, and whether an examination of any attitudinal change using the 'then-now' procedure would indicate bias in the results due to a shift in the internal standards for expressing attitude. Participants were 141 undergraduate students enrolled in a 12-week statistics and research design component of a course in educational psychology. Using multivariate procedures, pretest, post-test, and then-test measures of mathematics self-concept and anxiety were examined in conjunction with a cooperative learning approach to teaching. Significant positive changes between pretest and post-test were found for both mathematics self-concept and mathematics anxiety. There were no significant differences between the actual pretest and retrospective pretest measures of attitude. The results were not moderated by prior level of mathematics study. Conclusions about the apparent effectiveness of a cooperative learning programme were strengthened by the use of the retrospective pretest procedure.

  17. Increasing positive attitudes toward individuals with disabilities through community service learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawson, Janelle E; Cruz, Rebecca A; Knollman, Gregory A

    2017-10-01

    Providing equal-status contact between those with and without disabilities can improve attitudes and reduce discrimination toward individuals with disabilities. This study investigated community service learning as a means by which to provide college students with equal-status contact with individuals with disabilities and increase their positive attitudes toward those with disabilities. A total of 166 college students in one university in the United States enrolled in an Introduction to Disability course received content on disability in society and participated in community service involving 20h of direct contact with individuals with disabilities. Findings indicated that college students who had prior contact with individuals with disabilities had more positive attitudes toward individuals with disabilities than college students who did not have prior contact at the start of the course. For the college students who did not have any prior contact, their attitudes toward individuals with disabilities became significantly more positive at the end of the community service learning course. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Energy Project professional development: Promoting positive attitudes about science among K-12 teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amy D. Robertson

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Promoting positive attitudes about science among teachers has important implications for teachers’ classroom practice and for their relationship to science as a discipline. In this paper, we report positive shifts in teachers’ attitudes about science, as measured by the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science (CLASS survey, over the course of their participation in a professional development course that emphasized the flexible use of energy representations to understand real world scenarios. Our work contributes to the larger effort to make the case that professional development matters for teacher learning and attitudes.

  19. Attitude change toward food irradiation among conventional and alternative consumers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bruhn, C.M.; Schutz, H.G.; Sommer, R.

    1986-01-01

    A US survey assessed the extent of attitude change toward food irradiation when consumers were given the opportunity to read about and discuss food irradiation. Consumers showed a higher level of concern for preservatives and chemical sprays than for the use of food irradiation for ensuring food safety. The study further revealed that consumer attitudes toward food irradiation can be positively influenced by an educational effort, and that this influence is most effective when the consumer can interact with someone knowledgeable about food irradiation. Willingness to buy irradiated foods was based on the safety of the process rather than on the advantages of any specific food product

  20. Students' awareness of science teachers' leadership, attitudes toward science, and positive thinking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Ying-Yan; Chen, Hsiang-Ting; Hong, Zuway-R.; Yore, Larry D.

    2016-09-01

    There appears to be a complex network of cognitive and affective factors that influence students' decisions to study science and motivate their choices to engage in science-oriented careers. This study explored 330 Taiwanese senior high school students' awareness of their science teacher's learning leadership and how it relates to the students' attitudes toward science and positive thinking. Initial results revealed that the optimism of positive thinking is highly and positively correlated with the future participation in science and learning science in school attitudes toward science and self-concept in science. Moreover, structural equation modelling (SEM) results indicated that the subscale of teachers' leadership with idealised influence was the most predictive of students' attitudes toward science (β = .37), and the leadership with laissez-faire was predictive of students' positive thinking (β = .21). In addition, the interview results were consistent with the quantitative findings. The correlation and SEM results indicate some of the associations and potential relationships amongst the motivational and affective factors studied and students' attitudes toward and intentions to study science, which will increase their likelihood of future involvement in science careers.

  1. Europeans' attitudes towards climate change

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2009-07-01

    This report presents the results of a survey on Europeans' attitudes towards climate change which was carried out in January and February 2009. The survey focuses on: Citizens' perceptions of climate change in relation to other world problems; Citizens' perceptions of the seriousness of climate change; The extent to which citizens feel informed about climate change - its causes, consequences and ways of fighting it; Citizens' attitudes towards alternative fuels and CO2 emissions; Whether citizens feel that climate change is stoppable or has been exaggerated, and what impact it has on the European economy; Whether citizens have taken personal action to fight climate change. This Eurobarometer survey was carried out by TNS Opinion and Social network between 16 January and 22 February 2009. The interviews were conducted among 26,718 citizens in the 27 Member States of the European Union, the three candidate countries for accession to the European Union (Croatia, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) and in the Turkish Cypriot Community.

  2. Factors associated with positive attitude towards blood donation among medical students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gazibara, Tatjana; Kovacevic, Nikolina; Maric, Gorica; Kurtagic, Ilma; Nurkovic, Selmina; Kisic-Tepavcevic, Darija; Pekmezovic, Tatjana

    2015-12-01

    The aim of this study was to assess attitudes and practice of blood donation among medical students. Medical students were recruited at Medical Faculty, University of Belgrade, Serbia. Of 973 students, 38.4% of freshmen and 41.4% of final year students have donated blood (χ(2) = 0.918, p = 0.186). Blood donors had significantly more positive attitude towards some aspects of blood donation. Being female, residing in a city other than the capital and previous blood donation experience were independent predictors of positive attitude towards being a blood donor to an unknown person. Efforts are required to augment blood donor pool among future physicians. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Growing Plants and Scientists: Fostering Positive Attitudes toward Science among All Participants in an Afterschool Hydroponics Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patchen, Amie K.; Zhang, Lin; Barnett, Michael

    2017-06-01

    This study examines an out-of-school time program targeting elementary-aged youth from populations that are typically underrepresented in science fields (primarily African-American, Hispanic, and/or English Language Learner participants). The program aimed to foster positive attitudes toward science among youth by engaging them in growing plants hydroponically (in water without soil). Participants' attitudes toward science, including anxiety, desire, and self-concept, were examined through pre-post survey data ( n = 234) over the course of an afterschool program at three separate sites. Data showed that participants' anxiety decreased and desire increased for both male and female participants over the program. Self-concept increased for female participants at all three sites but did not change significantly for male participants. Participants' first language (English or Spanish) was not a factor in attitude outcomes. The primarily positive outcomes suggest that hydroponics can be a useful educational platform for engaging participants in garden-based programming year round, particularly for settings that do not have the physical space or climate to conduct outdoor gardening. Similarities in positive attitude outcomes at the three sites despite differences in format, implementation, and instructor background experience suggest that the program is resilient to variation in context. Understanding which aspects of the program facilitated positive outcomes in the varied contexts could be useful for the design of future programs.

  4. Does counsellor's attitude influence change in a request for a caesarean in women with fear of birth?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halvorsen, Lotta; Nerum, Hilde; Sørlie, Tore; Oian, Pål

    2010-02-01

    the attitudes of two counsellors towards women requesting a caesarean section due to fear of birth were identified. One emphasised the ability to overcome any emotional obstacle to vaginal birth ('coping attitude'), and the other emphasised that the ultimate choice of mode of birth was the womans' ('autonomy attitude'). Two research questions were asked: (1) What are the predictors of change in a wish for a caesarean and of vaginal birth in women with fear of birth? (2) Does a change from an 'autonomy attitude' to a 'coping attitude' increase the number of women who change their request for a caesarean and who give birth vaginally? the study population consisted of two samples of pregnant women with fear of birth and concurrent request for a caesarean, referred for crisis-oriented counselling at the antenatal clinic, University Hospital of North Norway between 2000-2002 (n=86) and 2004-2006 (n=107). Data were gathered from referral letters, counseling and antenatal, intra- and postpartum records. a coping attitude of the counsellor was positively associated with change in the request for a caesarean and with vaginal birth. A change from an autonomy attitude to a coping attitude was associated with a significant increase in the percentage of women who changed their desire for a caesarean from 77 to 93, and who had a vaginal birth from 42 to 81. a coping attitude was strongly associated with change in the desire for a caesarean and giving birth vaginally. A coping attitude can be learned through critical reflection and awareness of the counsellor's attitude, with measurable clinical results. Copyright 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Religion Does Matter for Climate Change Attitudes and Behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morrison, Mark; Duncan, Roderick; Parton, Kevin

    2015-01-01

    Little research has focused on the relationship between religion and climate change attitudes and behavior. Further, while there have been some studies examining the relationship between environmental attitudes and religion, most are focused on Christian denominations and secularism, and few have examined other religions such as Buddhism. Using an online survey of 1,927 Australians we examined links between membership of four religious groupings (Buddhists, Christian literalists and non-literalists, and Secularists) and climate change attitudes and behaviors. Differences were found across religious groups in terms of their belief in: (a) human induced climate change, (b) the level of consensus among scientists, (c) their own efficacy, and (d) the need for policy responses. We show, using ordinal regression, that religion explains these differences even after taking into account socio-demographic factors, knowledge and environmental attitude, including belief in man's dominion over nature. Differences in attitude and behavior between these religious groups suggest the importance of engaging denominations to encourage change in attitudes and behavior among their members.

  6. Values, inter-attitudinal structure, and attitude change: value accessibility can increase a related attitude's resistance to change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blankenship, Kevin L; Wegener, Duane T; Murray, Renee A

    2015-12-01

    Accessibility is one of the most basic structural properties of an attitude and an important factor to consider in attitude strength. Despite its importance, relatively little work has examined the role of attitude accessibility in an inter-attitudinal context, particularly as it relates to the strength of related attitudes in the network. The present research examines accessibility as a property of one attitude (toward an abstract goal or end-state, that is, a value) that might influence the strength of a different but related attitude (toward a social policy conceptually related to the value). In Study 1, a highly accessible evaluative component of a value increased resistance to change of attitudes and behavioral intentions toward a social policy related to that value. Similarly, a manipulation of value accessibility (Studies 2 and 3) led to increased resistance of attitudes and behavioral intentions toward a social policy related to that value. Implications for the role of accessibility in inter-attitudinal strength are discussed. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

  7. Chronological changes in Japanese physicians' attitude and behavior concerning relationships with pharmaceutical representatives: a qualitative study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sayaka Saito

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Recent qualitative studies indicated that physicians interact with pharmaceutical representatives depending on the relative weight of the benefits to the risks and are also influenced by a variety of experiences and circumstances. However, these studies do not provide enough information about if, when, how and why their attitudes and behaviors change over time. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A qualitative study using semi-structured face-to-face individual interviews was conducted on 9 Japanese physicians who attended a symposium on conflicts of interest held in Tokyo. Interviews were designed to explore chronological changes in individual physicians' attitude and behavior concerning relationships with pharmaceutical representatives and factors affecting such changes. Their early interaction with pharmaceutical representatives was passive as physicians were not explicitly aware of the meaning of such interaction. They began to think on their own about how to interact with pharmaceutical representatives as they progressed in their careers. Their attitude toward pharmaceutical representatives changed over time. Factors affecting attitudinal change included work environment (local regulations and job position, role models, views of patients and the public, acquisition of skills in information seeking and evidence-based medicine, and learning about the concepts of professionalism and conflict of interest. However, the change in attitude was not necessarily followed by behavioral change, apparently due to rationalization and conformity to social norms. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians' attitudes toward relationships with pharmaceutical representatives changed over time and factors affecting such changes were various. Paying attention to these factors and creating new social norms may be both necessary to produce change in behavior consistent with change in attitude.

  8. Measuring implicit attitudes: A positive framing bias flaw in the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP).

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Shea, Brian; Watson, Derrick G; Brown, Gordon D A

    2016-02-01

    How can implicit attitudes best be measured? The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP), unlike the Implicit Association Test (IAT), claims to measure absolute, not just relative, implicit attitudes. In the IRAP, participants make congruent (Fat Person-Active: false; Fat Person-Unhealthy: true) or incongruent (Fat Person-Active: true; Fat Person-Unhealthy: false) responses in different blocks of trials. IRAP experiments have reported positive or neutral implicit attitudes (e.g., neutral attitudes toward fat people) in cases in which negative attitudes are normally found on explicit or other implicit measures. It was hypothesized that these results might reflect a positive framing bias (PFB) that occurs when participants complete the IRAP. Implicit attitudes toward categories with varying prior associations (nonwords, social systems, flowers and insects, thin and fat people) were measured. Three conditions (standard, positive framing, and negative framing) were used to measure whether framing influenced estimates of implicit attitudes. It was found that IRAP scores were influenced by how the task was framed to the participants, that the framing effect was modulated by the strength of prior stimulus associations, and that a default PFB led to an overestimation of positive implicit attitudes when measured by the IRAP. Overall, the findings question the validity of the IRAP as a tool for the measurement of absolute implicit attitudes. A new tool (Simple Implicit Procedure:SIP) for measuring absolute, not just relative, implicit attitudes is proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  9. Do differences in attitudes explain differences in national climate change policies?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tjernstroem, E.; Tietenberg, T.

    2008-01-01

    In meeting the threat posed by climate change nations have responded quite differently. Using an extensive data set this study explores factors that affect individuals' attitudes towards climate change and how those attitudes ultimately affect national climate change policy. The results show that attitudes do indeed matter in implementing policy and that attitudes are shaped not only by how individuals react to the specific attributes of climate change, but also by information, by the openness of society and by attitudes toward the trustworthiness of government. (author)

  10. Video-Aided GPS/INS Positioning and Attitude Determination

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Brown, Alison; Silva, Randy

    2006-01-01

    ... precise positioning and attitude information to be maintained, even during periods of extended GPS dropouts. This relies on information extracted from the video images of reference points and features to continue to update the inertial navigation solution. In this paper, the principles of the video-update method aredescribed.

  11. Neural activity predicts attitude change in cognitive dissonance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Veen, Vincent; Krug, Marie K; Schooler, Jonathan W; Carter, Cameron S

    2009-11-01

    When our actions conflict with our prior attitudes, we often change our attitudes to be more consistent with our actions. This phenomenon, known as cognitive dissonance, is considered to be one of the most influential theories in psychology. However, the neural basis of this phenomenon is unknown. Using a Solomon four-group design, we scanned participants with functional MRI while they argued that the uncomfortable scanner environment was nevertheless a pleasant experience. We found that cognitive dissonance engaged the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula; furthermore, we found that the activation of these regions tightly predicted participants' subsequent attitude change. These effects were not observed in a control group. Our findings elucidate the neural representation of cognitive dissonance, and support the role of the anterior cingulate cortex in detecting cognitive conflict and the neural prediction of attitude change.

  12. Changes in the Social Responsibility Attitudes of Engineering Students Over Time.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bielefeldt, Angela R; Canney, Nathan E

    2016-10-01

    This research explored how engineering student views of their responsibility toward helping individuals and society through their profession, so-called social responsibility, change over time. A survey instrument was administered to students initially primarily in their first year, senior year, or graduate studies majoring in mechanical, civil, or environmental engineering at five institutions in September 2012, April 2013, and March 2014. The majority of the students (57 %) did not change significantly in their social responsibility attitudes, but 23 % decreased and 20 % increased. The students who increased, decreased, or remained the same in their social responsibility attitudes over time did not differ significantly in terms of gender, academic rank, or major. Some differences were found between institutions. Students who decreased in social responsibility initially possessed more positive social responsibility attitudes, were less likely to indicate that college courses impacted their views of social responsibility, and were more likely to have decreased in the frequency that they participated in volunteer activities, compared to students who did not change or increased their social responsibility. Although the large percentage of engineering students who decreased their social responsibility during college was disappointing, it is encouraging that courses and participation in volunteer activities may combat this trend.

  13. Factors Influencing Arab Nursing Students' Attitudes toward Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability and their Inclusion in Nursing Curricula.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cruz, Jonas Preposi; Felicilda-Reynaldo, Rhea Faye D; Alshammari, Farhan; Alquwez, Nahed; Alicante, Jerico G; Obaid, Khamees B; Rady, Hanan Ebrahim Abd El Aziz; Qtait, Mohammad; Silang, John Paul Ben T

    2018-05-17

    To assess the factors influencing the attitudes of Bachelor of Science in Nursing students toward climate change and environmental sustainability and the inclusion of these concepts in the nursing curricula of four Arab countries. A convenience sample of 1,059 students from four Arab countries was surveyed using the Environmental Sustainability Attitudes in Nursing Survey-2 (SANS-2) questionnaire in this descriptive-comparative study. The majority of the respondents exhibited positive attitudes toward the five items of SANS-2, with "Environmental sustainability is an important issue for nursing" receiving the lowest mean score and "Issues about climate change should be included in the nursing curriculum" receiving the highest mean score. Saudi students had more positive attitudes toward environmental sustainability in health care compared with students from Iraq, Egypt, and the Palestinian Territories. Country of residence, type of community, and knowledge about environmental issues and their impact on health in any nursing course were significant factors that influenced attitudes toward environmental sustainability. The inclusion of climate change and environmental sustainability in nursing curricula in the Arab region was emphasized by the findings. Including environmental sustainability practices in nursing education will help student nurses develop critical thinking and skills in the adaptive delivery of health care, especially when resources are scarce. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. Technology of forming a positive attitude to physical training students of special medical group

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mukhamediarov N.N.

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Defined effective technology stages of forming a positive attitude towards physical education of students in special medical groups, stimulate motivation, epistemologically, informative, content-procedural, analytical and adjustment. For each stage technology offered special tools: lectures, seminars, analysis articles, mini conference on improving technique, racing games, mini-competitions, diagnostic interviews, questionnaires, analysis of log data on attendance. Selected criteria forming positive attitudes towards physical education: theoretical and practical, formed groups for research: experimental and control, analyzed results introduction of technology, efficiency of the proposed technology and means forming a positive attitude towards physical education students in special medical groups.

  15. Changes in Participants’ Scientific Attitudes and Epistemological Beliefs During an Astronomical Citizen Science Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Price, Aaron

    2012-01-01

    Citizen science projects offer opportunities for non-scientists to take part in scientific research. While their contribution to scientific data collection has been well documented, there is limited research on changes that may occur to their volunteer participants. In this study, we investigated (1) how volunteers’ attitudes towards science and beliefs in the nature of science changed over six months of participation in an astronomy-themed citizen science project and (2) how the level of project participation accounted for these changes. To measure attitudes towards science and beliefs about the nature of science, identical pre- and post-tests were used. We used pre-test data from 1,375 participants and post-test data collected from 175 participants. Responses were analyzed using the Rasch Rating Scale Model. The pre-test sample was used to create the Rasch scales for the two scientific literacy measures. For the pre/post-test comparisons, data from those who completed both tests were used. Fourteen participants who took the pre/post-tests were interviewed. Results show that overall scientific attitudes did not change, p = .812. However, we did find significant changes related towards two scientific attitude items about science in the news (positive change; p self-efficacy (negative change, p scale did not change much and this change was not related to any of our recorded project activity variables. The interviews suggest that the social aspect of the project is important to participants and the change in self-efficacy is not due to a lowering of esteem but rather a greater appreciation for what they have yet to learn.

  16. Relation of Student Social Position to Consumer Attitudes and Understanding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Litro, Robert Frank

    1970-01-01

    A study of Connecticut high school students from different social positions found differences in consumer attitudes and understandings of money management, credit, insurance, and savings and investments. (CH)

  17. An evaluation of CPD learning and impact upon positive practice change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Nancy-Jane

    2011-05-01

    This paper explores positive practice change in nursing and health care practice following continuing professional development (CPD). It is derived from a commissioned evaluation study within the United Kingdom (UK). Evaluation data was gathered using semi structured discussions with CPD participants, a convenience sample of line managers and University module leaders. Findings suggest that professional peer attitudes and support, when harnessed effectively in the practice setting, strongly enhance positive change. Conversely a lack of engagement with practice peers, a lack of strategic support and not knowing how to access support hinder change. The study found that learning need was often explored through personal development planning and appraisal, however there was little systematic follow up, review and support following learning. Interestingly the individual personal drive and enthusiasm of practitioners was perceived as the strongest factor helping practice change, while policy drivers and national health targets were secondary. Possible strategies to enhance positive practice change are explored. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. An Examination of Psychometric Properties of Positive Functional Attitudes Scale

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saide Umut ZEYBEK

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study is to investigate the applicability of Coping Attitudes Scale: Measure of Positive Attitudes in Depression (CAS among Turkish young adult community sample and determine the psychometric properties (validity and reliability of this scale. This study was conducted with 419 students attending different departments in Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Faculty of Education in the spring semester of academic year of 2015-2016. Positive Functional Attitudes Scale, Beck Depression Scale, Beck Hopelessness Scale, Automatic Thoughts Scale, Positivity Scale and Developed Automatic Thoughts Scale.were used as data collection tools. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA were used for investigation of the psychometric properties of the PFAS. Also, criterion-related validity, test-retest validity, and internal consistency were used calculated. The CFA results showed that standardized item estimates of the CAS ranged between 0.45 and 0.47. Also the CFA results showed that the original factor structure of the PFAS confirmed on the Turkish sample. internal consistency was calculated using the total community sample’s PFAS score. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient ort he total scale (.93 was high. Test-retest results of the subscales were 0.76. The findings showed that factor structures of the PFAS’ life perspective, personal accomplishment, positive future, self-worth, coping with problems had psychometric quality in Turkish version. As a result of the study, the Turkish version of PFAS has good validity and reliability for young adult community sample. [JCBPR 2017; 6(2.000: 59-66

  19. Change in attitudes about employed mothers: exposure, interests, and gender ideology discrepancies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kroska, Amy; Elman, Cheryl

    2009-06-01

    Using a sample of continuously-married individuals (793 women and 847 men) and their spouses drawn from the first two waves of the NSFH, we examine change in individuals' attitudes about mothers' employment. We investigate hypotheses derived from three models of attitude change: the exposure model, the interest-based model, and the control model. We find support for hypotheses derived from all three. Consistent with exposure hypotheses, the adoption of fundamentalist beliefs reduces egalitarianism, while spouses' egalitarianism and spouses' education are positively related to individuals' own egalitarianism. As predicted in both exposure and interest hypotheses, women's entry into employment is positively related to women's egalitarianism, while wives' occupational prestige is positively related to men's egalitarianism. Congruent with the interest model, the presence of a young child is positively associated with women's egalitarianism. Consistent with the exposure model, the number of children in the home reduces men's egalitarianism, and a traditional division of housework decreases women's egalitarianism. Finally, consistent with the gender ideology discrepancy hypothesis, derived from the control model, individuals whose background, work, and family life are inconsistent with their gender ideology at wave 1 shift their gender ideology at wave 2 in a direction that is more compatible with their background, work, and family life: egalitarians with traditional life patterns at wave 1 are more traditional in their gender ideology at wave 2, and traditionals with egalitarian life patterns at wave 1 are more egalitarian at wave 2. We discuss the implications of these patterns for larger scale change in gender ideology.

  20. A General Connectionist Model of Attitude Structure and Change: The ACS (Attitudes as Constraint Satisfaction) Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monroe, Brian M.; Read, Stephen J.

    2008-01-01

    A localist, parallel constraint satisfaction, artificial neural network model is presented that accounts for a broad collection of attitude and attitude-change phenomena. The network represents the attitude object and cognitions and beliefs related to the attitude, as well as how to integrate a persuasive message into this network. Short-term…

  1. Attitude change in a realistic experiment: the effect of party membership and audience reaction during an interview with a Dutch politician

    OpenAIRE

    Wiegman, O.

    1987-01-01

    In this realistic experiment, an interview with the leader of the Liberals in the Dutch Parliament was recorded in the presence of a live audience, which reacted in a positive, negative, or neutral way. It was shown to subjects of two opposing political parties, whose attitudes were to be changed by the experimental interview. The main hypothesis, which predicted more attitude change in the positive than in the negative audience condition, could not in general be supported. The alternative au...

  2. The effect of positive and negative movie alcohol portrayals on transportation and attitude toward the movie.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koordeman, Renske; Anschutz, Doeschka J; Engels, Rutger C M E

    2014-07-01

    This study examined the effects of alcohol portrayals on transportation and attitude toward a movie. In addition, we examined whether positive and negative movie alcohol portrayals affect transportation into and attitude toward the movie. A within-subject design was used in which participants were exposed to 8 different movie clips containing alcohol (positive or negative context) or no alcohol portrayals in a controlled laboratory setting. A total of 159 college students (84 males and 75 females) ages 18 to 30 participated in the experiment. Transportation and attitude toward the movie were measured after each movie clip. Participants were more transported into and had a more positive attitude toward movie clips with alcohol portrayals compared to the same movie clips with no alcohol portrayal. In addition, participants were more transported into movie clips with negative alcohol (NA) portrayals compared to clips with positive alcohol (PA) portrayals. For attitude toward the movie, opposite results were found. Participants had a more positive attitudes toward clips with PA portrayals compared to clips with NA portrayals. The way alcohol is portrayed in movies may contribute to how people evaluate and get transported in movies. Copyright © 2014 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

  3. Temporal changes in the attitude towards smoking bans in public arenas among adults in the Capital Region of Denmark from 2007 to 2010.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lykke, Maja; Helbech, Bodil; Glümer, Charlotte

    2014-07-01

    The population's attitude towards smoking bans in public arenas is important for their passing, implementation and compliance. Smoking bans are believed to reduce the social acceptability of smoking, and once people experience them, public support increases--also among pre-ban sceptics. This study aimed to examine the temporal changes in public attitude towards smoking bans in public arenas from 2007 to 2010 and whether these changes differed across educational attainment, smoking status and intention to quit among smokers. Data from two surveys among adults (aged 25-79 years) in 2007 and 2010 in the Capital Region of Denmark (n=36,472/42,504, response rate = 52.3) was linked with data on sex, age and educational attainment from central registers. Age-standardised prevalence of supportive attitude towards smoking bans was estimated. Temporal changes in supportive attitude were explored in workplaces, restaurants and bars using logistic regression models. The prevalence of supportive attitude towards smoking bans increased significantly in all arenas from 2007 to 2010. Positive temporal changes in supportive attitude towards smoking bans were seen across educational attainment, smoking status and intention to quit smoking in restaurants and across smoking status for smoking bans in workplaces and bars. The results of this study show that the public's attitude towards smoking in public arenas has changed after the implementation of a comprehensive smoking ban. This change in attitude can support implementation of future legislation on smoking and may lead to positive changes in smoking norms. © 2014 the Nordic Societies of Public Health.

  4. A personal connection: Promoting positive attitudes towards teaching and learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lujan, Heidi L; DiCarlo, Stephen E

    2017-09-01

    Students' attitudes towards teaching and learning must be addressed with the same seriousness and effort as we address content. Establishing a personal connection and addressing our students' basic psychological needs will produce positive attitudes towards teaching and learning and develop life-long learners. It will also promote constructive student-teacher relationships that have a profound influence on our students' approach towards school. To begin this process, consider the major tenets of the Self-Determination Theory. The Self-Determination Theory of human motivation focuses on our students' innate psychological needs and the degree to which an individual's behavior is self-motivated and self-determined. Faculty can satisfy the innate psychological needs by addressing our students' desire for relatedness, competence and autonomy. Relatedness refers to our students' need to feel connected to others, to be a member of a group, to have a sense of communion and to develop close relationships with others. Competence is believing our students can succeed , challenging them to do so and imparting that belief in them. Autonomy involves considering the perspectives of the student and providing relevant information and opportunities for student choice and initiating and regulating their own behaviors. Establishing a personal connection and addressing our students' basic psychological needs will improve our teaching, inspire and engage our students and promote positive attitudes towards teaching and learning while reducing competition and increasing compassion. These are important goals because unless students are inspired and motivated and have positive attitudes towards teaching and learning our efforts will fail to meet their full potential. Anat Sci Educ 10: 503-507. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.

  5. Paradoxical Relationship between the Amount of Negative eWOM Messages and Positive Consumer Attitude

    OpenAIRE

    Mai Kikumori; Akinori Ono

    2013-01-01

    Most research has shown that positive electric word-of-mouth (e-WOM) has positive effects, while negative e-WOM has negative effects on consumer attitude towards a product. However, negative e-WOM may have positive impacts rather than negative impacts. Using ANOVA in three experiments, this study found that negative e-WOM can have a positive impact on consumer attitude under some conditions, including when the e-WOM is in regard to hedonic products, when expert consumers read attribute-centri...

  6. Worksite Health Program Promoting Changes in Eating Behavior and Health Attitudes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mache, Stefanie; Jensen, Sarah; Jahn, Reimo; Steudtner, Mirko; Ochsmann, Elke; Preuß, Geraldine

    2015-11-01

    The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a worksite multicomponent health promotion intervention on eating behavior and attitudes, changes in body weight, and readiness to make eating behavior changes among workers over a 12-month intervention period. A total of 3,095 workers of a logistic company participated in a quasi-experimental comparison group study design. The intervention group received a multicomponent health training. Two of the main elements of the multicomponent intervention were physical exercise training and nutrition counseling/training. During the pilot year, participants completed a survey at baseline and again after 12 months to assess physical activity-, health-, and diet-related factors. Results showed that participants' body weight did not significantly decrease in the intervention group. Mean weight loss in the intervention groups was 0.5 kg (body mass index = 0.1 kg/m(2)). Eating behaviors in the intervention group improved more than in the comparison group. Some positive intervention effects were observed for the cognitive factors (e.g., changes in eating attitudes). Baseline readiness to change eating behavior was significantly improved over time. We demonstrated initial results of a long-term multicomponent worksite health promotion program with regard to changes in body weight, eating behavior, and attitudes. This evaluation of a 12-month pilot study suggests that a worksite health promotion program may lead to improvements in nutritional health behaviors for a number of workers. An investigation of long-term effects of this multicomponent intervention is strongly recommended. © 2015 Society for Public Health Education.

  7. Multi-platform Integrated Positioning and Attitude Determination using GNSS

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Buist, P.J.

    2013-01-01

    There is trend in spacecraft engineering toward distributed systems where a number of smaller spacecraft work as a larger satellite. However, in order to make the small satellites work together as a single large platform, the precise relative positions (baseline) and orientations (attitude) of the

  8. Behind the stage of deliberate self-persuasion: When changes in valence of associations to an attitude object predict attitude change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Tong; Lord, Charles G; Yoke, Kristin

    2015-12-01

    Modern theory and research on evaluative processes, combined with a comprehensive review of deliberate self-persuasion (Maio & Thomas, 2007, Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull., 11, 46), suggest two types of strategies people can use to construct new, more desired attitudes. Epistemic strategies change the perceived valence of associations activated by the attitude object. Teleologic strategies, in contrast, keep undesired associations from being activated in the first place, thus obviating the need to change their perceived valence. Change in perceived valence of associations therefore might predict attitude change better when people pursue epistemic than teleologic strategies for deliberate self-persuasion. This hypothesis gained convergent support from three studies in which use of epistemic versus teleologic strategies was measured as an individual difference (Study 1) and manipulated (studies 2 and 3). The results of these studies supported the theoretical distinction between the two strategies and suggested further research directions. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

  9. ADRC for spacecraft attitude and position synchronization in libration point orbits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Chen; Yuan, Jianping; Zhao, Yakun

    2018-04-01

    This paper addresses the problem of spacecraft attitude and position synchronization in libration point orbits between a leader and a follower. Using dual quaternion, the dimensionless relative coupled dynamical model is derived considering computation efficiency and accuracy. Then a model-independent dimensionless cascade pose-feedback active disturbance rejection controller is designed to spacecraft attitude and position tracking control problems considering parameter uncertainties and external disturbances. Numerical simulations for the final approach phase in spacecraft rendezvous and docking and formation flying are done, and the results show high-precision tracking errors and satisfactory convergent rates under bounded control torque and force which validate the proposed approach.

  10. The effectiveness of CPI model to improve positive attitude toward science (PATS) for pre-service physics teacher

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sunarti, T.; Wasis; Madlazim; Suyidno; Prahani, B. K.

    2018-03-01

    In the previous research, learning material based Construction, Production, and Implementation (CPI) model has been developed to improve scientific literacy and positive attitude toward science for pre-service physics teacher. CPI model has 4 phases, included: 1) Motivation; 2) Construction (Cycle I); 3) Production (Cycle II); and 4) Evaluation. This research is aimed to analyze the effectiveness of CPI model towards the improvement Positive Attitude toward Science (PATS) for pre-service physics teacher. This research used one group pre-test and post-test design on 160 pre-service physics teacher divided into 4 groups at Lambung Mangkurat University and Surabaya State University (Indonesia), academic year 2016/2017. Data collection was conducted through questioner, observation, and interview. Positive attitude toward science for pre-service physics teacher measurement were conducted through Positive Attitude toward Science Evaluation Sheet (PATSES). The data analysis technique was done by using Wilcoxon test and n-gain. The results showed that there was a significant increase in positive attitude toward science for pre-service physics teacher at α = 5%, with n-gain average of high category. Thus, the CPI model is effective for improving positive attitude toward science for pre-service physics teacher.

  11. Do Inquiring Minds Have Positive Attitudes? The Science Education of Preservice Elementary Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riegle-Crumb, Catherine; Morton, Karisma; Moore, Chelsea; Chimonidou, Antonia; Labrake, Cynthia; Kopp, Sacha

    2016-01-01

    Due to their potential impact on students' cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes, the negative attitudes towards science held by many elementary teachers are a critical issue that needs to be addressed. This study focuses on the science education of pre-service elementary teachers with the goal of improving their attitudes before they begin their professional lives as classroom teachers. Specifically, this study builds on a small body of research to examine whether exposure to inquiry-based science content courses that actively involve students in the collaborative process of learning and discovery can promote a positive change in attitudes towards science across several different dimensions. To examine this issue, surveys and administrative data were collected from over 200 students enrolled in the Hands on Science (HoS) program for pre-service teachers at the University of Texas at Austin, as well as more than 200 students in a comparison group enrolled in traditional lecture-style classes. Quantitative analyses reveal that after participating in HoS courses, pre-service teachers significantly increased their scores on scales measuring confidence, enjoyment, anxiety, and perceptions of relevance, while those in the comparison group experienced a decline in favorable attitudes to science. These patterns offer empirical support for the attitudinal benefits of inquiry-based instruction and have implications for the future learning opportunities available to students at all education levels. PMID:27667862

  12. How emotional media reports influence attitude formation and change: the interplay of attitude base, attitude certainty and persuasion

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ryffel, F.A.; Wirz, D.S.; Kühne, R.; Wirth, W.

    2014-01-01

    This study examined the influence of an emotionally arousing writing style on attitude formation and change. It has been proposed that different writing styles induce attitudes based on either affect or cognition and with either high or low certainty. Previous work indicates that the interplay of

  13. Changing attitudes to irradiation throughout the food chain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hunter, C.

    2000-01-01

    Recent studies of consumer attitudes in the United States indicate an increased willingness to purchase irradiated food in order to have a safer product. The reasons for the change in attitude are discussed. Basic consumer buying habits are considered and how these fit in with marketing irradiated food. Food retailers, restaurants and producers have attitudes of their own, and these can sometimes be the most difficult to change. The key to this puzzle can be found in their basic motivations, including the fear of activists. Recommendations are made as to how this information can be used to promote the development of food irradiation. (author)

  14. Public attitudes toward nuclear power generation. Preliminary study focusing on characteristics of the attitudes of men and women

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maruyama, Naoko; Misumi, Jyuji; Yanagihara, Ryozo; Hayashi, Chikio.

    1996-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to approach the public attitudes toward nuclear power generation and related matters by focusing on the viewpoint of differences between men and women. More specifically, it was attempted to determine what types of lifestyles and ways of thinking are associated with persons indicating the respective attitudes, what types of anxiety these people have with respect to nuclear power generation, as well as the nature of the inflexibility of those attitudes. As a result, well-defined characteristics were found to be associated with each attitude. In addition, the types of anxiety with respect to nuclear power generation were able to be broadly classified into emotional anxiety and logical anxiety. Regarding the inflexibility of these attitudes, although men tended to exhibit little change concerning positive attitudes, they tended to easily change in the negative direction as a result of negative information. In the case of women, conversely, although their attitudes tended to change easily toward the affirmative direction when presented with positive information, it was determined that women tend to change very little toward the negative direction. (author)

  15. Changing doping-related attitudes in soccer players: how can we get stable and persistent changes?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horcajo, Javier; de la Vega, Ricardo

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this experiment was to analyse the consequences of changing attitudes related to doping through thoughtful versus non-thoughtful processes. Participants were young soccer players. They received a persuasive message either against or in favour of the legalisation of several doping behaviours in soccer (e.g., the use of anabolic androgenic steroid - AAS), and participants' level of elaboration (i.e., deliberative thinking) was manipulated in two different experimental (high vs. low) conditions. Attitudes towards the legalisation proposal were assessed immediately following the message and one week later. Results showed attitude change was a function of message direction and was relatively equivalent for both high and low elaboration participants immediately after reading the message. That is, those who received the message against legalisation showed significantly more unfavourable attitudes towards the proposal than did those who received the message in favour of legalisation regardless of the extent of elaboration. However, attitude change was found to be persistent only for high elaboration participants one week after message exposure. In the present paper, we discuss implications of changing attitudes related to doping depending on whether the change occurred through psychological processes that require either extensive or small amounts of deliberative thinking and elaboration.

  16. [Effects of attitude formation, persuasive message, and source expertise on attitude change: an examination based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model and the Attitude Formation Theory].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakamura, M; Saito, K; Wakabayashi, M

    1990-04-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate how attitude change is generated by the recipient's degree of attitude formation, evaluative-emotional elements contained in the persuasive messages, and source expertise as a peripheral cue in the persuasion context. Hypotheses based on the Attitude Formation Theory of Mizuhara (1982) and the Elaboration Likelihood Model of Petty and Cacioppo (1981, 1986) were examined. Eighty undergraduate students served as subjects in the experiment, the first stage of which involving manipulating the degree of attitude formation with respect to nuclear power development. Then, the experimenter presented persuasive messages with varying combinations of evaluative-emotional elements from a source with either high or low expertise on the subject. Results revealed a significant interaction effect on attitude change among attitude formation, persuasive message and the expertise of the message source. That is, high attitude formation subjects resisted evaluative-emotional persuasion from the high expertise source while low attitude formation subjects changed their attitude when exposed to the same persuasive message from a low expertise source. Results exceeded initial predictions based on the Attitude Formation Theory and the Elaboration Likelihood Model.

  17. Predictors of Attitudes toward Childlessness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spreadbury, Connie

    The study assessed young adults' attitudes toward childlessness and identified certain factors which predict positive or negative attitudes toward childlessness. The author anticipated finding changes in attitudes because of recent social developments such as awareness of world overpopulation, availability of birth control methods, pressure for…

  18. A church-based intervention to change attitudes about physical activity among Black adolescent girls: a feasibility study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Wanda M; Berry, Diane; Hu, Jie

    2013-05-01

    To feasibility test a 12-week church-based physical activity intervention that was culturally sensitive, age- and gender specific directed at changing attitudes of Black adolescent girls' to be more physically active. A one-group pre- and posttest design was used. A convenience sample of Black adolescent girls between the age of 12-18 (n = 41). A 60-min 12-week church-based program that included interactive educational sessions followed by a high energy dance aerobics class was used. Data were collected on biophysical measures. Surveys were used to assess the following variables: attitudes, enjoyment, self-efficacy, intention, social and family support, and PA levels. Paired t-tests and repeated measures ANOVA revealed no significant changes in key variables. Positive changes were noted in the odds ratios for attitudes, self-efficacy, and intention. Body mass index, metabolic equivalent tasks, and fitness showed positive trends from pre to post intervention. Family support was significantly correlated with physical activity level (p Black churches aimed at Black adolescent girls are feasible. Participants evaluated the intervention very favorably. Family support may be a key factor in increasing physical activity levels in Black adolescent girls. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  19. Differential processing and attitude change following majority versus minority arguments

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    DeDreu, CKW; DeVries, NK

    This experiment tested the general hypothesis that majority influence induces convergent processing, which stimulates attitude change on focal issues, whereas minority influence sometimes produces divergent processing, which might stimulate change on related attitudes. Results of a numerical support

  20. Positive thinking elevates tolerance: Experimental effects of happiness on adolescents' attitudes toward asylum seekers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tenenbaum, Harriet R; Capelos, Tereza; Lorimer, Jessica; Stocks, Thomas

    2018-04-01

    Inducing emotional reactions toward social groups can influence individuals' political tolerance. This study examines the influence of incidental fear and happiness on adolescents' tolerant attitudes and feelings toward young Muslim asylum seekers. In our experiment, 219 16- to 21-year-olds completed measures of prejudicial attitudes. After being induced to feel happiness, fear, or no emotion (control), participants reported their tolerant attitudes and feelings toward asylum-seeking young people. Participants assigned to the happiness condition demonstrated more tolerant attitudes toward asylum-seeking young people than did those assigned to the fear or control conditions. Participants in the control condition did not differ from participants in the fear condition. The participants in the happiness condition also had more positive feelings toward asylum-seeking young people than did participants in the control condition. The findings suggest that one way to increase positive attitudes toward asylum-seeking young people is to improve general emotional state.

  1. Differential processing and attitude change following majority versus minority arguments

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Dreu, C.K.W.; van de Vliert, E.

    1996-01-01

    Tested the hypothesis that majority (MAJ) influence induces convergent processing, which stimulates attitude change (AC) on focal issues (FISs), whereas minority (MIN) influence produces divergent processing, which might stimulate change on related attitudes. Ss were 86 high school students. Results

  2. An examination of key experiences which contribute to a positive change in attitude toward science in two elementary education teacher candidates at the University of Wyoming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cason, Maggie A.

    This investigation utilized life history methodology (Armstrong, 1987; Bogdan & Biklen, 1998; Lawrence-Lightfoot, 1977; Marshall & Rossman, 1995; Patton, 1987; Taylor & Bogdan; 1984) to examine lifelong science experiences of two elementary education teacher candidates at a land grant institution with a large, undergraduate teacher education program. Purposive sampling techniques (Bogdan & Biklen, 1998) led to the selection of two teacher candidates who reported high science anxiety when they began university coursework. The investigation focused on five broad questions: (a) What were key experiences in the elementary teacher education program which contributed to a positive change in attitude toward science? (b) What science experiences, in and out of school, did the teacher candidates encounter while they were in elementary school, junior high school, high school, and college? (c) How did the elementary education program's science course structure, professors, and field experiences contribute to the change in attitude toward science? (d) How much time was involved in the change in attitude toward science? and (e) What were the effects of the change in attitude on the teaching of science in the elementary classroom? Each candidate completed approximately twenty hours of interviews yielding rich descriptions of their lifelong science experiences. Data also included interviews with science and science education professors, journaling, and observations of student teaching experiences. Data analysis revealed four over-arching themes with implications for teacher educators. First, data showed the importance of relationship building between professors and teacher candidates. Professors must know and work with teacher candidates, and provide a structure that encourages question asking. Second, course structure including hands-on teaching strategies and students working in small groups over an extended period of time was vital. Third, integrating language arts with

  3. Girls' education and their change of attitudes: a case from Sudan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdel Halim, A M

    1995-06-01

    This study examines the association of girls' education and changes in attitudes and other socioeconomic changes in Sudan. Data were obtained from in-depth interviews, structured questionnaires, and secondary data among 810 educated Sudanese women who lived in the Central and Eastern Regions. Women responded to 10 opinions about the status of women. Findings show a significant association between level of education, even at the lowest levels, and the attitudes held by women. Women held relatively positive attitudes toward social change and economic development. Level of education was highly significantly associated with holding a view of educated women working. 54.1% of secondary school leavers agreed and 92% of well educated women disagreed with a family's objection to women having a job. 57% of secondary school leavers agreed that it is essential to give up work in order to care for family; however, 96% of postgraduates disagreed. 74% of respondents were indecisive, of which 44% were secondary school leavers and 2% had postgraduate degrees. Decisiveness increased with level of education. Only 32.6% of secondary school leavers agreed that most of a woman's time should be spent on family responsibilities. 100% of the highest educated women and 40% of secondary school leavers disagreed that women should take part-time work. 96% of postgraduate women disagreed and 73.6% of secondary school leavers agreed that women should not feel obligated to work after training. Employment was highly influenced by level of education. 83% of single women and 76% of married women agreed with using contraception. Rural women tended not to support women working and using contraceptives. Younger women were less traditional in their attitudes. Postgraduates came from families with high levels of income.

  4. Changes in Urban Youths' Attitude Towards Science and Perception of a Mobile Science Lab Experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fox, Jared

    This dissertation examined changes in urban youth's attitude towards science as well as their perception of the informal science education setting and third space opportunity provided by the BioBus, a mobile science lab. Science education researchers have often suggested that informal science education settings provide one possible way to positively influence student attitude towards science and engage marginalized urban youth within the traditional science classroom (Banks et al., 2007; Hofstein & Rosenfeld, 1996; National Research Council, 2009; Schwarz & Stolow, 2006; Stocklmayer, Rennie, & Gilbert, 2010). However, until now, this possibility has not been explored within the setting of a mobile science lab nor examined using a theoretical framework intent on analyzing how affective outcomes may occur. The merits of this analytical stance were evaluated via observation, attitudinal survey, open-response questionnaire, and interview data collected before and after a mobile science lab experience from a combination of 239 students in Grades 6, 8, 9, 11, and 12 from four different schools within a major Northeastern metropolitan area. Findings from this study suggested that urban youth's attitude towards science changed both positively and negatively in statistically significant ways after a BioBus visit and that the experience itself was highly enjoyable. Furthermore, implications for how to construct a third space within the urban science classroom and the merits of utilizing the theoretical framework developed to analyze cultural tensions between urban youth and school science are discussed. Key Words: Attitude towards science, third space, mobile science lab, urban science education.

  5. Attitudes towards homosexuality amongst recent Polish migrants in Western Europe: Migrant selectivity and attitude change

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Röder, A.; Lubbers, M.

    2015-01-01

    This contribution investigates the socially conservative attitudes of newly arrived immigrants from Poland in two Western European countries, Ireland and the Netherlands, with a particular interest in the selective nature of out-migration along non-economic factors and attitude change after

  6. CAUSE-FIT, POSITIVE ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS WITHIN HYBRID COLOMBIAN ORGANIZATIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan Pablo Román-Calderón

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Socially oriented ventures have provided livelihoods and social recognition to disadvantaged communities in different corners of the world. In some cases, these ventures are the result of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR programs. In Latin America, this type of undertaking has responded positively to unmet social needs. The social cause drives these organizations and their human resources and they give high value to organizational cause-fit. This paper presents empirical evidence of the effects of perceived cause-fit on several worker attitudes and behaviors. Psychological contract theory was adopted as theoretical background. Employees working in a hybrid (for-profit/socially oriented Colombian organization created by a CSR program participated in the survey. Data provided by 218 employees were analyzed using PLS structural equation modeling. The results suggest the ideological components of the employee-employer relationship predict positive attitudes and cooperative organizational behaviors towards hybrid organizations.

  7. Using Games to Promote Girls' Positive Attitudes toward Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Eck, Richard

    2006-01-01

    Studies show that women make up only 35% of the IT workforce, and the schism between boys' and girls' interests in math and science is well documented. Richard Van Eck suggests that providing girls with more positive experiences with technology may impact their overall attitudes toward technology and perhaps even toward math and science. Van Eck…

  8. Development and validation of the ACSI : measuring students' science attitudes, pro-environmental behaviour, climate change attitudes and knowledge

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dijkstra, E. M.; Goedhart, M. J.

    2012-01-01

    This article describes the development and validation of the Attitudes towards Climate Change and Science Instrument. This 63-item questionnaire measures students' pro-environmental behaviour, their climate change knowledge and their attitudes towards school science, societal implications of

  9. Community attitudes toward childbearing and abortion among HIV-positive women in Nigeria and Zambia

    OpenAIRE

    Kavanaugh, Megan L.; Moore, Ann M.; Akinyemi, Odunayo; Adewole, Isaac; Dzekedzeke, Kumbutso; Awolude, Olutosin; Arulogun, Oyedunni

    2012-01-01

    Although stigma towards HIV-positive women for both continuing and terminating a pregnancy has been documented, to date few studies have examined relative stigma towards one outcome versus the other. This study seeks to describe community attitudes towards each of two possible elective outcome of an HIV-positive woman’s pregnancy – induced abortion or birth – to determine which garners more stigma and document characteristics of community members associated with stigmatising attitudes towards...

  10. Pairing images of unhealthy and healthy foods with images of negative and positive health consequences: Impact on attitudes and food choice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hollands, Gareth J; Marteau, Theresa M

    2016-08-01

    To examine the impact of presenting images of foods paired with images of positive and negative health consequences of their consumption on food choice and attitudes. Participants (N = 711) were randomly allocated in a 2 × 3 factorial design (Food Type × Affective Valence) to 1 of 6 conditioning procedures that paired images of either energy-dense snack foods or fruit, with (a) images of negative health outcomes, (b) images of positive health outcomes, or (c) a no image control. The primary outcome was food choice assessed postintervention with a behavioral choice task. Secondary outcomes were implicit attitudes (assessed pre- and postintervention) and explicit attitudes (assessed postintervention). Presenting images of negative health outcomes led to more healthy food choices relative to control and positive image conditions, irrespective of whether they were paired with images of energy-dense snack foods or fruit. This relationship was partially mediated by changes in implicit and explicit attitudes. Images of positive health outcomes did not alter food choices. This study replicates and extends previous research showing that presenting images of negative health consequences increases healthy food choices. Because effects were elicited by manipulating affective valence irrespective of paired food type, these results appear more consistent with an explanation based on priming than on evaluative conditioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  11. Repeated cross-sectional study of the longitudinal changes in attitudes toward interprofessional health care teams amongst undergraduate students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kururi, Nana; Makino, Takatoshi; Kazama, Hiroko; Tokita, Yoshiharu; Matsui, Hiroki; Lee, Bumsuk; Kanaizumi, Shiomi; Abe, Yumiko; Uchida, Yoko; Asakawa, Yasuyoshi; Shinozaki, Hiromitsu; Tozato, Fusae; Watanabe, Hideomi

    2014-07-01

    The interprofessional education (IPE) program at Gunma University, Maebashi, Japan, uses a lecture style for first-year students and a training style for third-year students. To investigate the comprehensive implications of IPE, the change pattern of attitudes toward health care teams was examined longitudinally in pre-qualified students. The modified Attitudes Toward Health Care Teams Scale (mATHCTS) was used. The overall mean score of the mATHCTS improved significantly after the training-style IPE in their third year. Two individual items in the factor "quality of care delivery" decreased significantly during the first year. In contrast, two individual items in the factor "patient-centered care" increased significantly during the third year. These changes over time were confirmed by analyses using regression factor scores. There are at least two independent attitudes toward collaborative practice (CP) or IPE in response to IPE interventions: the attitude toward "value of IPE for health care providers" may response negatively to IPE in the early stages, and the attitude toward "value of IPE for health care receivers" positively in the later stages. These findings suggest that the continuation of mandatory IPE, which must be designed on the basis of students' high expectations for IPE and CP on entry, may result in profound changes in attitudes amongst participating students.

  12. Can social marketing approaches change community attitudes towards leprosy?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Wendy

    2006-06-01

    This essay explores how the concept of social marketing can be employed to change attitudes towards leprosy. Firstly, the concept of social marketing is discussed, then the attitudes that people have about leprosy, the stigma that people with leprosy and their families may face, and the detrimental effects that this can have on their lives. The effect of knowledge and education on attitudes towards leprosy is discussed, as this can be a key component of social marketing campaigns. Various methods of social marketing used to change attitudes and reduce stigma are examined, such as mass media campaigns, school based education, methods which involve community leaders, and the integration and improvement of leprosy services. Principles of social marketing which can lead to the success of campaigns such as incorporating local beliefs are emphasized. The success of the social marketing campaign in Sri Lanka is described, which aimed to remove the fear of leprosy, and to encourage patients to seek and comply with treatment. Finally, it is argued that social marketing, used correctly, can be highly effective at changing community attitudes towards leprosy, reducing stigma and improving the lives of patients, who become able to seek treatment sooner as they lose their fear of stigmatization.

  13. Enhancing the Students' Positive Attitude in Learning Business English by Using Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agustina, Lia

    2017-01-01

    Many research findings have stated that the use of technology in EFL classroom results invaluable achievements and develops positive attitudes. Technology may integrate sounds, pictures, motions, and colors that fi ure out a natural picture of real life. The aim of the study was to enhance the students' attitude toward learning English by using…

  14. Perceptions of entitativity and attitude change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rydell, Robert J; McConnell, Allen R

    2005-01-01

    The current work explored the properties of groups that lead them to be persuasive and the processes through which such persuasion occurs. Because more entitative groups induce greater levels of information processing, their arguments should receive greater elaboration, leading to persuasion when members of groups present strong (vs. weak) counter attitudinal arguments. Experiment 1 explored these hypotheses by examining if idiosyncratic perceptions of group entitativity and manipulations of argument strength affect attitude change and argument elaboration. Experiment 2 experimentally manipulated group entitativity and argument strength independently to examine the causal relationship between entitativity, attitude change, and argument elaboration. In both experiments, it was found that groups greater in entitativity were more persuasive when presenting strong (vs. weak) arguments and induced greater argument elaboration. Implications for our understanding of entitativity, persuasion, and information processing about social groups are discussed.

  15. Development and Validation of the ACSI: Measuring Students' Science Attitudes, Pro-Environmental Behaviour, Climate Change Attitudes and Knowledge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dijkstra, E. M.; Goedhart, M. J.

    2012-01-01

    This article describes the development and validation of the Attitudes towards Climate Change and Science Instrument. This 63-item questionnaire measures students' pro-environmental behaviour, their climate change knowledge and their attitudes towards school science, societal implications of science, scientists, a career in science and the urgency…

  16. Position and attitude tracking control for a quadrotor UAV.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiong, Jing-Jing; Zheng, En-Hui

    2014-05-01

    A synthesis control method is proposed to perform the position and attitude tracking control of the dynamical model of a small quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), where the dynamical model is underactuated, highly-coupled and nonlinear. Firstly, the dynamical model is divided into a fully actuated subsystem and an underactuated subsystem. Secondly, a controller of the fully actuated subsystem is designed through a novel robust terminal sliding mode control (TSMC) algorithm, which is utilized to guarantee all state variables converge to their desired values in short time, the convergence time is so small that the state variables are acted as time invariants in the underactuated subsystem, and, a controller of the underactuated subsystem is designed via sliding mode control (SMC), in addition, the stabilities of the subsystems are demonstrated by Lyapunov theory, respectively. Lastly, in order to demonstrate the robustness of the proposed control method, the aerodynamic forces and moments and air drag taken as external disturbances are taken into account, the obtained simulation results show that the synthesis control method has good performance in terms of position and attitude tracking when faced with external disturbances. Copyright © 2014 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Attitudes toward statistics in medical postgraduates: measuring, evaluating and monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yuhai; Shang, Lei; Wang, Rui; Zhao, Qinbo; Li, Chanjuan; Xu, Yongyong; Su, Haixia

    2012-11-23

    In medical training, statistics is considered a very difficult course to learn and teach. Current studies have found that students' attitudes toward statistics can influence their learning process. Measuring, evaluating and monitoring the changes of students' attitudes toward statistics are important. Few studies have focused on the attitudes of postgraduates, especially medical postgraduates. Our purpose was to understand current attitudes regarding statistics held by medical postgraduates and explore their effects on students' achievement. We also wanted to explore the influencing factors and the sources of these attitudes and monitor their changes after a systematic statistics course. A total of 539 medical postgraduates enrolled in a systematic statistics course completed the pre-form of the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics -28 scale, and 83 postgraduates were selected randomly from among them to complete the post-form scale after the course. Most medical postgraduates held positive attitudes toward statistics, but they thought statistics was a very difficult subject. The attitudes mainly came from experiences in a former statistical or mathematical class. Age, level of statistical education, research experience, specialty and mathematics basis may influence postgraduate attitudes toward statistics. There were significant positive correlations between course achievement and attitudes toward statistics. In general, student attitudes showed negative changes after completing a statistics course. The importance of student attitudes toward statistics must be recognized in medical postgraduate training. To make sure all students have a positive learning environment, statistics teachers should measure their students' attitudes and monitor their change of status during a course. Some necessary assistance should be offered for those students who develop negative attitudes.

  18. Relationship of negative and positive core beliefs about the self with dysfunctional attitudes in three aspects of life

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Otani K

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Koichi Otani, Akihito Suzuki, Yoshihiko Matsumoto, Toshinori Shirata Department of Psychiatry, Yamagata University School of Medicine, Yamagata, Japan Objective: Cognitive theory assumes a pivotal role of negative core beliefs about the self in dysfunctional attitudes predisposing to depression. Meanwhile, the role of positive core beliefs about the self in cognitive vulnerability to depression is unknown. Therefore, we examined the relationship of negative and positive core beliefs about the self with dysfunctional attitudes in three aspects of life.Methods: The subjects were 311 Japanese volunteers. Core beliefs of negative-self and positive-self were evaluated by the corresponding subscales of the Brief Core Schema Scales. Dysfunctional attitudes in the areas of achievement, dependency and self-control were measured by the corresponding subscales of the 24-item Dysfunctional Attitude Scale.Results: The negative-self subscale was correlated with the achievement, dependency and self-control subscales. The positive-self subscale was correlated with the achievement and self-control subscales.Conclusion: The present study suggests that negative core beliefs about the self underlie all types of dysfunctional attitudes, while positive core beliefs about the self have some connections with dysfunctional attitudes related to achievement and self-control. Keywords: negative-self, achievement, dependency, self-control, depression

  19. Sleep Duration, Positive Attitude toward Life, and Academic Achievement: The Role of Daytime Tiredness, Behavioral Persistence, and School Start Times

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perkinson-Gloor, Nadine; Lemola, Sakari; Grob, Alexander

    2013-01-01

    Sleep timing undergoes profound changes during adolescence, often resulting in inadequate sleep duration. The present study examines the relationship of sleep duration with positive attitude toward life and academic achievement in a sample of 2716 adolescents in Switzerland (mean age: 15.4 years, SD = 0.8), and whether this relationship is…

  20. Reducing mental health stigma: the relationship between knowledge and attitude change

    OpenAIRE

    Simmons, Laura; Jones, Tim; Bradley, Eleanor

    2017-01-01

    The impact of how knowledge can effect attitude change is important in order to understand the consequences for stigma. The relationship between increasing subject knowledge of mental health and attitude change was explored. The sample comprised 39 students (18 male and 21 female) from a university in the West Midlands. Participants’ level of knowledge and stigma were recorded through pre- and post-tests using the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS), Community Attitudes toward the Mentall...

  1. Changing the Sexual Aggression-Supportive Attitudes of Men: A Psychoeducational Intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilbert, Barbara J.; And Others

    1991-01-01

    Assessed psychoeducational intervention designed to change attitudes of men found to be associated with sexual aggression toward women. College men receiving elaboration likelihood model-based intervention showed significantly more attitude change than did control group. One month later, in unrelated naturalistic context, intervention subjects…

  2. Undergraduates' Attitudes Toward Science and Their Epistemological Beliefs: Positive Effects of Certainty and Authority Beliefs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fulmer, Gavin W.

    2014-02-01

    Attitudes toward science are an important aspect of students' persistence in school science and interest in pursuing future science careers, but students' attitudes typically decline over the course of formal schooling. This study examines relationships of students' attitudes toward science with their perceptions of science as inclusive or non-religious, and their epistemological beliefs about epistemic authority and certainty. Data were collected using an online survey system among undergraduates at a large, public US university (n = 582). Data were prepared using a Rasch rating scale model and then analyzed using multiple-regression analysis. Gender and number of science and mathematics courses were included as control variables, followed by perceptions of science, then epistemological beliefs. Findings show that respondents have more positive attitudes when they perceive science to be inclusive of women and minorities, and when they perceive science to be incompatible with religion. Respondents also have more positive attitudes toward science when they believe scientific knowledge is uncertain, and when they believe knowledge derives from authority. Interpretations of these findings and implications for future research are discussed.

  3. The influence of affective and cognitive arguments on message judgement and attitude change: The moderating effects of meta-bases and structural bases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keer, Mario; van den Putte, Bas; Neijens, Peter; de Wit, John

    2013-01-01

    This study investigated whether the efficacy of affective vs. cognitive persuasive messages was moderated by (1) individuals' subjective assessments of whether their attitudes were based on affect or cognition (i.e. meta-bases) and (2) the degree individuals' attitudes were correlated with affect and cognition (i.e. structural bases). Participants (N = 97) were randomly exposed to a message containing either affective or cognitive arguments discouraging binge drinking. The results demonstrated that meta-bases and not structural bases moderated the influence of argument type on message judgement. Affective (cognitive) messages were judged more positively when individuals' meta-bases were more affective (cognitive). In contrast, structural bases and not meta-bases moderated the influence of argument type on attitude and intention change following exposure to the message. Surprisingly, change was greater among individuals who read a message that mismatched their structural attitude base. Affective messages were more effective as attitudes were more cognition-based, and vice versa. Thus, although individuals prefer messages that match their meta-base, attitude and intention change regarding binge drinking are best established by mismatching their structural base.

  4. Using Theatre to Change Attitudes toward Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iverson, Susan V.; Seher, Christin

    2014-01-01

    Despite the proliferation of educational interventions and attitude change strategies, the prevalence of homophobia and widespread discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people on college campuses persists. This study investigates the impact of theatre on changes in college students' attitudes. Using a pre- and…

  5. Changing Millennials' Attitude toward Older Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Branscum, Anne Y.; Sciaraffa, Mary A.

    2013-01-01

    The members of the Millennial Generation (born between 1981-1999) are now graduating from college and obtaining their first post-graduate positions. For many Millennials, this will be the first professional interaction they have with mature adults. This study surveyed the attitudes of the Millennial Generation using the Multidimensional Attitudes…

  6. Attitudes toward statistics in medical postgraduates: measuring, evaluating and monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background In medical training, statistics is considered a very difficult course to learn and teach. Current studies have found that students’ attitudes toward statistics can influence their learning process. Measuring, evaluating and monitoring the changes of students’ attitudes toward statistics are important. Few studies have focused on the attitudes of postgraduates, especially medical postgraduates. Our purpose was to understand current attitudes regarding statistics held by medical postgraduates and explore their effects on students’ achievement. We also wanted to explore the influencing factors and the sources of these attitudes and monitor their changes after a systematic statistics course. Methods A total of 539 medical postgraduates enrolled in a systematic statistics course completed the pre-form of the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics −28 scale, and 83 postgraduates were selected randomly from among them to complete the post-form scale after the course. Results Most medical postgraduates held positive attitudes toward statistics, but they thought statistics was a very difficult subject. The attitudes mainly came from experiences in a former statistical or mathematical class. Age, level of statistical education, research experience, specialty and mathematics basis may influence postgraduate attitudes toward statistics. There were significant positive correlations between course achievement and attitudes toward statistics. In general, student attitudes showed negative changes after completing a statistics course. Conclusions The importance of student attitudes toward statistics must be recognized in medical postgraduate training. To make sure all students have a positive learning environment, statistics teachers should measure their students’ attitudes and monitor their change of status during a course. Some necessary assistance should be offered for those students who develop negative attitudes. PMID:23173770

  7. Geriatrics education is associated with positive attitudes toward older people in internal medicine residents: a multicenter study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tufan, Fatih; Yuruyen, Mehmet; Kizilarslanoglu, Muhammet Cemal; Akpinar, Timur; Emiksiye, Sirhan; Yesil, Yusuf; Ozturk, Zeynel Abidin; Bozbulut, Utku Burak; Bolayir, Basak; Tasar, Pinar Tosun; Yavuzer, Hakan; Sahin, Sevnaz; Ulger, Zekeriya; Ozturk, Gulistan Bahat; Halil, Meltem; Akcicek, Fehmi; Doventas, Alper; Kepekci, Yalcin; Ince, Nurhan; Karan, Mehmet Akif

    2015-01-01

    The number of older people is growing fast in Turkey. In this context, internal medicine residents and specialists contact older people more frequently. Thus, healthcare providers' knowledge and attitudes toward older people is becoming more important. Studies that specifically investigate internal medicine residents' attitudes toward the elderly are scarce. We aimed to investigate the attitudes of internal medicine residents toward older people. This cross-sectional multicenter study was undertaken in the internal medicine clinics of six university state hospitals that provide education in geriatric care. All internal medicine residents working in these hospitals were invited to participate in this questionnaire study between March 2013 and December 2013. We recorded the participants' age, sex, duration of internal medicine residency, existence of relatives older than 65 years, history of geriatrics course in medical school, geriatrics rotation in internal medicine residency, and nursing home visits. A total of 274 (82.3%) of the residents participated in this study, and 83.6% of them had positive attitudes toward older people. A geriatrics rotation during internal medicine residency was the only independent factor associated with positive attitudes toward the elderly in this multivariate analysis. A geriatrics course during medical school was associated with positive attitudes in the univariate analysis, but only tended to be so in the multivariate analysis. Geriatrics rotation during internal medicine residency was independently associated with positive attitudes toward older people. Generalization of geriatrics education in developing countries may translate into a better understanding and improved care for older patients. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. The relationship between workers’ self-reported changes in health and their attitudes towards a workplace intervention: lessons from smoke-free legislation across the UK hospitality industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MacCalman Laura

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The evaluation of smoke-free legislation (SFL in the UK examined the impacts on exposure to second-hand smoke, workers’ attitudes and changes in respiratory health. Studies that investigate changes in the health of groups of people often use self-reported symptoms. Due to the subjective nature it is of interest to determine whether workers’ attitudes towards the change in their working conditions may be linked to the change in health they report. Methods Bar workers were recruited before the introduction of the SFL in Scotland and England with the aim of investigating their changes to health, attitudes and exposure as a result of the SFL. They were asked about their attitudes towards SFL and the presence of respiratory and sensory symptoms both before SFL and one year later. Here we examine the possibility of a relationship between initial attitudes and changes in reported symptoms, through the use of regression analyses. Results There was no difference in the initial attitudes towards SFL between those working in Scotland and England. Bar workers who were educated to a higher level tended to be more positive towards SFL. Attitude towards SFL was not found to be related to change in reported symptoms for bar workers in England (Respiratory, p = 0.755; Sensory, p = 0.910. In Scotland there was suggestion of a relationship with reporting of respiratory symptoms (p = 0.042, where those who were initially more negative to SFL experienced a greater improvement in self-reported health. Conclusions There was no evidence that workers who were more positive towards SFL reported greater improvements in respiratory and sensory symptoms. This may not be the case in all interventions and we recommend examining subjects’ attitudes towards the proposed intervention when evaluating possible health benefits using self-reported methods.

  9. The relationship between workers' self-reported changes in health and their attitudes towards a workplace intervention: lessons from smoke-free legislation across the UK hospitality industry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacCalman, Laura; Semple, Sean; Galea, Karen S; Van Tongeren, Martie; Dempsey, Scott; Hilton, Shona; Gee, Ivan; Ayres, Jon G

    2012-05-02

    The evaluation of smoke-free legislation (SFL) in the UK examined the impacts on exposure to second-hand smoke, workers' attitudes and changes in respiratory health. Studies that investigate changes in the health of groups of people often use self-reported symptoms. Due to the subjective nature it is of interest to determine whether workers' attitudes towards the change in their working conditions may be linked to the change in health they report. Bar workers were recruited before the introduction of the SFL in Scotland and England with the aim of investigating their changes to health, attitudes and exposure as a result of the SFL. They were asked about their attitudes towards SFL and the presence of respiratory and sensory symptoms both before SFL and one year later. Here we examine the possibility of a relationship between initial attitudes and changes in reported symptoms, through the use of regression analyses. There was no difference in the initial attitudes towards SFL between those working in Scotland and England. Bar workers who were educated to a higher level tended to be more positive towards SFL. Attitude towards SFL was not found to be related to change in reported symptoms for bar workers in England (Respiratory, p = 0.755; Sensory, p = 0.910). In Scotland there was suggestion of a relationship with reporting of respiratory symptoms (p = 0.042), where those who were initially more negative to SFL experienced a greater improvement in self-reported health. There was no evidence that workers who were more positive towards SFL reported greater improvements in respiratory and sensory symptoms. This may not be the case in all interventions and we recommend examining subjects' attitudes towards the proposed intervention when evaluating possible health benefits using self-reported methods.

  10. An experimental study of the effect of green positioning on brand attitude

    OpenAIRE

    PATRIK HARTMANN; VANESSA APAOLAZA IBÁÑEZ; F. JAVIER FORCADA SAIZ

    2004-01-01

    Reducing the environmental impact of a product or its manufacturing process not necessarily limits the company’s activities. In the context of a green branding strategy, it might as well open new business opportunities. Ecological positioning provides a strategic tool for the active implementation of green brands. The empirical study shows that more positive attitudes are developed towards a brand positioned by environmental attributes and that these effects vary as a result of the implementa...

  11. Lecture versus DVD and Attitude Change toward Female Masturbation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keels, Megan; Lee, Zoey; Knox, David; Wilson, Ken

    2013-01-01

    Four-hundred and ninety eight female undergraduate students at a large southeastern university participated in a study to assess how lecture versus DVD format affected attitude change towards female masturbation. All groups were given a pre and post test to assess masturbatory attitudes. Group 1 experienced a masturbation lecture. Group 2…

  12. Theories of attitude change and the "beyond family planning" debate: the case for the persuasion approach in population policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crawford, T J

    1977-01-01

    The proposed abandonment of the persuasion approach in the area of population policy may be premature; the application of recent developments in attitude theory to family planning programs might refute the current pessimism concerning the power of persuasion in population policy. Persuasion and positive incentives are realistic and viable alternative in terms of Berelson's 6 criteria - scientific readiness, political viability, administrative feasibility, economic capability, ethical acceptability, and presumed effectiveness. Communication and persuasion programs that attempt to change behavior should direct their attention to changing intentions to engage in specific family planning behaviors within a given period of time rather than at changing global evaluations of "birth control" or "large families." There needs to be 1) an emphasis upon changing intentions to perform specific behaviors within a fixed time period, 2) a functional analysis of the relative importance of the 3 general needs served by attitudes as they influence behavioral intentions, 3) focus on what appear to be situationally engaged and behavior-relevant beliefs and attitudes, and 4) a change in both anticipated and actual situational determinants to behavior.

  13. The country of distribution effect on the brand attitude change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Mauro da Costa Hernandez

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available This research investigates the country of distribution effect on the change of attitudes towards a brand. Country of distribution is defined as the results (positive or negative obtained by a brand when it communicates to be distributed in a foreigner locale. The results of three experiments demonstrate that the country of distribution effect is higher when the country is a traditional manufacturer (vs. non-traditional manufacturer of the brand’s product category. Further, the country of distribution effect is higher for high quality (vs. low quality brands and is moderated by the perceived success of the brand in the distribution country.

  14. Principal Change Leadership Competencies and Teacher Attitudes toward Change: The Mediating Effects of Teacher Change Beliefs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tai, Mei Kin; Kareem, Omar Abdul; Nordin, Mohamad Sahari; Khuan, Wai Bing

    2018-01-01

    This study investigates the relationship between "Principal Change Leadership Competencies," "Teacher Change Beliefs" and "Teacher Attitudes toward Change." A total of 936 teachers from 47 High Performing Secondary Schools in Malaysia completed the survey. Structural equation modelling was applied to test the models.…

  15. Counter-conditioning as an intervention to modify anti-fat attitudes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stuart W. Flint

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available This study examined the effect of anti-fat attitude counter-conditioning using positive images of obese individuals participants completed implicit and explicit measures of attitudes towards fatness on three occasions: no intervention; following exposure to positive images of obese members of the general public; and to images of obese celebrities. Contrary to expectations, positive images of obese individuals did not result in more positive attitudes towards fatness as expected and, in some cases, indices of these attitudes worsened. Results suggest that attitudes towards obesity and fatness may be somewhat robust and resistant to change, possibly suggesting a central and not peripheral processing route for their formation.

  16. Enhancing positive attitudes towards disability: evaluation of an integrated physiotherapy program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morgan, Prue Elizabeth; Lo, Kristin

    2013-02-01

    This study explored whether attitudes towards disability in second year undergraduate physiotherapy students could be enhanced by an on-campus integrated curriculum program. A pre-post design was used. Year 2 (pre-clinical) students participated in a 12-week program focused on optimising attitudes towards people with acquired or developmental neurological disability. The Discomfort subscale of the Interaction with Disabled Persons scale, rated on a six-point Likert scale, was applied prior to and at completion of the 12-week program, and compared to year 4 students, just prior to graduation. Qualitative data from year 2 reflective narratives was also gathered. Forty-seven second year and 45 fourth year physiotherapy students participated. The difference in Discomfort subscale scores between weeks 1 and 12 of year 2 was statistically significant (p = 0.0016). The difference in Discomfort subscale scores between year 2 week 1 and year 4 students was also statistically significant (p = 0.040). There was no significant difference in attitudes between students at the end of year 2 and the end of year 4 (p = 0.703). Qualitative data supported the development of more positive attitudes towards neurological disability across the 12 week year 2 pre-clinical program. Student attitudes towards people with acquired and/or developmental neurological disabilities can be enhanced through an on campus integrated curriculum program.

  17. IceBridge POS/AV L1B Corrected Position and Attitude Data

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The IceBridge POS/AV L1B Corrected Position and Attitude (IPAPP1B) data set contains georeferencing data from the Applanix 510 POS AV system flown with the Digital...

  18. Measurement of Change in the Knowledge and Attitude about Leprosy in Physiotherapy Students Undergoing Intensive One Week Training in Leprosy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prakashkumar, M D; Ebenezer, M; Richard, J

    2014-01-01

    Leprosy is a disease that causes not only physical problems, but also mental and social problems. In the post integration era, every health care professional needs to understand about leprosy, to be able to diagnose and treat them. Physiotherapy students, in their usual syllabus, have minimal exposure to leprosy, in spite of the fact that they have a major role in preventing impairments and disabilities caused by leprosy, as well as treating such impairments. In order to educate physiotherapy students on leprosy, a one-week intensive training course was organised. This study was done to assess if the intensive training to physiotherapy students resulted in increase in their knowledge on leprosy and change their attitude positively. A batch consisting of 42 physiotherapy students went through the one-week training programme. The improvement in knowledge and attitude were assessed through a pre-test and a post-test design. Results showed that there was significant improvement in knowledge (53.05%) and brought positive change in attitude (75.0%). Such training programmes are recommended for all physiotherapy students.

  19. Evaluation of the Knowledge and Attitude Changes of Mothers in Neonatal Care

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Şahin Hamilçıkan

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Aim: The aim was to determine the initial knowledge of mothers about neonatal care and evaluate their knowledge, care and attitude changes following individual education. Materials and Methods: Questionnaire forms designed on the subject of infant care and nutrition were given to mothers right after delivery. Before being discharged they were informed by the doctor and breastfeeding nurse about nutrition, infant care, and the most common mistakes. These forms were reapplied on the 15th and 30th days in neonatal polyclinic controls and the changes were evaluated. The correct information was repeated to the mothers who were detected to have misinformation and wrong attitudes in the evaluations in each form application period. Results: A total of 100 mothers and their infants were included in the study. No difference was determined in the nutrition rates of infants with food other than breast milk on the first day, 15th and 30th days. However, the breastfeeding rates obtained were higher on the 30th day than on the 15th, with an interval of two hours, and in general breastfeeding rates were low on the 15th and 30th days. The rates of bathing the infants with and without a bathtub net were determined to be high on the 15th and 30th days. The change in the infants’ sleeping positions, the place of sleep, and the presence of rails/guards around the crib on the 15th and 30th days were not found to be significant compared to the 1st day. There was a significant increase in the umbilical care rates on the 15th and 30th days. The increase in washing the clothes of the infants with soap powder, and the decrease in swaddling after the education were found to be significant. Furthermore, it was determined that the mothers received infant care information more frequently from the healthcare organisation on the 15th and 30th days compared to the 1st day. The highest correlation between the maternal education level and the post-education knowledge and

  20. Changing drivers' attitudes towards mobile phone use through participative simulation testing and feedback.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Y; Zhang, W; Lesch, M F; Horrey, W J; Chen, C; Wu, S

    2009-12-01

    To assess the effectiveness of a simulation-based participative and feedback approach to change drivers' attitudes towards mobile phone use while driving. 30 experienced drivers were tested. Five scenarios were developed to test drivers' performance with and without a secondary mobile phone task on a medium-fidelity fixed base driving simulator. The treatment group received feedback in the form of video playback of their driving performance, while the control group did not receive any feedback. Attitudes towards mobile phone use were assessed by a questionnaire before, immediately after, and again one month following the experiment to determine the duration of feedback effects. All 30 drivers reported willingness to engage in driving and talking on a mobile phone in some situations. The results of the simulated driving test showed that a secondary mobile phone task significantly degraded driving performance. The treatment group showed significant attitude change towards mobile phone use while driving; the control group had no attitude change. At the one month follow-up, a continued benefit of feedback was reflected in driver attitudes in the treatment group. Participative driving using simulation is a useful tool to demonstrate driving performance degradation in dual task conditions. It was found that feedback in the form of simulation playback is effective in changing drivers' attitudes towards mobile phone use and that attitude change is maintained over a follow-up period of one month.

  1. Implicit and Explicit Racial Attitudes Changed During Black Lives Matter

    OpenAIRE

    Sawyer, Jeremy; Gampa, Anup

    2018-01-01

    Lab-based interventions have been ineffective in changing individuals’ implicit racial attitudes for more than brief durations, and exposure to high-status Black exemplars like Obama has proven ineffective in shifting societal-level racial attitudes. Anti-racist social movements, however, offer a potential societal-level alternative for reducing racial bias. Racial attitudes were examined before and during Black Lives Matter (BLM) and its high points of struggle with 1,369,204 participants fr...

  2. Changes in screening behaviors and attitudes toward screening from pre-test genetic counseling to post-disclosure in Lynch syndrome families

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burton-Chase, Allison M.; Hovick, Shelly R.; Peterson, Susan K.; Marani, Salma K.; Vernon, Sally W.; Amos, Christopher I.; Frazier, Marsha L.; Lynch, Patrick M.; Gritz, Ellen R.

    2013-01-01

    Purpose This study examined colonoscopy adherence and attitudes towards colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in individuals who underwent Lynch syndrome genetic counseling and testing. Methods We evaluated changes in colonoscopy adherence and CRC screening attitudes in 78 cancer-unaffected relatives of Lynch syndrome mutation carriers before pre-test genetic counseling (baseline) and at 6 and 12 months post-disclosure of test results (52 mutation-negative, 26 mutation-positive). Results While both groups were similar at baseline, at 12 months post-disclosure, a greater number of mutation-positive individuals had had a colonoscopy compared with mutation-negative individuals. From baseline to 12 months post-disclosure, the mutation-positive group demonstrated an increase in mean scores on measures of colonoscopy commitment, self-efficacy, and perceived benefits of CRC screening, and a decrease in mean scores for perceived barriers to CRC screening. Mean scores on colonoscopy commitment decreased from baseline to 6 months in the mutation-negative group. Conclusion Adherence to risk-appropriate guidelines for CRC surveillance improved after genetic counseling and testing for Lynch syndrome. Mutation-positive individuals reported increasingly positive attitudes toward CRC screening after receiving genetic test results, potentially reinforcing longer term colonoscopy adherence. PMID:23414081

  3. Reading a book can change your mind, but only some changes last for a year: food attitude changes in readers of The Omnivore's Dilemma

    OpenAIRE

    Hormes, Julia M.; Rozin, Paul; Green, Melanie C.; Fincher, Katrina

    2013-01-01

    Attitude change is a critical component of health behavior change, but has rarely been studied longitudinally following extensive exposures to persuasive materials such as full-length movies, books, or plays. We examined changes in attitudes related to food production and consumption in college students who had read Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma as part of a University-wide reading project. Composite attitudes towards organic foods, local produce, meat, and the qualit...

  4. Teacher Attitude to Inspectors and Inspection: Quality Control ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    International Journal of Educational Research. Journal Home · ABOUT ... These will help to change the negative attitude of teachers to inspectors and inspection to positive. Keywords: Teacher Attitude; School Inspection; Education Inspectors.

  5. Reading a book can change your mind, but only some changes last for a year: food attitude changes in readers of The Omnivore's Dilemma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hormes, Julia M; Rozin, Paul; Green, Melanie C; Fincher, Katrina

    2013-01-01

    Attitude change is a critical component of health behavior change, but has rarely been studied longitudinally following extensive exposures to persuasive materials such as full-length movies, books, or plays. We examined changes in attitudes related to food production and consumption in college students who had read Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma as part of a University-wide reading project. Composite attitudes toward organic foods, local produce, meat, and the quality of the American food supply, as well as opposition to government subsidies, distrust in corporations, and commitment to the environmental movement were significantly and substantially impacted, in comparison to students who had not read the book. Much of the attitude change disappeared after 1 year; however, over the course of 12 months self-reported opposition to government subsidies and belief that the quality of the food supply is declining remained elevated in readers of the book, compared to non-readers. Findings have implications for our understanding of the nature of changes in attitudes to food and eating in response to extensive exposure to coherent and engaging messages targeting health behaviors.

  6. ANALYSING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES - THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE SCALE OF CHANGE AND EMPLOYEES ATTITUDES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ujhelyi Maria

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available In the 21st century all organizations have to cope with challenges caused by trigger events in the environment. The key to organizational success is how fast and efficiently they are able to react. In 2014 we conducted a research survey on this topic with the contribution of Hungarian students on Bachelor courses in Business Administration and Management. They visited organizations which had gone through a significant programme of change within the last 5 years. The owners, managers or HR managers responsible for changes were asked to fill in the questionnaires about the features of these organisational changes. Several issues regarding change management were covered, besides general information about the companies. Respondents were asked about the trigger events and the nature of changes, and about the process of change and participation in it. One group of questions asked leaders about employees’ attitude to change, another section sought information about the methods used in the process. In this paper, after a short literature review, we will analyse the adaptation methods used by organizations and the connection between the scope of change and employees’ attitude toward change.

  7. Instructional Integration of Disciplines for Promoting Children's Positive Attitudes towards Plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Çìl, Emine

    2016-01-01

    Plants are an integral part of nature. Many plant species in almost any part of the world are under serious threats due to various reasons such as deforestation, pollution--of air, water and soil--caused by industrialisation, overgrazing and rapid population growth. It is likely that people have strong positive attitudes towards conservation of…

  8. Separating Political Attitude Change from Attitude Uncertainty: (In)Consistency Experiments of the ESS Panel Component

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Turper, Sedef; Aarts, Kees; van Gerven-Haanpää, Minna Marja-Leena

    2013-01-01

    As far as its vital role for explaining causal mechanisms is concerned, change has always been a great interest to scholars. Scholarly attention paid tracing and explaining changes in attitudes and behavioral patterns of diverse populations, paved the way to many wide scale crosssectional

  9. Attitude Similarity and Therapist Credibility as Predictors of Attitude Change and Improvement in Psychotherapy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beutler, Larry E.; And Others

    1975-01-01

    This study attempts to (1) assess the effects of therapist credibility and patient-therapist similarity on interpersonal persuasion; and (2) to further assess the relationship between patient attitude change and psychotherapy outcome. (HMV)

  10. The Japanese attitude towards nuclear power generation. Changes as seen through time series

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kitada, Atsuko; Hayashi, Chikio

    1999-01-01

    This study is intended to determine people's attitudes toward nuclear power generation, shedding light on the changed and unchanged structures of attitudes by comparing data on nuclear power generation for 1993 and 1998. Although some nuclear facility accidents occurred during the last five years, public attitudes toward nuclear power generation remain almost the same. For the utilization of nuclear power generation, there was a slight increase in passive affirmation. The percentage of active affirmation was less than 10 percent, but if passive affirmation is included a high percentage exceeding 70 percent acknowledged the utilization of nuclear power. It was found that people's attitudes toward the utilization of nuclear power became slightly more positive in 1998 than in 1993. The difference was found in the general measure of attitudes based on many questions about nuclear power generation, and in the importance and the utility of nuclear power generation including the purpose of nuclear power generation. People are not conscious of the anxiety about nuclear power generation in ordinary life. However, when people were made to think about nuclear power generation, the degree of anxiety increases even if provided with data that prove its safety. On the other hand, it was revealed that the degree of anxiety about nuclear facility accidents remains the same in the last five years, that is, it has not increased, although a growing interest in the disposal and treatment of radioactive wastes was seen. As a result of a comparison of the structure of attitudes, based on the study by Hayashi 1994, it was found that the group that had no interest in nuclear power generation offered the most noticeable features in answering pattern in both 1993 and 1998. Moreover, it was found also that the latter group of respondents were characterized by a little opportunity to have information. A similarity in the relationship between people's attitudes toward nuclear power generation

  11. Classroom intervention to change peers’ attitudes towards children who stutter: A feasibility study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harsha Kathard

    2014-12-01

    Method: The study used a cluster randomised control trial design. The study included 211 Grade 7 participants from schools in the Cape Town Metropole. The CCR intervention was administered to 97 participants in the experimental group, whilst 114 participants in the control group did not receive the intervention. The Stuttering Resource Outcome Measure(SROM used as the outcome measure during pre- and post-test period. STATISTICA was used for in-depth data analysis. Results: An overall positive direction of change in scores was observed for the experimental group compared with the control group. However, the magnitude of change in the experimental group was not statistically significant (p = 0.2683. Male and female participants did not differ significantly in their scores on the SROM across pre-test and post-test periods. Participants who had exposure to individuals who stutter had significantly more positive scores on the SROM in the pre-test and post-test periods compared to those who had no direct exposure to stuttering. Conclusion: This result indicated the beginning of positive attitude change which may be attributed to the intervention. Further investigation is warranted.

  12. “Chickens Are a Lot Smarter than I Originally Thought”: Changes in Student Attitudes to Chickens Following a Chicken Training Class

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Susan J. Hazel

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available A practical class using clicker training of chickens to apply knowledge of how animals learn and practice skills in animal training was added to an undergraduate course. Since attitudes to animals are related to their perceived intelligence, surveys of student attitudes were completed pre- and post- the practical class, to determine if (1 the practical class changed students’ attitudes to chickens and their ability to experience affective states, and (2 any changes were related to previous contact with chickens, training experience or gender. In the post- versus pre-surveys, students agreed more that chickens are easy to teach tricks to, are intelligent, and have individual personalities and disagreed more that they are difficult to train and are slow learners. Following the class, they were more likely to believe chickens experience boredom, frustration and happiness. Females rated the intelligence and ability to experience affective states in chickens more highly than males, although there were shifts in attitude in both genders. This study demonstrated shifts in attitudes following a practical class teaching clicker training in chickens. Similar practical classes may provide an effective method of teaching animal training skills and promoting more positive attitudes to animals.

  13. Understanding Attitude Change in Developing Effective Substance Abuse Prevention Programs for Adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Cynthia G.

    1996-01-01

    Alcohol and drug use may be a significant part of the adolescent, high school experience. Programs should be based on an understanding of attitudes and patterns of use, and how change occurs. Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion is a framework with which to examine attitude change and provide a base for building sound drug prevention…

  14. IceBridge LVIS POS/AV L1B Corrected Position and Attitude Data

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The IceBridge LVIS POS/AV L1B Corrected Position and Attitude Data (IPPLV1B) data set contains georeferencing data from the Applanix 510 and 610 POS AV systems flown...

  15. Hot topic - cold comfort: climate change and attitude change

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hernes, Gudmund

    2012-07-24

    Under the Top-level Research Initiative, Gudmund Hernes, researcher, professor of sociology and former Norwegian minister, sets out assertions and theses as a basis for debate - and in time political action. How do we respond when we are faced with the repercussions of our interactions with nature? The aim of this report is to mobilise the social science disciplines. Only when we understand how and why we have reacted so far can we take effective action. From table of content: I. Introduction, II. The ''Ecological Revolution'', III. Seven events that changed the world, IV. Explanations of attitude change, V. Some topics for research (eb)

  16. Veranderingen in houdingen van Nederlanders ten opzichte van de Europese Unie [Changes in Dutch attitudes towards the European Union

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Huijts, T.H.M.; Graaf, N.D. de

    2007-01-01

    For decades, the Dutch were seen as relatively positive towards the European Union. However, in 2005 a majority of the Dutch population voted against the proposed European Constitution. Therefore, in this article we examine to what extent the Dutch ‘no’ marks a sudden change in attitudes, or is

  17. Attitude changes toward nuclear power generation. Analysis of data from a longitudinal survey

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuda, Toshihiro

    1998-01-01

    The Attitude changes toward nuclear power generation in response to incidents/accidents at the nuclear facilities were examined, using a longitudinal survey. A replicated survey was conducted in Kansai area following the incidents in 1995 and 1997, and a panel survey was conducted in 1997, using the same subjects as those in the survey conducted by C. Hayashi in 1993 about the attitude toward nuclear power generation. The results of the panel survey showed that an anxiety about a nuclear incident/accident tended to increase and that the number of those who decreased an anxiety about a nuclear incident/accident was relatively small, compared to an anxiety about other incidents/accidents. Using the quantification theory to analyze the group that showed changes in attitude toward nuclear power generation, it was suggested that the increase or decrease in the level of anxiety about a nuclear power incident/accident had an influence on the changes in attitude. However, the influence was not the most significant one compared to other factors. With the inclusion of the group that showed no change in attitude, the general population structure that the approval for nuclear power generation because of inevitable use of nuclear energy accounted for sixty percent remained with no significant change. (author)

  18. Racism and Attitude Change: The Role of Mass Media and Instructional Technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, Robert L.; Thomas, Richard

    The task confronting this nation is to use our communications technology in an effort to effectively eliminate racist and other undemocratic attitudes in American life. The media and those who control them must be willing to run the risk of losing profits to engage in facilitating positive attitudes towards emotional issues such as poverty and…

  19. Attitudes toward teen mothers among nursing students and psychometric evaluation of Positivity Toward Teen Mothers scale.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Son Chae; Burke, Leanne; Sloan, Chris; Barnett, Shannon

    2013-09-01

    To prepare future nurses who can deliver high quality nursing care to teen mothers, a better understanding of the nursing students' perception of teen mothers is needed. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 228 nursing students to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Positivity Toward Teen Mothers (PTTM) scale, to explore nursing students' general empathy and attitudes toward teen mothers, and to investigate the predictors of nursing students' attitudes toward teen mothers. Principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation resulted in a 19-item PTTM-Revised scale with Non-judgmental and Supportive subscales. Cronbach's alphas for the subscales were 0.84 and 0.69, respectively, and 0.87 for the total scale. Simultaneous multiple regression models showed that general empathy and having a teen mother in the family or as an acquaintance were significant predictors of positive attitudes toward teen mothers, whereas age was a significant negative predictor. The PTTM-Revised scale is a promising instrument for assessing attitudes toward teen mothers. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Effects of Anti-Smoking Public Service Announcements on the Attitudes of Korean College Students toward Smoking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, Kyoung Won; Lee, Jakyoung; Ryu, Ji-Hye; Kim, Soo Jeong

    2017-12-01

    This study aimed to identify the effects of anti-smoking public service announcements on the attitudes of Korean college students toward smoking. This study involved students via convenience sampling from seven universities who were randomly assigned to four groups. All groups completed a preliminary questionnaire, before being shown a public service announcement twice, and then completed a post viewing questionnaire. For announcements with positive messages, the proportion of changes in beliefs and attitudes were 39.1% and 19.8%, respectively, whereas those with negative messages showed a greater proportion of changes in the beliefs (59.7%) and attitudes (40.3%). After adjusting for sex and change in belief, the message types and smoking status were identified as factors affecting the change in the participants attitudes. A negative message resulted in a greater change in attitudes (odds ratio [OR], 3.047; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.847-5.053). Ever-smokers including current smokers showed a greater positive change in attitude than never-smokers (OR, 6.965; 95% CI, 4.107-11.812). This study found that positive anti-smoking public service announcements were more effective on attitude change than negative messages. Additionally these announcements were more effective among viewers who were current smokers or had a prior smoking experience.

  1. Attitude Change among College Students toward Homosexuality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldberg, Raymond

    1982-01-01

    College students' attitudes toward homosexuality changed after they participated in a program that taught about homosexuality through the use of: (1) a film on the topic of prejudice; (2) a videotape of a homosexual clergyman who discussed sexual variance; (3) two films in which couples engaged in homosexual behavior; and (4) a lecture. Results…

  2. Persuasion and Attitude Change in Science Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koballa, Thomas R., Jr.

    1992-01-01

    Persuasion is presented as it may be applied by science educators in research and practice. The orientation taken is that science educators need to be acquainted with persuasion in the context of social influence and learning theory to be able to evaluate its usefulness as a mechanism for developing and changing science-related attitudes. (KR)

  3. Positive Influence of Behavior Change Communication on Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices for Visceral Leishmaniasis/Kala-azar in India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Srinivasan, Raghavan; Ahmad, Tanwir; Raghavan, Vidya; Kaushik, Manisha; Pathak, Ramakant

    2018-03-21

    Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is endemic to 54 districts in 4 states of India. Poor awareness of the disease and inappropriate health-seeking behavior are major challenges to eliminating the disease. Between February 2016 and March 2017, we implemented a behavior change communication (BCC) intervention in 33 districts of Bihar, 4 districts of Jharkhand, and 3 districts of West Bengal using a mix of channels, including group and interpersonal communication, to improve knowledge, attitudes, and practices of communities, frontline health workers, and opinion leaders. We conducted an impact assessment in October 2016, after the second indoor residual spraying (IRS) round, in Bihar and Jharkhand to evaluate the effect of the BCC intervention. Villages in 10 districts of Bihar and 4 districts in Jharkhand were selected for inclusion in the assessment. Selected villages were categorized as either intervention or control based on where project activities were conducted. Households were randomly selected proportional to caste composition, and interviewers surveyed the head of the household on whether the house was sprayed during the last IRS round and on knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to VL. We interviewed 700 households in intervention villages and 350 households in control villages and conducted correlation analysis to explore the association between IRS refusal and socioeconomic variables, and tested for association between IRS refusal and exposure to BCC activities. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated. We reached an estimated 3.3 million contacts in Bihar and Jharkhand through the intervention's BCC activities. IRS refusal rates were significantly lower in intervention households than control households (mean=7.95% vs. 24.45%, respectively; OR, 0.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.11 to 0.62; P knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to VL, including acceptance of IRS as a preventive measure, than households not exposed. BCC activities are thus an

  4. Reading a book can change your mind, but only some changes last for a year: Food attitude changes in readers of The Omnivore’s Dilemma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julia M. Hormes

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Attitude change is a critical component of health behavior change, but has rarely been studied longitudinally following extensive exposures to persuasive materials such as full-length movies, books, or plays. We examined changes in attitudes related to food production and consumption in college students who had read Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma as part of a University-wide reading project. Composite attitudes towards organic foods, local produce, meat, and the quality of the American food supply, as well as opposition to government subsidies, distrust in corporations, and commitment to the environmental movement were significantly and substantially impacted, in comparison to students who had not read the book. Much of the attitude change disappeared after one year; however, over the course of twelve months self-reported opposition to government subsidies and belief that the quality of the food supply is declining remained elevated in readers of the book, compared to non-readers. Findings have implications for our understanding of the nature of changes in attitudes to food and eating in response to extensive exposure to coherent and engaging messages targeting health behaviors.

  5. How Can Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Both Be Changed? Testing Two Interventions to Promote Consumption of Green Vegetables.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mattavelli, Simone; Avishai, Aya; Perugini, Marco; Richetin, Juliette; Sheeran, Paschal

    2017-08-01

    Although correlational studies have demonstrated that implicit and explicit attitudes are both important in predicting eating behavior, few studies targeting food choice have attempted to change both types of attitudes. We tested the impact of (a) an evaluative learning intervention that uses the self to change attitudes (i.e., a Self-Referencing task) and (b) a persuasive communication in modifying implicit and explicit attitudes towards green vegetables and promoting readiness to change. The study targeted individuals who explicitly reported they did not like or only moderately liked green vegetables. Participants (N = 273) were randomly allocated to a 2 (self-referencing: present vs. absent) × 2 (persuasive message: present vs. absent) factorial design. The outcomes were implicit and explicit attitudes as well as readiness to increase consumption of green vegetables. Implicit attitudes increased after repeatedly pairing green vegetable stimuli with the self in the self-referencing task but did not change in response to the persuasive communication. The persuasive message increased explicit attitudes and readiness to change, but did not alter implicit attitudes. A three-way interaction with pre-existing explicit attitudes was also observed. In the absence of a persuasive message, the self-referencing task increased on readiness to change among participants with more negative pre-existing explicit attitudes. This study is the first to demonstrate that a self-referencing task is effective in changing both implicit attitudes and readiness to change eating behavior. Findings indicate that distinct intervention strategies are needed to change implicit and explicit attitudes towards green vegetables.

  6. Position and Attitude Alternate of Path Tracking Heading Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Baocheng Tan

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available The path tracking control algorithm is one of the key problems in the control system design of autonomous vehicle. In this paper, we have conducted dynamic modeling for autonomous vehicle, the relationship between course deviation and yaw rate and centroid deflection angle. From the angle of the dynamics and geometrical, this paper have described the path tracking problem, analyzed the emergence of the eight autonomous vehicles pose binding - position and attitude alternate control methods to identify the relationship between posture and the controlling variables, and design a controller, the experimental results verify the feasibility and effectiveness of this control method.

  7. Accent Imitation Positively Affects Language Attitudes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patti eAdank

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available People in conversation tend to accommodate the way they speak. It has been assumed that this tendency to imitate each other’s speech patterns serves to increase liking between partners in a conversation. Previous experiments examined the effect of perceived social attractiveness on the tendency to imitate someone else’s speech and found that vocal imitation increased when perceived attractiveness was higher. The present experiment extends this research by examining the inverse relationship and examines how overt vocal imitation affects attitudes. Participants listened to sentences spoken by two speakers of a regional accent (Glaswegian of English. They vocally repeated (speaking in their own accent without imitating the sentences spoken by a Glaswegian speaker, and subsequently imitated sentences spoken by a second Glaswegian speaker (order counterbalanced across participants. After each repeating or imitation session, participants completed a questionnaire probing the speakers’ perceived power, competence, and social attractiveness. Imitating had a positive effect on the perceived social attractiveness of the speaker compared to repeating. These results are interpreted in light of Communication Accommodation Theory.

  8. Accent imitation positively affects language attitudes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adank, Patti; Stewart, Andrew J; Connell, Louise; Wood, Jeffrey

    2013-01-01

    People in conversation tend to accommodate the way they speak. It has been assumed that this tendency to imitate each other's speech patterns serves to increase liking between partners in a conversation. Previous experiments examined the effect of perceived social attractiveness on the tendency to imitate someone else's speech and found that vocal imitation increased when perceived attractiveness was higher. The present experiment extends this research by examining the inverse relationship and examines how overt vocal imitation affects attitudes. Participants listened to sentences spoken by two speakers of a regional accent (Glaswegian) of English. They vocally repeated (speaking in their own accent without imitating) the sentences spoken by a Glaswegian speaker, and subsequently imitated sentences spoken by a second Glaswegian speaker (order counterbalanced across participants). After each repeating or imitation session, participants completed a questionnaire probing the speakers' perceived power, competence, and social attractiveness. Imitating had a positive effect on the perceived social attractiveness of the speaker compared to repeating. These results are interpreted in light of Communication Accommodation Theory.

  9. Risk factors influencing dentists' hepatitis B-related knowledge and attitudes and their willingness to treat hepatitis B positive patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khosravanifard, B; Rakhshan, V; Sherafat, S; Najafi-Salehi, L

    2015-02-25

    This study assessed factors that could predict dentists' knowledge, attitudes and behaviour towards hepatitis B virus (HBV). A total of 300 dentists in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran were surveyed and their demographic, educational and office characteristics were analysed in relation to their scores on knowledge about HBV, self-reported attitudes towards treating people infected with HBV and actual behaviour towards treating simulated HBV-positive patients. Having a Master's degree, faculty membership, taking ≥ 3 continuing education courses, wearing eye-shields, spending more time on preparing dental units and higher self-confidence about knowledge predicted better knowledge. A positive attitude was associated with having attended more courses and working in group practice. The number of courses and a shorter dental unit preparation time positively affected dentists' behaviour.

  10. Positive versus Negative. A cognitive perspective on wording effects for contrastive questions in attitude surveys

    OpenAIRE

    Kamoen, N.

    2012-01-01

    Standardized surveys are used in many contexts to measure people’s opinions and attitudes. Although it is widely assumed that survey answers represent the ‘true values’ of the concepts measured, a large body of research has shown that seemingly irrelevant question characteristics influence how respondents report their attitudes. The research presented in this dissertation revolved around on one of these characteristics: whether the question is worded positively (This is an interesting book. Y...

  11. Developing positive attitudes toward geriatric nursing among Millennials and Generation Xers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heise, Barbara A; Johnsen, Vickie; Himes, Deborah; Wing, Debra

    2012-01-01

    Despite the increase of the older adult population, there exists a shortage of health care professionals trained to help this population remain independent as long as possible. Ageism, common among younger adults, affects the capacity building of health care for older adults. Research has indicated that increased knowledge about older adults, as well as exposure to the elderly, may alter nursing students' attitudes regarding careers in gerontological nursing. However, questions remain as to what are the most effective ways to provide gerontological content in nursing programs and enhance attitudes toward older adults.With the understanding that younger adults see a need to balance work and play, a baccalaureate nursing program provides examples of ways to accomplish this through integration of courses, simulations, positive images of aging, and learning activities that enhance empathy for both frail and healthy older adults.

  12. Age differences in attitude change: influences of cognitive resources and motivation on responses to argument quantity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Mo; Chen, Yiwei

    2006-09-01

    This study examined the influences of cognitive resources and motivation on how young and older adults process different quantities of persuasive arguments. In the first experiment session, both young and older adults rated their attitudes toward marijuana legalization and capital punishment. After a week, they read either 3 or 9 similar-quality arguments supporting marijuana legalization and capital punishment. Half of participants were assigned to the high-involvement condition (i.e., told that they were going to discuss the arguments later with the experimenter) and the other half were assigned to the low-involvement condition (i.e., given no instructions). After reading the arguments, participants rated their attitudes toward those 2 social issues again. Highly involved young adults changed their attitudes regardless of the quantity of arguments, whereas lowly involved young adults' attitude change was influenced by the argument quantity. Older adults in both high-involvement and low-involvement conditions changed their attitudes according to the argument quantity. Working memory was found to mediate the age effects on attitude change. This finding demonstrated the importance of a cognitive mechanism in accounting for age differences in attitude change.

  13. Group Effects on Individual Attitudes Toward Social Responsibility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Secchi, Davide; Bui, Hong T M

    2018-01-01

    This study uses a quasi-experimental design to investigate what happens to individual socially responsible attitudes when they are exposed to group dynamics. Findings show that group engagement increases individual attitudes toward social responsibility. We also found that individuals with low attitudes toward social responsibility are more likely to change their opinions when group members show more positive attitudes toward social responsibility. Conversely, individuals with high attitudes do not change much, independent of group characteristics. To better analyze the effect of group dynamics, the study proposes to split social responsibility into relative and absolute components. Findings show that relative social responsibility is correlated with but different from absolute social responsibility although the latter is more susceptible than the former to group dynamics.

  14. High-precision relative position and attitude measurement for on-orbit maintenance of spacecraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Bing; Chen, Feng; Li, Dongdong; Wang, Ying

    2018-02-01

    In order to realize long-term on-orbit running of satellites, space stations, etc spacecrafts, in addition to the long life design of devices, The life of the spacecraft can also be extended by the on-orbit servicing and maintenance. Therefore, it is necessary to keep precise and detailed maintenance of key components. In this paper, a high-precision relative position and attitude measurement method used in the maintenance of key components is given. This method mainly considers the design of the passive cooperative marker, light-emitting device and high resolution camera in the presence of spatial stray light and noise. By using a series of algorithms, such as background elimination, feature extraction, position and attitude calculation, and so on, the high precision relative pose parameters as the input to the control system between key operation parts and maintenance equipment are obtained. The simulation results show that the algorithm is accurate and effective, satisfying the requirements of the precision operation technique.

  15. Changing exercise through targeting affective or cognitive attitudes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conner, Mark; Rhodes, Ryan E; Morris, Ben; McEachan, Rosemary; Lawton, Rebecca

    2011-02-01

    Two studies investigated the impact of affective and cognitive messages compared to a no-message control on self-reported exercise. Students (Study 1, N = 383 and Study 2, N = 197) were randomly allocated to one of the three conditions (control - no message, affective message or cognitive message). Participants completed questionnaire measures tapping components of the theory of planned behaviour in relation to exercise and reported their level of exercise (3 weeks later). In Study 2, measures of need for affect (NFA) and need for cognition (NFC) were also completed. Results showed that affective messages consistently produced greater increases in self-reported level of exercise than the other conditions. In both studies, this effect was partly mediated by affective attitude change. Study 2 indicated these effects to be significantly stronger among those high in NFA or low in NFC. These findings indicate the value of affective messages that target affective attitudes in changing exercise behaviour.

  16. Changes in sunburn and tanning attitudes among lifeguards over a summer season.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hiemstra, Marieke; Glanz, Karen; Nehl, Eric

    2012-03-01

    Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers in the United States. Lifeguards are at increased risk of excessive sun exposure and sunburn. We sought to examine changes in: (1) sunburn frequency over a summer while controlling for sun exposure, sun protection habits, and participation in a skin cancer prevention program; and (2) tanning attitudes while controlling for participation in the program. Participants in this study were lifeguards (n = 3014) at swimming pools participating in the Pool Cool program in 2005. Lifeguards completed surveys at the beginning and end of the summer. Sequential regression analyses were used to assess changes in sunburn frequency and tanning attitudes. Sunburn frequency decreased between baseline and follow-up. Having a sunburn over the summer was significantly predicted by baseline sunburn history, ethnicity, skin cancer risk, and sun exposure. The tanning attitude, "People are more attractive if they have a tan," was significantly predicted from baseline tanning attitude and ethnicity. The second tanning attitude, "It helps to have a good base suntan," was significantly predicted by baseline tanning attitude, ethnicity, basic/enhanced group, and moderate skin cancer risk. Self-reported data and limited generalizability to lifeguards at other outdoor pools are limitations. The findings showed that previous sunburn history is an important predictor of sunburn prospectively. In addition, a more risky tanning attitude is an important predictor of future attitudes toward tanning. Active involvement in targeted prevention programs may help to increase preventive behavior and health risk reduction. Copyright © 2010 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Changes in Veterinary Students' Attitudes Toward the Rural Environment and Rural Veterinary Practice: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hashizume, Cary T; Woloschuk, Wayne; Hecker, Kent G

    2015-01-01

    There is a paucity of research regarding veterinary students' attitudes toward the rural environment and rural veterinary practice and how these attitudes might change over the course of a veterinary medicine program that includes rural clinical experience. Using a 23-item questionnaire, attitudes toward rural lifestyle, rural work-life balance, opportunities for career and skill development in rural veterinary practice, and inter-professional teamwork in the rural environment were assessed at the beginning and completion of a four-year veterinary medicine program. Eighty-six students (74.4% female) were included in this Canadian study over a six-year period. Thirty-one participants (36.1%) were rural students. Overall, students' attitudes toward the rural lifestyle, rural work-life balance, and inter-professional teamwork in rural veterinary practice all significantly decreased (pstudents, rural students had significantly higher rural lifestyle scores at both the beginning (pworking in a rural environment could influence students to exclude rural veterinary practice as a career choice. Rural clinical experiences designed to sustain or increase veterinary student interest in rural practice may not be sufficient to support positive rural attitudes. Given the demand for rural veterinary services in developed countries, the implications of this study may extend beyond Canada.

  18. Prudence and prejudice on changing attitudes in the classroom

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Solveig Moldrheim

    2014-03-01

    negativity towards people with a different skin color decreases from around the age of 10 compared to when the child was younger.An individual's attitudes are formed on the basis of that person's overall experience. Although formed individually, experience often take place in social interaction with other individuals. In social settings, people find their significant other, that is, an individual or individuals they may mirror and adjust to. Such individuals may include parents, siblings, friends and teachers. The school is therefore a very important arena for promoting positive attitudes.Albert Einstein allegedly claimed that "It is harder to crack a prejudice than an atom." But even if we take hold of prejudices and actively seek to fight them, it will require time and energy. The process of changing a person’s attitude is significantly longer than the process of developing a person’s academic knowledge and skill.It is often said that "prejudice must be fought with knowledge." Prejudice consists of both beliefs and attitudes. It is important that educators have access to constructive meeting arenas, read books, play games and watch movies that can make room for empathy. It is essential to find learning resources, initiatives and approaches that promote values such as empathy and community, and then creating positive experiences for the pupils.

  19. The medical profession and changing attitudes towards advertising and competition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, J D; Fay, M T

    1991-02-27

    This paper examines the attitudes of general medical practitioners towards competition and advertising and the changes that have occurred between 1985 and 1988. The data was derived from a self completion questionnaire, 1500 of which were evenly distributed among the members of five professions; doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants and veterinarians. General practitioners are now favourably disposed towards advertising by the profession as a whole in an effort to increase awareness of medical services (70% in favour in 1988 compared to only 53% in 1985), but the perceived need for increased business efficiency has lessened (70% in 1988 compared to 78% in 1985). Collegiality continues to be the dominant ideology but this position has weakened slightly. In 1988 only 65% of general practitioners regarded other members of the profession as colleagues rather than competitors, compared to 73% in 1985.

  20. Changes in body weight, body composition, and eating attitudes in high school wrestlers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shriver, Lenka Humenikova; Betts, Nancy Mulhollen; Payton, Mark Edward

    2009-08-01

    Many wrestlers engage in chronic dieting and rapid "weight cutting" throughout the year to compete in a category below their natural weight. Such weight-management practices have a negative influence on their health and nutritional status, so the National Wrestling Coaches Association implemented a new weight-management program for high school wrestlers in 2006. The purpose of this study was to determine whether seasonal changes in weight, body fat, and eating attitudes occur among high school wrestlers after the implementation of the new weight-management rule. Fifteen high school wrestlers participated in the study. Their weight, body composition, and eating attitudes were measured preseason, in-season, and off-season. Body fat was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Attitudes toward dieting, food, and body weight were assessed using the Eating Attitude Test (EAT). No significant changes in body fat were detected from preseason to off-season. Weight increased from preseason to in-season (p < .05) and off-season (p < .05). Although the EAT score did not change significantly from preseason to off-season, 60% reported "thinking about burning up calories when exercising" during preseason, and only 40% felt that way during the season (p < .05) and 47% during, off-season (p < .05). The wrestlers experienced a significant weight gain from preseason to off-season with no significant changes in body fat. Their eating attitudes did not change significantly from preseason to off-season in this study, but further research using a large sample of high school wrestlers is warranted to confirm these findings.

  1. The Effects of Embedded Question Type and Locus of Control on Processing Depth, Knowledge Gain, and Attitude Change in a Computer-Based Interactive Video Environment

    OpenAIRE

    Mitchell, Michael W.

    1997-01-01

    The differential effectiveness of two types of adjunct embedded questions in facilitating deep processing, increased knowledge gain, and increased positive attitude change was examined in this two-session laboratory study. In session one, subjects completed a measure of locus of control (LOC) orientation, as well as measures of pretest knowledge and attitudes regarding drinking. Two weeks later, stratified assignment was used to place 33 subjects (ages 12 to 15...

  2. Climate Change Challenges for Extension Educators: Technical Capacity and Cultural Attitudes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Becerra, Terrie A.; Middendorf, Gerad; Campbell, Amber; Tomlinson, Peter

    2016-01-01

    We surveyed Extension educators in the southern Great Plains about their attitudes and beliefs regarding climate change, their interactions with constituents surrounding climate change, and challenges they face in engaging constituents on the topic of climate change. Production-oriented and sociocultural challenges in meeting constituents'…

  3. Black Generation Y students' attitudes towards the demarketing of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    While the effectiveness of these demarketing strategies may be measured directly by looking at changes in demand levels, little is known concerning consumer attitudes towards these strategies, even though an essential prerequisite for achieving their beneficial effects may depend on consumers having a positive attitude ...

  4. The Effectiveness of the Training of Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Skills on the Reduction of Addicts’ Positive Attitudes to Narcotics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Farxaneh Bahrami

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Aim: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the training of problem-solving and decision-making skills on the reduction of addicts’ positive attitudes to narcotics. Method: The design of this study was experimental design namely: pre and post test with control group. The population included all addicts referring to Sanandaj self-report centers (500 addicts. By random sampling, 60 addicts were selected and completed the attitude questionnaire to narcotics use. Each of experimental groups was under problem-solving and decision-making skills training for ten 90 minute sessions. No training given to control group. Results: After training, two experimental groups significantly had lower levels of positive attitude to narcotics use. No difference was observed between two experimental groups. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that the training of problem-solving and decision-making skills can reduce the addicts’ positive attitudes to narcotics.

  5. A meta-analysis of studies on attitudes toward bears and wolves across Europe 1976-2012.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dressel, S; Sandström, C; Ericsson, G

    2015-04-01

    The ranges of wolves (Canis lupus) and bears (Ursus arctos) across Europe have expanded recently, and it is important to assess public attitudes toward this expansion because responses toward these species vary widely. General attitudes toward an object are good predictors of broad behavioral patterns; thus, attitudes toward wolves and bears can be used as indicators to assess the social foundation for future conservation efforts. However, most attitude surveys toward bears and wolves are limited in scope, both temporally and spatially, and provide only a snapshot of attitudes. To extend the results of individual surveys over a much larger temporal and geographical range so as to identify transnational patterns and changes in attitudes toward bears and wolves over time, we conducted a meta-analysis. Our analysis included 105 quantitative surveys conducted in 24 countries from 1976 to 2012. Across Europe, people's attitudes were more positive toward bears than wolves. Attitudes toward bears became more positive over time, but attitudes toward wolves seemed to become less favorable the longer people coexisted with them. Younger and more educated people had more positive attitudes toward wolves and bears than people who had experienced damage from these species, and farmers and hunters had less positive attitudes toward wolves than the general public. For bears attitudes among social groups did not differ. To inform conservation of large carnivores, we recommend that standardized longitudinal surveys be established to monitor changes in attitudes over time relative to carnivore population development. Our results emphasize the need for interdisciplinary research in this field and more advanced explanatory models capable of capturing individual and societal responses to changes in large carnivore policy and management. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

  6. Attitude change in a realistic experiment: the effect of party membership and audience reaction during an interview with a Dutch politician

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wiegman, O.

    1987-01-01

    In this realistic experiment, an interview with the leader of the Liberals in the Dutch Parliament was recorded in the presence of a live audience, which reacted in a positive, negative, or neutral way. It was shown to subjects of two opposing political parties, whose attitudes were to be changed by

  7. L'Apprentissage et le Changement des Attitudes envers Soi-meme: Le Concept de Soi. (Learning and the Change of Attitudes Towards Oneself: Self Image).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leduc, Aimee

    1980-01-01

    The French language article is the second in a series and describes the principles of classic conditioning which underlie attitude formation and change. The article also notes the many functions of self-concept attitudes in order to guide the choices of intervention in attitude learning. (Author/SB)

  8. Weight Control: Attitudes of Dieters and Change Agents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parham, Ellen S.; And Others

    1991-01-01

    Survey explores attitudes toward weight loss/weight control among 2 groups of change agents--40 dietitians and 42 fitness instructors--and among 96 people trying to lose weight. Significant differences were found in terms of importance in weight control of diet, drugs, exercise, religion, and will power; in importance of being of normal weight;…

  9. Effects of knowledge and persuasion on high-school students' attitudes toward nuclear power plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Showers, Dennis E.; Shrigley, Robert L.

    Researchers report finding correlational data to identify a positive relationship between nuclear knowledge and positive attitudes toward the use of nuclear energy. This study investigated the relationship between nuclear knowledge and nuclear attitudes and to the understanding of Science-Technology-Society attitudes involving technological attitude objects. This quasi-experimental study tested the causal relationship between knowledge about nuclear power plants and attitudes toward their use in electrical generation. Subjects were presented with systematically designed communications developed to change either their knowledge about or attitude toward nuclear plants. The Standard Events of Instruction was the basis of the knowledge instruction, whereas the Learning Theory Approach and the Theory of Reasoned Action were the theoretical bases of the persuasive communication. The principal finding was that nuclear knowledge and nuclear attitude each can be changed independently of the other. Although knowledge and attitudes are correlationally linked, this study shows no evidence of a cause-effect relationship.Received: 4 May 1994; Revised: 14 July 1994;

  10. Nudging Resisters Toward Change: Self-Persuasion Interventions for Reducing Attitude Certainty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenberg, Spencer; Brand, Danielle; Pluta, Aislinn; Moore, Douglas; DeConti, Kirsten

    2018-05-01

    To identify effective self-persuasion protocols that could easily be adapted to face-to-face clinical sessions or health-related computer applications as a first step in breaking patient resistance. Two self-persuasion interventions were tested against 2 controls in a between-subject randomized control experiment. GuidedTrack-a web-based platform for social science experiments. Six hundred seventeen adult participants recruited via Mechanical Turk. The experimental interventions prompted participants for self-referenced pro- and counterattitudinal arguments to elicit attitude-related thought (ART) and subsequent doubt about the attitude. The hypothesis was that the self-persuasion interventions would elicit larger and more frequent attitude certainty decreases than the controls. In the experimental groups, we also predicted a correlation between the amount of ART and attitude certainty decreases. Changes in attitude certainty were measured by participants' pre- and post-ratio scale ratings; ART was measured by the number of words participants used to respond to the interventions. Analysis of variance (ANOVA), χ 2 , and correlation. A goodness-of-fit χ 2 showed that the number of participants who decreased their attitude certainty was not equally distributed between the combined experimental groups (n = 104) and the combined control groups (n = 39), χ 2 (1, n = 143) = 28.64, P elaborate on their personal reasons for initially forming an unhealthy attitude to increase doubt about the strongly held attitude.

  11. Exploring Aging Attitudes through a Puppet Making Research Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whiteland, Susan R.

    2016-01-01

    Intergenerational programs often reduce ageism and stereotypical thinking. This author uses a mixed methods case study to investigate how attitudes may change when older adults and children participate in an intergenerational art project. The research question, "Is there a positive correlation in children's attitudes toward older adults and…

  12. Public attitudes to climate change and carbon mitigation—Implications for energy-associated behaviours

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borgstede, Chris von; Andersson, Maria; Johnsson, Filip

    2013-01-01

    This work explores public opinions regarding climate change and mitigation options and examines how psychological factors, such as attitudes, norms, and willingness to pay, determine self-reported energy-efficient behaviour. The aim is to create knowledge for the design and implementation of policy measures. The results of an opinion poll conducted in 2005 and 2010 are compared. The number of respondents favouring new technologies as a way to reduce emissions was substantially lower in 2010 than in 2005, whereas there was an increase in the number of people who acknowledged that lifestyle changes are necessary to counteract climate changes. This indicates an increased awareness among the public of the need for lifestyle changes, which could facilitate implementation of policies promoting environmental behaviour. Renewable energy and energy saving measures were ranked as the top two measures for mitigating climate change in both polls. In determining which energy behaviours of the public are determined by psychological factors, an analysis of the 2010 survey revealed that respondents with pro-environmental attitudes towards global warming favour significantly increased use of renewable energy technologies and greater engagement in energy-efficient behaviours. - Highlights: ► Public opinion place priority to environmental issues and beliefs to change current lifestyle. ► A decline in favoring new technologies as a way to reduce emissions in 2010 compare to 2005 poll. ► Environmental attitudes relate to favor of renewable energy technologies. ► Environmental attitudes relate to households energy efficient behaviour

  13. Juror Decision Making: A Case of Attitude Change Mediated by Authoritarianism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lamberth, John; And Others

    1982-01-01

    Studied individuals important to jury decision-making processes, i.e., those who change their minds. Results showed no consistent differences in race, sex, or age for changers and nonchangers and authoritarians changed attitudes about defendent's guilt more than equalitarians. (PAS)

  14. Positive Reading Attitudes of Low-Income Bilingual Latinos

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bussert-webb, Kathy M.; Zhang, Zhidong

    2018-01-01

    Many assume low-income, emergent bilingual Latinos have poor reading attitudes. To investigate this issue, we surveyed 1,503 Texas public high school students through stratified cluster sampling to determine their reading attitudes. Most represented Latinos and mixed-race Latinos/Whites who heard Spanish at home and whose mother tongue was…

  15. Ego Involvement and Topic Controversiality as Related to Attitude Change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sledden, Elizabeth A.; Fernandez, Katherine A.

    Attitude change was measured on four different topics before and immediately after a persuasion was presented in order to compare the degree of change with the level of ego involvement as it relates to topic controversiality. Ego involvement was based on self-ratings of concern for each topic. Objective topic controversiality was based on the…

  16. Regular Primary Schoolteachers' Attitudes towards Inclusive Education: A Review of the Literature

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Boer, Anke; Pijl, Sip Jan; Minnaert, Alexander

    2011-01-01

    Teachers are seen as key persons to implement inclusive education. Positive attitudes are therefore argued as playing a considerable role in implementing this educational change successfully. The aim of this study is to examine what attitudes teachers hold towards inclusive education, which variables are related to their attitudes and if these…

  17. Should Marketers Try to Change Consumers Unfavourable Attitude for their Product into Favourable?

    OpenAIRE

    Sunday O. E. Ewah; Patrick M. Igbaji; Christian I. Umeh

    2014-01-01

    This is an empirical study of the interplay between consumers' attitude toward marketers’ products and marketers; wish to elicit favourable buying behaviour from the consumer. According to the study the process of this transformation of consumer’s attitude is not quite easy. The marketers have to put their acts together by producing products to match consumers attitude or build a gradual change that will result to favourable buying decision from the consumer.

  18. Changing implicit attitudes toward smoking: results from a web-based approach-avoidance practice intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macy, Jonathan T; Chassin, Laurie; Presson, Clark C; Sherman, Jeffrey W

    2015-02-01

    Implicit attitudes have been shown to predict smoking behaviors. Therefore, an important goal is the development of interventions to change these attitudes. This study assessed the effects of a web-based intervention on implicit attitudes toward smoking and receptivity to smoking-related information. Smokers (N = 284) were recruited to a two-session web-based study. In the first session, baseline data were collected. Session two contained the intervention, which consisted of assignment to the experimental or control version of an approach-avoidance task and assignment to an anti-smoking or control public service announcement (PSA), and post-intervention measures. Among smokers with less education and with plans to quit, implicit attitudes were more negative for those who completed the approach-avoidance task. Smokers with more education who viewed the anti-smoking PSA and completed the approach-avoidance task spent more time reading smoking-related information. An approach-avoidance task is a potentially feasible strategy for changing implicit attitudes toward smoking and increasing receptivity to smoking-related information.

  19. Medical education changes students' attitudes on psychiatry: survey among medical students in Croatia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flajsman, Ana Medic; Degmecic, Dunja; Pranjkovic, Tamara; Rogulja, Stanislav; Bošnjak, Dina; Kuzman, Martina Rojnic

    2017-12-01

    In Croatia, psychiatric disorders are the leading group of disorders by days of hospitalization and they are in second place according to the number of hospitalizations in the period of working age. Nevertheless, psychiatry in Croatia, as well as in the world, is one of the least attractive specialties for medical students. In this paper we determined the impact of compulsory education in psychiatry on the attitudes of medical students of the fourth year of the Zagreb school of medicine and Osijek school of medicine. We tested attitudes toward psychiatry, psychiatric treatment and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help using questionnaires that were filled out twice, at the beginning of psychiatry placement and at the end of psychiatry placement. Questionnaires were completed by 239 students from the Zagreb school of medicine and Faculty of medicine Osijek (response rate 78.4%). After the placement, students had significantly more positive attitudes about psychiatry and psychiatric treatment, as well as the attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Attitudes towards psychiatry, seeking psychological help and attitude towards psychiatric medication and psychotherapy correlated with the evaluation of the quality of psychiatric education. Additional forms of education in psychiatry should be offered, in order to maintain and increase the impact of education on students' attitudes.

  20. Attitudes to cadaveric organ donation in Irish preclinical medical students.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Cahill, Kevin C

    2011-06-01

    There is a worldwide shortage of organs for transplantation. It has been shown that the attitude of healthcare professionals can improve the rates of organ donation, and that educational programs aimed at improving both attitudes and knowledge base of professionals can have positive outcomes. Although there has been research carried out on this topic, there has been none in Ireland. Anatomy dissection can be a stressor to medical students-we investigate the attitudes of Irish students to organ donation and how they change with exposure to anatomy dissection. A questionnaire was administered to first year students in the School of Medicine in University College Dublin, Ireland, three times over a nine-week period at the commencement of classes in an academic year. The attitudes of the students were positive throughout regarding organ donation by a stranger, a family member, or themselves. There was, however, a significant decrease in support for the donation of a family member\\'s organs in a minority of students. Irish students\\' attitudes to postmortem organ donation are positive and are not changed by exposure to the dissecting room. There is support for the donation of organs, and willingness among students to donate their own organs and support donation by family members.

  1. Awareness, Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Cervical Cancer Amongst HIV-Positive Women Receiving Care in a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adibe, Maxwell O; Aluh, Deborah O

    2017-05-05

    The incidence of cervical cancer (CC) in the sub-Saharan Africa region, where Nigeria is located, is amongst the highest in the world; it is estimated that 70,722 new cases of invasive cervical cancer occur annually in sub-Saharan Africa. Immunosuppression, especially due to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, is a predisposing factor for persistent infection with high-risk human papilloma virus (HR-HPV) and the development of squamous intraepithelial lesions. Four hundred and fifty women who attended the HIV clinic at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, and who consented to participate in the study were randomly selected. They were given self-administered questionnaires which sought to determine their awareness and knowledge of cervical cancer and attitudes towards cervical cancer screening and prevention. The media 23% (n = 103) was the most common source of information amongst respondents who had heard about cervical cancer. For all the women surveyed, the average percentage knowledge was 9.95%. Having attitude scores greater than or equal to the mean attitude score of 55.16% was regarded as having a positive attitude while a score lower than that was regarded as negative attitude. About 43.5% (n = 195) respondents had a positive attitude towards cervical cancer screening and prevention. Cervical cancer awareness and knowledge amongst women attending the HIV clinic in the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, were very poor. Their attitude towards cervical cancer screening practices and prevention was also very poor.

  2. Why Some Employees Adopt or Resist Reorganization of Work Practices in Health Care: Associations between Perceived Loss of Resources, Burnout, and Attitudes to Change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carl-Ardy Dubois

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, successive work reorganization initiatives have been implemented in many healthcare settings. The failure of many of these change efforts has often been attributed in the prominent management discourse to change resistance. Few studies have paid attention to the temporal process of workers’ resource depletion/accumulation over time and its links with workers’ psychological states and reactions to change. Drawing upon the conservation of resources theory, this study examines associations between workers’ perceptions of loss of resources, burnout, and attitudes to change. The study was conducted in five health and social service centres in Quebec, in units where a work reorganization project was initiated. A prospective longitudinal design was used to assess workers’ perceptions at two time points 12 months apart. Our findings are consistent with the conservation of resources theory. The analysis of latent differences scores between times 1 and 2 showed that the perceived loss of resources was associated with emotional exhaustion, which, in turn, was negatively correlated with commitment to change and positively correlated with cynicism. In confirming the temporal relationship between perceived loss of resources, occupational burnout, and attitude to change, this research offers a new perspective to explain negative and positive reactions to change implementation.

  3. Trying to trust: Brain activity during interpersonal social attitude change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Filkowski, Megan M; Anderson, Ian W; Haas, Brian W

    2016-04-01

    Interpersonal trust and distrust are important components of human social interaction. Although several studies have shown that brain function is associated with either trusting or distrusting others, very little is known regarding brain function during the control of social attitudes, including trust and distrust. This study was designed to investigate the neural mechanisms involved when people attempt to control their attitudes of trust or distrust toward another person. We used a novel control-of-attitudes fMRI task, which involved explicit instructions to control attitudes of interpersonal trust and distrust. Control of trust or distrust was operationally defined as changes in trustworthiness evaluations of neutral faces before and after the control-of-attitudes fMRI task. Overall, participants (n = 60) evaluated faces paired with the distrust instruction as being less trustworthy than faces paired with the trust instruction following the control-of-distrust task. Within the brain, both the control-of-trust and control-of-distrust conditions were associated with increased temporoparietal junction, precuneus (PrC), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and medial prefrontal cortex activity. Individual differences in the control of trust were associated with PrC activity, and individual differences in the control of distrust were associated with IFG activity. Together, these findings identify a brain network involved in the explicit control of distrust and trust and indicate that the PrC and IFG may serve to consolidate interpersonal social attitudes.

  4. A PRECISE POSITION AND ATTITUDE DETERMINATION SYSTEM FOR LIGHTWEIGHT UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Eling

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available In many unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV applications a direct georeferencing is required. The reason can be that the UAV flies autonomous and must be navigated precisely, or that the UAV performs a remote sensing operation, where the position of the camera has to be known at the moment of the recording. In our application, a project called Mapping on Demand, we are motivated by both of these reasons. The goal of this project is to develop a lightweight autonomously flying UAV that is able to identify and measure inaccessible three-dimensional objects by use of visual information. Due to payload and space limitations, precise position and attitude determination of micro- and mini-sized UAVs is very challenging. The limitations do not only affect the onboard computing capacity, but they are also noticeable when choosing the georeferencing sensors. In this article, we will present a new developed onboard direct georeferencing system which is real-time capable, applicable for lightweight UAVs and provides very precise results (position accuracy σ σ < 0.5 deg. In this system GPS, inertial sensors, magnetic field sensors, a barometer as well as stereo video cameras are used as georeferencing sensors. We will describe the hardware development and will go into details of the implemented software. In this context especially the RTK-GPS software and the concept of the attitude determination by use of inertial sensors, magnetic field sensors as well as an onboard GPS baseline will be highlighted. Finally, results of first field tests as well as an outlook on further developments will conclude this contribution.

  5. Age and attitude: Changes in cycling patterns of different e-bike user segments

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haustein, Sonja; Møller, Mette

    2016-01-01

    looked into these effects by differentiating between different segments of e-bike users. We distinguished four age groups as well as three segments based on cycling attitudes and motives for the use and purchase of e-bikes: (1) enthusiastic e-bikers who showed the most positive attitudes towards e......-bikes and mainly bought an e-bike to increase cycling frequency; (2) utilitarian e-bikers who already cycled regularly before having access to an e-bike and used the e-bike particularly for practical purposes and to reduce travel time; (3) recreational e-bikers who were very positive about e-bike use but used...... at workplaces, intended to address not only instrumental but also affective motives of e-bike use....

  6. Attitudes of the Macedonian Preschool Teachers toward Students with Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dimitrova-Radojichikj, Daniela Blagoj; Chichevska-Jovanova, Natasha; Rashikj-Canevska, Olivera

    2016-01-01

    Preschool teachers are seen as key persons to implement inclusive education. Positive attitudes are therefore argued as playing a considerable role in implementing this educational change successfully. The aim of this study was to examine what attitudes Macedonian preschool teachers hold towards early inclusive education; which variables are…

  7. How and when do personal values guide our attitudes and sociality? Explaining cross-cultural variability in attitude-value linkages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boer, Diana; Fischer, Ronald

    2013-09-01

    This article examines how and when personal values relate to social attitudes. Considering values as motivational orientations, we propose an attitude-value taxonomy based on Moral Foundation Theory (Haidt & Joseph, 2007) and Schwartz's (1992) basic human values theory allowing predictions of (a) how social attitudes are related to personal values, and (b) when macro-contextual factors have an impact on attitude-value links. In a meta-analysis based on the Schwartz Value Survey (Schwartz, 1992) and the Portrait Value Questionnaire (Schwartz et al., 2001; k = 91, N = 30,357 from 31 countries), we found that self-transcendence (vs. self-enhancement) values relate positively to fairness/proenvironmental and care/prosocial attitudes, and conservation (vs. openness-to-change) values relate to purity/religious and authority/political attitudes, whereas ingroup/identity attitudes are not consistently associated with value dimensions. Additionally, we hypothesize that the ecological, economic, and cultural context moderates the extent to which values guide social attitudes. Results of the multi-level meta-analysis show that ecological and cultural factors inhibit or foster attitude-value associations: Disease stress is associated with lower attitude-value associations for conservation (vs. openness-to-change) values; collectivism is associated with stronger attitude-value links for conservation values; individualism is associated with stronger attitude-value links for self-transcendence (vs. self-enhancement) values; and uncertainty avoidance is associated with stronger attitude-values links, particularly for conservation values. These findings challenge universalistic claims about context-independent attitude-value relations and contribute to refined future value and social attitude theories. (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

  8. Attitudes of Kuwaiti Young Adults toward Marriage and Divorce:

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Humoud Alqashan

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available This study investigates whether parental marital status affects young adults’ attitudes toward marriage and divorce. There exists a vast amount of literature on the impact of divorce on young adults in Western cultures; however, no previous empirical studies have been conducted on the attitudes of young adults from intact and divorced families in the Gulf region or in Arab countries in the Middle East. The sample of the study consisted of 661 young adults from Kuwait University (from divorced and intact families. The findings reveal that adults whose parents divorced show fewer positive attitudes toward marriage than do those individuals from intact marriages. The study also suggests that adults whose parents were divorced carry more positive attitudes toward divorce compared with individuals from intact marriages. Furthermore, gender was found to be an important factor in shaping attitudes toward marriage and divorce. A longitudinal study is recommended to look at the changes in young adults’ attitudes toward marriage and divorce over time, which will help to identify the influence of other factors of attitudes toward marriage and divorce.

  9. Attitudes without objects: evidence for a dispositional attitude, its measurement, and its consequences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hepler, Justin; Albarracín, Dolores

    2013-06-01

    We hypothesized that individuals may differ in the dispositional tendency to have positive vs. negative attitudes, a trait termed the dispositional attitude. Across 4 studies, we developed a 16-item Dispositional Attitude Measure (DAM) and investigated its internal consistency, test-retest reliability, factor structure, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and predictive validity. DAM scores were (a) positively correlated with positive affect traits, curiosity-related traits, and individual preexisting attitudes; (b) negatively correlated with negative affect traits; and (c) uncorrelated with theoretically unrelated traits. Dispositional attitudes also significantly predicted the valence of novel attitudes while controlling for theoretically relevant traits (such as the Big 5 and optimism). The dispositional attitude construct represents a new perspective in which attitudes are not simply a function of the properties of the stimuli under consideration, but are also a function of the properties of the evaluator. We discuss the intriguing implications of dispositional attitudes for many areas of research, including attitude formation, persuasion, and behavior prediction. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

  10. Knowledge, attitudes and practices of HIV-positive patients regarding disclosure of HIV results at Betesda Clinic in Namibia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Penelope Tom

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Background: This study examined the practices, knowledge, attitudes, and the reasons for disclosure and non-disclosure of HIV-positive patients with regard to the disclosure of HIV results at Betesda Clinic in Windhoek, Namibia.Objectives: The objectives of the study were to determine knowledge, attitudes, and practices of HIV-positive patients regarding the disclosure of HIV status at Betesda Clinic in Namibia, and to determine the reasons for disclosure and non-disclosure.Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study and 263 HIV-positive patients were enrolled in the study.Results: Analyses revealed that knowledge on disclosure was good, with 68% who thought it was important. The majority (73% have disclosed and 60% disclosed within 1 week of receiving their results. The most common reasons for disclosure were that 32% needed help, 25% wanted his or her partner to go for testing, and 20% wanted to let relatives know. Reasons for non-disclosure were mainly the fear of gossip (79%. Seventy-three per cent had disclosed to their partners, and 23% had disclosed to more than one person. People’s reactions were supportive in 43%, whereas 29% understood, 9% accepted and 6% were angry. Upon disclosure 40% received help, 24% of partners were tested, 23% received psychological support and 5% were stigmatised. Disclosure was higher amongst the married and cohabitating.Conclusion: The attitude was positive with regard to knowledge of disclosure, with most participants thinking that disclosure was important and good. The attitudes and actual practices of disclosure were encouraging; however, people are disclosing only to trustedindividuals in the society and the fear of stigma is still present although the actual stigma was very low.

  11. [Eating habits and attitudes towards change in Spanish university students and workers].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zazpe, Itziar; Marqués, María; Sánchez-Tainta, Ana; Rodríguez-Mourille, Ana; Beunza, Juan-José; Santiago, Susana; Fernández-Montero, Alejandro

    2013-01-01

    Universities and workplaces are important targets for the promotion of the nutritional interventions in adult population. The aim of this study was to assess the dietary habits and attitudes towards change in workers and university students from different academic fields. The study data came from a cross-sectional study of a Spanish University population of 1,429 participants. We analyzed the dietary habits and the attitudes toward dietary change. The mean age of workers and students was 37 and 23 years, respectively. Both groups reported eating four meals per day. Among students, the consumption of vegetables, wine, fish and nuts was less frequent whereas carbonated beverages, commercial bakery, fast food and red meat was higher. On the other hand, overall dietary pattern of science students was healthier than other students. Although no significant differences were found between students and workers in attitudes towards change, 32% of employees and 39% of students said they were seriously considering changing them. The dietary pattern was healthier among workers than among students, particularly those participants that studied social sciences degrees. They constituted the most vulnerable segment of the university population from a nutritional point of view. About a third of workers and students considered changing their habits. Copyright © AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2013. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.

  12. Change in the family food environment is associated with positive dietary change in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hendrie, Gilly; Sohonpal, Gundeep; Lange, Kylie; Golley, Rebecca

    2013-01-07

    The family food environment is an important influence in the development of children's dietary habits. Research suggests that influences of current dietary behaviour and behaviour change may differ. The aims of this paper were to: (1) investigate the association between the food environment at baseline and change in children's saturated fat intake; and (2) to explore whether a change in the food environment was associated with a change in children's saturated fat intake. Secondary analysis of a 12 week cluster randomised controlled trial in 133 4-13 year old children. Families were randomly allocated to parental education regarding changing to reduced-fat dairy foods or a comparison non-dietary behaviour. The interventions were family focused. Parents received education from a dietitian in 3x30 minute sessions to facilitate behaviour change. Parents completed a comprehensive questionnaire capturing three domains of the food environment--Parent knowledge and attitudes; shaping practices; and behaviours and role modelling. Children's dietary intake was assessed via multiple 24-hour recalls at baseline and week 12. Changes in the family food environment and primary outcome (saturated fat) were calculated. Hierarchical linear regression models were performed to explore the association between baseline and change in food environment constructs and change in saturated fat intake. Standardised Beta are presented (pchange in saturated fat. An increase in nutrition knowledge (β=-0.2), perceived responsibility (β=-0.3) and restriction (β=-0.3) from baseline to week 12 were associated with greater reduction in saturated fat intake. The present study was one of the first to quantify changes in the family food environment, and identify a number of factors which were associated with a positive dietary change. Because interventions focus on behaviour change, the findings may provide specific targets for intervention strategies in the future. Australia New Zealand Clinical

  13. The Effects of Elaboration on the Strength of Doping-Related Attitudes: Resistance to Change and Behavioral Intentions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horcajo, Javier; Luttrell, Andrew

    2016-06-01

    This experiment analyzed whether attitudes toward the legalization of several doping behaviors would resist change and predict behavioral intentions when they were initially formed through thoughtful (i.e., high elaboration) versus nonthoughtful (i.e., low elaboration) processes. Participants were randomly assigned first to a persuasive message either against or in favor of the legalization, which they read with relatively high or low degrees of deliberative thinking. Attitudes and intentions regarding legalization were assessed following that message. Next, each participant received a second message that was opposed to the first one, serving as an attack against the attitude that participants had just formed. Finally, attitudes were again assessed. As hypothesized, participants showed greater attitude-consistent intentions when they formed their initial attitudes through thoughtful (vs. nonthoughtful) consideration of the first message. Moreover, the second message resulted in greater resistance to attitude change when participants formed their initial attitudes through thoughtful (vs. nonthoughtful) processes.

  14. E-learning to Improve Healthcare Professionals' Attitudes and Practices on Breastfeeding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colaceci, Sofia; Giusti, Angela; Chapin, Elise M; Bettinelli, Maria Enrica; De Angelis, Alessia; Zambri, Francesca; Vellone, Ercole; Alvaro, Rosaria; De Mei, Barbara

    2017-12-01

    Breastfeeding training has a crucial role in increasing healthcare professionals' attitudes and in improving professional support for breastfeeding. The collaboration between the Italian National Institute of Health, UNICEF, and the Local Health Authority of Milan has led to the development of an online course on lactation and infant feeding practices. To assess if the course was effective in improving healthcare professionals' attitudes and practices (APs). We conducted a prestudy-poststudy, comparing users' APs before (T0) and after (T1) the course through a 20-item questionnaire. Changes in APs were analyzed using paired t-test. Lower mean differences indicated more positive attitudes and more frequent professional practices favoring breastfeeding. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 15.0. The course had 26,009 registrants and was successfully completed by 91.3% of users. The dropout rate was 8.7%. The final cohort was composed of 15,004 participants. The course improved attitudes, while minor changes were observed on practices (p e-learning approach seems to be a useful tool for improving awareness and positive attitudes toward breastfeeding among healthcare professionals.

  15. Environment-behavior relations, behavior therapy and the process of persuasion and attitude change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schauss, S L; Chase, P N; Hawkins, R P

    1997-03-01

    The phenomena described by the cognitive dissonance literature, especially to explain attitude change, have important relevance to understanding certain aspects of therapy. Contrary to popular beliefs, these phenomena can be described in behavior-analytic terms. To do so requires an analysis of learning histories that select and maintain consistency in what individuals say and do. An understanding of the environmental variables that produce consistency can then be applied to the kinds of attitude change and stability found in the cognitive dissonance literature that have therapeutic importance.

  16. Physician attitudes toward industry: a view across the specialties

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korenstein, Deborah; Keyhani, Salomeh; Ross, Joseph S.

    2010-01-01

    Objectives Physician relationships with industry are receiving attention as government and professional organizations move toward restrictive policies and financial transparency. Our objective was to explore attitudes of physicians from all specialties toward gifts from and interactions with the pharmaceutical and device industries. Design Anonymous cross sectional survey. Setting Hospitals in the Mount Sinai School of Medicine consortium, in the New York City metro area Participants Faculty and trainee physicians from all clinical departments Main Outcome Measures Attitudes toward industry interactions and gifts and their appropriateness, measured on 4-point Likert scales. Results Five hundred ninety physicians and medical students completed the survey (response rate=67%); 59% were male, 39% were attendings, and 24% were from surgical specialties. Attitudes toward industry and gifts were generally positive. More than 65% found educational materials and sponsored lunches appropriate, whereas fewer than 25% considered vacations or large gifts appropriate. Surgeons, trainees, and those unfamiliar with institutional policies on industry interactions held more positive attitudes than others and were more likely to deem some gifts appropriate, including industry funding of residency programs and, among surgeons, receiving meals, travel expenses, and payments for attending lectures. Non-attendings held more positive attitudes toward meals in clinical settings, textbooks and samples. Conclusions Physicians continue to hold positive attitudes toward marketing-oriented activities of the pharmaceutical and device industries. Changes in medical culture and physician education focused on surgeons and trainees may align physician attitudes with current policy trends. PMID:20566978

  17. EDUCATING TEACHERS FOR CONTENT AND LANGUAGE INTEGRATED LEARNING IN KAZAKHSTAN: DEVELOPING POSITIVE ATTITUDES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Artyom Sergeyevich Dontsov

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the present research is to identify whether teachers' attitudes towards the use of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL in the Republic of Kazakhstan can undergo significant changes if they study a course introducing them to the fundamentals of CLIL. Despite the country's plans to adopt English as one of the languages of education, stakeholders’ attitudes towards teaching through the medium of this language remain rather skeptical. A survey was held among Master’s degree students majoring in Education (n = 59 at Pavlodar State University before the course and after its completion. Since it is the affective component that largely determines the quality of attitudes, the levels of participants' anxiety, self-esteem and motivation were used as the indicators. The tools for measuring these variables were the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Dembo-Rubinstein's Method of Self-esteem Measurement and Dubovitskaya's Diagnostics of Learning Motivation Orientation. The end-of-course results show a marked reduction in the level of participants' state anxiety, a growth in self-esteem in terms of the readiness to use CLIL, and a shift towards intrinsic motivation. It is argued that for attitudes shift to take place, it is necessary to adopt a constructivist approach to teaching and learning.

  18. False memories, but not false beliefs, affect implicit attitudes for food preferences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howe, David; Anderson, Rachel J; Dewhurst, Stephen A

    2017-09-01

    Previous studies have found that false memories and false beliefs of childhood experiences can have attitudinal consequences. Previous studies have, however, focused exclusively on explicit attitude measures without exploring whether implicit attitudes are similarly affected. Using a false feedback/imagination inflation paradigm, false memories and beliefs of enjoying a certain food as a child were elicited in participants, and their effects were assessed using both explicit attitude measures (self-report questionnaires) and implicit measures (a Single-Target Implicit Association Test). Positive changes in explicit attitudes were observed both in participants with false memories and participants with false beliefs. In contrast, only participants with false memories exhibited more positive implicit attitudes. The findings are discussed in terms of theories of explicit and implicit attitudes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. An Examination of Attitudes towards Women in Leadership Positions in Public Universities in Saudi Arabia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alfawzan, Norah Saad

    2017-01-01

    Despite opportunities for female leadership in the field of higher education made available through gender-segregation policies, women leaders are underrepresented in Saudi Arabia (Jamjoom & Kelly, 2013). There are obstacles that Saudi women face when seeking leadership positions in higher education, including societal attitudes on gender. Due…

  20. The effect of external factors on medical librarians' attitudes toward their position in the future of profession

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ghazimirsaeed SJ.

    2007-07-01

    Full Text Available Background and Aim: The utilization of information and communication technologies in medical librarianship would put librarians in new created conditions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of external factors on medical librarians' attitudes toward their future professional situation.Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. All libraries and affiliated with ministry of health, and medical education were included in the study. The research consisted of all medical librarians working in the mentioned centers. Data was collected through questionnaires including two major parts and an additional section pertaining to personal information. From total of 1368 cases, 1001 answered to the questions. Statistical measurements consisted of frequency distribution, mean, percentage, measures of dispersion, correlation coefficient, and two tailed tests analyzed by SPSS software. P<0.05 was considered as the limit of significance.Results: The results  showed that the mean score of external factors and attitude, were 3.25 and 4.18 respectively, at the scale of 5. There was a positive and significant relationship between external factors and attitude. Medical librarians did not consider the presence informaticians as a threat to their job security, and they have been able to adapt themselves to modern situations. Also, they were aware of the fact that if they can not succeed to match themselves with technological revolution, they will loose their jobs.Conclusion: Structural changes in staff and educational establishments are necessary to satisfy future needs and is a priority to improve the influence of external factors on medical librarians' attitude toward the future of their profession.

  1. The Change of Attitude to the Profession of University Graduates and Young Specialists

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarsenova, Assel Berikovna; Sadyrova, Mansya Sapargalievna; Montayev, Ardak Bazarbekovich; Imanbekova, Bibigul Iliyasovna

    2016-01-01

    The article studies the problem of attitude change towards the profession of university graduates and young specialists in Kazakhstan. The attitude to profession and professional motivation of students is considered as a form of human opportunities in the field of labor relations which is shaped only as a result of study in high education…

  2. The power of change: interpersonal attraction as a function of attitude similarity and attitude alignment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reid, Chelsea A; Davis, Jody L; Green, Jeffrey D

    2013-01-01

    Does attitude alignment predict attraction? Would you like a stranger more who shifts her/his attitudes to more closely align with yours? In pairs, participants (N = 77) discussed social issues about which they disagreed and received false feedback on whether the partner engaged in attitude alignment (shifted her/his attitudes toward the participant's attitude) following discussion. Participants also received false feedback about the proportion of similarity to the partner on a set of issues (i.e., 25%, 50%, or 75%). Participants reported greater attraction to partners who engaged in attitude alignment and who were more similar. Moreover, similarity and attitude alignment interacted. Similarity predicted attraction when attitude alignment did not occur, but did not predict attraction when attitude alignment did occur. Finally, partner attitude alignment led to participant attitude alignment, and perceived reasoning ability mediated the attitude alignment-attraction relationship.

  3. Two politicians in a realistic experiment: attraction, discrepancy, intensity of delivery, and attitude change

    OpenAIRE

    Wiegman, O.

    1985-01-01

    The leader of the Socialists in the Dutch Parliament and his Liberal opponent participated in this realistic experiment. Identical TV interviews with the two politicians were recorded and shown to subjects of both parties. The intensity of delivery was also varied: emotional versus rational. Our findgins indicated that the experimental interveiw changed the attitude of the subjects. In addition, support was found for a second hypothesis: Attitude change was greater for the attractive source f...

  4. Attitudes toward expanding nurses' authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerzman, Hana; Van Dijk, Dina; Eizenberg, Limor; Khaikin, Rut; Phridman, Shoshi; Siman-Tov, Maya; Goldberg, Shoshi

    2015-01-01

    In recent years, an increasing number of care procedures previously under the physician's authority have been placed in the hands of registered nurses. The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of nurses towards expanding nurses' authority and the relationships between these attitudes and job satisfaction facets, professional characteristics, and demographics. A cross-sectional study was conducted between 2010 and 2011 in three major medical centers in Israel. Participants included 833 nurses working in 89 departments. Attitudes toward the expansion of nurses' authority were assessed by self-report questionnaire, as well as job satisfaction facets including perception of professional autonomy, nurse-physician working relations, workload and burnout, perceptions of quality of care, and nursing staff satisfaction at work. Nurses reported positive attitudes toward the expansion of nurses' authority and moderate attitudes for interpretation of diagnostic tests in selected situations. The results of multivariate regression analyses demonstrate that the nurses' satisfaction from professional autonomy and work relations were the most influential factors in explaining their attitudes toward the expansion of nurses' authority. In addition, professionally young nurses tend to be more positive regarding changes in nurses' authority. In the Israeli reality of a nurse's shortage, we are witnessing professional transitions toward expansion of the scope of nurses' accountability and decision-making authority. The current research contributes to our understanding of attitudes toward the expansion of nurses' authority among the nursing staffs. The findings indicate the necessity of redefining the scope of nursing practice within the current professional context.

  5. Nonlinear control of marine vehicles using only position and attitude measurements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Paulsen, Marit Johanne

    1996-12-31

    This thesis presents new results on the design and analysis of nonlinear output feedback controllers for auto pilots and dynamic positioning systems for ships and underwater vehicles. Only position and attitude measurements of the vehicle are used in the control design. The underlying idea of the work is to use certain structural properties of the equations of motion in the controller design and analysis. New controllers for regulation and tracking have been developed and the stability of the resulting closed-loop systems has been rigorously established. The results are supported by simulations. The following problems have been investigated covering design of passive controller for regulation, comparison of two auto pilots, nonlinear damping compensation for tracking, tracking control for nonlinear ships, and output tracking control with wave filtering for multivariable models of possibly unstable vehicles. 97 refs., 32 figs.

  6. Public attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities after viewing Olympic or Paralympic performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrara, Kate; Burns, Jan; Mills, Hayley

    2015-01-01

    Despite some changes to the way that people with intellectual disabilities (ID) are viewed in society, negative attitudes prevail. One of the aspirations of the 2012 Paralympic games was to influence the public's attitudes toward people with disabilities. The aim of this study was to investigate whether stimuli depicting people with ID performing at Paralympic level of competition change attitudes toward ID. A mixed randomized comparison design was employed comparing 2 groups: those who viewed Paralympic-level ID sport footage and information and those who viewed Olympic footage and information. One hundred fourteen students, mean age 25 yr, were administered measures of implicit (subconscious) attitudes toward disability and explicit (belief-based) attitudes toward ID. Implicit attitudes significantly changed in a positive direction for both groups. The findings provide evidence that both Paralympic (ID) and Olympic media coverage may have at least a short-term effect on attitudes toward people with disabilities.

  7. How change information influences attitudes toward change and turnover intention : The role of engagement, psychological contract fulfillment, and trust

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Heuvel, Sjoerd; Freese, Charissa; Schalk, René; van Assen, Marcel

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how the quality of change information influences employees’ attitude toward organizational change and turnover intention. Additionally, the role of engagement, psychological contract fulfillment and trust in the relationship between change information

  8. How change information influences attitude toward change and turnover intention : The role of engagement, psychological contract fulfillment, and trust

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Heuvel, S.R.H.; Schalk, R.; Freese, C.; van Assen, M.A.L.M.

    2017-01-01

    Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how the quality of change information influences employees’ attitude toward organizational change and turnover intention. Additionally, the role of engagement, psychological contract fulfillment and trust in the relationship between change information

  9. How Change Information Influences Attitudes towards Change and Turnover Intention: The role of engagement, psychological contract fulfillment, and trust

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sjoerd van den Heuvel; Charissa Freese; René Schalk; Marcel van Assen

    2017-01-01

    Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how the quality of change information influences employees’ attitude toward organizational change and turnover intention. Additionally, the role of engagement, psychological contract fulfillment and trust in the relationship between change information

  10. Change of medical student attitudes toward psychiatry: the impact of the psychiatric clerkship.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gazdag, Gábor; Zsargó, Eszter; Vukov, Péter; Ungvari, Gabor S; Tolna, Judit

    2009-01-01

    Psychiatry - as a profession - is getting less and less popular among medical students resulting in a dramatic decrease in number of those choosing this field as a future career. This study set out to investigate how undergraduate psychiatric training influenced the attitudes toward psychiatry and the career choices of fifth-year Hungarian medical students. Students' attitudes toward psychiatry were measured by the ATP-30 and their preference for a career in medicine was also inquired about. The mean total ATP-30 score of the 71 participants only moderately increased (109.28 +/- 11.82 vs. 111.08 +/- 11.94; p=0.186). However, in some respects participants' views about psychiatry and psychiatric patients turned significantly positive, and a few misconceptions abated. Yet, the mean score on the item "I would like to be a psychiatrist" dropped significantly (1.94 +/- 0.89 vs. 1.68 +/- 0.79; p=0.023). The mean ATP-30 scores indicate that the attitude of Hungarian medical students toward psychiatry is rather positive compared to students from other countries. Our findings suggest that undergraduate exposure to psychiatry does not have a major impact on student attitudes toward the profession; in fact, psychiatry became less attractive following the clinical clerkship. On the whole, the number of students willing to enter the psychiatric workforce is critically low in relation to the growing demand in Hungary.

  11. Explicit and implicit attitude toward an emerging food technology: The case of cultured meat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bekker, Gerben A; Fischer, Arnout R H; Tobi, Hilde; van Trijp, Hans C M

    2017-01-01

    Cultured meat is an unfamiliar emerging food technology that could provide a near endless supply of high quality protein with a relatively small ecological footprint. To understand consumer acceptance of cultured meat, this study investigated the influence of information provision on the explicit and implicit attitude toward cultured meat. Three experiments were conducted using a Solomon four-group design to rule out pretest sensitization effects. The first experiment (N = 190) showed that positive or negative information about cultured meat changed the explicit attitude in the direction of the information. This effect was smaller for participants who were more familiar with cultured meat. In the second experiment (N = 194) positive information was provided about solar panels, an attitude object belonging to the same sustainable product category as sustainable food products such as cultured meat. Positive information about solar panels was found to change the explicit attitude in the direction of the information. Using mood induction, the third experiment (N = 192) ruled out the alternative explanation that explicit attitude change in experiment 1 and 2 was caused by content free affect rather than category based inferences. The implicit attitude appeared insensitive to both information or mood state in all three experiments. These findings show that the explicit attitude toward cultured meat can be influenced by information about the sustainability of cultured meat and information about a positively perceived sustainable product. This effect was shown to be content based rather than merely affect based. Content based information in a relevant context could therefore contribute to the commercial success of cultured meat. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Motivational processes associated with unhealthy body change attitudes and behaviours.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mussap, Alexander J

    2007-08-01

    The relationship between approach-avoidance motivational processes and unhealthy body change attitudes and behaviours was investigated. Self-reported sensitivity to rewards (SR) and sensitivity to punishments (SP) were measured for a convenience sample of 130 women, aged 18 to 40 years, along with measures of disordered eating symptomatology and exercise dependence. Together, SR and SP significantly predicted variance in drive for thinness (21%), bulimia (17%), and obligatory exercise (7%). These relationships were partly mediated by internalization of the thin ideal, body comparison, and subjective importance of achieving one's 'ideal' body and of avoiding one's 'worst possible' body. Interestingly, body dissatisfaction partly mediated the relationships involving SP but not SR. The results suggest that an underlying sensitivity to punishments, but not rewards, can manifest as a 'fear of fatness'. Both of these motivational traits can increase the salience of self evaluations, and thus indirectly contribute to unhealthy body change attitudes and behaviours.

  13. Student radiographers' attitudes towards the older patient: Six and twelve months post intervention

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kada, S.; Booth, L.

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: To design and evaluate the effects of an educational intervention on Norwegian student radiographer attitudes towards older people. Design: A longitudinal study design, using pre-test and post-test data was used to determine student attitudes to older people across their educational tenure. Attitudes were measured using Kogan's attitudes towards older people scale. This paper, the second in the series, reports on the changes in student radiographer attitudes, post an educational intervention and post their first experience of clinical placement. Results: Although students initially demonstrated significantly improved attitudes towards older people (p = 0.01), this significance was not noted at 6 months and 12 months post intervention. In fact average scores reduced to an almost identical level to those found pre-intervention Conclusion: Whereas an educational intervention can have an initial positive effect on student attitudes towards older people, the experience of clinical placement reduces these initial effects. - Highlights: • Reports the effects of an intervention to improve attitudes to older people. • Pre-intervention students had generally positive attitudes to older people. • Post-intervention attitudes were significantly more positive. • At 6 months and 12 months post-intervention mean positive scores were reduced. • Some questions score significantly more negatively than others.

  14. Game changing - tracing the positions, strategies and interaction modes of the German Länder towards the (ever expanding?) European Union

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Mads Christian Dagnis

    2014-01-01

    This article investigates how the positions, strategies and modes of interaction of the German Länder have changed over time in response to the process of Europeanization. By applying the method of process tracing within a theoretical framework of rational choice institutionalism, the article...... resulted in a more sceptical attitude of the Länder towards (the perceived ever expanding) European Union....

  15. Changing Medical Students' Attitudes toward Older Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzales, Ernest; Morrow-Howell, Nancy; Gilbert, Pat

    2010-01-01

    Given the growth in the number of older adults and the ageist attitudes many in the health care profession hold, interventions aimed at improving health professionals' attitudes toward older adults are imperative. Vital Visionaries is an intergenerational art program designed to improve medical students' attitudes toward older adults. Participants…

  16. Using video and theater to increase knowledge and change attitudes-Why are gorillas important to the world and to Congo?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breuer, Thomas; Mavinga, Franck Barrel; Evans, Ron; Lukas, Kristen E

    2017-10-01

    Applying environmental education in primate range countries is an important long-term activity to stimulate pro-conservation behavior. Within captive settings, mega-charismatic species, such as great apes are often used to increase knowledge and positively influence attitudes of visitors. Here, we evaluate the effectiveness of a short-term video and theater program developed for a Western audience and adapted to rural people living in two villages around Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, Republic of Congo. We assessed the knowledge gain and attitude change using oral evaluation in the local language (N = 111). Overall pre-program knowledge about Western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) was high. Detailed multivariate analysis of pre-program knowledge revealed differences in knowledge between two villages and people with different jobs while attitudes largely were similar between groups. The short-term education program was successful in raising knowledge, particularly of those people with less pre-program knowledge. We also noted an overall significant attitude improvement. Our data indicate short-term education programs are useful in quickly raising knowledge as well improving attitudes. Furthermore, education messages need to be clearly adapted to the daily livelihood realities of the audience, and multi-variate analysis can help to identify potential target groups for education programs. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  17. [Explicit and implicit attitudes toward standard-Japanese and Osaka-dialect language use].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watanabe, Takumi; Karasawa, Kaori

    2013-04-01

    This article examines the effects of language use on explicit and implicit attitudes. We employed the matched-guise technique to measure participants' impressions of standard-Japanese and Osaka-dialect speakers. Implicit attitudes were assessed by the Implicit Association Test (IAT). The Osaka-dialect speaker was evaluated as warmer than the standard-Japanese speaker, suggesting that explicit attitudes toward the Osaka dialect have changed positively. On the other hand, the results for the impression of intelligence were consistent with the previous literature that the standard-Japanese speaker was seen as more intelligent than the Osaka-dialect speaker. Compared with explicit attitudes, the analyses of implicit attitudes revealed that participants showed a consistent implicit bias favoring standard-Japanese language use. The changing processes and relationships of explicit and implicit attitudes were discussed.

  18. Attitude Strength.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howe, Lauren C; Krosnick, Jon A

    2017-01-03

    Attitude strength has been the focus of a huge volume of research in psychology and related sciences for decades. The insights offered by this literature have tremendous value for understanding attitude functioning and structure and for the effective application of the attitude concept in applied settings. This is the first Annual Review of Psychology article on the topic, and it offers a review of theory and evidence regarding one of the most researched strength-related attitude features: attitude importance. Personal importance is attached to an attitude when the attitude is perceived to be relevant to self-interest, social identification with reference groups or reference individuals, and values. Attaching personal importance to an attitude causes crystallizing of attitudes (via enhanced resistance to change), effortful gathering and processing of relevant information, accumulation of a large store of well-organized relevant information in long-term memory, enhanced attitude extremity and accessibility, enhanced attitude impact on the regulation of interpersonal attraction, energizing of emotional reactions, and enhanced impact of attitudes on behavioral intentions and action. Thus, important attitudes are real and consequential psychological forces, and their study offers opportunities for addressing behavioral change.

  19. The Refugees: Threatening or Beneficial? Exploring the Effects of Positive and Negative Attitudes and Communication on Hostile Media Perceptions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dorothee Arlt

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available In the actual debate on refugees in Germany the media’s role was heavily disputed. To understand this controversy, this study examines hostile media perceptions from the audience perspective. Building up on previous research on the hostile media phenomenon and considering literature on pro- and anti-immigrant attitudes, this study explores the effect of positive and negative attitudes towards refugees as well as of mainstream media, social media and interpersonal communication on hostile media perceptions. Using survey data (N=1005 and applying structural equation modelling, several hypotheses on the effects of attitudes and communication variables were tested. The results demonstrate that perceptions of media bias are strongly influenced by people’s negative and positive attitudes towards refugees and the basic hostile media hypothesis was confirmed. Moreover, our findings reveal that the perceived intensity of media coverage on contested aspects of the refugee issue also has an effect on perceptions of hostility. However, the various communication variables did not prove to have direct effects, whereas mainstream media use, social media use, and interpersonal communication with refugees had indirect effects on the hostile media perception.

  20. Statistical Attitude Determination

    Science.gov (United States)

    Markley, F. Landis

    2010-01-01

    All spacecraft require attitude determination at some level of accuracy. This can be a very coarse requirement of tens of degrees, in order to point solar arrays at the sun, or a very fine requirement in the milliarcsecond range, as required by Hubble Space Telescope. A toolbox of attitude determination methods, applicable across this wide range, has been developed over the years. There have been many advances in the thirty years since the publication of Reference, but the fundamentals remain the same. One significant change is that onboard attitude determination has largely superseded ground-based attitude determination, due to the greatly increased power of onboard computers. The availability of relatively inexpensive radiation-hardened microprocessors has led to the development of "smart" sensors, with autonomous star trackers being the first spacecraft application. Another new development is attitude determination using interferometry of radio signals from the Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation. This article reviews both the classic material and these newer developments at approximately the level of, with emphasis on. methods suitable for use onboard a spacecraft. We discuss both "single frame" methods that are based on measurements taken at a single point in time, and sequential methods that use information about spacecraft dynamics to combine the information from a time series of measurements.

  1. Income, egalitarianism and attitudes towards healthcare policy: a study on public attitudes in 29 countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azar, A; Maldonado, L; Castillo, J C; Atria, J

    2018-01-01

    To evaluate the relationship between income and egalitarian values and attitudes towards healthcare policy. Cross-sectional and cross-national study. Data for 29 countries from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) 2011 were used. The dependent variables are a general attitude towards government involvement in healthcare provision and two attitudes regarding specific policies (taxes and public funding). Income and egalitarianism were also measured by using ISSP. Data were analysed using regression models that account for individual and country-level characteristics, and country-fixed effects. The effect of income is small and non-significant for attitudes towards government involvement and public funding. For willingness to pay (WTP) taxes to improve healthcare services, we find a positive association with income. Results for egalitarianism suggest a positive association with government involvement in healthcare provision and significant interactions with WTP taxes. The distinction of dimensions and mechanisms underlying policy attitudes appears as relevant. Citizens across socioeconomic groups are motivated to support state-funded healthcare, favouring the design of non-selfish policies. These findings suggest that there is space for policymakers who seek to increase healthcare spending encouraging either policies for specific groups or broader institutional changes. Copyright © 2017 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Perceptions of and Attitudes Toward Climate Change in the Southeastern United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    David Himmelfarb; John Schelhas; Sarah Hitchner; Cassandra Johnson Gaither; KathErine Dunbar; J. Peter Brosius

    2014-01-01

    Despite a global scientific consensus on the anthropogenic nature of climate change, the issue remains highly contentious in the United States, stifling public debate and action on the issue. Local perceptions of and attitudes toward climate change-how different groups of people outside of the professional climate science community make sense of changes in climate in...

  3. Developing Training Programs to Enhance Positive Attitude toward the ASEAN Community and Self-responsibility For Students in the 6th Grade Naku Distric Kalasin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Siriporn Chooarerom

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The purposes of this study were to ; 1 Study the status and problem of an through attitude the ASEAN community for grade 6 students. 2 Develop training programs to enhance their positive attitude towards the ASEAN community and self-responsibility for grade 6 students. 3 Experiment training program to enhance their positive attitude towards the ASEAN community and self-responsibility for grade 6 students. The samples of this study were 21 students. They were selected though cluster random sampling method. The research instruments used in the study were the Training programs to enhance their positive attitude towards the ASEAN community and self-responsibility. Surveys of problems from the event ASEAN week. Lenarning ASEAN. Measuring a positive attitude towards the ASEAN community scale with discriminating power ranging 0.375 – 0.793 and Measuring self-responsibility scale with discriminating power ranging 0.411 – 0.893 and a reliability of 0.973. The statistics used for analyzing the collected data were mean, standard deviation, and One-way repeated measure MANOVA The study showed that 1 Study of the attitude of the ASEAN community condition survey found that teachers have trouble understanding, Interested to attend the event and have admired and awareness in preparation the ASEAN community, the levels are minimal. The students realized in preparation, understanding about . Attention to participation and appreciation the ASEAN community, the levels are minimal 2 Training programs to enhance their positive attitude toward the ASEAN community and self-responsibility for grade 6 students was created by. Activities focus on the students involved and take action. Remove group activities used in the event. Stage one consists of two steps leading to the involvement step 3 step 4 step by step analysis and application of the five-stage process and evaluation. By 5 experts have evaluated the overall level more appropriate. 3 Students attend their

  4. Factors that influence dental students' attitudes about older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nochajski, Thomas H; Waldrop, Deborah P; Davis, Elaine L; Fabiano, Jude A; Goldberg, Louis J

    2009-01-01

    Our study considered dental students' general attitudes towards older persons using the Aging Semantic Differential. The influence of age, gender, cohort, education, and academic exposure on general attitudes towards older adults was evaluated using a total of 328 dental students across all four years of academic standing. Students were assessed in the fall and spring semesters. The results showed differential responding on the four subscales, with slight positive ratings on the autonomy, acceptability, and integrity subscales and a slight negative rating for instrumentality. Females expressed more negative attitudes than their male counterparts, with no age differences. There was also no significant impact from a specific, didactic educational component offered to the fourth-year students. However, the fourth-year students were the only group to show positive changes across the full academic year. The results suggest that general attitudes can be changed, but didactic (classroom) forms of education alone are insufficient to meaningfully modify students' perceptions of the elderly. Exposure to older adults in a clinical setting appears to be a critical element, as the fourth-year students received much greater exposure to older patients and more intensified interface with their mentors.

  5. Predictors of Saudi nursing students' attitudes towards environment and sustainability in health care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cruz, J P; Alshammari, F; Felicilda-Reynaldo, R F D

    2018-02-09

    This study aimed to investigate the predictors of Saudi nursing students' attitudes towards the environment and sustainability in health care. With rising temperature and decreasing annual rainfall, Saudi Arabia is threatened by the harmful effects of climate change on its population. In response to these threats, the Ministry of Health adapted sustainable development and environmental preservation in their National E-Health strategy. To implement these policies successfully, healthcare practitioners should be educated on how climate change could impact human health negatively. A secondary analysis of 280 questionnaires from baccalaureate nursing students of a university in Hail City, Saudi Arabia, was completed. The New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Scale and Sustainability Attitudes in Nursing Survey 2 (SANS-2) were used to investigate the predictors of student attitudes towards the environment and sustainable development in health care. The NEP score indicated moderate pro-environment attitudes, whereas the SANS-2 mean score showed very positive attitudes towards sustainability in health care. Learning about the environment and related issues in the nursing programme, raising climate change awareness and attending environment-related seminars and training positively influenced the environmental and sustainability attitudes of nursing students. Saudi nursing students moderately manifested pro-environment attitudes but exhibited extremely positive attitudes towards sustainability in health care. The results support the need to strengthen the education of nursing students about environmental and sustainability concepts and the inclusion of these topics in the nursing curricula. The study underscores the critical role of enriching the awareness of nursing students on environmental issues and concerns and sustainability in health care. The findings of this study can support the inclusion of course contents, which deal specifically with environmental health and

  6. A Joint Positioning and Attitude Solving Method for Shearer and Scraper Conveyor under Complex Conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiacheng Xie

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In a fully mechanized coal-mining face, the positioning and attitude of the shearer and scraper conveyor are inaccurate. To overcome this problem, a joint positioning and attitude solving method that considers the effect of an uneven floor is proposed. In addition, the real-time connection and coupling relationship between the two devices is analyzed. Two types of sensors, namely, the tilt sensor and strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS, are used to measure the shearer body pitch angle and the scraper conveyor shape, respectively. To improve the accuracy, two pieces of information are fused using the adaptive information fusion algorithm. It is observed that, using a marking strategy, the shearer body pitch angle can be reversely mapped to the real-time shape of the scraper conveyor. Then, a virtual-reality (VR software that can visually simulate this entire operation process under different conditions is developed. Finally, experiments are conducted on a prototype experimental platform. The positioning error is found to be less than 0.38 times the middle trough length; moreover, no accumulated error is detected. This method can monitor the operation of the shearer and scraper conveyor in a highly dynamic and precise manner and provide strong technical support for safe and efficient operation of a fully mechanized coal-mining face.

  7. Regular primary school teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education : A review of the literature

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Boer, Anke; Pijl, Sip-Jan; Minnaert, Alexander

    2011-01-01

    Teachers are seen as key persons to implement inclusive education. Positive attitudes are therefore argued as playing a considerable role in implementing this educational change successfully. The aim of this study is to examine what attitudes teachers hold towards inclusive education, which

  8. Self-in-love versus self-in-stigma: implications of relationship quality and love attitudes on self-stigma and mental health among HIV-positive men having sex with men.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Xue; Mak, Winnie W S; Ho, Connie Y Y; Chidgey, Andrew

    2017-01-01

    The present study examines the mediating effect of love attitude on the associations between relationship quality with self-stigma and mental health among HIV-positive men having sex with men (MSM). Participants included 211 HIV-positive MSM (M age  = 41.77 years, SD = 11.10) and they were assessed on their relationship quality, love attitudes, HIV-positive self-stigma, and mental health. Structural equation modeling showed that the model fit the data well, χ 2 (50) = 152.80, p love attitude. The indirect effect of love attitude on mental health was significant through reduced self-stigma. The outcomes differed by the number of partners, partner's knowledge of HIV-positive status, relationship nature, and marital status. Implications for developing a positive self-in-love to diminish self-stigma were discussed.

  9. Quadcopter Attitude and Thrust Simulation Based on Simulink Platform

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Endrowednes Kuantama

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Orientation of quadcopter axes relative to reference line direction of motion will result in attitude and every movement is controlled regulated by each rotor’s thrust. Mathematical equation based on Euler formula and 3D simulation using Matlab/Simulink software platform are used to model quadcopter movement. Change of attitude, position and thrust of each rotor can be seen through this simulation movement.

  10. The psychological aspects of change of attitudes - persuasion

    OpenAIRE

    Fajtlová, Zuzana

    2013-01-01

    This bachelor's thesis is focused on social psychological topic of attitude change through persuasion. It brings certain theoretical background of the topic with its key points and processes. Mainly it is the definition of persuasion, what are the subjects of persuasion, the main conditions, influences, goals and other variables, that step into the process. It is also trying to capture the most important mechanisms, that play role in the process of persuasion. In the whole text the practical ...

  11. Changing Minds about the Changing Climate: a Longitudinal Study of the Impacts of a Climate Change Curriculum on Undergraduate Student Knowledge and Attitudes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burkholder, K. C.; Mooney, S.

    2016-12-01

    In the fall of 2013, 24 sophomore students enrolled in a three-course Learning Community entitled "The Ethics and Science of Climate Change." This learning community was comprised of two disciplinary courses in environmental ethics and environmental science as well as a seminar course in which the students designed and delivered climate change education events in the community beyond campus. Students were surveyed prior to and upon completion of the semester using a variant of the Yale Climate Literacy Survey in order to assess their knowledge of and attitudes towards climate change. An analysis of those survey results demonstrated that the non-traditional curriculum resulted in significant improvements that extended beyond disciplinary knowledge of climate change: the student attitudes about climate change and our cultural response to the issues associated with climate change shifted as well. Finally, a third administration of the survey (n=17) plus follow up interviews with 10 of those original students conducted during the students' senior year in 2016 suggest that the changes that the students underwent as sophomores were largely retained.

  12. Understanding Climate Change Perceptions, Attitudes, and Needs of Forest Service Resource Managers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carlos Rodriguez-Franco; Tara J. Haan

    2015-01-01

    Surveys were collected to assess Forest Service (FS) resource managers' perceptions, attitudes, and informational needs related to climate change and its potential impacts on forests and grasslands. Resource managers with three background types were surveyed. All participants generally considered themselves to be well-informed on climate change issues, although...

  13. Virtual TeamSTEPPS(®) Simulations Produce Teamwork Attitude Changes Among Health Professions Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sweigart, Linda I; Umoren, Rachel A; Scott, Patrician J; Carlton, Kay Hodson; Jones, James A; Truman, Barbara; Gossett, Evalyn J

    2016-01-01

    The majority of the estimated 400,000 or more patient deaths per year in the United States are from preventable medical errors due to poor communication. Team training programs have been established to teach teamwork skills to health professions students. However, it is often challenging to provide this training at a physical site. A brief intervention using a virtual learning environment with TeamSTEPPS(®)-based scenarios is described. Using a pretest-posttest design, the effects on teamwork attitudes in 109 health professional students from two institutions and multiple disciplines were measured using the TeamSTEPPS Teamwork Attitudes questionnaire. Participants showed significant attitude changes in the categories of leadership, situation monitoring, mutual support, and communication (p ⩽ .05), with significance in four of the six indicator attitudes in the communication section at the p ⩽ .001 level. These findings indicate the potential impact that virtual learning experiences may have on teamwork attitudes in learners across professions on multiple campuses. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

  14. Why does asking questions change health behaviours? The mediating role of attitude accessibility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, Chantelle; Conner, Mark; Sandberg, Tracy; Godin, Gaston; Sheeran, Paschal

    2013-01-01

    Objective The question-behaviour effect (QBE) refers to the finding that measuring behavioural intentions increases performance of the relevant behaviour. This effect has been used to change health behaviours. The present research asks why the QBE occurs and evaluates one possible mediator – attitude accessibility. Design University staff and students (N = 151) were randomly assigned to an intention measurement condition where they reported their intentions to eat healthy foods, or to one of two control conditions. Main outcome measures Participants completed a response latency measure of attitude accessibility, before healthy eating behaviour was assessed unobtrusively using an objective measure of snacking. Results Intention measurement participants exhibited more accessible attitudes towards healthy foods, and were more likely to choose a healthy snack, relative to control participants. Furthermore, attitude accessibility mediated the relationship between intention measurement and behaviour. Conclusion This research demonstrates that increased attitude accessibility may explain the QBE, extending the findings of previous research to the domain of health behaviour. PMID:24245778

  15. An Autonomous Ultra-Wide Band-Based Attitude and Position Determination Technique for Indoor Mobile Laser Scanning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lawrence Lau

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Mobile laser scanning (MLS has been widely used in three-dimensional (3D city modelling data collection, such as Google cars for Google Map/Earth. Building Information Modelling (BIM has recently emerged and become prominent. 3D models of buildings are essential for BIM. Static laser scanning is usually used to generate 3D models for BIM, but this method is inefficient if a building is very large, or it has many turns and narrow corridors. This paper proposes using MLS for BIM 3D data collection. The positions and attitudes of the mobile laser scanner are important for the correct georeferencing of the 3D models. This paper proposes using three high-precision ultra-wide band (UWB tags to determine the positions and attitudes of the mobile laser scanner. The accuracy of UWB-based MLS 3D models is assessed by comparing the coordinates of target points, as measured by static laser scanning and a total station survey.

  16. The dead center of the dental curriculum: changing attitudes of dental students during dissection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redwood, Christopher J; Townsend, Grant C

    2011-10-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in dental students' perceptions of professionalism, knowledge, and emotion over the period of dissection in a human anatomy course. Whether human dissection needs to be a part of the modern dental curriculum is often called into question, particularly with the plethora of electronic and other aids available to support the learning of anatomy. The influence of the dissection process on development of professional attitudes and emotional maturity has been studied in medical students, but how dental students react to this part of their education is less well known. To investigate this question, a survey was administered before and after the dissection course to two sequential year groups of dental students. It was found that these students had high levels of understanding of professional values before commencing dissection and continued to value the role of teamwork in aiding their learning over the survey period. The majority of students coped well with the assimilation of knowledge and developed coping mechanisms to handle the emotional aspects of dissection. The students remained excited by and interested in dissection, and the majority valued it as the most positive aspect of their anatomy course. The students increasingly valued the use of prosected specimens as an aid to learning. This study confirmed that significant changes occur in dental students' attitudes during the period of dissection, which we believe contribute to the development of more empathetic and caring practitioners.

  17. Measurement of student attitudes in first year engineering - A mixed methods approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malik, Qaiser Hameed

    This research study focused on freshman attitudes towards engineering in a newly implemented cornerstone sequence that emphasized holistic design experiences. The students' initial attitudes and changes in these attitudes were examined with the explanatory mixed methods approach that allows a sequential examination of the target population with two methods, using two sets of data, to investigate the treatment effects. In the quantitative phase, the study compared changes in freshman attitude towards engineering, between the new 'design sequence' group (composed of freshmen in the cornerstone sequence) and the prior 'traditional sequence' group (composed of all other freshmen), over the course of one semester. The data were collected in fall 2008 at two time intervals and changes in the two groups' attitudes were examined with repeated measures analysis of covariance models. The analyses reported here include data from 389 students out of the total population of 722 freshmen. The analyses revealed that engineering freshmen joined the program with positive or strongly positive attitudes towards engineering. Those strong attitudes were durable and resistant to change. Students in the design sequence group had higher ACT scores, enjoyed math and science the most, and did not believe engineering to be an exact science. However, no appreciable time-group interaction was observed. To validate the quantitative results, an interview protocol was developed to investigate initial freshman attitudes and changes, if any, that took place as a result of the new cornerstone sequence. One-on-one interviews with a sample of ten students out of the population of 272 freshmen revealed that freshmen in the cornerstone sequence entered the program full of enthusiasm and idealism, and with strongly positive attitudes towards engineering. The strong motivational factors included parental/teacher influences, childhood motivations, and high school extra-curricular experiences. The

  18. Gender and Management - Changing Perceptions and Attitudes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angela On

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper is proposing a study on subjective factors (as changing attitudes or expectations that continue to influence female participation in decision making structures. The main objective of our research is to reveal some profound, less obvious causes of perpetuation of the gender imbalanced structures of most Romanian organizations. Expected influences of modernity on the relationship between the two genders are also questioned in order to verify the perpetuation of some social relations. We are also searching for consistency with other studies and reports on the similar subjective factors influencing the Romanian (or European female representation in different power structures.

  19. Americans' attitudes toward premarital sex and pornography consumption: a national panel analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Paul J

    2015-01-01

    National panel data gathered in 2008 (T1) and 2010 (T2) from 420 Black and White US adults aged 18-89 years (M = 45.37, SD = 15.85) were employed to assess prospective associations between pornography consumption and premarital sex attitudes. Premarital sex attitudes were indexed via a composite measure of perceptions of the appropriateness of adults and teenagers having premarital sex. Wright's (2011) sexual script acquisition, activation, application model (3AM) of media sexual socialization was used as the guiding theoretical framework. The 3AM maintains that sexual media may be used by consumers to inform their sexual scripts but that attitude change from exposure to sexual media is less likely when media scripts are incongruent with consumers' preexisting scripts. Consistent with these postulates, the association between pornography consumption at T1 and more positive attitudes toward premarital sex at T2 was strongest for younger adults, who are less oppositional to premarital sex than older adults. Contrary to the position that associations between pornography consumption and premarital sex attitudes are due to individuals who already have positive attitudes toward premarital sex selecting content congruent with their attitudes, premarital sex attitudes at T1 did not predict pornography consumption at T2.

  20. Are they just lazy? Student teachers' attitudes about dyslexia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gwernan-Jones, Ruth; Burden, Robert L

    2010-02-01

    It is highly likely that teachers' abilities in dealing with different forms of learning difficulties will be affected by their knowledge about and attitudes towards those difficulties. Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) provides a useful framework within which to explore such attitudes and was used as the starting point for investigating trainee teachers' attitudes towards aspects of dyslexia. It is assumed that new teachers will enter the profession with a set of intentions according to personal beliefs, normative views within the teaching profession and the sense of competence and power they feel in dealing with dyslexic difficulties. The purpose of this study was to probe student teachers' attitudes at a prestigious School of Education in the Southwest of England. Four hundred and eight primary and secondary Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) students responded to a survey asking about their attitudes toward dyslexia. The student teachers expressed strongly positive attitudes toward the construct of dyslexia, with the majority expressing confidence in their ability to support dyslexic pupils. Females held significantly more positive attitudes toward dyslexia than males, but there were no significant differences according to PGCE course subject. Students who took the survey before and after teaching practice demonstrated some small but significant changes in attitude scores over that time. It is proposed that a new breed of teachers may be entering the teaching profession with positive beliefs about their ability to help dyslexic pupils, but who remain unclear as to how this can be accomplished. Some implications for action and suggestions for future research are provided.

  1. Attitudes to climate change, perceptions of disaster risk, and mitigation and adaptation behavior in Yunlin County, Taiwan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Yung-Jaan; Tung, Chuan-Ming; Lin, Shih-Chien

    2018-02-08

    Issues that are associated with climate change have global importance. Most related studies take a national or regional perspective on the impact of climate change. Taiwan is constrained by its geographical conditions, which increase its vulnerability to climate change, especially in its western coastal areas. The county that is most affected by climate change is Yunlin. In 2013-2014, projects that were sponsored by Taiwan's government analyzed the relationship among synthesized vulnerability, ecological footprint (EF) and adaptation to climate change and proposed 15 categories of synthesized vulnerability and EF values. This study further examines the relationship between vulnerability and EF values and examines how residents of four townships-Linnei, Sihu, Mailiao, and Huwei-cope with the effects of climate change. This study investigates whether the residents of the four townships vary in their attitudes to climate change, their perceptions of disaster risk, and their behavioral intentions with respect to coping with climate change. The structural equation model (SEM) is used to examine the relationships among attitudes to climate change, perceptions of disaster risk, and the behavioral intentions of residents in townships with various vulnerabilities to climate change. The results that are obtained using the SEM reveal that climate change mitigation/adaptation behavior is affected by attitudes to climate change and perceptions of disaster risk. However, the effects of attitudes and perceptions on mitigation and adaptation that are mediated by place attachment are not statistically significant.

  2. Impact of an Oncology Course on the Attitudes of Freshman Medical Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Appel, Marilyn H.; And Others

    Previous attempts to change the prevailing negative attitudes of health professionals toward cancer and cancer patients have consisted mainly of elective courses for small groups of students at advanced levels of medical training. In order to develop more positive attitudes, the Cancer Coordinating Committee at the Medical College of Pennsylvania…

  3. Nursing students attitudes across the suicidal behavior

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nadja Cristiane Lappann Bott

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Objective. Examine the attitudes of nursing students with the suicidal behavior before and after a training course on the subject. Methodology. Performed quantitative, cross-sectional study, with 58 nursing students from a public university in Minas Gerais (Brazil who participated in training on the theme. For data collection were used the Questionnaire of Attitudes Before Suicidal Behavior. The questionnaire was applied just before the start and the end of the training measuring attitudes toward suicidal behavior. Results. Were found statistically significant differences in negative feelings factors on the patient and perception of professional competence (p <0.05. The right factor to suicide was not significantly different among nursing students. Conclusion. The academic training may have influenced positively the desired changes regarding the attitudes of nursing students across the suicidal behavior.

  4. Attitude change in youths after being exposed to different road safety interventions in two Mexican cities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Híjar, Martha; Pérez-Núñez, Ricardo; Santoyo-Castillo, Dzoara; Lunnen, Jeffrey C; Chandran, Aruna; Celis, Alfredo; Carmona-Lozano, Socorro

    2013-12-01

    To assess the reach of three different types of road safety interventions (social marketing, education and law enforcement) implemented as part of the Iniciativa Mexicana de Seguridad Vial y Prevención de Lesiones en el Tránsito (Mexican Initiative for Road Safety and the Prevention of Road Traffic Injuries) among youth in two Mexican cities (Guadalajara-Zapopan, Jalisco and León, Guanajuato), and to examine students' self-reported attitude change after being exposed to these interventions. A cross-sectional design was utilized to evaluate the reach of the city-wide interventions among a random sample of public and private high school and college students from October to December 2011. A total of 5,114 students completed a self-administered questionnaire. In both cities, students reported a greater exposure to social marketing (73% in Guadalajara-Zapopan and 64% in León) as compared to educational interventions (29.3% in León and 21.6% in Guadalajara-Zapopan) and law enforcement activities (~12% in both). Among respondents, self-reported attitude change was higher after being exposed to educational interventions than law enforcement. Social marketing yielded the lowest prevalence of self-reported attitude change. Our results show a potential moderate impact, measured as self-reported attitude change, resulting from the three intervention approaches under study. Future studies should address the intensity of exposure as well as the translation of attitude change into safer behaviors. Information generated by this study could be useful for local authorities in the intervention areas to inform their activities. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. EVALUATION OF ATTITUDES TOWARDS OLD AGE AMONG OLDER ADULTS IN AN INSTITUTIONAL FACILITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pavlína Urbanová

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Aim: The aim of the research was to determine attitudes towards old age in older adults living in institutional facilities, and to compare them with the population standard. A further aim was to determine differences in attitudes towards old age by gender, age, level of education, and self-sufficiency in the older adults surveyed. Design: A cross-sectional study. Methods: A research sample consisting of 121 elderly people living in retirement homes. Data were collected using a Czech version of the AAQ questionnaire (Attitudes to Ageing Questionnaire, and Barthelʼs test of Activities of daily living was used to assess levels of self-sufficiency. Results: Older adults awarded the highest score (most positive attitude in the domain of psychosocial losses. In comparison with the population standard, older adults rated the domain of physical change (p < 0.001 and psychological growth (p < 0.001 negatively. The domain of psychosocial losses was assessed more positively by men (p < 0.001 and the elderly with moderate dependence (p < 0.001; the domain of physical changes was also positively assessed by men (p = 0.001, and older adults with university education (p = 0.002; the domain of psychological growth was rated more positively by adults over 85 years (p = 0.001, and the elderly with basic education (p = 0.040. Conclusion: Determining older adults´ attitudes towards ageing in institutional care may help in the preparation of individual care plans aimed at supporting clients in areas that have been evaluated negatively. Keywords: institutional care, quality of life, attitudes, old age, ageing, self-sufficiency.

  6. Effectiveness of a school-based intervention for enhancing adolescents’ positive attitudes towards people with mental illness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Tsiantis

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available High school students are a common target group in initiatives addressing discriminatory attitudes towards people with mental illness. However, these initiatives are rarely evaluated and documented. The aim of our paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of a school-based educational intervention for improving adolescents’ attitudes and reducing the desire for social distance from people with mental illness living in their community. A total of 161 students aged 16-18 years old were questioned at baseline assessment and 86 of them received a three-workshop educational intervention while 75 students comprised the control group. A follow-up assessment 1 month post intervention evaluated its impact. Attitudes and the social distance were assessed through the Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill scale and a 10-statement questionnaire based on the Self-report Inventory of Fear and Behavioural Intentions, respectively. Data from 140 subjects were analyzed. All attitude dimensions and half of the measured social distance statements were significantly improved in the intervention group at follow up assessment compared to controls. However, the statements measuring more intimate types of social relationships did not change significantly post intervention. In conclusion, short educational interventions can be effective to some extent in reducing discriminatory attitudes towards people with mental illness. However, effective interventions to address deeply held negative stereotypes will require further research.

  7. Maintenance of Improved Attitudes Toward Stuttering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    St Louis, Kenneth O; Flynn, Timothy W

    2018-05-03

    This study sought to determine the extent to which experimentally induced positive attitudes in high school students in a previous investigation were maintained 7 years later. Authors and assistants recruited 36 adults in their early 20s (Follow-up group) who, in high school, had witnessed either a live oral talk by a person who stutters or a professionally made video on stuttering designed for teens followed by a short talk by the same speaker. The Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering was administered before and after the interventions in high school and 7 years later such that pre-post group comparisons were made. Previously, the Follow-up group had demonstrated highly positive changes in their attitudes after the interventions. In addition, a control group of 56 former high school students from the same state, who did not participate in the interventions, were recruited and compared to the Follow-up group. The Follow-up group, which was found to be representative of the original high school cohort, held more positive Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering mean ratings than the Control group, although somewhat less positive than their previous postintervention ratings. The Follow-up group maintained many of the positive changes in their beliefs and self reactions regarding stuttering that were induced 7 years earlier after witnessing personal stories and facts about stuttering.

  8. Attitudes Toward Older Workers and Human Resource Practices

    OpenAIRE

    Kluge, Annette; Krings, Franciska

    2008-01-01

    This study investigated attitudes towards older employees, perceived age discrimination, and HR practices (personnel development and reward) in 240 employees. Attitudes toward older employees were largely positive, thus supporting the notion that attitudes toward older employees are becoming increasingly positive. Older employees' attitudes towards older employees were more positive, but younger employees' attitudes were still favorable. Moreover, older and younger employees reported benefiti...

  9. Comparison of attitude determination approaches using multiple Global Positioning System (GPS antennas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wang Bing

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available GPS-based attitude system is an important research field, since it is a valuable technique for the attitude determination of platforms. There exist two classes approaches for attitude determination using the GPS. The one determines attitude via baseline estimates in two frames, the other one solves for attitude by incorporating the attitude parameters directly into the GPS measurements. However, comparisons between these two classes approaches have been unexplored. First of all, two algorithms are introduced in detail which on behalf of these two kinds of approaches. Then we present numerical simulations demonstrating the performance of our algorithms and provide a comparison evaluating.

  10. 5 years on: Have attitudes towards continuing professional development in radiography changed?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Henwood, Suzanne M.; Flinton, Dave M.

    2012-01-01

    Introduction: This study reports the attitudes of UK radiographers to mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD) following the introduction of a mandatory policy, compared to a survey undertaken prior to the mandate being introduced. Methods and method of data collection: An electronic survey was advertised within 152 hospitals, across a range of hospital types (for example: rural, urban, teaching, district general) and geographic areas to minimise any potential bias through sampling. 406 radiographers responded to the survey, which was endorsed by the College of Radiographers. Results: The study showed that the overall attitude score had not increased significantly, demonstrating an ongoing relatively ambiguous attitude towards CPD. There was an increase in the number of radiographers recording CPD, though radiographers still expressed discontent over the need to evidence CPD activity. The study showed a change in the perceived primary barrier to CPD away from funding to time: time to undertake CPD; and time to record CPD activity. While the activity score had not significantly increased, a broader view of what constitutes CPD was evidenced, away from the previous narrow focus on attendance based activities. Support for CPD also showed no significant change, suggesting that the onus for CPD still predominantly remains with the individual radiographer. Conclusion: The introduction of a mandatory CPD policy has not significantly impacted on the attitudes of radiographers towards CPD activity. The study raises a number of questions which would benefit from further study and highlights some ongoing issues which impact on CPD in practice.

  11. Predictors of a positive attitude of medical students towards general practice - a survey of three Bavarian medical faculties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, Antonius; Karsch-Völk, Marlies; Rupp, Alica; Fischer, Martin R; Drexler, Hans; Schelling, Jörg; Berberat, Pascal

    2013-01-01

    Germany is witnessing an increasing shortage of general practitioners (GPs). The aim was to determine predictors of the job-related motivation of medical students of three medical faculties with different institutionalisation of general practice as an academic discipline. Medical students were surveyed with a standardised questionnaire about their attitudes towards general practice and their motivation to work as a GP in different working conditions. Predictors for positive attitudes and motivation were calculated using logistic regression models. 940 (15.2%) out of 6182 medical students from three Bavarian medical faculties participated in an online survey. 585 (62.7%) were female, and the average age was 25.0 (standard deviation 3.7). The average grade of a university-entrance diploma was 1.6 (standard deviation 0.5). 718 (76.4%) could imagine working as a GP. However, they favoured being employed within another organisation and not having their own private practice (65.5% vs. 35.1%). "Presence of a professorship of general practice" was associated with a positive attitude towards general practice (OR 1.57; 95%CI 1.13-2.417). Motivation for working as a GP was associated with "being female" (OR 2.56; 95%CI 1.80-3.56) and "presence of a professorship of general practice" (OR 1.68; 95%CI 1.14-2.46). Having a lower grade for one's university-entrance diploma was associated with a higher preference to work in one's own practice (OR 1.39; 95%CI 1.02-1.90). A high amount of medical students were open-minded towards general practice. However, they favoured employment within an organization over working in their own practice. Institutionalisation of general practice as an academic discipline might be of importance to gain positive attitudes towards general practice and motivate medical students to work as a GP.

  12. Changing Resistant Audience Attitudes Using Social Judgment Theory's "Anchor" Point Perspectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramos Salazar, Leslie

    2017-01-01

    Courses: Public Speaking, Business and Professional Communication, Persuasion, or any other skill-based oral communication course. Objectives: Students will practice the development and demonstration of persuasive arguments in this single-class social judgment theory activity to improve their ability to change resistant audience attitudes.

  13. Six Key Factors for Changing Preservice Teachers' Attitudes/Beliefs about Diversity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garmon, M. Arthur

    2005-01-01

    In this article the author postulates there are six key factors associated with changing preservice teachers' attitudes toward and beliefs about diversity-their dispositions, which include openness, self-awarenesss/self-reflectiveness, and commitment to social justice; and their experiences, which include intercultural, educational, and support…

  14. Implicit Attitudes Toward Green Consumer Behaviour

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Delphine Vantomme

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to examine the usefulness of implicit (automatic attitudes to explain the weak attitude-behaviour relationships often found in green consumer behaviour research. Therefore, not only explicit but also implicit attitudes toward green consumer behaviour were measured by means of the Implicit Association Test (IAT. Explicit measures revealed positive attitudes, while the IAT showed more positive attitudes toward the ecological than toward the traditional product (Experiment 1 or no differences in these attitudes (Experiment 2 and follow-up study. When existing products were involved, implicit attitudes related to behavioural intention, even where the explicit attitude measure did not.

  15. Uneven transitions: Period- and cohort-related changes in gender attitudes in China, 1995-2007.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shu, Xiaoling; Zhu, Yifei

    2012-09-01

    This paper analyzes temporal variations in two gender attitudes in China: beliefs about gender equality and perspectives on women's combined work and family roles. It uses the most currently available population series from the 1995, 2001 and 2007 World Value Surveys of 4500 respondents and a series of multilevel cross-classified models to properly estimate period and cohort effects. Attitudes toward women's dual roles manifest neither period nor cohort effects; the population displays a universal high level of acceptance of women's paid employment. Orientations toward gender equality manifest both cohort and period effects: members of the youngest cohort of both sexes hold the most liberal attitudes; the positive effect of college education has increased over time. Attitude toward gender equality in China displays neither a shift toward conservatism nor an over-time trend toward egalitarianism in 1995-2007, a time of rapid economic growth. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Induced attitude change on online gaming among adolescents: an application of the less-leads-to-more effect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiou, Wen-Bin

    2008-04-01

    The negative impact of Internet use on adolescents has received much popular attention and has also become a popular research topic. How to induce adolescent players to change their attitudes toward online gaming is one of the most important issues in online gaming addiction. The present study is based on the less-leads-to-more effect of dissonance theory. Experimental research was conducted to examine the effects of rewards and decision freedom on attitude change toward online gaming among adolescents considered at risk for addiction. The results supported predictions based on external justification in dissonance theory. Specifically, fewer rewards produced greater attitude change toward online gaming in the condition of personal freedom of choice after participants exhibited attitude-discrepant behavior. However, the less-leads-to-more effect was not prominent in the condition without personal freedom of choice. Adopting a reward strategy to induce game players to disengage online gaming is discussed.

  17. Postural hemodynamic changes after turning to prone position

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Микола Віталійович Лизогуб

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Background of study. Prone position is one of the most complex positions for anesthesiologist as it is accompanied by several physiological changes that can lead to specific complications. Hemodynamic changes are most controversial.Aim of study was to establish hemodynamic changes in non-anaesthetized patients in prone position depending on body mass index.Material and methods. We examined central hemodynamics in 40 patients the day before surgery using thoracic rheography in supine position, in prone position 5 min after turning and in prone position 20 min after turning. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to body mass index (18-25 and 26-35.Results. Patients with normal body weight did not have any hemodynamic changes after turning to prone position. Patients with increased body weight had higher cardiac index. After turning to prone position obese patients’ cardiac output and cardiac index reduced 22% comparing with supine position. After 20 min in prone position these hemodynamic parameters were found to be reduced to the same level.Conclusion. Significant hemodynamic changes after turning from supine to prone position were revealed only in patients with increased body mass index. In these patients cardiac index in prone position was reduced by 22% comparing to supine position

  18. Dissonance and importance: attitude change effects of personal relevance and race of the beneficiary of a counterattitudinal advocacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eisenstadt, Donna; Leippe, Michael R

    2005-08-01

    The authors asked or instructed White college students to write an essay advocating a large tuition hike to increase scholarships for either students in general or Black students (yielding low or high racial symbolism, respectively) that would take effect in the near or far future (yielding high or low personal relevance, respectively). Especially when high-choice participants wrote highly compliant (i.e., unqualified) essays, attitude change was greater when the advocacy had either high (vs. low) personal relevance or high (vs. low) racial symbolism. Yet there was no attitude change when both symbolism and relevance were high. They may increase dissonance by making the dissonant elements more important and numerous. The coupling of relevance and symbolism, however, may link the attitude so strongly to personal values and self-concept that attitude change becomes untenable as a mode of dissonance reduction.

  19. Negative Attitudes, Network and Education

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bennett, Patrick; la Cour, Lisbeth; Larsen, Birthe

    We consider the impact of negative attitudes against immigrants and immigration on educational choice in a search and wage bargaining model including networking. We consider two cases in terms of the importance of negative attitudes againts immigrants for high and low educated individuals and find...... that more negative attitudes against immigrants has a positive impact on education in one case and a negative impact in the other and has no impact on natives. Immigration improves employment perspectives for immigrants and thereby increases immigrant education whereas endogenous negative attitudes lead...... use Danish register data to find a signficant positive correlation between negative attitudes towards immigrants and high school attendance and find a positive impact of networking on high school attendance. In both the macro and the micro-econometric analysis we run the same regressions for natives...

  20. Knowledge, attitudes and practices of HIV-positive patients regarding disclosure of HIV results at Betesda Clinic in Namibia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Penelope Tom

    2013-02-01

    Objectives: The objectives of the study were to determine knowledge, attitudes, and practices of HIV-positive patients regarding the disclosure of HIV status at Betesda Clinic in Namibia, and to determine the reasons for disclosure and non-disclosure. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study and 263 HIV-positive patients were enrolled in the study. Results: Analyses revealed that knowledge on disclosure was good, with 68% who thought it was important. The majority (73% have disclosed and 60% disclosed within 1 week of receiving their results. The most common reasons for disclosure were that 32% needed help, 25% wanted his or her partner to go for testing, and 20% wanted to let relatives know. Reasons for non-disclosure were mainly the fear of gossip (79%. Seventy-three per cent had disclosed to their partners, and 23% had disclosed to more than one person. People’s reactions were supportive in 43%, whereas 29% understood, 9% accepted and 6% were angry. Upon disclosure 40% received help, 24% of partners were tested, 23% received psychological support and 5% were stigmatised. Disclosure was higher amongst the married and cohabitating. Conclusion: The attitude was positive with regard to knowledge of disclosure, with most participants thinking that disclosure was important and good. The attitudes and actual practices of disclosure were encouraging; however, people are disclosing only to trusted individuals in the society and the fear of stigma is still present although the actual stigma was very low.

  1. Interprofessional simulation-based education program: a promising approach for changing stereotypes and improving attitudes toward nurse-physician collaboration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liaw, Sok Ying; Siau, Chiang; Zhou, Wen Tao; Lau, Tang Ching

    2014-11-01

    An effective working relationship between physicians and nurses is enhanced by fostering positive perceptions and collaborative attitudes between the two professions. This brief paper examines the effect of an interprofessional simulation-based communication education program in enhancing medical and nursing students' perceptions of each other's profession and their attitudes toward nurse-physician collaboration. Pretest-Posttest design was conducted on 96 medical and nursing students who demonstrated the existence of professional stereotypes in the baseline data. This study showed that by promoting open communication, shared information and decision-making, mutual respect, and trust during the interprofessional simulation training, a positive transformation on the stereotypes and attitudes toward nurse-physician collaboration can be achieved. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. The structure and strength of public attitudes towards wind farm development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bidwell, David Charles

    A growing social science literature seeks to understand why, despite broad public support for wind energy, proposals for specific projects are often met with strong local opposition. This gap between general and specific attitudes is viewed as a significant obstacle to the deployment of wind energy technologies. This dissertation applies theoretical perspectives and methodological tools from social psychology to provide insights on the structure and strength of attitudes towards the potential development of commercial wind farm in three coastal areas of Michigan. A survey of attitudes was completed by 375 residents in these communities and structural equation modeling was used to explore the relationship among variables. The analysis found that attitudes towards wind farm development are shaped by anticipated economic benefits to the community, but expectations of economic benefit are driven by personal values. Social psychology has long recognized that all attitudes are not created equal. Weak attitudes are fleeting and prone to change, while strong attitudes are stable over time and resistant to change. There are two fundamental paths to strong attitudes: repeated experience with an attitude object or the application of deeply held principles or values to that object. Structural equation models were also used to understand the strength of attitudes among the survey respondents. Both the anticipated effects of wind farm development and personal values were found to influence the strength of attitudes towards wind farms. However, while expectations that wind farm development will have positive effects on the economy bolster two measures of attitude strength (collective identity and importance), these expectations are associated with a decline in a third measure (confidence). A follow-up survey asking identical questions was completed by completed by 187 respondents to the initial survey. Linear regressions models were used to determine the effects of attitude

  3. AN EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF AUDIO-VISUAL METHODS--CHANGING ATTITUDES TOWARD EDUCATION.

    Science.gov (United States)

    LOWELL, EDGAR L.; AND OTHERS

    AUDIOVISUAL PROGRAMS FOR PARENTS OF DEAF CHILDREN WERE DEVELOPED AND EVALUATED. EIGHTEEN SOUND FILMS AND ACCOMPANYING RECORDS PRESENTED INFORMATION ON HEARING, LIPREADING AND SPEECH, AND ATTEMPTED TO CHANGE PARENTAL ATTITUDES TOWARD CHILDREN AND SPOUSES. TWO VERSIONS OF THE FILMS AND RECORDS WERE NARRATED BY (1) "STARS" WHO WERE…

  4. Peer Instruction in Introductory Physics: A Method to Bring about Positive Changes in Students' Attitudes and Beliefs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Ping; Ding, Lin; Mazur, Eric

    2017-01-01

    This paper analyzes pre-post matched gains in the epistemological views of science students taking the introductory physics course at Beijing Normal University (BNU) in China. In this study we examined the attitudes and beliefs of science majors (n = 441) in four classes, one taught using traditional (lecture) teaching methods, and the other three…

  5. The attitudes of general hospital doctors toward patients with comorbid mental illness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noblett, Joanne E; Lawrence, Robert; Smith, Jared G

    2015-01-01

    What are the attitudes of general hospital doctors toward patients with comorbid mental illness? Do certain characteristics of the health professional related to attitude valence to patients with comorbid mental illness? An anonymous questionnaire was sent out to a cohort of doctors working in three General Hospitals in South West London. The questionnaire included vignettes to assess the respondents' attitudes toward eight patients presenting with a physical compliant with different clinical histories, including depression, schizophrenia, personality disorder, diabetes, and criminal behavior. A total of 52 participants completed the questionnaire; 40 females and 12 males. Across all domains, the most positive attitudes were held toward patients without a diagnosis of mental illness. The least positive attitudes were toward patients with schizophrenia, personality disorder, and those classified as "criminals," and negative attitudes relating to the unpredictability of patients was identified in these categories. There was no statistically significant difference in attitudes depending on age or level of training. However, female participants tended to endorse more positive attitudinal responses, most clearly toward patients with depression and heroin addiction. Negative attitudes of doctors were identified toward certain mental illness diagnoses and are likely to contribute the physical health disparity between patients with and without a comorbid mental illness. This raises the question as to how these attitudes can be changed in order to improve the parity of physical health care between patient with and without mental illness. © The Author(s) 2015.

  6. Conceptualizing women's attitudes toward condom use with the tripartite model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hood, Kristina B; Shook, Natalie J

    2013-01-01

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2011) estimated that women represent 24% of HIV diagnoses in the United States, with most infections resulting from heterosexual contact. However, consistent condom use is highly effective in preventing the spread of HIV. The current study examined women's attitudes toward condom use and potential inconsistencies related to the conceptualization and measurement of attitudes. Data were collected from October 2009 through March 2010. Researchers included 556 female undergraduate students from the Southeast region of the United States. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to determine whether women's condom use attitudes were composed of an affective and a cognitive component. Evidence for a two-factor model of condom use attitudes consisting of an affective and cognitive component was found, with participants reporting slightly negative feelings toward condom use but favorable beliefs about using condoms. Affect accounted for more variance (42%) than cognition (8%) in condom use attitudes. Notably, affect and cognition were differentially associated with past behavior and intentions to use condoms. Understanding the structure of women's attitudes toward using condoms can aid in the creation of appropriate HIV prevention and condom use messaging targeted toward promoting positive attitudes and normative change. Changing women's attitudes in this manner could enhance the effectiveness of condom use interventions.

  7. Changes in insurance physicians' attitudes, self-efficacy, intention, and knowledge and skills regarding the guidelines for depression, following an implementation strategy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zwerver, Feico; Schellart, Antonius J M; Anema, Johannes R; van der Beek, Allard J

    2013-03-01

    To improve guideline adherence by insurance physicians (IPs), an implementation strategy was developed and investigated in a randomized controlled trial. This implementation strategy involved a multifaceted training programme for a group of IPs in applying the guidelines for depression. In this study we report the impact of the implementation strategy on the physicians' attitude, intention, self-efficacy, and knowledge and skills as behavioural determinants of guideline adherence. Any links between these self-reported behavioural determinants and levels of guideline adherence were also determined. Just before and 3 months after the implementation of the multifaceted training, a questionnaire designed to measure behavioural determinants on the basis of the ASE (attitude, social norm, self-efficacy) model was completed by the intervention (n = 21) and the control group (n = 19). Items of the questionnaire were grouped to form scales of ASE determinants. Internal consistency of the scales was calculated using Cronbach's alphas. Differences between groups concerning changes in ASE determinants, and the association of these changes with improvements in guideline adherence, were analyzed using analysis of covariance. The internal consistency of the scales of ASE determinants proved to be sufficiently reliable, with Cronbach's alphas of at least 0.70. At follow-up after 3 months, the IPs given the implementation strategy showed significant improvement over the IPs in the control group for all ASE determinants investigated. Changes in knowledge and skills were only weakly associated with improvements in guideline adherence. The implementation strategy developed for insurance physicians can increase their attitude, intention, self-efficacy, and knowledge and skills when applying the guidelines for depression. These changes in behavioural determinants might indicate positive changes in IPs' behaviour towards the use of the guidelines for depression. However, only changes in

  8. Positive Attitude toward Healthy Eating Predicts Higher Diet Quality at All Cost Levels of Supermarkets☆

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aggarwal, Anju; Monsivais, Pablo; Cook, Andrea J.; Drewnowski, Adam

    2014-01-01

    Shopping at low-cost supermarkets has been associated with higher obesity rates. This study examined whether attitudes toward healthy eating are independently associated with diet quality among shoppers at low-cost, medium-cost, and high-cost supermarkets. Data on socioeconomic status (SES), attitudes toward healthy eating, and supermarket choice were collected using a telephone survey of a representative sample of adult residents of King County, WA. Dietary intake data were based on a food frequency questionnaire. Thirteen supermarket chains were stratified into three categories: low, medium, and high cost, based on a market basket of 100 commonly eaten foods. Diet-quality measures were energy density, mean adequacy ratio, and total servings of fruits and vegetables. The analytical sample consisted of 963 adults. Multivariable regressions with robust standard error examined relations between diet quality, supermarket type, attitudes, and SES. Shopping at higher-cost supermarkets was associated with higher-quality diets. These associations persisted after adjusting for SES, but were eliminated after taking attitudinal measures into account. Supermarket shoppers with positive attitudes toward healthy eating had equally higher-quality diets, even if they shopped at low-, medium-, or high-cost supermarkets, independent of SES and other covariates. These findings imply that shopping at low-cost supermarkets does not prevent consumers from having high-quality diets, as long as they attach importance to good nutrition. Promoting nutrition-education strategies among supermarkets, particularly those catering to low-income groups, can help to improve diet quality. PMID:23916974

  9. Interprofessional staff development: changing attitudes and winning hearts and minds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Elizabeth Susan; Thorpe, Lucy Nichola; Hammick, Marilyn

    2011-01-01

    As more educators are involved in interprofessional education (IPE) it is important to consider how participation affects those who are sceptical about IPE. We report a prospective study in which the attitudes of 13 educators, unfamiliar with IPE, were compared before and after facilitating their first IPE. Their views, obtained as personal stories, were analysed through cognitive dissonance theory. Prior to teaching, all novice educators had concerns about IPE. Post-facilitation all were more positive about the value and meaning of IPE.

  10. Change in the family food environment is associated with positive dietary change in children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hendrie Gilly

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The family food environment is an important influence in the development of children’s dietary habits. Research suggests that influences of current dietary behaviour and behaviour change may differ. The aims of this paper were to: (1 investigate the association between the food environment at baseline and change in children’s saturated fat intake; and (2 to explore whether a change in the food environment was associated with a change in children’s saturated fat intake. Method Secondary analysis of a 12 week cluster randomised controlled trial in 133 4-13 year old children. Families were randomly allocated to parental education regarding changing to reduced-fat dairy foods or a comparison non-dietary behaviour. The interventions were family focused. Parents received education from a dietitian in 3x30minute sessions to facilitate behaviour change. Parents completed a comprehensive questionnaire capturing three domains of the food environment – Parent knowledge and attitudes; shaping practices; and behaviours and role modelling. Children’s dietary intake was assessed via multiple 24-hour recalls at baseline and week 12. Changes in the family food environment and primary outcome (saturated fat were calculated. Hierarchical linear regression models were performed to explore the association between baseline and change in food environment constructs and change in saturated fat intake. Standardised Beta are presented (p Results After adjustments for child and family demographics, higher levels of perceived food availability (β=-0.2 at baseline was associated with greater reduction in saturated fat intake, where as higher perceived responsibility (β=0.2, restriction (β=0.3 and pressure to eat (β=0.3 were associated with lesser change in saturated fat. An increase in nutrition knowledge (β=-0.2, perceived responsibility (β=-0.3 and restriction (β=-0.3 from baseline to week 12 were associated with greater reduction in

  11. Growing Plants and Scientists: Fostering Positive Attitudes toward Science among All Participants in an Afterschool Hydroponics Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patchen, Amie K.; Zhang, Lin; Barnett, Michael

    2017-01-01

    This study examines an out-of-school time program targeting elementary-aged youth from populations that are typically underrepresented in science fields (primarily African-American, Hispanic, and/or English Language Learner participants). The program aimed to foster positive attitudes toward science among youth by engaging them in growing plants…

  12. Attitudes of neurology specialists toward older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seferoğlu, Meral; Yıldız, Demet; Pekel, Nilüfer Büyükkoyuncu; Güneş, Aygül; Yıldız, Abdülmecit; Tufan, Fatih

    2017-08-01

    Attitude of healthcare providers toward older people is very important in the aging world. Neurologists contact older adults very frequently. We aimed to investigate the attitudes of neurologists toward older adults. We recorded participants age; sex; duration of clinical practice in neurology; existence of older adult relatives; and history of geriatrics education, nursing home visits, older adult patient density in their clinical practice, and participation in voluntary public activities. UCLA Geriatrics Attitude Scale was used to evaluate participants' attitudes. A total of 100 neurologists participated in this study. Seventy-seven percent had positive, 3 % had neutral, and 20 % had negative attitudes. Twenty-seven percent of the participants had history of geriatrics education, and these participants tended to have a higher rate of positive attitudes. Neurologists with positive attitudes tended to be older than those with negative attitudes. Participants with history of living with older adult relatives had lower rates of positive attitudes. The most common diagnoses of the patients the participants encountered were stroke and dementia. Independent factors associated with positive attitudes were history of geriatrics education and older age. History of living with older relatives tended to have a negative effect. Most of the negative items of the attitude scale were associated with the natural course and behavior of the common diseases in neurology practice. Generalization of geriatrics education may translate into a better understanding and improved care for older patients. Development of instruments and implementation of qualitative studies to assess attitudes of neurologists toward older adults are needed.

  13. The Purchase of Voluntary Carbon Offsets by Australian Consumers: Exploring the Attitude-Behaviour Gap

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Adamsen, Jannie Mia; Sloan, Sarah

    This research examines the level of environmental awareness among Australian consumers and identifies the factors that affect attitudes and behaviour towards purchasing carbon offset products. Data was obtained from 83 consumers through an online survey to measure knowledge and purchase behaviour...... of carbon offsets, intention for future purchases and attitudes towards the environment. The results demonstrate that an attitude-behaviour gap exists among Australian consumers; while consumers possess strong positive attitudes towards the environment and climate change, this does not translate into actual...

  14. Receptive Audiences for Climate Change Education: Understanding Attitudes and Barriers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, L. D.; Luebke, J. F.; Clayton, S.; Saunders, C. D.; Matiasek, J.; Grajal, A.

    2012-12-01

    Much effort has been devoted to finding ways to explain climate change to uninterested audiences and encourage mitigation behaviors among dismissive audiences. Most approaches have focused on conveying information about climate change processes or threats. Here we report the results of a national survey designed to characterize the readiness of zoo and aquarium visitors to engage with the issue of climate change. Two survey forms, one focused primarily on attitudes (N=3,594) and another on behaviors (N=3,588), were administered concurrently in summer 2011 at 15 Association of Zoos and Aquariums accredited institutions. The attitudes survey used Global Warming's Six Americas segmentation protocols (climatechangecommunication.org) to compare climate change attitudes of zoo and aquarium visitors with the American public (Leiserowitz et al., 2011). Our results reveal that visitors are receptive audiences for climate change education and want to do more to address climate change. Even these favorable audiences, however, perceive barriers to engaging in the issue, signifying the importance of meeting the learning needs of those who acknowledge anthropogenic climate change, and not only of climate change 'deniers.' While 39% of the general public is 'concerned' or 'alarmed' about global warming, 64% of zoo and aquarium visitors fall into these two "Six Americas" segments. Visitors also differ from the national sample in key attitudinal characteristics related to global warming. For example, nearly two-thirds believe human actions are related to global warming, versus less than one-half of the general public; and approximately 60% think global warming will harm them personally, moderately or a great deal, versus less than 30% of the general public. Moreover, 69% of visitors would like to do more to address climate change. Despite zoo and aquarium visitors' awareness of climate change and motivation to address it, survey results indicate they experience barriers to

  15. Adoption of innovative heating systems. Needs and attitudes of Swedish homeowners

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mahapatra, K; Gustavsson, L [Ecotechnology, Mid Sweden University, 831 25 Oestersund (Sweden)

    2009-11-15

    Questionnaire surveys of Swedish homeowners of detached houses were carried out in 2004 and 2007 to understand their needs and attitudes towards attributes of innovative heating systems (IHSs) comprised of a bedrock heat pump, district heating, or a wood pellet boiler. In each occasion 1,500 homeowners were randomly selected. The response rate was 42% in 2004 and 48% in 2007. Results showed that the majority of the respondents were satisfied with their existing heating system and did not intend to install new systems. Economic factors and functional reliability were the most important factors in the respondents' choices of heating system, while environmental factors were of lower importance. Among the IHSs, respondents had the most favorable attitude towards bedrock heat pumps followed by district heating and pellet boilers. But the attitude was more favorable towards electric boilers than for pellet boilers. The least favorable attitude was towards oil boilers. Between 2004 and 2007, there was a positive change in respondents' attitude towards IHSs and electric boilers, and a negative change in attitude towards resistance heaters and oil boilers.

  16. Automatic affective-motivational regulation processes underlying supportive dyadic coping: the role of increased implicit positive attitudes toward communal goals in response to a stressed relationship partner.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koranyi, Nicolas; Hilpert, Peter; Job, Veronika; Bodenmann, Guy

    2017-09-01

    We examined the implicit affective mechanisms underlying provision of support in intimate dyads. Specifically, we hypothesized that in individuals with high relationship satisfaction, the perception that one's partner is stressed leads to increased implicit positive attitudes toward communal goals. In turn, this change in implicit attitudes facilitates supportive behavior. In two studies, we induced partner stress by instructing participants to either recall a situation where their partner was highly stressed (Study 1; N = 47 university students) or imagine a specific stressful event (excessive workload; Study 2; N = 85 university students). Subsequently, implicit attitudes toward communal goals were assessed with an Implicit Association Test. In both studies, we found that among participants with high relationship satisfaction partner stress increases preferences for communal goals. In addition, implicit preferences for communal goals predicted stronger inclinations to engage in supportive dyadic coping (Study 2). The current findings provide important insights into the implicit cognitive-affective mechanics of dyadic coping. Moreover, they can explain how people manage to avoid experiencing motivational conflicts between partner-oriented and self-oriented goals in situations characterized by high partner stress.

  17. Dual elaboration models in attitude change processes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Žeželj Iris

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available This article examines empirical and theoretical developments in research on attitude change in the past 50 years. It focuses the period from 1980 till present as well as cognitive response theories as the dominant theoretical approach in the field. The postulates of Elaboration Likelihood Model, as most-researched representative of dual process theories are studied, based on review of accumulated research evidence. Main research findings are grouped in four basic factors: message source, message content, message recipient and its context. Most influential criticisms of the theory are then presented regarding its empirical base and dual process assumption. Some possible applications and further research perspectives are discussed at the end.

  18. Opposition to enlargement as a symbolic defence of group position: multilevel analyses of attitudes toward candidates' entries in the EU-25.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dixon, Jeffrey C

    2010-03-01

    Despite the sociological and geopolitical significance of EU enlargement and opinion toward it, extant literature is lacking a theory of enlargement opinion and an examination of opinion in the wake of the 2004 enlargement. This paper fills these gaps by developing a symbolic defence of group position model to explain opposition to the entries of candidate states (as of 2005: Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, and Turkey) and to examine how these explanations differ for post-Communist EU members. Results of hierarchical multinomial logistic models of Eurobarometer (European Commission 2005) data from the EU-25 support the notion that the symbolic nature of enlargement shapes the effects of interests, threat, and other factors on opinion depending on candidates' position in a culturally and historically-rooted hierarchy of 'European-ness'. Attitudes toward Turkey's entry are less shaped by material interests than attitudes toward other candidates' entries, which is explained by Turkey's position at the bottom - and post-Communist countries' position in the middle - of this hierarchy in the post-Cold War era. Attitudes toward Turkey's entry are rather a function of the perceived threat that it poses to the group position and identity of Europeans, which is defended by the politically knowledgeable. While the lower levels of threat in post-socialist EU member countries help to account for their lower levels of opposition to candidates' entries, people in these countries to a greater extent use European identity as a way of symbolically distancing themselves from Turkey. Implications are discussed.

  19. Modeling determinants of medication attitudes and poor adherence in early nonaffective psychosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Drake, Richard J; Nordentoft, Merete; Haddock, Gillian

    2015-01-01

    the hypothesis that medication attitudes, while meaningfully different from "insight," correlated with insight and self-esteem, and change in each influenced the others. Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Birchwood Insight Scale, and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale insight were assessed at presentation, after 6...... medication attitudes, self-esteem, and insight in an early psychosis cohort better to understand their relationships. Existing longitudinal data from 309 patients with early Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, nonaffective psychosis (83% first episode) were analyzed to test...... five latent constructs best fitted the data: medication attitudes, self-esteem, accepting need for treatment, self-rated insight, and objective insight. All were related and each affected the others as it changed, except self-esteem and medication attitudes. Low self-reported insight at presentation...

  20. Results of a drug prevention program in the changing attitudes of students

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    Cristóbal VILLANUEVA ROA

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Drug abuse is a problem that the population is highly sensitive. On the other hand, is clear that in the field of education, together with the family, the ideal roomto articulate prevention programmes. One the aspects which many educational programmes have not had the expec ted results has been for not taking into account the family environment and not control his influence. with this research we have found that there are significant differences in the 2nd ESO students attitude, regarding the rejection of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs, depending on which the prevention programme is aplied or not to students. Research has been done with quasi experimental pretest postest to not equivalent control group. The analysis of results, shows that the implementation of the programme has been effective as far as the students attitude has highly improved with regard to the prevention of drugs, mainly tobacco which is the most widely abused drug at these ages. Regarding the expected differences in students attitude by the implementation of a prevention programme with parents, we have not seen significant differences in the results possibly because the initial attitudes are very positive and is very short period of time. As a result of the study we believe it is important to recover the educator family role since its influence is decisive in prevention.

  1. Attitudes of Heterosexual Men and Women Toward HIV Negative and Positive Gay Men.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norcini Pala, Andrea; Villano, Paola; Clinton, Lauren

    2017-01-01

    Attitudes of Italian heterosexual men and women toward gay men, both HIV positive and negative, are poorly investigated. Italian culture is still extremely conservative and provides limited support to the gay community (e.g., lack of same-sex marriage recognition). Consequently, gay men experience social exclusion and disparities. The present study explores the association between homophobia and closeness with sexual orientation and HIV status. 261 heterosexual Italian men and women were assessed for feelings of closeness and homophobia after reading a vignette where the character was C1: heterosexual and HIV negative; C2: gay and HIV negative; or C3: gay and HIV positive. Experiences of homophobia and closeness varied depending on gender of participant and condition assigned, and higher levels of homophobia were correlated with lower levels of closeness regardless of HIV status. Implications and future directions are discussed.

  2. When truth is personally inconvenient, attitudes change: the impact of extreme weather on implicit support for green politicians and explicit climate-change beliefs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rudman, Laurie A; McLean, Meghan C; Bunzl, Martin

    2013-11-01

    A naturalistic investigation of New Jersey residents, both before and after they experienced Hurricanes Irene and Sandy, examined support for politicians committed or opposed to policies designed to combat climate change. At Time 1, before both hurricanes, participants showed negative implicit attitudes toward a green politician, but at Time 2, after the hurricanes, participants drawn from the same cohort showed a reversed automatic preference. Moreover, those who were significantly affected by Hurricane Sandy were especially likely to implicitly prefer the green politician, and implicit attitudes were the best predictor of voting after the storms, whereas explicit climate-change beliefs was the best predictor before the storms. In concert, the results suggest that direct experience with extreme weather can increase pro-environmentalism, and further support conceptualizing affective experiences as a source of implicit attitudes.

  3. Climate Change Awareness and Attitudes Among Adolescents in the Czech Republic

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    Jan Skalík

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The distribution of climate change awareness of Czech adolescent students and their climate change related attitudes are analysed in this study. Even though the influence of accessed information on actual behaviour is usually described as rather small by most experimental studies, we argue that the effect of knowledge on specific behaviour becomes significant in a long time perspective. The main focus of the study is thus to offer a segmentation of youth in the issue of climate change related to information sources they trust and also related to the type of information on climate change – such as documents, processes, terms or numeral data. A sample of students from Masaryk University and several grammar schools from Czech Republic participated in the quantitative study focusing on their knowledge of climate change, information sources they use and proenvironmental attitudes. The survey highlighted the extremely low level of students’ knowledge. A strong tie between the amount of accessed information and evaluation of the seriousness of climate change was found. Trust in scientific evidence and effort not to rely only on one source of information does correlate with respondent awareness. Students, who understand climate change well, are often post-materialists. On the other hand, informed students do not feel greater concern and are not more globally focused than others. Although there is no clear relation between awareness and levels of consumerism, the more were the students informed, the more they feel their personal responsibility for climate change. Females are not on average better informed then males, but their feeling of personal responsibility is much higher. The study thus confirmed general expectations about unspecific awareness of climate change in the specific context and presented segmentations of the public for further social-marketing purposes.      

  4. ATTITUDES OF STUDENTS TOWARDS LEARNING OBJECTS IN WEB-BASED LANGUAGE LEARNING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmet BASAL

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Language education is important in the rapidly changing world. Every year much effort has spent on preparing teaching materials for language education. Since positive attitudes of learners towards a teaching material enhance the effectiveness of that material, it is important to determine the attitudes of learners towards the material used. Learning objects (LOs are a new type of material on which many studies have been conducted in recent years. The aim of this study is to determine the attitudes of students towards LOs in web-based language learning. To this end, the study was conducted in English I Course at the Department of Computer Programming in Kırıkkale University in 2010-2011 Fall Semester. Seventy LOs appropriate for six-week long lecture program were integrated into the Learning Management System (LMS of Kırıkkale University. The study group consisted of 38 students. After the six weeks long implementation period of the study, an attitude scale was administered to the students. The findings indicated that students in web based language education have positive attitudes towards LOs.

  5. The complexity and ambivalence of immigration attitudes: ambivalent stereotypes predict conflicting attitudes toward immigration policies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reyna, Christine; Dobria, Ovidiu; Wetherell, Geoffrey

    2013-07-01

    Americans' conflicted attitudes toward immigrants and immigration has stymied immigration reform for decades. In this article, we explore the nuanced nature of stereotypes about immigrants and how they relate to ambivalent attitudes toward immigrant groups and the disparate array of immigration policies that affect them. Using item response theory and multiple regression analysis, we identified and related stereotypes of different immigrant groups to group-based and policy attitudes. Results demonstrate that ambivalent stereotypes mapped onto ambivalent group-based and immigration policy attitudes. Specifically, stereotypes that portray groups in positive or sympathetic ways predicted positive attitudes toward the group and more supportive attitudes toward policies that facilitate their immigration to the United States. Conversely, negative qualities predicted negative attitudes toward the same group and support for policies that prevent the group from immigrating. Results are discussed in light of current theory related to stereotype content, complementarity of stereotypes, and broader implications for immigration attitudes and policy. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

  6. Changes in Sun Tanning Attitudes and Behaviors of U.S. College Students from 1995 to 2005

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pettijohn, Terry F., II; Pettijohn, Terry F.; Geschke, Kaela S.

    2009-01-01

    To investigate changes in U.S. college student sun tanning attitudes and behaviors over the last decade, participants completed sun tanning attitude and behavior surveys in 1995 (n=151) and a different sample of participants completed surveys in 2005 (n=208). Consistent with predictions, results indicated that college students were more likely to…

  7. It's all in the attitude: The role of job attitude strength in job attitude-outcome relationships.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schleicher, Deidra J; Smith, Troy A; Casper, Wendy J; Watt, John D; Greguras, Gary J

    2015-07-01

    Integrating attitude theory with the job attitudes literature, we position job attitude strength (JAS) as a missing yet important theoretical concept in the study of job attitudes. We examine JAS as a moderator of the relationship between job satisfaction and several criteria of interest to organizational scholars (job performance, organizational citizenship behavior, withdrawal). We also examine multiple relevant indicators of JAS (i.e., attitude certainty, attitude extremity, latitude of rejection, and structural consistency), both to shed light on its conceptual nature and to provide meaningful practical direction to researchers interested in incorporating JAS into job attitude research. Data were collected in five field samples (total N = 816). Results support our hypotheses: JAS moderates the relationships between job satisfaction and performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and turnover intentions; in each case, these relationships are significantly stronger for employees with stronger job satisfaction attitudes. However, as expected, not all JAS indicators are equally effective as moderators. We discuss our findings in terms of their theoretical, empirical, and practical implications for the future study of job attitudes. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  8. Positive attitude toward healthy eating predicts higher diet quality at all cost levels of supermarkets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aggarwal, Anju; Monsivais, Pablo; Cook, Andrea J; Drewnowski, Adam

    2014-02-01

    Shopping at low-cost supermarkets has been associated with higher obesity rates. This study examined whether attitudes toward healthy eating are independently associated with diet quality among shoppers at low-cost, medium-cost, and high-cost supermarkets. Data on socioeconomic status (SES), attitudes toward healthy eating, and supermarket choice were collected using a telephone survey of a representative sample of adult residents of King County, WA. Dietary intake data were based on a food frequency questionnaire. Thirteen supermarket chains were stratified into three categories: low, medium, and high cost, based on a market basket of 100 commonly eaten foods. Diet-quality measures were energy density, mean adequacy ratio, and total servings of fruits and vegetables. The analytical sample consisted of 963 adults. Multivariable regressions with robust standard error examined relations between diet quality, supermarket type, attitudes, and SES. Shopping at higher-cost supermarkets was associated with higher-quality diets. These associations persisted after adjusting for SES, but were eliminated after taking attitudinal measures into account. Supermarket shoppers with positive attitudes toward healthy eating had equally higher-quality diets, even if they shopped at low-, medium-, or high-cost supermarkets, independent of SES and other covariates. These findings imply that shopping at low-cost supermarkets does not prevent consumers from having high-quality diets, as long as they attach importance to good nutrition. Promoting nutrition-education strategies among supermarkets, particularly those catering to low-income groups, can help to improve diet quality. Copyright © 2014 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Identifying Persuasive Public Health Messages to Change Community Knowledge and Attitudes About Bulimia Nervosa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McLean, Siân A; Paxton, Susan J; Massey, Robin; Hay, Phillipa J; Mond, Jonathan M; Rodgers, Bryan

    2016-01-01

    Addressing stigma through social marketing campaigns has the potential to enhance currently low rates of treatment seeking and improve the well-being of individuals with the eating disorder bulimia nervosa. This study aimed to evaluate the persuasiveness of health messages designed to reduce stigma and improve mental health literacy about this disorder. A community sample of 1,936 adults (48.2% male, 51.8% female) from Victoria, Australia, provided (a) self-report information on knowledge and stigma about bulimia nervosa and (b) ratings of the persuasiveness of 9 brief health messages on dimensions of convincingness and likelihood of changing attitudes. Messages were rated moderately to very convincing and a little to moderately likely to change attitudes toward bulimia nervosa. The most persuasive messages were those that emphasized that bulimia nervosa is a serious mental illness and is not attributable to personal failings. Higher ratings of convincingness were associated with being female, with having more knowledge about bulimia nervosa, and with lower levels of stigma about bulimia nervosa. Higher ratings for likelihood of changing attitudes were associated with being female and with ratings of the convincingness of the corresponding message. This study provides direction for persuasive content to be included in social marketing campaigns to reduce stigma toward bulimia nervosa.

  10. Health science center faculty attitudes towards interprofessional education and teamwork.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gary, Jodie C; Gosselin, Kevin; Bentley, Regina

    2018-03-01

    The attitudes of faculty towards interprofessional education (IPE) and teamwork impact the education of health professions education (HPE) students. This paper reports on a study evaluating attitudes from health professions educators towards IPE and teamwork at one academic health science center (HSC) where modest IPE initiatives have commenced. Drawing from the results of a previous investigation, this study was conducted to examine current attitudes of the faculty responsible for the training of future healthcare professionals. Survey data were collected to evaluate attitudes from HSC faculty, dentistry, nursing, medicine, pharmacy and public health. In general, positive HSC faculty attitudes towards interprofessional learning, education, and teamwork were significantly predicted by those affiliated with the component of nursing. Faculty development aimed at changing attitudes and increasing understanding of IPE and teamwork are critical. Results of this study serve as an underpinning to leverage strengths and evaluate weakness in initiating IPE.

  11. Cancer screening education: can it change knowledge and attitudes among culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Queensland, Australia?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cullerton, Katherine; Gallegos, Danielle; Ashley, Ella; Do, Hong; Voloschenko, Anna; Fleming, MaryLou; Ramsey, Rebecca; Gould, Trish

    2016-06-29

    Issue addressed: Screening for cancer of the cervix, breast and bowel can reduce morbidity and mortality. Low participation rates in cancer screening have been identified among migrant communities internationally. Attempting to improve low rates of cancer screening, the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland developed a pilot Cancer Screening Education Program for breast, bowel and cervical cancer. This study determines the impact of education sessions on knowledge, attitudes and intentions to participate in screening for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities living in Brisbane, Queensland. Methods: Seven CALD groups (Arabic-speaking, Bosnian, South Asian (including Indian and Bhutanese), Samoan and Pacific Island, Spanish-speaking, Sudanese and Vietnamese) participated in a culturally-tailored cancer screening education pilot program that was developed using the Health Belief Model. A pre- and post-education evaluation session measured changes in knowledge, attitudes and intention related to breast, bowel and cervical cancer and screening. The evaluation focussed on perceived susceptibility, perceived seriousness and the target population's beliefs about reducing risk by cancer screening. Results: There were 159 participants in the three cancer screening education sessions. Overall participants' knowledge increased, some attitudes toward participation in cancer screening became more positive and intent to participate in future screening increased (n=146). Conclusion: These results indicate the importance of developing screening approaches that address the barriers to participation among CALD communities and that a culturally-tailored education program is effective in improving knowledge, attitudes about and intentions to participate in cancer screening. So what?: It is important that culturally-tailored programs are developed in conjunction with communities to improve health outcomes.

  12. Application of the Elaboration Likelihood Model of Attitude Change to Assertion Training.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ernst, John M.; Heesacker, Martin

    1993-01-01

    College students (n=113) participated in study comparing effects of elaboration likelihood model (ELM) based assertion workshop with those of typical assertion workshop. ELM-based workshop was significantly better at producing favorable attitude change, greater intention to act assertively, and more favorable evaluations of workshop content.…

  13. Influence of Clerkship on Attitudes of Medical Students toward Psychiatry across Cultures: United States and Qatar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burgut, F. Tuna; Polan, H. Jonathan

    2013-01-01

    Objective: To assure adequate treatment for patients with mental illness worldwide, medical schools must impart positive attitudes toward psychiatry. The authors examined the effect of culture on changes in attitudes toward psychiatry among medical students receiving the same psychiatry clerkship curriculum in two different countries. Methods: A…

  14. Language ideologies in the mirror of some Serbian students’ attitudes towards variation and change in British English

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    Svetlana R. Stojić

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Popular beliefs and value judgements about language underlie attitudes that may reflect various language ideologies. In this light, the paper presents some results of two questionnaire-based surveys into students’ overt attitudes towards varieties of English. The first survey was carried out in 1997 amongst first-year students of English at the English Department of the Faculty of Philology, Belgrade University, while a replication survey was conducted in 2016. The primary aim of this comparative study is to assess whether any ideological and attitudinal shifts may have occurred in the intervening nineteen years. The main focus of this paper is on the results related to attitudes towards varieties of British English and towards language change. The comparison of the results has indicated that, although a lower percentage of the 2016 survey respondents expressed stereotypical views of some social and regional varieties of British English, their attitudes towards language change are very similar to those expressed by the participants in the 1997 survey.

  15. LANGUAGE ATTITUDES OF INDONESIANS AS EFL LEARNERS, GENDER, AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS

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    Dirtya Sunyi Paradewari

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available This study explored the language attitude in terms of gender and socio-economic status (SES in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The aim of this study was to find out the relationships among five components of languages attitudes in terms of gender and socio-economic status (SES.  There were 256 participants from four universities in Yogyakarta. The participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire about the language used and general language attitudes through the Google Form. The results showed that there are five components of language attitudes; 1 Indonesian learners showed positive language attitudes toward English (3.58; 2 positive language attitudes toward Indonesian (3.66; 3 positive language attitudes toward English and negative language attitudes toward Indonesian (3.52; 4 positive language attitudes toward Indonesian and negative language attitudes toward English (3.58; 5 positive language attitudes toward English and Indonesian (3.91. These five components of language attitudes were then correlated with gender; 1 gender was positively related to English language attitude where female learners had higher positive language attitudes than males did toward English (.097; 2 there was no relation between gender and Indonesian language attitude (-.071. In addition, SES was also related to five (5 components of language attitudes in which the learners who came from upper class had higher positive language attitudes towards English (.155 than learners who came from lower class. On the other hand, the correlation between SES and Indonesian language showed the learners from middle class had higher positive language attitudes (.031 than the learners from upper class and lower class.   Keywords: language attitudes, gender, socio-economic status

  16. INTERVENTIONAL STUDY OF IMMEDIATE AND LONG TERM CHANGES IN HIV/AIDS KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE AMONG SCHOOL STUDENTS IN AN URBAN SLUM IN MUMBAI

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    Manasi Shekhar Padhyegurjar

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Education sector plays an important role in imparting vital information regarding HIV AIDS to large number of adolescents. The present study was carried out to assess the baseline level of knowledge and attitude regarding HIV / AIDS and retention of various aspects of information over the period of one year among ninth standard school students in Mumbai. Methods and Material: The present study was designed as a school based interventional follow up study. Health education sessions on HIV/AIDS were conducted. Pre test, immediate post test, along with a follow up post test at six months and one year were administered. SPSS (Version 16 and Excel software were used for statistical analysis. Z tests for difference between proportions were applied. Results: The proportion of correct responses regarding some of the aspects of knowledge of HIV / AIDS significantly increased on health education intervention. However, no significant change in the proportion of correct responses regarding blood donation leading to HIV transmission was observed. Significant waning (p < 0.01 away of the effect of health education has been observed in some important aspects especially regarding spread without being aware of transmission, involvement of infected needles, condoms as mode of prevention and no complete cure till date. Though there is a general acceptance of HIV positive patients, attitudes involving sexual mode of transmission, drug abuse and homosexuality did not show positive change post intervention. Conclusions: Health education sessions were very effective in increasing knowledge. However, students tend to lose information regarding certain aspects. We thus need strategies for reinforcing knowledge as well as attitude aspect in school AIDS education.

  17. "Challenging Disabling Attitudes, Building an Inclusive Society": Considering the Role of Education in Encouraging Non-Disabled Children to Develop Positive Attitudes towards Disabled People

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beckett, Angharad E.

    2009-01-01

    In the United Kingdom, the introduction of the Disability Equality Duty 2006 has provided a new window of opportunity to promote the idea that education has a role to play in changing non-disabled children/young people's attitudes towards disabled people. This article explores the issues raised by the application of the Disability Equality Duty to…

  18. Turkish high school students' attitudes toward addictive substances: association with perceived parental attitudes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ustüner, Mehmet; Aksoy, Kasim; Ozer, Niyazi

    2009-01-01

    The aim of this research is twofold: 1) to determine attitudes of high school students toward addictive substances; and 2) to determine students' attitudes toward addictive substances in terms of some variables including gender, grade, and perceived parental attitudes. To this end, Addictive Substances Attitudes Scale and Parental Attitudes Scale were given to a sample of 745 high school students (F = 330, M = 415) chosen by purposive sampling method. Results showed that compared to the males, females had more negative attitudes toward addictive substances. And compared to students from the upper grades, students from lower grades had more negative attitudes toward addictive substances. It is also found that students' attitudes toward addictive substances correlate with perceived parental attitudes. The correlation is low and positive for perceived democratic parental attitudes (r = .29), negative and low for perceived authoritarian parental attitudes (r = -.27).

  19. The Attitudes of Students From ESL And EFL Countries To English

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Hasbi

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This research is to study the attitudes of English students from English as a Second Language (ESL and English as a Foreign Language (EFL country in English and Foreign Languages University (EFL University, Hyderabad to English. This is a descriptive-quantitative research with a survey method. The attitudes researched include those to listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The data was taken through questionnaire consisting of 20 questions. The findings of this study showed that the English students in EFL University have neutral-to-positive attitudes to Listening, positive attitudes to Speaking, positive attitudes to Reading, and poor attitudes to Writing. In addition, the English students from ESL country have better attitudes to Reading (positive and Writing (neutral and those from EFL country have better attitudes to Speaking (neutral-to-positive and Listening (neutral-to-positive.

  20. The Attitudes of Students from ESL and EFL Countries to English

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhamad Hasbi

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This research is to study the attitudes of English students from English as a Second Language (ESL and English as a Foreign Language (EFL country in English and Foreign Languages University (EFL University, Hyderabad to English. This is a descriptive-quantitative research with a survey method. The attitudes researched include those to listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The data was taken through questionnaire consisting of 20 questions. The findings of this study showed that the English students in EFL University have neutral-to-positive attitudes to Listening, positive attitudes to Speaking, positive attitudes to Reading, and poor attitudes to Writing. In addition, the English students from ESL country have better attitudes to Reading (positive and Writing (neutral and those from EFL country have better attitudes to Speaking (neutral-to-positive and Listening (neutral-to-positive.

  1. Using the global positioning satellite system to determine attitude rates using doppler effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, Charles E. (Inventor)

    2003-01-01

    In the absence of a gyroscope, the attitude and attitude rate of a receiver can be determined using signals received by antennae on the receiver. Based on the signals received by the antennae, the Doppler difference between the signals is calculated. The Doppler difference may then be used to determine the attitude rate. With signals received from two signal sources by three antennae pairs, the three-dimensional attitude rate is determined.

  2. Differences in negativity bias probably underlie variation in attitudes toward change generally, not political ideology specifically.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ludeke, Steven G; DeYoung, Colin G

    2014-06-01

    Many of the characteristics cited in Hibbing et al.'s account are ineffective predictors of economic conservatism. However, these same characteristics are often associated with differences not only in social conservatism but also in religiousness and authoritarianism. Hibbing et al. may have offered a useful explanation of traditionalism and attitudes toward change across domains rather than of general political attitudes.

  3. Attitudes as mediators of the longitudinal association between alcohol advertising and youth drinking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morgenstern, Matthis; Isensee, Barbara; Sargent, James D; Hanewinkel, Reiner

    2011-07-01

    To test the hypothesis that changes in alcohol-related attitudes and expectancies mediate the effect of alcohol advertising on youth drinking. Longitudinal survey with a 9-month interval. Twenty-nine public schools in 3 German states. A total of 2130 sixth- to eighth-grade students (age range, 11-17 years; mean, 12.2 years) who were nondrinkers at baseline. Exposure to alcohol and nonalcohol advertising was measured at baseline with masked images of 17 commercial advertisements with all brand information digitally removed; students indicated contact frequency and brand names. Positive attitudes toward alcohol, current alcohol use, lifetime binge drinking. A total of 581 of the students (28%) started to drink alcohol during the observation period. Alcohol use initiation was positively related to baseline alcohol advertisement exposure. This effect of alcohol advertisement exposure on alcohol use was partially mediated by a change in alcohol-related attitudes, which explained about 35% of the total effect after controlling for baseline covariates and exposure to other advertising contents. The analysis revealed similar results for binge-drinking initiation. More favorable attitudes about alcohol may be one path through which alcohol advertising exerts behavioral influence.

  4. Attitudes of early adolescent age students towards physical education

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    Lazarević Dušanka

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Studies have shown that a positive attitude towards physical education (PE is in connection with students' engagement in PE classes and with the development of an active lifestyle. The objective of this study was to examine attitudes of early adolescent age students towards physical education, as well as to examine whether such attitudes vary with regard to gender, grade they attend and students' engagement in sport and physical exercises in extracurricular activities. The research was conducted on the sample of 531 students from 6th to 8th grade. The instrument Student's Attitudes toward Physical Education - SATPE was used to measure student's attitude towards PE. A special questionnaire was used to collect data on gender, grade and engagement in sport and physical exercising outside school. The results have shown that students have positive attitudes of moderate intensity towards physical education. MANOVA has shown that male students have more positive attitudes than female students, as well as that positivity of attitudes declines with age. Likewise, it was shown that students with more positive attitudes towards PE are more often engaged in physical exercises outside school. The connection between the attitude towards PE and involvement in organized sport was not confirmed. The paper presents suggestions for further research of students' attitude towards PE and its connection with physical activity of students.

  5. Forming, changing, and acting on attitude toward affirmative action programs in employment: a theory-driven approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, M P; Harrison, D A; McLaughlin, M E

    2000-10-01

    A model of attitude toward affirmative action programs (AAPs) was applied in 4 studies involving 1,622 participants. In Study 1, attributes people tacitly associate with AAPs were identified by open-ended elicitation. Using those attributes, an instrument was developed and administered in Studies 2, 3, and 4. In those studies, a multiplicative composite of beliefs and evaluations about the AAP attributes predicted AAP attitude, consistent with M. Fishbein and I. Ajzen's (1975) theory of reasoned action. Demographic effects on AAP attitude were partially mediated by this composite. In Studies 3 and 4, an experimental manipulation of AAP information was successful in changing AAP attitude, but in a way that polarized existing demographic differences. Study 4 also showed that AAP attitude and subjective norm jointly and uniquely predicted intentions to perform AAP-related behaviors. Intentions predicted the actual behavior of mailing postcards to political representatives reflecting participants' support for AAPs.

  6. Ambivalent sexism, attitudes towards menstruation and menstrual cycle-related symptoms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marván, Ma Luisa; Vázquez-Toboada, Rocío; Chrisler, Joan C

    2014-08-01

    The objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between ambivalent sexism and beliefs and attitudes towards menstruation, and, in turn, to study the influence of these variables on menstrual cycle-related symptoms. One hundred and six Mexican women completed the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory, the Beliefs about and Attitudes toward Menstruation Questionnaire and the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire. The higher scores on benevolent sexism were associated with the most positive attitudes towards menstruation and also with the belief that a menstruating woman should or should not do some activities and that menstruation keeps women from their daily activities. The higher scores on hostile sexism were associated with rejection of menstruation as well as with feelings of embarrassment about it. Beliefs about and attitudes towards menstruation predicted menstrual cycle-related symptoms related to negative affect, impaired concentration and behavioural changes, but did not predict somatic symptoms. These results will be useful to health professionals and advocates who want to change the negative expectations and stereotypes of premenstrual and menstrual women and reduce the sexism and negative attitudes towards women that are evident in Mexican culture. © 2013 International Union of Psychological Science.

  7. Changes in oral health related knowledge, attitudes and behaviours following school based oral health education and atraumatic restorative treatment in rural Tanzania

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    Anne Nordrehaug Åstrøm

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: The following questions were addressed; to what extent is sugar consumption, tooth brushing, and oral health related attitudes and knowledge subject to change following a combined atraumatic restorative treatment (ART /oral health education (OHE program? Are changes in intended sugar avoidance associated with changes in cognitions as specified by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB? Are changes in oral health related knowledge associated with changes in attitudes and oral health behaviour?Method: A total of 1306 (follow-up prevalence 73.8% primary school students in Kilwa, Tanzania completed interviews before and after a combined ART/OHE program. Post intervention at 6 months follow-up assessed changes in oral health related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. Complete baseline and follow-up interviews were obtained from 221 and 1085 students who received ART/OHE and OHE only at schools, respectively.Results: Improvement was obtained with attitudes towards sugar avoidance, knowledge, and tooth brushing (effect sizes in the range 0.1-0.3. Within individual changes did not differ significantly between students receiving ART/ OHE and OHE only. Change scores of intended sugar avoidance associated in the expected direction with changes in sugar consumption. Attitudes and norms with respect to sugar avoidance deteriorated and improved among subjects who respectively decreased and increased intended sugar avoidance. Tooth brushing increased in students who improved oral knowledge.Conclusion: School based ART/OHE improved pupils’ tooth brushing, knowledge, and attitudes, but had no effect on sugar consumption. This study provided support for the validity of the TPB in predicting changes in intended sugar avoidance and reported sugar intake.

  8. Trends and countertrends in sexual permissiveness: Three decades of attitude change in the Netherlands 1965-1995

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kraaykamp, G.L.M.

    2002-01-01

    Using longitudinal data from 8 surveys on attitude change in the Netherlands, I tried to clarify trends in sexual permissiveness since the 1960s. In explaining these changes, time-period effects proved most important, whereas cohort replacement appeared to be of minor significance. Hence, changing

  9. Changes and socioeconomic factors associated with attitudes towards domestic violence among Vietnamese women aged 15-49: findings from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, 2006-2011.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trinh, Oanh Thi Hoang; Oh, Juhwan; Choi, Sugy; To, Kien Gia; Van Do, Dung

    2016-01-01

    Understanding factors associated with domestic violence-supportive attitudes among Vietnamese women is important for designing effective policies to prevent this behavior. Previous studies have largely overlooked risk factors associated with domestic violence-supportive attitudes by women in Vietnam. This paper explores and identifies socioeconomic factors that contribute to domestic violence-supportive attitudes among Vietnamese women using data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS). Secondary data from two cross-sectional studies (MICS 3, 2006, and MICS 4, 2011) with representative samples (9,471 and 11,663 women, respectively) in Vietnam were analyzed. The prevalence of supportive attitudes toward domestic violence and associations with age, residence region, area, education level, household wealth index, ethnicity, and marital status were estimated using descriptive statistics and multivariate Poisson models, giving estimates of relative risk. Overall, the prevalence of acceptance of domestic violence declined between 2006 and 2011 in Vietnam (65.1% vs. 36.1%). Socioeconomic factors associated with women's condoning of domestic violence were age, wealth, education level, and living area. In particular, younger age and low educational attainment were key factors associated with violence-supportive attitudes, and these associations have become stronger over time. Higher educational attainment in women is an important predictor of women's attitudes toward domestic violence. To date, Doi Moi and the Vietnamese government's commitment to the Millennium Development Goals may have positively contributed to lowering the acceptance of domestic violence. Tailored interventions that focus on education will be important in further changing attitudes toward domestic violence.

  10. Positive-Themed Suicide Prevention Messages Delivered by Adolescent Peer Leaders: Proximal Impact on Classmates' Coping Attitudes and Perceptions of Adult Support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petrova, Mariya; Wyman, Peter A; Schmeelk-Cone, Karen; Pisani, Anthony R

    2015-12-01

    Developing science-based communication guidance and positive-themed messages for suicide prevention are important priorities. Drawing on social learning and elaboration likelihood models, we designed and tested two positive-focused presentations by high school peer leaders delivered in the context of a suicide prevention program (Sources of Strength). Thirty-six classrooms in four schools (N = 706 students) were randomized to (1) peer leader modeling of healthy coping, (2) peer leader modeling plus audience involvement to identify trusted adults, or (3) control condition. Students' attitudes and norms were assessed by immediate post-only assessments. Exposure to either presentation enhanced positive coping attitudes and perceptions of adult support. Students who reported suicide ideation in the past 12 months benefited more than nonsuicidal students. Beyond modeling alone, audience involvement modestly enhanced expectations of adult support, congruent with the elaboration likelihood model. Positive peer modeling is a promising alternative to communications focused on negative consequences and directives and may enhance social-interpersonal factors linked to reduced suicidal behaviors. © 2015 The American Association of Suicidology.

  11. Changes in attitudes, intended behaviour, and mental health literacy in the Swedish population 2009-2014: an evaluation of a national antistigma programme.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansson, L; Stjernswärd, S; Svensson, B

    2016-08-01

    Public stigma of mental illness is still a major problem where numerous population studies during the last decade have mainly shown no improvements. A Swedish national antistigma campaign has been running 2010-2014. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in public stigma during this period as compared to baseline in 2009. Yearly population surveys were made between 2009 and 2014 including assessments of mental health literacy, attitudes, and intended future behaviour. Two surveys were made, one including a nationally representative sample and one including a representative sample from three original campaign regions. Multiple regression analyses, also including age, gender, education, and familiarity with mental illness were made to investigate yearly changes in public stigma compared to baseline. Mental health literacy improved significantly in the campaign regions between 2009 and 2014, as did intended future behaviour. Attitudes toward mental illness also improved significantly. Improvements were also shown in the national population surveys, but the time pattern of these compared to that of the original campaign regions indicated that these changes took place mainly after the campaign had been extended to a further five Swedish regions. The results of our surveys suggest that a campaign primarily based on social contact theory and involving people with lived experience of mental illness may, even in a rather short-term perspective, have a significant positive impact on mental health literacy, attitudes, and intentions of social contact with people with mental illness. © 2016 The Authors. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. The impact of instructor pedagogy on college calculus students' attitude toward mathematics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sonnert, Gerhard; Sadler, Philip M.; Sadler, Samuel M.; Bressoud, David M.

    2015-04-01

    College calculus teaches students important mathematical concepts and skills. The course also has a substantial impact on students' attitude toward mathematics, affecting their career aspirations and desires to take more mathematics. This national US study of 3103 students at 123 colleges and universities tracks changes in students' attitudes toward mathematics during a 'mainstream' calculus course while controlling for student backgrounds. The attitude measure combines students' self-ratings of their mathematics confidence, interest in, and enjoyment of mathematics. Three major kinds of instructor pedagogy, identified through the factor analysis of 61 student-reported variables, are investigated for impact on student attitude as follows: (1) instructors who employ generally accepted 'good teaching' practices (e.g. clarity in presentation and answering questions, useful homework, fair exams, help outside of class) are found to have the most positive impact, particularly with students who began with a weaker initial attitude. (2) Use of educational 'technology' (e.g. graphing calculators, for demonstrations, in homework), on average, is found to have no impact on attitudes, except when used by graduate student instructors, which negatively affects students' attitudes towards mathematics. (3) 'Ambitious teaching' (e.g. group work, word problems, 'flipped' reading, student explanations of thinking) has a small negative impact on student attitudes, while being a relatively more constructive influence only on students who already enjoyed a positive attitude toward mathematics and in classrooms with a large number of students. This study provides support for efforts to improve calculus teaching through the training of faculty and graduate students to use traditional 'good teaching' practices through professional development workshops and courses. As currently implemented, technology and ambitious pedagogical practices, while no doubt effective in certain classrooms, do

  13. Fall-Prone Older People's Attitudes towards the Use of Virtual Reality Technology for Fall Prevention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dockx, Kim; Alcock, Lisa; Bekkers, Esther; Ginis, Pieter; Reelick, Miriam; Pelosin, Elisa; Lagravinese, Giovanna; Hausdorff, Jeffrey M; Mirelman, Anat; Rochester, Lynn; Nieuwboer, Alice

    2017-01-01

    Virtual reality (VR) technology is a relatively new rehabilitation tool that can deliver a combination of cognitive and motor training for fall prevention. The attitudes of older people to such training are currently unclear. This study aimed to investigate: (1) the attitudes of fall-prone older people towards fall prevention exercise with and without VR; (2) attitudinal changes after intervention with and without VR; and (3) user satisfaction following fall prevention exercise with and without VR. A total of 281 fall-prone older people were randomly assigned to an experimental group receiving treadmill training augmented by VR (TT+VR, n = 144) or a control group receiving treadmill training alone (TT, n = 137). Two questionnaires were used to measure (1) attitudes towards fall prevention exercise with and without VR (AQ); and (2) user satisfaction (USQ). AQ was evaluated at baseline and after intervention. USQ was measured after intervention only. The AQ revealed that most participants had positive attitudes towards fall prevention exercise at baseline (82.2%) and after intervention (80.6%; p = 0.144). In contrast, only 53.6% were enthusiastic about fall prevention exercise with VR at baseline. These attitudes positively changed after intervention (83.1%; p < 0.001), and 99.2% indicated that they enjoyed TT+VR. Correlation analyses showed that postintervention attitudes were strongly related to user satisfaction (USQ: r = 0.503; p < 0.001). Older people's attitudes towards fall prevention exercise with VR were positively influenced by their experience. From the perspective of the user, VR is an attractive training mode, and thus improving service provision for older people is important. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  14. The association between Colombian medical students' healthy personal habits and a positive attitude toward preventive counseling: cross-sectional analyses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duperly, John; Lobelo, Felipe; Segura, Carolina; Sarmiento, Francisco; Herrera, Deisy; Sarmiento, Olga L; Frank, Erica

    2009-01-01

    Background Physician-delivered preventive counseling is important for the prevention and management of chronic diseases. Data from the U.S. indicates that medical students with healthy personal habits have a better attitude towards preventive counseling. However, this association and its correlates have not been addressed in rapidly urbanized settings where chronic disease prevention strategies constitute a top public health priority. This study examines the association between personal health practices and attitudes toward preventive counseling among first and fifth-year students from 8 medical schools in Bogotá, Colombia. Methods During 2006, a total of 661 first- and fifth-year medical students completed a culturally adapted Spanish version of the "Healthy Doctor = Healthy Patient" survey (response rate = 78%). Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association between overall personal practices on physical activity, nutrition, weight control, smoking, alcohol use (main exposure variable) and student attitudes toward preventive counseling on these issues (main outcome variable), stratified by year of training and adjusting by gender and medical training-related factors (basic knowledge, perceived adequacy of training and perception of the school's promotion on each healthy habit). Results The median age and percentage of females for the first- and fifth-year students were 21 years and 59.5% and 25 years and 65%, respectively. After controlling for gender and medical training-related factors, consumption of ≥ 5 daily servings of fruits and/or vegetables, not being a smoker or binge drinker were associated with a positive attitude toward counseling on nutrition (OR = 4.71; CI = 1.6–14.1; p = 0.006 smoking (OR = 2.62; CI = 1.1–5.9; p = 0.022), and alcohol consumption (OR = 2.61; CI = 1.3–5.4; p = 0.009), respectively. Conclusion As for U.S. physician and medical students, a positive association was found between the personal health habits of

  15. Death attitudes and positive coping in Spanish nursing undergraduates: a cross-sectional and correlational study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edo-Gual, Montserrat; Monforte-Royo, Cristina; Aradilla-Herrero, Amor; Tomás-Sábado, Joaquín

    2015-09-01

    To analyse the relationship between death attitudes, emotional intelligence, resilience and self-esteem in a sample of nursing undergraduates. The death attitudes held by nursing students may influence the care they offer to end-of-life patients and their families. Emotional intelligence, resilience and self-esteem are important social and emotional competencies for coping positively with death and dying. Cross-sectional and correlational study. Participants were 760 nursing undergraduates from four nursing schools in Spain. Data were collected in 2013-2014. The students responded anonymously to a self-report questionnaire that gathered socio-demographic data and which assessed the following aspects: fear of death (Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale), death anxiety (Death Anxiety Inventory-Revised), perceived emotional intelligence (Trait Meta-Mood Scale, with its three dimensions: attention, clarity and repair), resilience (Brief Resilient Coping Scale) and self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale). In addition to descriptive statistics, analyses of variance, mean differences, correlations and regression analyses were computed. Linear regression analysis indicated that attention to feelings, resilience and self-esteem are the significant predictors of death anxiety. The results show that death anxiety and fear of death are modulated by social and emotional competencies associated with positive coping. The training offered to future nurses should include not only scientific knowledge and technical skills but also strategies for developing social and emotional competencies. In this way, they will be better equipped to cope positively and constructively with the suffering and death they encounter at work, thus helping them to offer compassionate patient-centred care and minimising the distress they experience in the process. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. Changing Attitudes over Time: Assessing the Effectiveness of a Workplace Diversity Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Probst, Tahira M.

    2003-01-01

    Diversity is increasing within the United States, and higher education will likely play a key role in preparing people to function in this new environment. This study assessed the effectiveness of a semester-long psychology workplace diversity course at changing student levels of ethnocentrism and attitudes regarding gender roles; the disabled;…

  17. Knowledge, attitude and practice of bibliotherapy concept by school ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Bibliotherapy is an old concept in library which has been used by many other professionals on different scenario to bring about a positive change or an improvement. This study investigated the knowledge, attitude, and practice of bibliotherapy concept by school counselors for challenging students in some selected ...

  18. Counselor Trainee Attitudes toward Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Sharon J.; Sneed, Zachery B.; Koch, D. Shane

    2010-01-01

    Using the Counselor Trainee Attitudes Measure (CTAM) to assess student attitudes toward alcohol and other drug abuse (AODA), results indicated that students had more positive attitudes toward AODA when they were in recovery or had a family member in recovery. Furthermore, completion of AODA related courses predicted more positive attitudes toward…

  19. Ethnic Diversity, Inter-group Attitudes and Countervailing Pathways of Positive and Negative Inter-group Contact: An Analysis Across Workplaces and Neighbourhoods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laurence, James; Schmid, Katharina; Hewstone, Miles

    2018-01-01

    This study advances the current literature investigating the relationship between contextual out-group exposure, inter-group attitudes and the role of inter-group contact. Firstly, it introduces the concept of contact-valence into this relationship; that is, whether contact is experienced positively or negatively. Secondly, it presents a comparative analysis of how processes of out-group exposure and frequency of (valenced) contact affect prejudice across both neighbourhoods and workplaces. Applying path analysis modelling to a nationally-representative sample of white British individuals in England, we demonstrate, across both contexts, that increasing out-group exposure is associated with higher rates of both positively- and negatively-valenced contact. This results in exposure exhibiting both positive and negative indirect associations with prejudice via more frequent inter-group mixing. These countervailing contact-pathways help explain how out-group exposure is associated with inter-group attitudes. In neighbourhoods, increasing numbers of individuals experiencing positive-contact suppress an otherwise negative effect of neighbourhood diversity (driven partly by increasing numbers of individuals reporting negative contact). Across workplaces the effect differs such that increasing numbers of individuals experiencing negative-contact suppress an otherwise positive effect of workplace diversity (driven largely by increasing numbers of individuals experiencing positive contact).

  20. Changing attitudes toward aging policy in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s: a cohort analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silverstein, M; Angelelli, J J; Parrott, T M

    2001-01-01

    This research assessed how the attitudes of Americans toward government programs that serve older people changed between the mid-1980s and late 1990s and how much of the shift was dueto intracohort change and how much was due to cohort replacement. Data come from three nationally representative cross-sectional samples, surveyed by telephone in 1986 (N = 1.209), 1990 (N = 1,500), and 1997 (N = 1,559). Attitudes of Americans have become less supportive of expanding entitlement programs for older people and more supportive of cutting their costs and benefits. Between 1986 and 1997, most cohorts, particularly older adults, grew more in favor of maintaining Social Security benefit levels but less in favor of expanding them. Young adults tended to be driving the societal shift in attitudes toward decreasing benefits. Intercohort change was more important than cohort replacement in this process. Analyses of change in 2 attitude domains between 1990 and 1997 revealed that the general population felt less strongly that older people are entitled to benefits and expressed greater opposition to the associated costs. However, young adults moderated their concerns about costs as they got older, although the young adults in the cohort replacing them had become more critical of the principle of entitlement. These findings enhance the understanding of the roles that historical conditions and aging play in shaping the attitudes of adult cohorts toward public programs for older citizens. Discrepant findings based on the intercohort change in younger age groups are reconciled by differentiating maturation effects from period effects on impressionable youth.

  1. Influence of the environment in the body position attitude during the practice of the physical activity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valia Alina Crespo Almeira

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available The paper addresses the importance of postural attitude in environmental ergonomics considering that ergonomics is a multidisciplinary discipline that studies the systemic interactions between human machine in the development of different physical activities in their environment with the purpose of obtaining a state health, safety, mechanical efficiency and productivity to prevent repetitive strain injuries, positions held and musculoskeletal problems which can develop over time and can reach disabilities short or long term. Considering the influence of the environment on man to work: thermal, sound, light environments and its impact on health; anthropometric and biomechanical data: measures of bone, amplitudes segments of joint movements; the characteristics of muscular effort: The efficiency and effectiveness in physical activities in its various manifestations is contingent on first order to study the physical conditions such as; thermal environment, noise levels, air conditioning level, vibration hygienic conditions, including conditions schedules and secondly the attitude that sums the man in front of the activities which in one way or another affect job performance. It addresses the influence of postural attitude in environmental ergonomics while performing physical activities of man from the importance and prevalence of health problems related to the non-application of standards of environmental ergonomics.

  2. Physician attitudes toward advanced directives: a literature review of variables impacting on physicians attitude toward advance directives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coleman, Albert M E

    2013-11-01

    To review physician's attitudes as well as the variables that may impact on physicians' attitude toward advance directives (ADs). Literature review of 17 published articles, covering the period 1989 to 2011. Physicians overall have a positive attitude toward patients' AD. However, other factors affect this "general positive attitude." These factors influence the attitude-behavior relationship of physicians, and hence their actual practice in relation to patients' AD. The findings from this review are of importance in explaining the differences in the attitude of physicians toward AD and their compliance. This raises the issue of consideration of other ethical paradigms/theories in the clinical context other than the framework of "principlism-"based autonomy, on which AD leans on. This is important in light of the pluralism of ethical theories.

  3. AN EXPLANATION OF THE CHANGE IN ACCOUNTANTS’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS FLEXIBILITY USING THE THEORY OF REASONED ACTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Calu Daniela Artemisa

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we look at accountants as “consumers of accounting regulations”. We explain the change in the accountants’ attitude towards flexibility in the accounting regulation process, using a theory derived from social psychology: the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA. In 1999 and 2005 we tested the attitude towards flexibility of a number of Romanian accountants who aimed at becoming private practitioners. We observed that before the existence of an accounting conceptual framework (1999, the accountants surveyed preferred flexibility with respect to accounting choices. A few years later (2005, after the implementation of IASB’s conceptual framework (but before the regulator removed it, the preference of accountants changed to flexibility. We believe that these changes could be explained using TRA.

  4. A motion-based integer ambiguity resolution method for attitude determination using the global positioning system (GPS)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Bo; Deng, Zhihong; Wang, Shunting; Fu, Mengyin

    2010-01-01

    Loss of the satellite signal and noise disturbance will cause cycle slips to occur in the carrier phase observation of the attitude determination system using the global positioning system (GPS), especially in the dynamic situation. Therefore, in order to reject the error by cycle slips, the integer ambiguity should be re-computed. A motion model-based Kalman predictor is used for the ambiguity re-computation in dynamic applications. This method utilizes the correct observation of the last step to predict the current ambiguities. With the baseline length as a constraint to reject invalid values, we can solve the current integer ambiguity and the attitude angles, by substituting the obtained ambiguities into the constrained LAMBDA method. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is more efficient in the dynamic situation, which takes less time to obtain new fixed ambiguities with a higher mean success rate

  5. The impact of the educational environment on career choice and attitudes toward psychiatry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahendran, Rathi; Lim, Haikel A; Verma, Swapna; Kua, Ee Heok

    2015-05-01

    The educational environment may influence students' attitudes towards medical specialties, which in turn can affect specialty career choices. The present study sought to establish if perceptions of the educational environment in a psychiatry rotation influenced attitudinal changes towards psychiatry in medical students and impacts decisions about psychiatry as a career choice. The modified Attitudes to Psychiatry Scale, Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure, and questions specific to career choice in psychiatry were administered to 100 undergraduates in a psychiatry rotation. Significant improvements in attitudes toward psychiatry were highly correlated with the educational environment, particularly when it was perceived as providing inspiration and enabling students to recognize the merits of psychiatry and the effectiveness of treatment. However, there was a worsening trend in the stigma to psychiatry in the posting, and only the positive attitudinal change (but not educational environment) influenced a career choice in psychiatry. While the educational environment contributes towards positive attitudinal changes in a specialty rotation, stigma of psychiatry continues to be a limiting factor, which is, unfortunately, not clearly addressed in the curriculum. The findings support the urgent need for interventions in this area.

  6. Change in public attitudes towards a Cornish wind farm: Implications for planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eltham, Douglas C.; Harrison, Gareth P.; Allen, Simon J.

    2008-01-01

    While independently conducted polls suggest significant public support for wind energy, there are often objections to particular wind farm developments from the local population which can result in planning permission being declined and a restriction in the ability to meet renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction targets. The aim of the study was to determine whether the pre-construction opinions held by communities local to a wind farm change after an extended period following commissioning. Residents of St. Newlyn East, Cornwall, England, were asked to recall their opinions of Carland Cross wind farm in 1991 and 2006. Statistically significant changes in opinion were observed for attitudes regarding the wind farm's visual attractiveness and the importance of the energy security it provides. This study continues by exploring potential reasons for this in the context of recent literature on public attitudes towards renewable energy. The findings of this study support the proposals in the 2007 UK White Paper, Planning for a Sustainable Future, for community engagement early in the project process and for the requirement of infrastructure to be debated at the national level

  7. Turkish adolescents' attitudes toward physical education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hünük, Deniz; Demirhan, Giyasettin

    2010-10-01

    1,163 middle school students (586 girls, 577 boys; Grades 6-8) were selected through a stratified random sampling method to examine their attitudes toward physical education (PE) by grade, student's sex, sports participation characteristics, and teacher's sex. They were administered the Attitude Toward Physical Education Scale for Children. Factorial analysis of variance indicated that Grade 8 students' mean attitude scores were less positive than those of Grade 6 students, but the attitudes of boys and of sports participants were more positive than of girls and nonsports participants. Findings were similar regardless of the teacher's sex.

  8. The Effectiveness of Two Types of Rape Prevention Programs in Changing the Rape-Supportive Attitudes of College Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Linda A.; Stoelb, Matthew P.; Duggan, Peter; Hieger, Brad; Kling, Kathleen H.; Payne, June P.

    1998-01-01

    The effectiveness of two rape-prevention programs in changing college students' rape-supportive attitudes was investigated. (N=215) Conditions included an interactive mock talk show and a structured video intervention. Both interventions were effective, but attitudes were found to rebound over time. Implications for future rape-prevention…

  9. Assessing Changes in Medical Student Attitudes toward Non-Traditional Human Sexual Behaviors Using a Confidential Audience Response System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tucker, Phebe; Candler, Chris; Hamm, Robert M.; Smith, E. Michael; Hudson, Joseph C.

    2010-01-01

    Medical students encountering patients with unfamiliar, unconventional sexual practices may have attitudes that can affect open communication during sexual history-taking. We measured changes in first-year US medical student attitudes toward 22 non-traditional sexual behaviors before and after exposure to human sexuality instruction. An…

  10. Predicting Return of Fear Following Exposure Therapy With an Implicit Measure of Attitudes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vasey, Michael W.; Harbaugh, Casaundra N.; Buffington, Adam G.; Jones, Christopher R.; Fazio, Russell H.

    2012-01-01

    We sought to advance understanding of the processes underlying the efficacy of exposure therapy and particularly the phenomenon of return of fear (ROF) following treatment by drawing on a social psychological view of phobias as attitudes. Specifically, a dual process theory of attitude-related behavior predicts that a positive response to exposure therapy may reflect change in either the automatic (the attitude representation itself) or controlled (skills and confidence at coping with the fear) responses to the phobic stimulus, or both. However, if the attitude representation remains negative following treatment, ROF should be more likely. We tested this hypothesis in a clinical sample of individuals with public speaking phobia using a single-session exposure therapy protocol previously shown to be efficacious but also associated with some ROF. Consistent with predictions, a post-treatment implicit measure of attitudes toward public speaking (the Personalized Implicit Association Test [PIAT]) predicted ROF at 1-month follow-up. These results suggest that change in the automatically activated attitude toward the phobic stimulus is an important goal of exposure therapy and that an implicit measure like the PIAT can provide a useful measure of such change by which to gauge the adequacy of exposure treatment and predict its long-term efficacy. PMID:23085186

  11. Tobacco use, knowledge and attitude among Malaysians age 18 and above.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lim, K H; Sumarni, M G; Amal, N M; Hanjeet, K; Wan Rozita, W M; Norhamimah, A

    2009-04-01

    This study aims to determine the level of knowledge and to understand their attitude towards smoking and secondly to determine how sociodemographic background, smoking status and knowledge on the health risks of smoking contribute toward the development of such attitude. A total of 10,545 respondents age 18 years and above across Malaysia were interviewed. Results indicated that level of knowledge and attitude varied by gender, education level, smoking status, age, ethnicity and smoker category. Smokers' low education, poor knowledge on the dangers of smoking and being males had more positive or greater impact on their attitudes towards smoking. Formulation and implementation of a holistic programme aimed at increasing knowledge and attitude change that accounts for sociodemographic background of the population is recommended in order to bring down smoking rates and thus reduce smoking related health problems in this country.

  12. Using the theory of planned behavior to explore attitudes and beliefs about dietary supplements among HIV-positive Black women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lino, Stephanie; Marshak, Helen Hopp; Herring, R Patti; Belliard, Juan Carlos; Hilliard, Charles; Campbell, Danielle; Montgomery, Susanne

    2014-04-01

    This cross-sectional study investigated whether the theory of planned behavior (TPB) constructs: attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control were related to intention of dietary supplements use among African-American women living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus and/or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS). A closed-ended questionnaire based on the TPB was utilized to explore the use of dietary supplements among a cohort of 153 HIV-positive African-American women. Overall, 45% of the respondents used dietary supplements to manage/control their HIV. Combined, attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control were significant predictors of intention toward dietary supplement use (69% of the variance explained, pbehavioral control (β=0.45, pBehavioral intention and proximal TPB constructs (attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control), as well as their underlying beliefs about dietary supplements use, were all found to be significantly more positive in users of dietary supplements compared to non-users (pbehavioral control are important predictors in the intention to use dietary supplements for control of HIV among African-American women. Implications from this study suggest that the TPB can be used to better identify and understand salient beliefs that surround intentions to use alternative therapies for management of disease. These beliefs can be used to develop interventions surrounding HIV treatment and care. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Conceptions and tendencies of age discrimination and attitudes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fredrik Nils Christian Snellman

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to access and explore tendencies in the conceptualization of age discrimination and the perceived attitudes towards older people in regions of Finland and Sweden. The analysis draws on GERDA survey data (GErontological Regional DAtabase, a repeated cross-sectional study in which data was collected in 2005 and 2010. The results indicate that the conceptions of age discrimination are changing in a positive direction, which is contrary to results shown in the Eurobarometer. On the basis of balance coefficients we show that conceived attitudes towards older people are changing as well, except for individuals in some sub-groups. We discuss the role of political rhetoric in relation to ageing awareness, the (nonindividualization of society and the negotiation of age relations as tentative interpretations that strongly challenge the observed empirical tendencies.

  14. Compression-only CPR training in elementary schools and student attitude toward CPR.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitamura, Tetsuhisa; Nishiyama, Chika; Murakami, Yukiko; Yonezawa, Takahiro; Nakai, Shohei; Hamanishi, Masayoshi; Marukawa, Seishiro; Sakamoto, Tetsuya; Iwami, Taku

    2016-08-01

    Little is known about the effectiveness of systematic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training for elementary school children. We introduced systematic training of chest compression-only CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) use to elementary school students aged 10-12 years at 17 schools. The questionnaire compared student attitudes towards CPR and their knowledge about it before and after CPR training. We also evaluated parent and teacher views about CPR training in school education. The primary outcome was positive attitude, defined as "yes" and "maybe yes" on a 5 point Likert-type scale of student attitudes towards CPR.1 RESULTS: A total of 2047 elementary school students received CPR training. Of them, 1899 (92.8%) responded to the questionnaire regarding their attitude towards CPR before and after the training. Before training, 50.2% answered "yes" and 30.3% answered "maybe yes", to the question: "If someone suddenly collapses in front of you, can you do something such as check response or call emergency?" After training, their answers changed to 75.6% and 18.3% for "yes" and "maybe yes", respectively. Many of the students (72.3%, 271/370) who did not have a positive attitude before CPR training had a positive attitude after the training (P CPR (97.7%) and use an AED (98.5%). Parents (96.2%, 1173/1220) and teachers (98.3%, 56/57) answered that it was "good" and "maybe good" for children to receive the training at elementary schools. Systematic chest compression-only CPR training helped elementary school students to improve their attitude towards CPR. © 2015 Japan Pediatric Society.

  15. Challenging and changing gender attitudes among young men in Mumbai, India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verma, Ravi K; Pulerwitz, Julie; Mahendra, Vaishali; Khandekar, Sujata; Barker, Gary; Fulpagare, P; Singh, S K

    2006-11-01

    This article presents findings from a pilot intervention in 2005-6 to promote gender equity among young men from low-income communities in Mumbai, India. The project involved formative work on gender, sexuality and masculinity, and educational activities with 126 young men, aged 18-29, over a six-month period. The programme of activities was called Yari-dosti, which is Hindi for friendship or bonding among men, and was adapted from a Brazilian intervention. Pre- and post-intervention surveys, including measures of attitudes towards gender norms using the Gender Equitable Men (GEM) Scale and other key outcomes, qualitative interviews with 31 participants, monitoring and observations were used as evaluation tools. Almost all the young men actively participated in the activities and appreciated the intervention. It was often the first time they had had the opportunity to discuss and reflect on these issues. The interviews showed that attitudes towards gender and sexuality, as reported behaviour in relationships, had often changed. A survey two months later also showed a significant decrease in support for inequitable gender norms and sexual harassment of girls and women. The results suggest that the pilot was successful in reaching and engaging young men to critically discuss gender dynamics and health risk, and in shifting key gender-related attitudes.

  16. Nurses' attitudes to terminally ill patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Román, E M; Sorribes, E; Ezquerro, O

    2001-05-01

    The care of terminally ill patients is a challenge for nurses that has raised special interest in recent years. Several studies have shown a stereotyped negative attitude in nurses towards terminally ill patients. However, all have used methods with several limitations. The aim of the study presented in this paper was to identify the nurses' attitude to the terminally ill patient in Catalonia, Spain, and the relationship of this attitude to different socio-demographic data (type of centre, shift, years of experience, age and sex) by means of a new quantitative method based on the free word-association test. One hundred and seventy-five nurses working in 18 hospitals and hospices in Catalonia, Spain were included in the study. Data were analysed by the Associative Semantic Field Differential method by means of the computer programme CONTEXT and a quantitative evaluation of the degree of attitudes positivity was obtained. The study revealed a general slight negative trend in attitudes towards the terminally ill patient. A more positive attitude was observed in older caregivers and in women. The positivity in attitude decreased from morning to night shift. No differences were observed between nurses working in hospitals and those working in hospices. We conclude that nursing attitudes can be analysed by methods such as that used in this study. Attempts can be made to modify this attitude in caregivers by means of training programmes and stimulating awareness of an adequate professional approach.

  17. Attitude change as a function of the observation of vicarious reinforcement and friendliness

    OpenAIRE

    Stocker-Kreichgauer, Gisela

    1982-01-01

    Attitude change as a function of the observation of vicarious reinforcement and friendliness : hostility in a debate / Lutz von Rosenstiel ; Gisela Stocker- Kreichgauer. - In: Group decision making / ed. by Gisela Stocker-Kreichgauer ... - London u.a. : Acad. Press, 1982. - S. 241-255. - (European monographs in social psychology ; 25)

  18. Schoolchildren as BLS instructors for relatives and friends: Impact on attitude towards bystander CPR.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stroobants, Jan; Monsieurs, Koenraad; Devriendt, Bart; Dreezen, Christa; Vets, Philippe; Mols, Pierre

    2014-12-01

    We investigated the impact of Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) instruction by children on the attitude of people to perform bystander CPR. In 2012, children from primary and secondary school (age span 11–13 years) received a free individual CPR training package containing an inexpensive manikin and a training video. After a CPR training session by their class teacher, they were invited to teach their relatives and friends. After the training, the trainees of the children were invited to participate in a web survey, containing a test and questions about prior CPR training and about their attitude towards bystander CPR (BCPR) before and after the training. We measured the impact on the attitude to perform BCPR and the theoretical knowledge transfer by the children. A total of 4012 training packages were distributed to 72 schools of which 55 class teachers subscribed their students (n = 822) for the training programme for relatives and friends. After a validation procedure, 874 trainees of 290 children were included in the study. In comparison to trainees of secondary schoolchildren, trainees of primary schoolchildren scored better for the test as well as for a positive change of attitude towards future BCPR (P attitude towards BCPR positively. Instructing schoolchildren to teach their relatives and friends in Basic Life Support (BLS) led to a more positive attitude towards BCPR. The results were more positive with trainees from primary schoolchildren than with trainees from secondary schoolchildren.

  19. Changing public attitudes towards corporal punishment: the effects of statutory reform in Sweden.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, J V

    2000-08-01

    One justification for a statutory ban on physical punishment is that passage of such legislation changes public attitudes towards the use of this form of parental discipline. The experience in Sweden is often cited as an example of legislation which changed public opinion. The aim of this brief article is to review the public opinion findings in Sweden in order to evaluate in greater detail the impact of changing the law. A search was conducted to generate all published and publicly-available quantitative surveys of the public in Sweden and elsewhere. The results of time-series analysis of the data are clear. The 1979 legal reform in Sweden did not reduce the level of public support for parental use of corporal punishment as a means of disciplining children. Support for physical punishment began declining years before the reform was passed and the decline was in no way accelerated by the law reform. Changes in public opinion may have generated the legal reform, but the reverse is not true. Data from other jurisdictions also support the view that there is no relationship between the status of the law and the nature of public views with regard to corporal punishment. This result is consistent with analyses of the effects of legal reforms in other areas. The Swedish ban on corporal punishment did not affect public attitudes. Changing public views requires other initiatives.

  20. Changing Adolescent Attitudes toward Stuttering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flynn, Timothy W.; St. Louis, Kenneth O.

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: Live oral or recorded video presentations on stuttering were delivered to high school students in order to determine the extent to which their attitudes toward stuttering could be improved. Methods: A classroom teacher administered the "Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering" ("POSHA-S") to two health classes before and…

  1. Fast Kalman Filtering for Relative Spacecraft Position and Attitude Estimation for the Raven ISS Hosted Payload

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galante, Joseph M.; Van Eepoel, John; D'Souza, Chris; Patrick, Bryan

    2016-01-01

    The Raven ISS Hosted Payload will feature several pose measurement sensors on a pan/tilt gimbal which will be used to autonomously track resupply vehicles as they approach and depart the International Space Station. This paper discusses the derivation of a Relative Navigation Filter (RNF) to fuse measurements from the different pose measurement sensors to produce relative position and attitude estimates. The RNF relies on relative translation and orientation kinematics and careful pose sensor modeling to eliminate dependence on orbital position information and associated orbital dynamics models. The filter state is augmented with sensor biases to provide a mechanism for the filter to estimate and mitigate the offset between the measurements from different pose sensors

  2. A creative-bonding intervention and a friendly visit approach to promote nursing students' self-transcendence and positive attitudes toward elders: a pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walsh, Sandra M; Chen, Shiue; Hacker, Marcia; Broschard, Dawn

    2008-04-01

    Nursing students' disinterest in caring for elders presents health care challenges. As the aged population increases, nursing faculty are challenged to improve students' attitudes toward elder care. Reed's self-transcendence theory guided this pilot study with nursing students (n=22) who implemented either a Creative-Bonding Intervention (CBI) or a Friendly Visit (FV) at senior citizen centers to test the effect of creative approaches on student self-transcendence and attitudes toward elders. Demographic data, a revised Kogan's Attitudes toward Old People statements, and Reed's Self-transcendence Scale were analyzed with descriptive, paired t test, ANCOVA, and Pearson correlation statistics. Results demonstrated significant differences in attitudes in the FV and changes in the expected directions in the CBI group. Self-transcendence had no significant changes. Valuable information was provided by students' comments about the interventions. Reed's belief that self-transcendence is present regardless of age was supported. Future studies are suggested with an increased sample size, a combined CBI/FV intervention, and supportive help during students' intervention delivery.

  3. Integrated navigation fusion strategy of INS/UWB for indoor carrier attitude angle and position synchronous tracking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Qigao; Wu, Yaheng; Hui, Jing; Wu, Lei; Yu, Zhenzhong; Zhou, Lijuan

    2014-01-01

    In some GPS failure conditions, positioning for mobile target is difficult. This paper proposed a new method based on INS/UWB for attitude angle and position synchronous tracking of indoor carrier. Firstly, error model of INS/UWB integrated system is built, including error equation of INS and UWB. And combined filtering model of INS/UWB is researched. Simulation results show that the two subsystems are complementary. Secondly, integrated navigation data fusion strategy of INS/UWB based on Kalman filtering theory is proposed. Simulation results show that FAKF method is better than the conventional Kalman filtering. Finally, an indoor experiment platform is established to verify the integrated navigation theory of INS/UWB, which is geared to the needs of coal mine working environment. Static and dynamic positioning results show that the INS/UWB integrated navigation system is stable and real-time, positioning precision meets the requirements of working condition and is better than any independent subsystem.

  4. Women's attitudes towards the medicalization of childbirth and their associations with planned and actual modes of birth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benyamini, Yael; Molcho, Maya Lila; Dan, Uzi; Gozlan, Miri; Preis, Heidi

    2017-10-01

    Rates of medical interventions in childbirth have greatly increased in the Western world. Women's attitudes affect their birth choices. To assess women's attitudes towards the medicalization of childbirth and their associations with women's background as well as their fear of birth and planned and unplanned modes of birth. This longitudinal observational study included 836 parous woman recruited at women's health centres and natural birth communities in Israel. All women filled in questionnaires about attitudes towards the medicalization of childbirth, fear of birth, and planned birth choices. Women at birth. Attitudes towards medicalization were more positive among younger and less educated women, those who emigrated from the former Soviet Union, and those with a more complicated obstetric background. Baseline attitudes did not differ by parity yet became less positive throughout pregnancy only for primiparae. More positive attitudes were related to greater fear of birth. The attitudes were significantly associated with planned birth choices and predicted emergency caesareans and instrumental births. Women form attitudes towards the medicalization of childbirth which may still be open to change during the first pregnancy. More favourable attitudes are related to more medical modes of birth, planned and unplanned. Understanding women's views of childbirth medicalization may be key to understanding their choices and how they affect labour and birth. Copyright © 2017 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. The attitudes of typically developing adolescents towards their sibling with autism spectrum disorder

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    Christine van der Merwe

    2017-04-01

    Methods: Thirty typically developing adolescents who have siblings with ASD were selected to complete the survey instrument, the Lifespan Sibling Relationship Scale, using a cross-sectional design. Results: Results indicate that the measure has internal consistency within this sample. Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests were used to test for significant differences between the mean values for the two self-reported time periods. Friedman analysis of variances (ANOVAs was used to test for significant differences in the three components of attitudes, namely affect, behaviour and cognition. Results indicate that participants held more positive attitudes towards their siblings with ASD as adolescents compared with when they were younger and that adolescents rated their current emotions towards and beliefs about their sibling with ASD to be more positive than their current interaction experiences. Conclusion: As siblings’ attitudes appear to change over time, clinicians should use a lifespan approach to sibling attitudes when designing and implementing supports for siblings of children with ASD.

  6. Iranian Nurses' Attitudes and Perception towards Patient Advocacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Motamed-Jahromi, Mohadeseh; Abbaszadeh, Abbas; Borhani, Fariba; Zaher, Homa

    2012-01-01

    Patient advocacy is an inherent component of professional nursing ethics; in other words, nurses' enough knowledge would be essential to gain a positive attitude towards nursing advocacy. Using a descriptive-analytic design, this study aimed to assess the correlation between nurses' perception and attitudes towards patient advocacy, amongst 385 nurses in Kerman, Iran; hence, a three-part questionnaire was applied: part I, a demographic data sheet, part II, attitude measuring instrument, and part III, perception measuring instrument in nursing advocacy. The results implied that fairly positive attitudes and perception were found amongst the participants, and nurses' attitudes, in general, were positively correlated to their perception toward nursing advocacy. This means that with an improvement in perception, the attitude would also improve. In addition to our findings, it seems that these nurses needed more advocacy educational programs and support from responsible employers.

  7. Elementary school teachers' attitudes to teamwork

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vasilijević Danijela N.

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Research to date has shown that teacher teamwork results in higher motivation among students and higher quality knowledge, and also facilitates the sharing of professional experiences and stimulates teachers' creativity and their openness to change. Team forming and development depend on multiple factors, particularly on the individual and group traits of team members. This paper examines teachers' attitudes as an individual factor significant for their inclination for team teaching, and the aim of the study presented in the paper was to study teachers' attitudes to teamwork. The sample consisted of 240 teachers from fifteen elementary schools in Belgrade. Factor analysis has singled out three factors around which teachers' attitudes are grouped: a teaching; b team and individual development; and c professional challenge. The study has shown that overall, teachers have a positive attitude to teamwork because it is conducive to a stimulating environment for work and learning, and also provides an opportunity for teachers' personal and professional development. Significant differences in the perception of teamwork have been noted among lower-grade teachers depending on their years of service and the extent to which they have been engaged in team teaching.

  8. Engineering students’ instrumental motivation and positive attitude towards learning English in a trilingual tertiary setting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joseba González Ardeo

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available This exploratory small-scale study focuses on the attitude towards learning English and levels of motivation of 132 engineering students from the University of the Basque Country (Spain. The extent to which they consider themselves competent in three languages (Basque/Spanish/English is also evaluated. For assessing these variables, a 35-item questionnaire is used. The participants were taking an ESP (English for Specific Purposes course and were familiar with English as a vehicular language through CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning and/or EMI (English Medium Instruction courses. The results demonstrate that their attitude is positive, and it has improved since 2003, despite certain historical events concerning the minority language (Basque. With regard to motivation, the students show a high level of instrumental orientation but a low level of extrinsic-integrative motivation. Relatively high levels of intrinsic motivation are also observed, not far from extrinsic-instrumental motivation levels. The students’ mother tongue (Basque vs. Spanish vs. Basque/Spanish does not affect results significantly. Finally, high levels of self-perceived confidence with respect to their command of English are observed.

  9. The motivational and informational basis of attitudes toward foods with health claims.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Žeželj, Iris; Milošević, Jasna; Stojanović, Žaklina; Ognjanov, Galjina

    2012-12-01

    This research explored the effects of food choice motives, nutritional knowledge, and the use of food labels, on attitude toward food with health claims. Food with health claims was chosen as a relatively novel category of products designed to be beneficial for health. We identified eight motives served by food in general, and tested if they serve as motivations to positively evaluate functional food. Questionnaire was administered on nationally representative samples of 3085 respondents from six Western Balkan countries. We proposed two structural models relating an extensive list of eight and, alternatively, restricted list of three food-choice motives (health, mood and sensory appeal) to attitude toward functional food. We also expected the indirect association between the health motive and attitude, through nutritional knowledge and use of food labels. The results revealed highly positive, although undifferentiated attitude toward functional food, with no significant differences between the countries. The restricted model provided a better fit then the exhaustive model; the health motive was proven to have indirect influence on attitude through knowledge and label use. The implications of these findings for functional approach to attitudes, understanding the demand for functional food and overcoming barriers to dietary change are discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Social impacts as a function of place change

    OpenAIRE

    McKercher, Bob; Wang, Dan; Park, Eerang

    2015-01-01

    This paper argues that both impacts felt by and attitudes to tourism are a function of place change. Destinations are comprised of three types of place: tourism, non-tourism and shared. It is believed attitudes are generally positive when stasis exists among the three types, but deteriorate during periods of rapid place change. Likewise, impacts are felt when place changes, especially when non-tourism place is transformed into either shared or tourism place. This proposition is tested through...

  11. Quality Circles: How Effective Are They in Improving Employee Performance and Attitudes?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buch, Kimberly; Raban, Amiram

    1990-01-01

    Used a quasi-experimental design to assess the effect of a quality circle intervention on behavior and attitudes of 88 employees at a large Midwestern organization. Results provide mixed support for the purported ability of circles to improve work behavior with no change for absenteeism and productivity but positive change for quality of work.…

  12. Medical student, nursing student, and non-health care respondents' implicit attitudes toward doctors and patients: Development and a pilot study of a new implicit attitudes test (IAT).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwartz, Alan; Mazouni, Abdelhamid

    2017-01-01

    Medical educators have been concerned that medical students may decline in empathy for patients during the course of their training, based on studies measuring clinical empathy using psychometrically strong self-report measures. Clinical empathy is a complex construct, incorporating attitudes toward patients but also other components, such as professional detachment. Triangulation of extant measures with instruments based on nonreactive methods could provide a better understanding of whether and how physician attitudes toward patients may be changing during training. We sought to develop and pilot-test such a nonreactive method. We develop variations of an implicit association test (IAT) designed to measure attitudes toward physicians and patients based on speed of reaction to images of actors and positive and negative words. In the IATs, the same actors are photographed as doctors, clinic outpatients, hospitalized inpatients, and as a "general public" control. We examine preliminary evidence for their validity by collecting pilot data from internet participants (not involved in the health professions), medical students, and nursing students. Internet participants (n = 314) and nursing students (n = 31) had more negative associations (IAT scores) with doctors than did medical students (n = 89); nursing students and female internet participants had more positive associations with hospitalized patients than did medical students and male internet participants. Medical students' associations with hospitalized patients varied by year of training. This IAT may provide insight into implicit attitudes among those who enter training for the health profession and changes in those attitudes that may be inculcated during that training.

  13. THE CORRELATION OF VALUES, SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL ATTITUDES OF MILITARY PERSONNEL AND THEIR INDIVIDUAL READINESS FOR CHANGE

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    R. A. Terekhin

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. Modern military servicemen quite often should cope with operational and military tasks in non-standard and sometimes extreme situations. Therefore, the problem of psychological and pedagogical support of professional development of the military personnel aimed at their valuable attitudes and readiness formation to perform professional duties under uncertainty is brought into focus. The effective solution of this problem requires studying of various psychological aspects of valuable orientations of the military personnel. The aim of the present article is to investigate the link between the interrelationships of values, socio-psychological attitudes of the military personnel and their personal readiness for change. Methodology and research methods. In the course of the work, the following theoretical methods of the research were used: an overview analysis of works in the field of value orientations, socio-psychological attitudes of the individual, personal readiness for change. Practical methods involve a questionnaire PVQ-R (Portrait Values Questionnaire – Revised by Sh. Schwartz; a technique for diagnosing socio-psychological attitudes of the person by O. Potemkina; the methodology «Personal Change – Readiness Survey» (PCRS developed by A. Rolnik, S. Hezer, M. Gold and K. Hall in the adaptation of N. Bazhanova and G. Bardier. The processing of the data obtained during the study was carried out using a statistical information processing program – SPSS version 19. Results and scientific novelty. Available studies have not treated the issue of psychological and pedagogical support of professional development of the military personnel in much detail. Thus, sufficient availability to study the interrelationships of values and socio-psychological attitudes of young military personnel in the process of their professional socialization has been revealed. The criteria of formation of this system are designated; significant

  14. Psilocybin-occasioned mystical-type experience in combination with meditation and other spiritual practices produces enduring positive changes in psychological functioning and in trait measures of prosocial attitudes and behaviors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffiths, Roland R; Johnson, Matthew W; Richards, William A; Richards, Brian D; Jesse, Robert; MacLean, Katherine A; Barrett, Frederick S; Cosimano, Mary P; Klinedinst, Maggie A

    2018-01-01

    Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences with participant-attributed increases in well-being. However, little research has examined enduring changes in traits. This study administered psilocybin to participants who undertook a program of meditation/spiritual practices. Healthy participants were randomized to three groups (25 each): (1) very low-dose (1 mg/70 kg on sessions 1 and 2) with moderate-level ("standard") support for spiritual-practice (LD-SS); (2) high-dose (20 and 30 mg/70 kg on sessions 1 and 2, respectively) with standard support (HD-SS); and (3) high-dose (20 and 30 mg/70kg on sessions 1 and 2, respectively) with high support for spiritual practice (HD-HS). Psilocybin was administered double-blind and instructions to participants/staff minimized expectancy confounds. Psilocybin was administered 1 and 2 months after spiritual-practice initiation. Outcomes at 6 months included rates of spiritual practice and persisting effects of psilocybin. Compared with low-dose, high-dose psilocybin produced greater acute and persisting effects. At 6 months, compared with LD-SS, both high-dose groups showed large significant positive changes on longitudinal measures of interpersonal closeness, gratitude, life meaning/purpose, forgiveness, death transcendence, daily spiritual experiences, religious faith and coping, and community observer ratings. Determinants of enduring effects were psilocybin-occasioned mystical-type experience and rates of meditation/spiritual practices. Psilocybin can occasion enduring trait-level increases in prosocial attitudes/behaviors and in healthy psychological functioning. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT00802282.

  15. Development of Environmental Attitude Scale towards Pre-Service Biology Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tafli, Tugba; Ates, Ali

    2016-01-01

    Healthy life for all living creatures in nature is possible with a clean and habitable environment. Raising awareness of protecting environment in human landscape is important for conservation. Upbringing of informed individuals about environment and constituting behavioral changes by gaining their positive attitudes for nature have an important…

  16. Can teaching research methodology influence students' attitude toward science? Cohort study and nonrandomized trial in a single medical school.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vujaklija, Ana; Hren, Darko; Sambunjak, Dario; Vodopivec, Ivana; Ivanis, Ana; Marusić, Ana; Marusić, Matko

    2010-02-01

    Medical teaching aims to develop attitudes and behaviors underlying professional competence of future physicians. We investigated whether a mandatory course on scientific methodology in the second study year could affect students' attitudes toward science in medicine. In a longitudinal study, students (n = 241) enrolling in 2001-2002 academic year at a single medical school were followed up until graduation in 2006-2007. Each year, they filled out a Likert-type questionnaire of 18 statements evaluating attitude toward science. Direct influence of the course on students' attitudes was tested in a nonrandomized controlled trial with the 2006-2007 second year student cohort. Positive students' attitudes toward science increased during study years (mean [SD] score of the maximum score of 90): from 57.6 (6.0) in the first to 69.8 (10.4) in the sixth year. There was a significant trend of increase in attitudes with the years of study (cubic trend by polynomial contrasts analysis, P = 0.011). Attendance of a course on research methodology significantly increased positive attitudes (score, 67.0 [7.0] before and 70.8 [7.5] after course, P = 0.032 vs control group), regardless of grade point average. The intervention had an effect even when the influence of the initial attitude was accounted for (F1,140 = 9.25, P = 0.003; analysis of covariance). The attitude changes after the course was greatest in students with low initial attitude scores (Spearman rinitial score, score difference, -0.44). Medical students have positive attitudes toward science and scientific method in medicine. Attendance of a course on research methodology had positive short-term effect on students' attitudes toward science. This positive effect should be maintained by vertical integration of the course in the medical curriculum.

  17. Attitude of Khorramabad high school students towards psychiatric disorders

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    mitra Safa

    2004-01-01

    54% of the students believed that parents inattention to their children and 46.3% believed that physical punishment by parents or school staff could effect on occurrence of psychiatric disorders . 90% of the students interested in receiving education by psychiatrist or psychologist in their schools . Conclusion: Results of this study show that high school students, attitude in Khorramabad city to psychiatric disorders is negative . It seems that with exact perception of this problem and proper planning we can develop a positive change in students, attitude to psychiatric disorders and take effective steps to improve mental health of the adolescents .

  18. Do Attitudes toward School Influence the Underachievement of Turkish and Moroccan Minority Students in Flanders? The Attitude-Achievement Paradox Revisited

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'hondt, Fanny; Van Praag, Lore; Stevens, Peter A. J.; Van Houtte, Mieke

    2015-01-01

    While many ethnic minority students underachieve compared with their ethnic majority peers, they often hold very positive school attitudes. Mickelson (1990) explained this attitude-achievement paradox by the existence of a double set of attitudes. Abstract attitudes reflect the dominant ideas about schooling, while concrete attitudes refer to a…

  19. Influence of Time to Change's social marketing interventions on stigma in England 2009-2011.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans-Lacko, Sara; Malcolm, Estelle; West, Keon; Rose, Diana; London, Jillian; Rüsch, Nicolas; Little, Kirsty; Henderson, Claire; Thornicroft, Graham

    2013-04-01

    England's Time To Change (TTC) social marketing campaign emphasised social contact between people with and without mental health problems to reduce stigma and discrimination. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of the mass media component and also that of the mass social contact events. Online interviews were performed before and after each burst of mass media social marketing to evaluate changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviour and associations between campaign awareness and outcomes. Participants at social contact events were asked about the occurrence and quality of contact, attitudes, readiness to discuss mental health and intended behaviour towards people with mental health problems. Prompted campaign awareness was 38-64%. A longitudinal improvement was noted for one intended behaviour item but not for knowledge or attitudes. Campaign awareness was positively associated with greater knowledge (β = 0.80, 95% CI 0.52-1.08) and more favourable attitudes (commonality OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.10-1.70; dangerousness OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.22-1.63) and intended behaviour (β = 0.75, 95% CI 0.53-0.96). Social contact at events demonstrated a positive impact (M = 2.68) v. no contact (M = 2.42) on perceived attitude change; t(211) = 3.30, P = 0.001. Contact quality predicted more positive attitude change (r = 0.33, Pmarketing campaign suggest that social contact can be used by anti-stigma programmes to reduce stigma.

  20. Adoption of Mobile Devices in Teaching: Changes in Teacher Beliefs, Attitudes and Anxiety

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiu, Thomas K. F.; Churchill, Daniel

    2016-01-01

    Beliefs, attitudes and anxiety levels of schoolteachers are important factors influencing the acceptance, adoption and integration of mobile devices in teaching. To understand how to sustain device use, we need to understand what influences teachers and how such factors can change. We adopted a quasi-experimental design using pre- and…

  1. The Role of Gender in Foreign Language Learning Attitudes: Japanese Female Students' Attitudes towards English Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kobayashi, Yoko

    2002-01-01

    Analyzed data from research on Japanese high school students' attitudes toward learning English to investigate female students' more positive attitudes toward English learning. Girls' attitudes toward English were affected by a composite of Japanese social and educational elements (e.g., characterization of English as a woman-dominant choice at…

  2. Consumers’ attitude towards fish meat

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesca Conte

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The overall aim of this paper is to show the factors that may affect consumers’ attitude towards farmed fish products. Consumers ask new products on the basis of different quality attributes: stability, safety, composition, better health effects, environment protection, etc. Different and controversial opinions on farmed and wild fish are also explored by literature review. The authors pay attention also to fish welfare as an emerging issue and effective information about fish products as a factor exerting a positive influence on consumers’ decision of purchase. Some relevant legislative notes on the paper’s topics are also cited. The qualitative aspects of aquaculture fish and the consumers’ demand and choice need further studies, according to some factors, such as the changing consumers’ attitudes towards fish products, the different fish quality perception and the development in the aquaculture systems.

  3. Attitudes of Flemish physiotherapy students towards mental health and psychiatry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Probst, Michel; Peuskens, Jos

    2010-03-01

    In general, psychiatry is not very popular among healthcare providers, although no information is available concerning the attitudes of physiotherapy students towards mental heath. This study examined the attitudes of physiotherapy students towards psychiatry considering the subject's gender, previous experience with psychiatry and the impact of a specific course. This experimental study compared the attitudes of physiotherapy students (n=219) with those of students without a biomedical background (n=112) towards psychiatry. All students were between 17 and 28 years of age, and completed an established international questionnaire entitled 'Attitudes Towards Psychiatry'. Within the group of physiotherapy students, the effect of a 65-hour course on psychiatric rehabilitation on their attitudes was evaluated. Attitudes towards psychiatry were moderately positive [mean (SD) 103.3 (9.9)]. There was a small but significant difference between physiotherapy students and non-medical students (Cohen's d=0.31). Female students had a more positive attitude towards psychiatry than their male peers (Cohen's d=0.44). Prior experience with mental illness was associated with more positive attitudes (Cohen's d=0.68). Attitudes increased in positivity after completion of a psychiatry course (Cohen's d=0.72). To ensure basic physiotherapeutic treatment for the mentally ill, physiotherapy education should aim to promote positive attitudes towards mental illness as well as psychiatry. High-quality courses and personal interaction with patients are the best strategies to achieve this goal.

  4. An investigation into the attitudes of nursing students toward technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tubaishat, Ahmad

    2014-06-01

    Attitudes toward technology may impact the levels of technology acceptance and training willingness among nursing students. Nurse acceptance and effective utilization of technology are critical to improving patient care and safety. The aims of this cross-sectional study were to measurethe attitude of nursing students toward technology and to determine if demographic characteristics affect their attitudinal measures. Furthermore, the amount of formal education provided on the use of technology applications is explored. A convenience sample of nursing students attending a public university in Jordan was recruited, and a technology attitude scale designed to measure the attitude of nursing students toward technology was used. Scales designed to gather data on participant demographics, self-reported technology skills, and level of formal technology education were also used. The results showed that participants held a positive attitude toward technology. Students who reported a high level of technology skill had the most positive attitude toward technology. The impact years of formal education on the use of technology applications were low, whereas academic level had a significant impact on technology attitudes. Senior student participants had the highest level of technology education, likely because of their exposure to relatively more educational opportunities, and the most positive attitude toward technology. Despite the positive attitude of nursing students toward technology, the problem of minimal technology education should be addressed in future nursing programs to further enhance positive attitudes toward technology.

  5. Graphic gambling warnings: how they affect emotions, cognitive responses and attitude change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muñoz, Yaromir; Chebat, Jean-Charles; Borges, Adilson

    2013-09-01

    The present study focuses on the effects of graphic warnings related to excessive gambling. It is based upon a theoretical model derived from both the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). We focus on video lottery terminal (VLT), one of the most hazardous format in the gaming industry. Our cohort consisted of 103 actual gamblers who reported previous gambling activity on VLT's on a regular basis. We assess the effectiveness of graphic warnings vs. text-only warnings and the effectiveness of two major arguments (i.e., family vs. financial disruption). A 2 × 2 factorial design was used to test the direct and combined effects of two variables (i.e., warning content and presence vs. absence of a graphic). It was found that the presence of a graphic enhances both cognitive appraisal and fear, and has positive effects on the Depth of Information Processing. In addition, graphic content combined with family disruptions is more effective for changing attitudes and complying with the warning than other combinations of the manipulated variables. It is proposed that ELM and PMT complement each other to explain the effects of warnings. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

  6. Exploring employees' perceptions, job-related attitudes and characteristics during a planned organizational change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katsaros, K.K.

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The current study explores employee perceptions regarding organizational readiness to change, supervisory support, trust in management and appropriateness of change during a planned organizational change in a public hospital. Survey data were collected at two time periods, before and five months after the initiation of the planned change. Research findings show a significant increase in perceptive organizational readiness to change, supervisory support, trust in management and appropriateness of change after the planned change implementation. Findings also suggest that differences in the aforementioned perceptions are moderated by certain job-related attitudes, namely, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job involvement; and job-related characteristics, namely, skill variety, task identity, task significance feedback, autonomy and goal clarity. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

  7. Study of the effects of informational and persuasive messages on the attitudes of high school students toward the use of nuclear energy for electrical production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Showers, D.E.

    1986-01-01

    This investigation assessed the relationship between knowledge about and attitudes toward nuclear energy. The study's purpose was accomplished by attempting to manipulate knowledge about and attitude toward nuclear energy independently. Over two thousand high school students participated in the study. A Non-Equivalent Control Group quasi-experimental design was used involving random assignment by intact groups to treatments. A knowledge treatment was designed to increase student knowledge without affecting attitudes. An attitude treatment was designed to change attitudes without changing knowledge, and a control treatment was employed for comparison to the experimental treatments. Each treatment consisted of a videotape with a viewing guide and a homework assignment. The Nuclear Energy Assessment Battery was used as a pretest, post-test, and retention test. Males scored significantly higher in knowledge and positive attitudes, but no interaction between gender and treatment was found. The study concluded that (1) there is a correlation between nuclear knowledge and attitudes, (2) knowledge about nuclear energy can be changed without affecting attitude and attitude can be changed without affecting knowledge, and (3) students show differences and attitude based on gender

  8. Attitudes of women and men living with HIV and their healthcare ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Therefore, pronatalist attitudes remain in place in the face of HIV infection. Keywords: attitudes towards childbearing and abortion, stigma scales against HIV-positive women's pregnancies, stigma scales against HIV-positive women having abortions, healthcare providers' attitudes about HIV-positive women's reproduction, ...

  9. Attitudes toward unauthorized immigrants, authorized immigrants, and refugees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murray, Kate E; Marx, David M

    2013-07-01

    Rates of human migration are steadily rising and have resulted in significant sociopolitical debates over how to best respond to increasing cultural diversity and changing migration patterns. Research on prejudicial attitudes toward immigrants has focused on the attitudes and beliefs that individuals in the receiving country hold about immigrants. The current study enhances this literature by examining how young adults view authorized and unauthorized immigrants and refugees. Using a between-groups design of 191 undergraduates, we found that participants consistently reported more prejudicial attitudes, greater perceived realistic threats, and greater intergroup anxiety when responding to questions about unauthorized compared with authorized immigrants. Additionally, there were differences in attitudes depending on participants' generational status, with older-generation participants reporting greater perceived realistic and symbolic threat, prejudice, and anxiety than newer-generation students. In some instances, these effects were moderated by participant race/ethnicity and whether they were evaluating authorized or unauthorized immigrants. Lastly, perceived realistic threat, symbolic threat, and intergroup anxiety were significant predictors of prejudicial attitudes. Overall, participants reported positive attitudes toward refugees and resettlement programs in the United States. These findings have implications for future research and interventions focused on immigration and prejudice toward migrant groups. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

  10. Attitudes towards the Human Genome Project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shahroudi, Julie; Shaw, Geraldine

    Attitudes concerning the Human Genome Project were reported by faculty (N=40) and students (N=66) from a liberal arts college. Positive attitudes toward the project involved privacy, insurance and health, economic purposes, reproductive purposes, genetic counseling, religion and overall opinions. Negative attitudes were expressed regarding…

  11. Irish Mathematics Teachers' Attitudes towards Inclusion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whitty, Elaine; Clarke, Marie

    2012-01-01

    This paper through the theoretical framework of constructive attitude theory explores mathematics teachers' attitudes and pedagogical strategies with reference to inclusive practice. The authors argue that though teachers may have formed positive inclusive attitudes, the translation of these into practice does not always occur and poses…

  12. Learning Might Not Equal Liking: Research Methods Course Changes Knowledge But Not Attitudes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sizemore, O. J.; Lewandowski, Gary W., Jr.

    2009-01-01

    Students completed surveys at the beginning and end of a sophomore-level course on research and statistics. We hypothesized that the course would produce advances in knowledge of research and statistics and that those changes would be accompanied by more favorable attitudes toward the subject matter. Results showed that knowledge did increase…

  13. Changes in Immigrant Individuals' Language Attitudes through Contact with Catalan: The Mirror Effect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cortès-Colomé, Montserrat; Barrieras, Mònica; Comellas, Pere

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents the results of a study based on the change in language attitudes experienced by some allochthonous individuals through contact with the sociolinguistic situation in Catalonia. Previous studies have suggested that in some cases, contact with Catalan--a minority language with a valued identity--acts as a stimulus for some…

  14. Changing Attitudes Toward Care of Aging Parents: The Influence of Education, International Travel, and Gender.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Compernolle, Ellen

    Population aging is a key public health issue facing many nations, and is particularly pronounced in many Asian countries. At the same time, attitudes toward filial obligation are also rapidly changing, with a decreasing sense that children are responsible for caring for elderly parents. This investigation blends the family versus nonfamily mode of social organization framework with a life course perspective to provide insight into the processes of ideational change regarding filial responsibility, highlighting the influence of education and international travel. Using data from a longitudinal study in Nepal-the Chitwan Valley Family Study-results demonstrate that education and international travel are associated with a decrease in attitudes toward filial obligation. However, findings further reveal that the impact of education and international travel vary both across the life course and by gender.

  15. Evaluation of Changes in Ghanaian Students' Attitudes Towards Science Following Neuroscience Outreach Activities: A Means to Identify Effective Ways to Inspire Interest in Science Careers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yawson, Nat Ato; Amankwaa, Aaron Opoku; Tali, Bernice; Shang, Velma Owusua; Batu, Emmanuella Nsenbah; Asiemoah, Kwame; Fuseini, Ahmed Denkeri; Tene, Louis Nana; Angaandi, Leticia; Blewusi, Isaac; Borbi, Makafui; Aduku, Linda Nana Esi; Badu, Pheonah; Abbey, Henrietta; Karikari, Thomas K

    2016-01-01

    generally strong trend towards a change in attitude for questions that sought information about students' perceptions about scientists (both positive and negative perceptions). In addition, outreach providers reported that their involvement in this public engagement scheme helped them acquire several transferable skills that will be beneficial in their studies and career development. These include vital skills in project and time management, teamwork and public speaking. Altogether, our findings provide novel indications that the development of scientist-school outreach partnerships in Ghana has valuable implications for science education and capacity development.

  16. Body appreciation and attitudes toward menstruation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chrisler, Joan C; Marván, Maria Luisa; Gorman, Jennifer A; Rossini, Meghan

    2015-01-01

    Menstruation is an important function of the female body, yet it has rarely been included in research on body image. As women's attitudes toward menstruation are so often negative, this study was designed to examine whether women with positive body image would have more positive attitudes toward menstruation. Seventy-two American women, ages 18-45 years, were recruited online to complete the Body Appreciation Scale (Avalos et al., 2005) and the Beliefs about and Attitudes toward Menstruation Scale (Marván et al., 2006) and to answer some questions about their interest in menstrual suppression. Linear regressions showed that higher scores on body appreciation predicted more positive attitudes toward and beliefs about menstruation, but were not related to interest in menstrual suppression. Our findings may be useful in designing interventions to increase women's comfort with their bodies and bodily functions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Teachers Attitude towards English in Batu Anam

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mah Zhi Jian

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available This research investigates the attitude of 60 primary and secondary school teachers towards English in Batu Anam. A questionnaire was administered to find out whether they have a positive or a negative attitude towards the English language. Results indicate that teachers in Batu Anam generally have a positive attitude towards English. Comparison between male and female teachers, optionist and non-optionist teachers and teachers from different types of schools are also analyzed.

  18. Attitudes of university precalculus students toward mathematics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alkhateeb, Haitham M; Mji, Andile

    2005-04-01

    To investigate the attitudes of 200 university students (83% freshmen) toward mathematics, a questionnaire was administered to report on their attitudes toward mathematics. Analysis indicated that students studying precalculus had a somewhat positive attitude toward mathematics.

  19. Guidance and Control of Position and Attitude for Rendezvous and Dock/Berthing with a Noncooperative/Target Spacecraft

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gilberto Arantes

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Noncooperative target spacecrafts are those assets in orbit that cannot convey any information about their states (position, attitude, and velocities or facilitate rendezvous and docking/berthing (RVD/B process. Designing a guidance, navigation, and control (GNC module for the chaser in a RVD/B mission with noncooperative target should be inevitably solved for on-orbit servicing technologies. The proximity operations and the guidance for achieving rendezvous problems are addressed in this paper. The out-of-plane maneuvers of proximity operations are explored with distinct subphases, including a chaser far approach in the target’s orbit to the first hold point and a closer approach to the final berthing location. Accordingly, guidance solutions are chosen for each subphase from the standard Hill based Closhessy-Willtshire (CW solution, elliptical fly-around, and Glideslope algorithms. The control is based on a linear quadratic regulator approach (LQR. At the final berthing location, attitude tracker based on a proportional derivative (PD form is tested to synchronize the chaser and target attitudes. The paper analyzes the performance of both controllers in terms of the tracking ability and the robustness. Finally, it prescribes any restrictions that may be imposed on the guidance during any subphase which can help to improve the controllers tracking ability.

  20. Professionals' positive perceptions of fathers are associated with more favourable attitudes towards including them in family interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Montigny, Francine; Gervais, Christine; Meunier, Sophie; Dubeau, Diane

    2017-12-01

    This Université du Québec en Outaouais study examined professionals' attitudes towards fathers, their perceived self-efficacy when working with them and their perceptions of the importance of including fathers in family interventions. Professionals in Québec, Canada, working in childcare fields such as education, social services, health, community services and management answered a self-report questionnaire between 2013 and 2015. The 296 respondents (90% females) had a mean age of 39 (20-65), were from urban, semi-urban and rural settings and provided services to families with children up to five years of age. Social service professionals perceived fathers more negatively than did other professionals. Even though male professionals perceived fathers more negatively, they felt more confident working with them than did their female counterparts. Positive perceptions of fathers were associated with more favourable attitudes towards including them in family interventions, and this association was mediated by the professionals' perceptions of their own self-efficacy. The most negative attitudes were reported by social service professionals. Male professionals viewed fathers more negatively but were more confident working with them than were female colleagues. Improving professionals' perceptions of fathers could help to promote their inclusion in family interventions. ©2017 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. Contact with Young Adults with Disability Led to a Positive Change in Attitudes toward Disability among Physiotherapy Students

    OpenAIRE

    Shields, Nora; Taylor, Nicholas F.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: To determine whether contact over 8 weeks with a person with disability benefits physiotherapy students' attitudes toward disability and their development of professional behaviours and skills. Methods: Sixteen adults with Down syndrome were matched with 16 physiotherapy students (13 women, 3 men; mean age 22.5 [SD 3.0] years) and randomized to either an 8-week, twice-weekly walking programme or an 8-week, once-weekly social activities programme. Students completed the Interaction wi...

  2. Demographic Group Differences in Adolescents' Time Attitudes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andretta, James R.; Worrell, Frank C.; Mello, Zena R.; Dixson, Dante D.; Baik, Sharon H.

    2013-01-01

    In the present study, we examined demographic differences in time attitudes in a sample of 293 adolescents. Time attitudes were measured using the Adolescent Time Attitude Scale (Mello & Worrell, 2007; Worrell, Mello, & Buhl, 2011), which assesses positive and negative attitudes toward the past, the present, and the future. Generally, African…

  3. Mortality Salience and Positive Affect Influence Adolescents' Attitudes toward Peers with Physical Disabilities: Terror Management and Broaden and Build Theories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taubman-Ben-Ari, Orit; Eherenfreund-Hager, Ahinoam; Findler, Liora

    2011-01-01

    Attitudes toward teenagers with and without physical disabilities, and their social acceptance, were examined from the perspective of terror management theory and the broaden and build theory. Participants (n = 390, aged 13-17) were divided into 3 experimental conditions: positive emotions, mortality salience, and control. Then, they were shown…

  4. A Longitudinal Study of Student Attitudes toward Computers: Resolving an Attitude Decay Paradox.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKinnon, David H.; Nolan, C. J. Patrick; Sinclair, Kenneth E.

    2000-01-01

    Describes results of an integrated curriculum project in New Zealand that generated paradoxical results regarding student motivation and attitudes toward computer use during junior high school, where attitudes became less positive. Examines implications for the design and implementation of curriculum projects involving student use of computer…

  5. Assessing Regional Attitudes about Entrepreneurship

    OpenAIRE

    Loveridge, Scott; Miller, Steven R.; Komarek, Timothy M.; Satimanon, Thasanee

    2012-01-01

    Much of the current discussion on factors that influence entrepreneurial activity focuses on availability of human, social, and financial capitals, regional economic conditions, and dynamics of population. We discuss social attitudes toward entrepreneurship and how attitudes may influence entrepreneurial activity. We analyze telephone survey questions designed to gauge attitudes towards community entrepreneurship. High school entrepreneurship career exploration and positive spin-offs from loc...

  6. Attitudes of Students Studying In Health Related Departments towards the Elderly

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sercan Özbek YAZICI

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Negative attitudes towards the elderly may cause decreases in quality health service provided to the elderly. In the study, the aim was to determine attitudes of students studying in health related departments towards the elderly and relationships between the attitudes and various variables were analyzed. In a descriptive study, the sample included nursing, physiotherapy, and elderly care students. Kogan’s attitude towards old people scale (KAOP was used to measure attitudes towards the elderly and Stanley Coopersmith Self Esteem Inventory (SEI was used to assess the level of students’ self-esteem. The KOAP mean attitude score of the students was 125.6 ± 14.38 and the students had slightly positive attitudes towards the elderly. Students who were at the age of 20 or over and who were living in the city showed more positive attitudes. The students of the Elderly Care Department had the lowest mean score and there was a significant difference between mean KAOP scores of students at Nursing and Elderly Care Department. Also, weak positive correlation was found between the KAOP and SEI mean scores of students. The results implies that the students are required to enhance their positive attitudes towards the elderly. Therefore, students should be provided a training program that improves the positive attitudes

  7. Young people's attitudes towards illicit drugs: A population-based study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friis, Karina; Østergaard, Jeanette; Reese, Sidsel; Lasgaard, Mathias

    2017-12-01

    Previous studies indicate that young people who have positive attitudes towards illicit drugs are more inclined to experiment with them. The first aim of our study was to identify the sociodemographic and risk behaviour characteristics of young people (16-24 years) with positive attitudes towards illicit drug use. The second aim was to identify the characteristics of young people with positive attitudes towards illicit drugs among those who had never tried drugs, those who had tried cannabis but no other illicit drugs, and those who regularly used cannabis and/or had tried other illicit drugs. The analysis was based on a population-based survey from 2013 ( N = 3812). Multiple logistic regression was used to analyse the association between sociodemographic and risk behaviour characteristics and positive attitudes towards illicit drugs. Young men had twice the odds of having positive attitudes towards illicit drug use compared with young women (AOR = 2.1). Also, young age, being single, being employed, smoking tobacco, practising unprotected sex, and experimental cannabis use were associated with positive attitudes towards illicit drug use. Finally, use of cannabis at least 10 times during the previous year and/or use of other illicit drugs had the strongest association with positive attitudes to illicit drug use (AOR = 6.0). Young people who have positive attitudes towards illicit drug use are characterized by a broad range of risky behaviours. These findings may help to identify young people at risk of initiating illicit drug use and thereby support the development and implementation of prevention programmes.

  8. Factors Affecting Attitude of the Greenhouse Owner towards Sustainable Agriculture in Alborz province

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Omid Jamshidi

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The attitude of greenhouse owner as the basis of agricultural production towards sustainable agriculture could be grounds for increasing the sustainability of this type of cultivation system. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the attitude of greenhouse owners towards sustainability in the Alborz province. The target population for this study consisted of all active greenhouse owners in the Alborz province (N=366. The sample size was determined by using Cochran’s formula (n=155 and using the proportional stratified random sampling method. The validity was confirmed by a panel of experts and its reliability was established by Cronbach's Alpha coefficient (0.85. The results showed that the attitude of 41 percent of the respondents towards sustainability was positive. Also, there were significant differences between the attitudes of the respondents in the group with related education and unrelated education group. Correlation analysis showed that the there is a positive relation between attitude towards searching behavior and the use of communication channels. In addition, the results of multiple regression analysis indicated that about 40 percent of the attitudes of greenhouse owner towards sustainable agriculture are explained by 4 variables. The result of this study indicate that by using different means of providing information and training, we can change the attitudes of greenhouse owners and lead them to produce more sustainable and healthy product.

  9. Divergence over conformity: Change in immigration attitudes after the electoral success of an anti-immigration populist party in the Finnish 2015 parliamentary elections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lönnqvist, Jan-Erik; Mannerström, Rasmus; Leikas, Sointu

    2018-06-05

    The populist, anti-immigration-oriented Finns Party was considered the winner of the Finnish 2015 parliamentary elections. In a representative sample of young adults (N = 606), a longitudinal pre- post-election design revealed that attitudes towards immigration became more favourable among those disappointed by the outcome and those who did not vote for the Finns Party. Among the latter, both supporting the green-red rival parties and disliking the Finns Party independently predicted increased support for migration. Other attitudes did not change. The results highlight the importance of social processes and identity concerns, particularly self-categorization, as drivers of attitude change. While previous work has focused on conformity dynamics, our results suggest that diverging from an unwanted identity may be associated with attitude change. © 2018 International Union of Psychological Science.

  10. Public attitudes toward nuclear power generation. Focusing on measurement of attitude intensity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagai, Yasuko; Hayashi, Chikio

    1999-01-01

    The purpose of the present study was to 1) examine the differences of the perception between nuclear power generation (NPG) and electric power generation by nuclear fusion, 2) find the structural characteristics of the attitude toward NPG, 3) shed light on the characteristics of knowledge about NPG, and 4) develop a scale to measure the intensity in attitude toward NPG. Subjects (N = 1,582) were randomly assigned into 4 groups and were asked to answer a questionnaire including public attitudes toward NPG and related matters. The results were as follows: 1) the perception of electric power generation by nuclear fusion was less favorable than that of NPG; 2) Items which correlated with attitudes toward NPG were: 'sense of anxiety,' sensitivity to risk,' 'trust in science and technology,' 'evaluation of Japan's nuclear policy', 'evaluation of electric power companies,' and interest in life and environmental issues.' Moreover, people with a strong attitude tended to be rational and had a better knowledge of NPG; 3) The evaluation of the amount of subjective knowledge concerning nuclear power and electric power generation was reliable as a measure of objective knowledge; 4) The measurement method used in this study was characterized by the use of biased questions(ten positively and ten negatively biased questions) which were shown to the subjects using the split-half method. An attempt was made to measure the attitude and its intensity taking into consideration gender, positive or negative attitude toward NPG, level of knowledge about NPG, age, and occupation. As a result, differences in intensity between different attributes were found. (author)

  11. Investigating the Relationship between Internet Usage and Attitude towards Online Friendship (Case Study: Students of Guilan University

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Amin Kanaani

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Internet is causing to transform the profile of the everyday life, especially for the youth. Attractiveness of internet has caused that most youth being appealed to the internet friendships, rather than face to face interactions. The present research aimed to investigate the relation between internet usage and attitude towards internet friendship with opposite sex among students. The survey method and researcher constructed questionnaire is used to gather appropriate information. The statistical universe is all under-graduate and post-graduate students of Guilan University, and from among them, 372 students have been selected through proportionate stratified sampling method. The observed positive relations between attitude towards online friendship and internet usage reveal that quantity and quality of internet usage are important variables creating positive attitudes towards online friendships with opposite sex. In accordance with Giddens it can be said that increasing electronic interactions changed traditional attitudes regarding relations between two sexes. The observed relation between the age of students and attitude towards internet friendship reveals the combined effect of time and space factors on changing attitudes. In overall, expansion of internet usage as a part of the process of globalization has an special role on formation of new social meanings such as online friendship with opposite sex, which itself is an apparent feature of modern world.

  12. Surveys of public knowledge and attitudes with regard to antibiotics in Poland: Did the European Antibiotic Awareness Day campaigns change attitudes?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beata Mazińska

    the knowledge, attitude, and behavior regarding antibiotics among the general population of Poland. Inappropriate antibiotic use is still highly prevalent in Poland, although a positive trend in behavioral change was observed after the educational campaigns. Additional didactic and systematic education campaigns regarding appropriate antibiotic use are needed and the use of the Internet as an education tool should be enhanced.

  13. Organizational Culture and Climate and Mental Health Provider Attitudes Toward Evidence-Based Practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aarons, Gregory A; Sawitzky, Angelina C

    2006-02-01

    Mental health provider attitudes toward adopting evidence-based practice (EBP) are associated with organizational context and provider individual differences. Organizational culture and climate are contextual factors that can affect staff acceptance of innovation. This study examined the association of organizational culture and climate with attitudes toward adopting EBP. Participants were 301 public sector mental health service providers from 49 programs providing mental health services for youths and families. Correlation analyses and multilevel hierarchical regressions, controlling for effects of provider characteristics, showed that constructive culture was associated with more positive attitudes toward adoption of EBP and poor organizational climates with perceived divergence of usual practice and EBP. Behavioral health organizations may benefit from consideration of how culture and climate affect staff attitudes toward change in practice.

  14. Attitudes Towards Immigration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Malchow-Møller, Nikolaj; Munch, Jakob Roland; Schroll, Sanne

    In this paper, we re-examine the role of economic self-interest in shaping people’s attitudes towards immigration, using data from the European Social Survey 2002/2003. Compared to the existing literature, there are two main contributions of the present paper. First, we develop a more powerful test...... of the hypothesis that a positive relationship between education and attitudes towards immigration reflects economic self-interest in the labour market. Second, we develop an alternative and more direct test of whether economic self-interest matters for people’s attitudes towards immigration. We find that while...... the "original" relationship between education and attitudes found in the literature is unlikely to reflect economic self-interest, there is considerable evidence of economic self-interest when using the more direct test...

  15. Attitudes Towards Immigration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Malchow-Møller, Nikolaj; Roland Munch, Jakob; Schroll, Sanne

    2006-01-01

    In this paper, we re-examine the role of economic self-interest in shaping people's attitudes towards immigration, using data from the European Social Survey 2002/2003. Compared to the existing literature, there are two main contributions of the present paper. First, we develop a more powerful test...... of the hypothesis that a positive relationship between education and attitudes towards immigration reflects economic self-interest in the labour market. Second, we develop an alternativeand more direct test of whether economic self-interest mattersfor people's attitudes towards immigration. We find that whilethe...... "original" relationship between education and attitudes found in the literature is unlikely to reflect economic self-interest, there is considerable evidence of economic self-interest when using the more directtest....

  16. Student Accommodation in Higher Education in the United Kingdom: Changing Post-War Attitudes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tight, Malcolm

    2011-01-01

    This article explores the changing attitudes towards student accommodation in higher education in the United Kingdom since the end of the Second World War. In the first part of this period there was a firm assumption, in universities and teacher training colleges, that the accommodation of students in or close to their university or college,…

  17. FACOTRS TO DETERMINE RISK PERCEPTION OF CLIMATE CHANGE, AND ATTITUDE TOWARD ADAPTATION POLICY OF THE PUBLIC

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baba, Kenshi; Sugimoto, Takuya; Kubota, Hiromi; Hijioka, Yasuaki; Tanaka, Mitsuru

    This study clarifies the factors to determine risk perception of climate change and attitudes toward adaptation policy by analyzing the data collecting from Internet survey to the general public. The results indicate the followings: 1) more than 70% people perceive some sort of risk of climate change, and most people are awaken to wind and flood damage. 2) most people recognize that mitigation policy is much more important than adaptation policy, whereas most people assume to accept adaptation policy as self-reponsibility, 3) the significant factors to determinane risk perception of climate chage and attitude towerd adaptation policy are cognition of benefits on the policy and procedural justice in the policy process in addion to demographics such as gender, experience of disaster, intension of inhabitant.

  18. Attitudes to and behaviour of the population with regard to various types of energy production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matthoefer, H.

    1977-01-01

    Discussions on energy in the FRG has spread to wide sections of the population. The present investigation takes this into account. The title points out the changed situation: Nuclear power and nuclear power stations still have a special position, but can no longer be regarded separately from economic requirements and other types of energy production. A momentary attitude held by people can easily lead one astray in problems of this difficulty. The attitudes of the population can change greatly in a short period of time, as is shown in this investigation. In order to understand such changes and their causes, one must investigate deeper causes of action. This has been attempted here, by examining attitudes and behaviour regarding various types of energy production not only at one point, but over a whole year, and relating it to larger economic and social conditions. The three power station sites, where the investigation was carried out by fourfold questioning, show very different attitudes. We may have found a guide to understanding energy-political differences here: History, social and economic situation, have a much greater influence on attitudes than general statistical population characteristics such as social group or age group. (orig.) [de

  19. Effectiveness of a Constructivistic Multimedia-Learning Package on Shaping and Guiding Students' Attitudes Toward Physics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Divya C. Senan

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Physics is considered by some to be the most perplexing area in the sciences and perceived as a hard subject for students from secondary school to the university to adult-graduate education. Educational research has provided evidence that attitudes towards physics change with exposure to it. When students have negative attitudes towards physics, they often do not "like" physics courses or the teachers of those courses. Based on this premise, numerous studies have been conducted to determine the factors that affect students' attitudes towards physics. A goal that is important to most if not all teachers of physics courses is to inspire students to have a positive attitude towards the subject. This goal encompasses an appreciation of how physicists think and how they incorporate the values that it provides, as well as, how it is applied to other areas or related fields, and its application in everyday life. In this regard, the aim of this investigation has been to explore how to impact more effectively positive students' attitudes in physics courses. To that end, we report the effectiveness of a constructivistic multimedia-learning package (MLP in shaping and guiding students' attitudes towards physics.

  20. European attitudes to water pricing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Anne Kejser

    2016-01-01

    , there is a need for increased understanding of the implementation process and the attitudes towards implementation among the general public. This paper explores the spatial heterogeneity in the public attitude towards internalizing environmental and resource costs in the price of water across the EU regions....... Within an extensive spatial dataset constructed for the purpose, we estimate the effect of individual information levels and affordability concerns on the attitude towards environmental water pricing. Information about water problems is found to have a significant and positive effect on attitudes...

  1. oral health related behaviour, knowledge, attitudes and beliefs

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The findings of this study have shown that the participants had conducive oral health behavior, sufficient knowledge, positive attitude and held positive beliefs regarding dental treatments. ORAL HEALTH RELATED BEHAVIOUR, KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES. AND BELIEFS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN.

  2. Analysing lawyers’ attitude towards knowledge sharing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wole M. Olatokun

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: The study examined and identified the factors that affect lawyers’ attitudes to knowledge sharing, and their knowledge sharing behaviour. Specifically, it investigated the relationship between the salient beliefs affecting the knowledge sharing attitude of lawyers’, and applied a modified version of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA in the knowledge sharing context, to predict how these factors affect their knowledge sharing behaviour.Method: A field survey of 273 lawyers was carried out, using questionnaire for data collection. Collected data on all variables were structured into grouped frequency distributions. Principal Component Factor Analysis was applied to reduce the constructs and Simple Regression was applied to test the hypotheses. These were tested at 0.05% level of significance.Results: Results showed that expected associations and contributions were the major determinants of lawyers’ attitudes towards knowledge sharing. Expected reward was not significantly related to lawyers’ attitudes towards knowledge sharing. A positive attitude towards knowledge sharing was found to lead to a positive intention to share knowledge, although a positive intention to share knowledge did not significantly predict a positive knowledge sharing behaviour. The level of Information Technology (IT usage was also found to significantly affect the knowledge sharing behaviour of lawyers’.Conclusion: It was recommended that law firms in the study area should deploy more IT infrastructure and services that encourage effective knowledge sharing amongst lawyers. 

  3. Determinants of attitudes towards professional mental health care, informal help and self-reliance in people with subclinical depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Zoonen, Kim; Kleiboer, Annet; Cuijpers, Pim; Smit, Jan; Penninx, Brenda; Verhaak, Peter; Beekman, Aartjan

    2016-02-01

    Although little is known about which people with subclinical depression should receive care to prevent the onset of depression, it is clear that remediating symptoms of depression is important. However, depending on the beliefs people hold about help, some people will seek professional help, while others seek informal help or solve problems on their own. This study examined associations between attitudes about help and socio-demographic variables, mastery, severity of depressive symptoms, accessibility to care, and health care utilization at baseline and 4-year follow-up. Data were derived from a large cohort study, the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA). A total of 235 respondents with subclinical depression completed questionnaires at baseline and follow-up. Attitude was assessed using a short version of the 'Trust in mental health care' questionnaire. Positive attitude towards professional care was associated with being male, younger age, higher mastery and easy accessibility to care. Positive attitude towards informal help was associated with higher mastery and unemployment. Older age, less accessibility to care and lower mastery were associated with positive attitude towards self-reliance. A change in care utilization was associated with positive attitudes towards professional care at follow-up. People differ in the way they cope with symptoms which may influence their preferred care. Higher levels of mastery were positively associated with professional and informal care, but negatively associated with self-reliance. Both age and mastery showed relatively large effect sizes. © The Author(s) 2015.

  4. ATTITUDE-CHANGE FOLLOWING PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION - INTEGRATING SOCIAL JUDGMENT THEORY AND THE ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    SIERO, FW; DOOSJE, BJ

    1993-01-01

    An experiment was conducted to examine the influence of the perceived extremity of a message and motivation to elaborate upon the process of persuasion. The first goal was to test a model of attitude change relating Social Judgment Theory to the Elaboration Likelihood Model. The second objective was

  5. Personality traits as determinants of the attitude towards women leaders in Montenegrin society

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mašnić Jelena

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available This research aims at defining the determining influence of some psychological characteristics (authoritarianism, self-efficacy, life satisfaction and willingness to change on the attitude towards women leaders. We have used non-experimental research on the sample of 361 respondents from four Montenegrin municipalities (Podgorica, Bar, Nikšić and Berane. Most of the observed social-status characteristics are not important determinants of the observed attitude, which could indicate the presence of traditionalist beliefs about the role of women in the society. Authoritarian people are more prone to negative attitude towards the observed phenomenon. It is also advisable to consider this attitude in light of the resistance to change. Our results suggest the importance of improving the system of professional promotion of staff in modern organizations, especially in the direction of providing gender equality training, both when it comes to overall career development and when it comes to their acceptance of women in leading roles. An equal starting point for taking the leadership position would be provided by a redefinition of gender expectations as well as by the change in the perception of features and the role of leaders. .

  6. Ninth Graders and Climate Change: Attitudes towards Consequences, Views on Mitigation, and Predictors of Willingness to Act

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hermans, Mikaela; Korhonen, Johan

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study is to examine Finnish ninth graders' attitudes towards the consequences of climate change, their views on climate change mitigation and the impact of a set of selected predictors on their willingness to act in climate change mitigation. Students (N = 549) from 11 secondary schools participated in the questionnaire-based…

  7. Sibling Position and Risk Attitudes: Is Being an Only Child Associated with a Person’s Risk Tolerance?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jennifer M. Brown

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The influence of birth order on personality has been studied for several decades, but little research has been conducted on the association between sibling position and risk tolerance. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between being an only child and risk-taking attitudes. Data from the 2010 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979 sample was used to test the hypotheses that only children and first borns are similar, only children exhibit a lower risk tolerance when compared to those with siblings, and only children exhibit a lower risk tolerance when compared to those with siblings when first borns are removed and only borns are compared with later borns. Results did show that only children are similar to first borns in nearly every domain of risk tolerance considered. Furthermore, they do not exhibit dramatically different risk attitudes than those with siblings when the variables of sex, locus of control, and net worth are controlled.

  8. A lesbian/straight team approach to changing attitudes toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liddle, Becky J; Stowe, Angela M

    2002-10-01

    SUMMARY Advantages of a lesbian/heterosexual team approach to education on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues are examined and a case study is analyzed. A lesbian guest lecturer provided a contact experience, personal anecdotes, passion, and expertise. Facilitation of later class discussion by the heterosexual instructor allowed for frank discussion among students, processing of presentation content, and modeling of gay-affirmative attitudes by the instructor and other students. Summaries of the guest lecture (fantasy exercise and informational lecture) and later discussion are provided. Student comments during discussion demonstrated evidence of deep challenge, attitude change, and heightened understanding.

  9. Nuclear Waste Risk Perceptions and Attitudes in Siting a Final Repository for Spent Nuclear Fuel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sjoeberg, Lennart [Stockholm School of Economics (Sweden). Center for Risk Research

    2006-09-15

    some extent unexplained as well. The reasons for the development towards more positive attitudes cannot be determined with any certainty at this point. However, it should be mentioned that attitude to nuclear power per se became more positive during the studied period, both in the two municipalities and in the nation as a whole. Nuclear power attitude was strongly correlated with policy intention in the present data (0.67). Yet, adding nuclear power attitude to the analysis of covariance model mentioned above did not result in a substantially weaker effect of the time factor (or of gender). This result suggests that whatever factor accounts for the changes observed, beyond the ones measured and investigated here, probably are area specific and possibly connected with the SKB program of information - a question for future research to answer.

  10. Nuclear Waste Risk Perceptions and Attitudes in Siting a Final Repository for Spent Nuclear Fuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sjoeberg, Lennart

    2006-01-01

    some extent unexplained as well. The reasons for the development towards more positive attitudes cannot be determined with any certainty at this point. However, it should be mentioned that attitude to nuclear power per se became more positive during the studied period, both in the two municipalities and in the nation as a whole. Nuclear power attitude was strongly correlated with policy intention in the present data (0.67). Yet, adding nuclear power attitude to the analysis of covariance model mentioned above did not result in a substantially weaker effect of the time factor (or of gender). This result suggests that whatever factor accounts for the changes observed, beyond the ones measured and investigated here, probably are area specific and possibly connected with the SKB program of information - a question for future research to answer

  11. The effects of attitudes towards violence on violent behaviour among secondary school students: Moderation by gender and aggressiveness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oljača Milan

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this research was to explore the effects of attitudes towards violence on different forms of violence behaviour among secondary school students. The moderator roles of gender and aggressiveness in relationships between attitude and violence were also tested. The Bullying Attitudinal Scale, the Peer Violence and Victimisation Questionnaire (PVVQ, and the Aggressiveness questionnaire AVDH were administered on the sample of 643 second- to fourth-grade secondary school students from urban area (61.7% boysgrade. The results have shown that among boys more positive attitudes towards violence had significant effect on direct violence forms - physical and verbal, but that it depended on aggressiveness whether violence would be manifested as physical. Namely, the boys with more positive attitudes towards violence, who, at the same time, scored higher on aggressiveness, were more prone to physical violence. Unlike them, the boys with more positive attitudes towards violence but with lower aggressiveness were less prone to physical aggression. In the case of verbal violence, it has been shown that boys with more positive attitudes towards violence were more prone to verbal violence, regardless of aggressiveness. Aggressiveness had a unique contribution to the prediction of verbal violence and only a significant effect in the prediction of relational violence. The importance of changing the attitudes towards violence in the context of violence prevention is discussed. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. ON179006 i br. ON179037: Nasilje u savremenom društvu: dispozicioni i kontekstualni činioci

  12. How temporal distance changes novices' attitudes towards unconventional arts

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schimmel, K.; Förster, J.

    2008-01-01

    The authors suggest that, just like other attitudes, attitudes toward art may be malleable, and may thus also depend on situational factors. In particular, the authors propose that thinking styles vary within the situation and that an abstract versus concrete thinking style has an influence on

  13. Temporal changes in the attitude towards smoking bans in public arenas among adults in the Capital Region of Denmark from 2007 to 2010

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lykke, Maja; Helbech, Bodil; Glümer, Charlotte

    2014-01-01

    Aim: The population's attitude towards smoking bans in public arenas is important for their passing, implementation and compliance. Smoking bans are believed to reduce the social acceptability of smoking, and once people experience them, public support increases - also among pre-ban sceptics....... This study aimed to examine the temporal changes in public attitude towards smoking bans in public arenas from 2007 to 2010 and whether these changes differed across educational attainment, smoking status and intention to quit among smokers. Methods: Data from two surveys among adults (aged 25-79 years......) in 2007 and 2010 in the Capital Region of Denmark (n=36,472/42,504, response rate = 52.3) was linked with data on sex, age and educational attainment from central registers. Age-standardised prevalence of supportive attitude towards smoking bans was estimated. Temporal changes in supportive attitude were...

  14. Changes and socioeconomic factors associated with attitudes towards domestic violence among Vietnamese women aged 15–49: findings from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, 2006–2011

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oanh Thi Hoang Trinh

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Background: Understanding factors associated with domestic violence-supportive attitudes among Vietnamese women is important for designing effective policies to prevent this behavior. Previous studies have largely overlooked risk factors associated with domestic violence-supportive attitudes by women in Vietnam. Objective: This paper explores and identifies socioeconomic factors that contribute to domestic violence–supportive attitudes among Vietnamese women using data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS. Design: Secondary data from two cross-sectional studies (MICS 3, 2006, and MICS 4, 2011 with representative samples (9,471 and 11,663 women, respectively in Vietnam were analyzed. The prevalence of supportive attitudes toward domestic violence and associations with age, residence region, area, education level, household wealth index, ethnicity, and marital status were estimated using descriptive statistics and multivariate Poisson models, giving estimates of relative risk. Results: Overall, the prevalence of acceptance of domestic violence declined between 2006 and 2011 in Vietnam (65.1% vs. 36.1%. Socioeconomic factors associated with women's condoning of domestic violence were age, wealth, education level, and living area. In particular, younger age and low educational attainment were key factors associated with violence-supportive attitudes, and these associations have become stronger over time. Conclusion: Higher educational attainment in women is an important predictor of women's attitudes toward domestic violence. To date, Doi Moi and the Vietnamese government's commitment to the Millennium Development Goals may have positively contributed to lowering the acceptance of domestic violence. Tailored interventions that focus on education will be important in further changing attitudes toward domestic violence.

  15. PARENTS ATTITUDE ABOUT OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dragan Martinović

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available A questionnaire-based survey was conducted on a sample of 238 parents whose children attend the third and fourth grades in two Belgrade elementary schools: “Oslobodioci Beograda” and “Borislav Pekic”. The aim of this study was to deter¬mi¬ne the incidence of outdoor activities and the attitude of the third and fourth graders’ parents towards it. Statistical data processing was based on the use of the –R, and every question represented a random variable. The analysis of the collected data has proved the presence of outdoor activities among these pupils and their positive attitude towards camping out, as well as a positive attitude of their parents.

  16. Self-esteem, political efficacy, and perceived parental attitudes

    OpenAIRE

    Okçu, Tuba Nur; Okcu, Tuba Nur

    2007-01-01

    This thesis proposes to test the following three hypotheses: perceived political efficacy positively correlates with self-esteem; self-esteem positively correlates with perceived democratic parental attitude; and, lastly, self-esteem negatively correlates with perceived protective-demanding and perceived authoritarian parental attitudes. Two questionnaires (Q1 and Q2), each measure perceived political efficacy, selfesteem,and perceived parental attitudes. In Q2, the items of self-esteem and p...

  17. An examination of student attitudes and understanding of exponential functions using interactive instructional multimedia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singleton, Cynthia M.

    was increased as a result of the intervention. No significant difference was reported concerning attitudes toward fear and enjoyment of learning mathematics for the control group. The researcher concluded that the use of InterAct Math tutorial software as part of the instructional delivery was beneficial and contributed to a positive attitude change. Other qualitative data obtained from the unstructured interviews of the treatment group supported these findings and reported that the change in attitudes was attributable to the use of the InterAct software in the instructional delivery of the course. The researcher concluded that the results of the study did not provide evidence that InterAct Math software could be credited with producing better learning outcomes. However, it appears that the InterAct Math tutorial software is an effective tutorial tool in promoting positive change in students' attitudes toward learning mathematics; thus, it is an effective tool for mathematics instruction. Based on the above results, it was concluded that the InterAct Math tutorial is an effective tutorial tool in promoting positive attitude change in students toward learning mathematics.

  18. Changes in Preservice Teacher Attitudes toward Astronomy within a Semester-Long Astronomy Instruction and Four-Year-Long Teacher Training Programme

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ucar, Sedat; Demircioglu, Tuba

    2011-01-01

    Teachers' attitudes toward science, especially toward astronomy, are considered to be an important aspect of teaching and learning astronomy in school. Research findings to date remain inconclusive as to whether attitudes toward science change with the science courses taken or with increasing achievement. Therefore, preservice teacher attitudes…

  19. Farmers perceptions on climate change in lowland and highland vegetable production centers of South Sulawesi, Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adiyoga, W.

    2018-02-01

    A survey was carried out in South Sulawesi, Indonesia interviewing 220 vegetable farmers. It was aimed at examining the vegetable farmers’ perception of climate change and assessing the consistency of farmers’ perception with available time series meteorological data. Results suggest that meteorological data analysis is in agreement with farmers’ perception regarding faster start, longer ending, and longer duration of rainy season. Further data analysis supports the claim of most farmers who perceive the occurrence of increasing air temperature, changing or shifting of the hottest and coldest month. Most respondents also suggest that climate change has affected vegetable farm yield and profitability. Other respondents even predict that climate change may affect the quality of life of their future descendants. Meanwhile, significant number of farmers is quite optimistic that they can cope with climate change problems through adaptation strategy. However, the attitude of farmers towards climate change is mostly negative as compared to positive or neutral feeling. Informative and educational campaign should be continuously carried out to encourage farmers in developing positive attitude or positive thinking towards climate change. Positive attitude may eventually lead to constructive behavior in selecting and implementing adaptation options.

  20. Agricultural experts’ attitude towards precision agriculture: Evidence from Guilan Agricultural Organization, Northern Iran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Sadegh Allahyari

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Identifying factors that influence the attitudes of agricultural experts regarding precision agriculture plays an important role in developing, promoting and establishing precision agriculture. The aim of this study was to identify factors affecting the attitudes of agricultural experts regarding the implementation of precision agriculture. A descriptive research design was employed as the research method. A research-made questionnaire was used to examine the agricultural experts’ attitude toward precision agriculture. Internal consistency was demonstrated with a coefficient alpha of 0.87, and the content and face validity of the instrument was confirmed by a panel of experts. The results show that technical, economic and accessibility factors accounted for 55% of the changes in attitudes towards precision agriculture. The findings revealed that there were no significant differences between participants in terms of gender, field of study, extension education, age, experience, organizational position and attitudes, while education levels had a significant effect on the respondent’s attitudes.

  1. Physical and Sport Education as a Tool for Development of a Positive Attitude toward Health and Physical Activity in Adulthood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bendíková, Elena; Dobay, Beáta

    2017-01-01

    The study explains the importance and the role of physical and sport education in development of a positive attitude toward physical activity and health in adulthood. The empirical study was aimed at finding the factor that contributed to the transfer of respondents' physical activity into their adulthood with regard to their health status. The…

  2. Positional Accuracy Assessment for Effective Shoreline Change ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Ghana Mining Journal ... Data quality may be expressed in terms of several indicators such as attributes, temporal or positional accuracies. ... It is concluded that for the purpose of shoreline change analysis, such as shoreline change trends, large scale data sources should be used where possible for accurate ...

  3. Positional Accuracy Assessment for Effective Shoreline Change ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Michael

    2016-06-01

    Jun 1, 2016 ... as backdrop in GIS environment. Positional error of ... integrated dataset obviously bore the cumulative effect of the input datasets. ... change. The shoreline, which is the interface between land ... modelling, which enables future shoreline change trend to ..... as gaps due to cloud cover and limitation of the.

  4. A test of Monroe's Motivated Sequence for its effects on ratings of message organization and attitude change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Micciche, T; Pryor, B; Butler, J

    2000-06-01

    The experiment examined Monroe's Motivated Sequence, an organizational pattern commonly taught in basic speech courses for its effects on attitude change and ratings of comprehensibility of messages. Treatment groups of 21, 23, and 24 participants read one of three versions of a persuasive message that advocated a $50 fee increase to improve parking facilities on campus. One version represented Monroe's five-step sequence, a second version reversed the five steps, and a third randomly ordered the steps. A control group of 22 read a message unrelated to the parking issue. Analysis showed no differences in attitude change across the four groups. The Monroe sequence condition did produce significantly higher ratings of comprehensibility on one of four comparisons.

  5. Group Membership, Group Change, and Intergroup Attitudes: A Recategorization Model Based on Cognitive Consistency Principles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roth, Jenny; Steffens, Melanie C.; Vignoles, Vivian L.

    2018-01-01

    The present article introduces a model based on cognitive consistency principles to predict how new identities become integrated into the self-concept, with consequences for intergroup attitudes. The model specifies four concepts (self-concept, stereotypes, identification, and group compatibility) as associative connections. The model builds on two cognitive principles, balance–congruity and imbalance–dissonance, to predict identification with social groups that people currently belong to, belonged to in the past, or newly belong to. More precisely, the model suggests that the relative strength of self-group associations (i.e., identification) depends in part on the (in)compatibility of the different social groups. Combining insights into cognitive representation of knowledge, intergroup bias, and explicit/implicit attitude change, we further derive predictions for intergroup attitudes. We suggest that intergroup attitudes alter depending on the relative associative strength between the social groups and the self, which in turn is determined by the (in)compatibility between social groups. This model unifies existing models on the integration of social identities into the self-concept by suggesting that basic cognitive mechanisms play an important role in facilitating or hindering identity integration and thus contribute to reducing or increasing intergroup bias. PMID:29681878

  6. Group Membership, Group Change, and Intergroup Attitudes: A Recategorization Model Based on Cognitive Consistency Principles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jenny Roth

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The present article introduces a model based on cognitive consistency principles to predict how new identities become integrated into the self-concept, with consequences for intergroup attitudes. The model specifies four concepts (self-concept, stereotypes, identification, and group compatibility as associative connections. The model builds on two cognitive principles, balance–congruity and imbalance–dissonance, to predict identification with social groups that people currently belong to, belonged to in the past, or newly belong to. More precisely, the model suggests that the relative strength of self-group associations (i.e., identification depends in part on the (incompatibility of the different social groups. Combining insights into cognitive representation of knowledge, intergroup bias, and explicit/implicit attitude change, we further derive predictions for intergroup attitudes. We suggest that intergroup attitudes alter depending on the relative associative strength between the social groups and the self, which in turn is determined by the (incompatibility between social groups. This model unifies existing models on the integration of social identities into the self-concept by suggesting that basic cognitive mechanisms play an important role in facilitating or hindering identity integration and thus contribute to reducing or increasing intergroup bias.

  7. Group Membership, Group Change, and Intergroup Attitudes: A Recategorization Model Based on Cognitive Consistency Principles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roth, Jenny; Steffens, Melanie C; Vignoles, Vivian L

    2018-01-01

    The present article introduces a model based on cognitive consistency principles to predict how new identities become integrated into the self-concept, with consequences for intergroup attitudes. The model specifies four concepts (self-concept, stereotypes, identification, and group compatibility) as associative connections. The model builds on two cognitive principles, balance-congruity and imbalance-dissonance, to predict identification with social groups that people currently belong to, belonged to in the past, or newly belong to. More precisely, the model suggests that the relative strength of self-group associations (i.e., identification) depends in part on the (in)compatibility of the different social groups. Combining insights into cognitive representation of knowledge, intergroup bias, and explicit/implicit attitude change, we further derive predictions for intergroup attitudes. We suggest that intergroup attitudes alter depending on the relative associative strength between the social groups and the self, which in turn is determined by the (in)compatibility between social groups. This model unifies existing models on the integration of social identities into the self-concept by suggesting that basic cognitive mechanisms play an important role in facilitating or hindering identity integration and thus contribute to reducing or increasing intergroup bias.

  8. Nurses' attitudes towards pressure ulcer prevention in Turkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aslan, Arzu; Yavuz van Giersbergen, Meryem

    2016-02-01

    Pressure ulcers remain a major problem in healthcare system. Pressure ulcer incidence is widely accepted as an indicator for the quality of care. Positive attitudes towards pressure ulcer prevention have positive impacts on preventive care. The aim of this study was to identify nurses' attitude towards pressure ulcer prevention. The study design was descriptive. The study was carried out in a university hospital in Izmir, Turkey. The study population consisted of 660 nurses who work in medical and surgical clinics and intensive care units. The study sample consisted of 426 nurses who agreed to participate. Attitude towards Pressure Ulcer Prevention Instrument was used in order to evaluate nurses' attitudes. Written permissions for ethical considerations and Attitude towards Pressure Ulcer Prevention Instrument permission were obtained. Data were collected between June and July 2014. The statistics program SPSS 18 packaged software was used in the analyses of data. The average age of the nurses who took part in the study was 31.86 ± 7.09 years and the average work experience was 8.88 ± 7.41 years; 36.9% (n: 157) were working in intensive care units. The nurses' average score on the Attitude towards Pressure Ulcer Prevention Instrument was 43.74 ± 4.29 (84.12%). It was seen that the attitudes of the nurses towards the prevention of pressure ulcers was positive. To read guidelines and training time about pressure ulcer prevention affect positively attitudes towards the prevention of pressure ulcers. Copyright © 2015 Tissue Viability Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Implicit attitudes towards homosexuality: reliability, validity, and controllability of the IAT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banse, R; Seise, J; Zerbes, N

    2001-01-01

    Two experiments were conducted to investigate the psychometric properties of an Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) that was adapted to measure implicit attitudes towards homosexuality. In a first experiment, the validity of the Homosexuality-IAT was tested using a known group approach. Implicit and explicit attitudes were assessed in heterosexual and homosexual men and women (N = 101). The results provided compelling evidence for the convergent and discriminant validity of the Homosexuality-IAT as a measure of implicit attitudes. No evidence was found for two alternative explanations of IAT effects (familiarity with stimulus material and stereotype knowledge). The internal consistency of IAT scores was satisfactory (alpha s > .80), but retest correlations were lower. In a second experiment (N = 79) it was shown that uninformed participants were able to fake positive explicit but not implicit attitudes. Discrepancies between implicit and explicit attitudes towards homosexuality could be partially accounted for by individual differences in the motivation to control prejudiced behavior, thus providing independent evidence for the validity of the implicit attitude measure. Neither explicit nor implicit attitudes could be changed by persuasive messages. The results of both experiments are interpreted as evidence for a single construct account of implicit and explicit attitudes towards homosexuality.

  10. Attitudes of medical students toward communication skills learning in Western Saudi Arabia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alotaibi, Fawaz S; Alsaeedi, Abdullah

    2016-07-01

    To explore medical students' attitudes towards communication skills learning in Western Saudi Arabia and to examine impact of socio-demographic variables on the attitudes towards learning these skills.   In this cross-sectional study, sample of medical students were recruited from Taif University, Taif, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the second semester (January-May 2014). Participants were all year 2 (197 students) and year 5 (151 students). The study utilize the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) to measure students' attitudes toward communication skills learning. The response rate was 93.9%.  The study showed that Taif medical students hold highly positive attitudes towards learning communication skills. Positive attitude score (PAS) was significantly higher in level 5 students, older age group.   Significant positive attitude toward learning communication skills clearly observed in target group. Students with more positive attitudes towards communication skills learning tended to be higher level and older age.

  11. Positioning and change in a hospital ward

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærbeck, Susanne

    2017-01-01

    Purpose This paper focuses on communication about hygiene in a hospital ward and with the relevant infection control organization. The purpose of this paper is to examine the function of the hygiene coordinator as a key change agent and the communicative challenges and role conflicts implied in her...... practice. The author suggests strategies for improving communication on hygiene on ward level. Design/methodology/approach The empirical material consists of interviews and recordings of communicative events in relation to a breakout of dangerous bacteria in the ward. Change communication is used...... as a contextualizing frame of understanding, and positioning theory and analysis are applied to shed light upon the core challenges of communicating as a change agent when the coordinator's professional position and collegial relations do not support it. Findings It is shown how these challenges are connected...

  12. Resistance test of high-speed ship by means of attitude control method. Part 2; Shisei seigyo hoshiki ni yoru kosokutei no teiko shiken. 2

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hayashida, S [Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science, Nagasaki (Japan)

    1996-04-10

    The previous paper has proposed a resistance test method by controlling the attitude of a high-speed model ship using a personal computer without making a data base. For this method, the fluid force acting on the hull of model ship is measured, to change its attitude based on the measurement, and then, the fluid force is measured again, to change the attitude again. The traveling attitude is created by repeating this, to measure the force acting on the hull. Since the attitude is changed by calculating using the fluid force measured, various factors can be considered in the calculation process. For example, a test with an arbitrary displacement in an arbitrary position of center of gravity can be conducted in spite of actual displacement and position of center of gravity of the model ship. A test for a high-speed ship was conducted through this method, to obtain nearly satisfactory results compared with a usual resistance test. Occasionally, a lot of repetitions were required to satisfy the balancing condition of the force. In this study, the improvement of testing efficiency has been planned by modifying the analyzing program. 5 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab.

  13. Do attitudes predict consumer's behavior?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Đelošević Ivana

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available There are many themes in marketing to analyze the psychological and marketing aspect of research. The survey of consumer attitudes is one of them. The consumer attitudes have long been discussed and written about. For this purpose, numerous theories, models and researches have emerged. The research of powerful feelings of consumers towards products is something that marketers are constantly trying to achieve. Therefore it is very important for them to understand the factors affecting the attitudes of consumers. Issues related to consumers' attitudes have always been subject matter of the marketers who are trying to keep and maintain the positive and minimize negative attitudes towards the products and services of company. Bearing in the mind that attitudes play a central role in purchase decision, marketers are trying to explore the relation between attitudes and behavior of consumers.

  14. Effects of a Persuasive Communication on Beliefs, Attitudes, and Career Choice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strader, Marlene K.; Katz, Barry M.

    1990-01-01

    Uses Martin Fishbein's Theory of Reasoned Action to formulate a persuasive communication to influence unclassified U.S. college students to consider a career as a registered nurse. Finds the experimental group shows a significant positive change in beliefs, attitudes, and intentions, unlike the control group exposed to a neutral message only. (NL)

  15. Tourists and Local Stakeholders Attitudes Towards Offer and Market Position of Tourist Destination Budva

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marković Ana Tripković

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available There are various definitions of tourist destination. All of them define tourist destination as an area with specific tourist facilities and attractions, (primary and secondary elements which tourists choose as their journey goal. Budva individually represents the largest tourist destination due to number of arrivals and overnight stays. During its life cycle Budva has gone through different phases as a tourist destination. This thesis implies that it is not enough to use only common quantitative indicator of visitor number to define proper the position of tourist destination and predict further development. This text is based on a comparative analysis of the attitudes of tourists and local stakeholders in the three field researches, conducted in the period between 2015 and 2016. The thesis comes to the conclusion that the actual growth is based on meeting the needs of existing markets and tourists. On the other side, aspect of desired market position disagrees with scores of tourist offer elements- which should be input for improvement and preparation for the next stage in the destination development.

  16. Learning to Dislike Chocolate: Conditioning Negative Attitudes toward Chocolate and Its Effect on Chocolate Consumption

    OpenAIRE

    Wang, Yan; Wang, Guosen; Zhang, Dingyuan; Wang, Lei; Cui, Xianghua; Zhu, Jinglei; Fang, Yuan

    2017-01-01

    Evaluative conditioning (EC) procedures can be used to form and change attitudes toward a wide variety of objects. The current study examined the effects of a negative EC procedure on attitudes toward chocolate, and whether it influenced chocolate evaluation and consumption. Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental condition in which chocolate images were paired with negative stimuli, or the control condition in which chocolate images were randomly paired with positive stimuli ...

  17. Consumers’ attitudes towards green food in China

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Perrea, Toula; Grunert, Klaus G; Krystallis Krontalis, Athanasios

    Green food is perceived by Chinese consumers as environmentally friendly and safe to consume. Through a Value-Attitude model, the paper examines the degree to which attitudes towards green food is determined by consumers’ values and their general attitudes towards environment and technology....... The link between collectivism, attitudes towards environment and attitudes towards green food is the strongest one. Collectivism also influences attitudes towards technology, which in turn influence attitudes towards green food. However, the lack of significant relationship between individualism...... and attitudes towards technology points towards the belief of Chinese people that technology is a positive determinant of food safety, and that interest in technology steams from altruistic predispositions....

  18. Analysis of student’s scientific attitude behaviour change effects blended learning supported by I-spring Suite 8 application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Budiharti, Rini; Waras, N. S.

    2018-05-01

    This article aims to describe the student’s scientific attitude behaviour change as treatment effect of Blended Learning supported by I-Spring Suite 8 application on the material balance and the rotational dynamics. Blended Learning models is learning strategy that integrate between face-to-face learning and online learning by combination of various media. Blended Learning model supported I-Spring Suite 8 media setting can direct learning becomes interactive. Students are guided to actively interact with the media as well as with other students to discuss getting the concept by the phenomena or facts presented. The scientific attitude is a natural attitude of students in the learning process. In interactive learning, scientific attitude is so needed. The research was conducted using a model Lesson Study which consists of the stages Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) and applied to the subject of learning is students at class XI MIPA 2 of Senior High School 6 Surakarta. The validity of the data used triangulation techniques of observation, interviews and document review. Based on the discussion, it can be concluded that the use of Blended Learning supported media I-Spring Suite 8 is able to give the effect of changes in student behaviour on all dimensions of scientific attitude that is inquisitive, respect the data or fact, critical thinking, discovery and creativity, open minded and cooperation, and perseverance. Display e-learning media supported student worksheet makes the students enthusiastically started earlier, the core until the end of learning

  19. Attitude of Student Teachers towards Teaching Profession

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhargava, Anupama; Pathy, M. K.

    2014-01-01

    Teaching being a dynamic activity requires a favourable attitude and certain specific competencies from its practitioners. Teachers' proficiency depends on the attitude she possesses for the profession. The positive attitude helps teacher to develop a conductive learner friendly environment in the classroom. This also casts a fruitful effect on…

  20. Noticing numeracy now! Examining changes in preservice teachers' noticing, knowledge, and attitudes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisher, Molly H.; Thomas, Jonathan; Schack, Edna O.; Jong, Cindy; Tassell, Janet

    2017-11-01

    This study examined the impact of an intervention, focused on professional noticing of children's conceptual development in whole number and arithmetic reasoning, on preservice elementary teachers' (PSETs') professional noticing skills, attitudes toward mathematics, and mathematical knowledge for teaching mathematics. A video-based professional noticing module, situated in the pedagogies of practice framework, was used with 224 PSETs from five universities. Comparison data was also collected with similar groups not participating in the instructional module. Through pre- and post-assessments, findings indicated that PSETs can develop sound professional noticing skills as a result of participation in a video-based module. The impact on attitudes toward mathematics was less convincing as significant changes were revealed in intervention as well as comparison groups. We hypothesized the potential for professional noticing of children's mathematical thinking to serve as a mechanism for increasing the capabilities of PSETs to negotiate the complexities of mathematics teaching and learning; however, mathematics knowledge for teaching showed no significant increase for either group.

  1. Noticing numeracy now! Examining changes in preservice teachers' noticing, knowledge, and attitudes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisher, Molly H.; Thomas, Jonathan; Schack, Edna O.; Jong, Cindy; Tassell, Janet

    2018-06-01

    This study examined the impact of an intervention, focused on professional noticing of children's conceptual development in whole number and arithmetic reasoning, on preservice elementary teachers' (PSETs') professional noticing skills, attitudes toward mathematics, and mathematical knowledge for teaching mathematics. A video-based professional noticing module, situated in the pedagogies of practice framework, was used with 224 PSETs from five universities. Comparison data was also collected with similar groups not participating in the instructional module. Through pre- and post-assessments, findings indicated that PSETs can develop sound professional noticing skills as a result of participation in a video-based module. The impact on attitudes toward mathematics was less convincing as significant changes were revealed in intervention as well as comparison groups. We hypothesized the potential for professional noticing of children's mathematical thinking to serve as a mechanism for increasing the capabilities of PSETs to negotiate the complexities of mathematics teaching and learning; however, mathematics knowledge for teaching showed no significant increase for either group.

  2. The knowledge and attitudes of a female at-risk population towards the prevention of AIDS and sexually transmitted infections in Tehran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali-Asghar Kolahi

    2011-01-01

    Conclusions: Knowledge towards sexually transmitted infections (STIs and condom use is still inadequate, especially regarding risky behaviors such as anal sex, and attitudes are mainly negative. Identifying at-risk populations, HIV-positive sex workers, education and campaigns to change the attitudes towards AIDS should be regarded a high priority in Iran.

  3. Attitudes towards motherhood of women with physical versus psychiatric disabilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasson-Ohayon, Ilanit; Hason-Shaked, Meiran; Silberg, Tamar; Shpigelman, Carmit-Noa; Roe, David

    2018-05-16

    Women with disabilities may face social negative attitudes with regard to their being mothers. In addition, attitudes toward different disabilities form a hierarchy, with more positive attitudes being displayed toward persons with physical disabilities than toward persons with psychiatric disabilities. Current observational study examined whether the relationship between a woman's type of disability (psychiatric vs. physical) and the social attitude towards her would be moderated by her being presented as a mother. University students (N = 100) filled out the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Toward Persons With Disabilities and the Social Distance Scale, after reading one of six randomly assigned fictitious vignettes. The vignettes consisted of a woman with a physical disability/a woman with a psychiatric disability/a woman without a disability, who either was or was not a mother. Type of disability was found to have a main effect in some attitude domains, suggesting that attitudes toward women with physical disabilities were better than attitudes towards women with psychiatric disabilities. An interaction between type of disability and motherhood was found for the interpersonal distress subscale of the attitudes scale. It was found that when women had physical disabilities, there was no change in attitude towards them regardless of whether they were presented as mothers or not; However, when the target woman had a psychiatric disability, and she was presented as a mother, negative attitudes were generated towards her. The study demonstrates the existence of a hierarchy of stigmatization and the effect of being a mother on stigmatization. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Towards culture change in the operating theatre: embedding a complex educational intervention to improve teamwork climate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bleakley, Alan; Allard, Jon; Hobbs, Adrian

    2012-01-01

    Changing teamwork climate in healthcare through a collective shift in attitudes and values may be a necessary precursor to establishing a positive teamwork culture, where innovations can be more readily embedded and sustained. A complex educational intervention was initiated across an entire UK Trust's surgical provision, and then sustained. Attitudes towards teamwork were measured longitudinally to examine if the intervention produced sustainable results. The research aimed to test whether sustaining a complex education intervention to improve teamwork would result in an incremental, longitudinal improvement in attitudes and values towards teamwork. The intervention's larger aim is to progress the historical default position of multi-professional work to authentic inter-professional teamwork, as a positive values climate translates in time into behavioural change defining a safety culture. Attitudes were measured at three points across all surgical team personnel over a period of 4 years, using a validated Safety Attitudes Questionnaire with a focus on the 'teamwork climate' domain. Pre- and post-intervention 'teamwork climate' scores were compared to give a longitudinal measure as a test of sustainability. Mean 'teamwork climate' scores improved incrementally and significantly following the series of educational interventions, showing that practitioners' valuing of teamwork activity can be improved and sustained. Longitudinal positive change in attitudes and values towards teamwork can be sustained, suggesting that a deliberate, designed complex intervention can shape a safety climate as a necessary prerequisite for the establishment of a sustainable safety culture.

  5. Attitudes towards recreational hunting

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gamborg, Christian; Jensen, Frank Søndergaard

    2017-01-01

    a negative attitude to recreational hunting. Older respondents and rural residents had more positive attitudes towards hunting than younger and urban residents. Some of the conditions under which hunting occurs affected attitudes negatively, especially the hunting of farm-reared and released game birds...... to the commercial aspect of hunting and this could result in tighter regulation with further effects on management practices. Management Implications The public opinions and public preferences concerning recreational hunting are complex. However, this study revealed some factors relevant for regulatory...... and managerial development in relation to outdoor recreation: age (younger respondents were least supportive of hunting), urbanisation (living in an urban environment enhanced negative attitudes), compatibility of recreational hunting with other outdoor leisure activities....

  6. Pre-registration dietetic students' attitudes to learning communication skills.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Power, B T; Lennie, S C

    2012-04-01

      Communication is a core skill and a prerequisite for dietitians' clinical competence. It is generally acknowledged that communication skills can be taught and learned. There is a paucity of published work identifying dietetic students' attitudes towards learning communication skills, and understanding this is important.   The present cross-sectional study aimed to address this issue using an adapted version of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS), which was designed to capture information concerning positive and negative attitudes to learning communication skills. An online questionnaire was sent to all undergraduate and post-graduate dietetic programmes in the UK.   Of the students' solicited for enrolment in the study, 33.4% (n = 300) completed the questionnaire. A one-way analysis of variance showed attitudes to learning communication skills differed significantly between years of study on both subscales of the CSAS. Subsequent analyses indicated that first-year students' attitudes to learning communication skills were significantly more positive than those of fourth-year students (P = 0.042). Third-year students had significantly more positive attitudes to learning communication skills than fourth-year students (P = 0.028). Negative attitudes were also linked to the year of study with fourth-year students having significantly more negative attitudes than third-year students (P = 0.046). Sex, practice placement experience and parental occupation did not significantly influence attitudes to learning communication skills.   These findings indicate that efforts are required to maintain positive attitudes to learning communication skills. Further longitudinal studies are recommended in this respect. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics © 2012 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

  7. Harnessing Homophily to Improve Climate Change Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monroe, Martha C.; Plate, Richard R.; Adams, Damian C.; Wojcik, Deborah J.

    2015-01-01

    The Cooperative Extension Service (Extension) in the United States is well positioned to educate the public, particularly farmers and foresters, about climate change and to encourage responsible adoption of adaptation and mitigation strategies. However, the climate change attitudes and perceptions of Extension professionals have limited…

  8. Analysing lawyers’ attitude towards knowledge sharing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wole M. Olatokun

    2012-09-01

    Method: A field survey of 273 lawyers was carried out, using questionnaire for data collection. Collected data on all variables were structured into grouped frequency distributions. Principal Component Factor Analysis was applied to reduce the constructs and Simple Regression was applied to test the hypotheses. These were tested at 0.05% level of significance. Results: Results showed that expected associations and contributions were the major determinants of lawyers’ attitudes towards knowledge sharing. Expected reward was not significantly related to lawyers’ attitudes towards knowledge sharing. A positive attitude towards knowledge sharing was found to lead to a positive intention to share knowledge, although a positive intention to share knowledge did not significantly predict a positive knowledge sharing behaviour. The level of Information Technology (IT usage was also found to significantly affect the knowledge sharing behaviour of lawyers’. Conclusion: It was recommended that law firms in the study area should deploy more IT infrastructure and services that encourage effective knowledge sharing amongst lawyers.

  9. Modeling attitude towards drug treament: the role of internal motivation, external pressure, and dramatic relief.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conner, Bradley T; Longshore, Douglas; Anglin, M Douglas

    2009-04-01

    Motivation for change has historically been viewed as the crucial element affecting responsiveness to drug treatment. Various external pressures, such as legal coercion, may engender motivation in an individual previously resistant to change. Dramatic relief may be the change process that is most salient as individuals internalize such external pressures. Results of structural equation modeling on data from 465 drug users (58.9% male; 21.3% Black, 34.2% Hispanic/Latino, and 35.1% White) entering drug treatment indicated that internal motivation and external pressure significantly and positively predicted dramatic relief and that dramatic relief significantly predicted attitudes towards drug treatment: chi (2) = 142.20, df = 100, p relief is also likely to be high. When dramatic relief is high, attitudes towards drug treatment are likely to be positive. The findings indicate that interventions to get individuals into drug treatment should include processes that promote Dramatic Relief. Implications for addictions health services are discussed.

  10. The Impact of Extension Gardening Programs on Healthy Attitudes and Behaviors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sandra Thompson

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Gardening programs have been increasing in popularity since 1995 when California enacted legislation with the goal of putting a garden in every school. Research has shown positive benefits of gardening programs include increasing a child’s academic skills, environmental awareness, and social skills, but little is known about their impact on healthy attitudes and behaviors. Considering childhood obesity rates are rapidly increasing, understanding how educational programs, such as gardening, can impact health has become important. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact Extension gardening programs had on participants’ healthy attitudes and behaviors. Using a pretest/posttest research design with a control group, the researchers found that only slight changes were occurring in participants’ attitudes and behaviors. However, when staff member open-ended responses were reviewed qualitatively, it was found that more is occurring within the program than was uncovered by the quantitative instrument. Recommendations for enhancing the school-based garden program as a result of the findings included teaching participants how to prepare and eat the vegetables they have produced in the garden, increasing instruction on how gardening is a physical activity, and including journaling about the nutritional values of fruits and vegetables to develop positive attitudes about health.

  11. Effects of Conceptual Change Text Based Instruction on Ecology, Attitudes toward Biology and Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Çetin, Gülcan; Ertepinar, Hamide; Geban, Ömer

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the conceptual change text based instruction on ninth grade students' understanding of ecological concepts, and attitudes toward biology and environment. Participants were 82 ninth grade students in a public high school in the Northwestern Turkey. A treatment was employed over a five-week…

  12. Impact of employment contract changes on workers' quality of working life, job insecurity, health and work-related attitudes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wagenaar, A.F.; Kompier, M.A.J.; Houtman, I.L.D.; Bossche, S.N.J.van den; Taris, T.W.

    2012-01-01

    Objectives: Changes in employment contracts may impact the quality of working life, job insecurity, health and work-related attitudes. We examined the validity of two partly competing theoretical approaches. Based upon a segmentation approach, we expected no change in scores among stable

  13. Changing Attitudes toward Seeking Professional Help.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chrisler, Joan C.

    Despite the increasing acceptance of the value of psychotherapy, there are still those who think people should solve their own problems. A study was conducted to investigate the attitudes of college students toward seeking professional help before and after taking a course in abnormal psychology to determine whether exposure to the purposes and…

  14. Attitudes, Risk Behavior, and Noise Exposure among Young Adults with Hearing Problems: Identifying a Typology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunter, Abby

    2017-11-01

    This study explored attitudes toward leisure noise, use of hearing protection, and perceived susceptibility to leisure-noise damage in young adults with hearing problems. Twelve participants aged between 18 and 35 years took part in a semistructured interview. Data were analyzed using framework analysis. The results showed that a positive attitude to noise, a passion for loud music, a lack of knowledge of the consequences of noise damage, and perceived low risk of hearing problems were associated with people not using earplugs. The aesthetics, comfort, perceived effects on music quality and attitude of others were all barriers to earplug use. Of those who had used earplugs, previous hearing-related symptoms and concern about future hearing damage were the main motivators for use. Four types of people were identified to describe the variation in attitudes and behaviors: those who had no change in behavior or concern about damage; those who were concerned and used earplugs; those who were concerned and avoided loud venues; and those who were concerned about communication difficulties only. Considering the wide variability, it may be more effective to shift attention from trying to change individual attitudes and behaviors to considering systemic changes to protect hearing, through ensuring the music industry and relevant authorities take greater responsibility.

  15. A Social Identity Analysis of Climate Change and Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors: Insights and Opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fielding, Kelly S; Hornsey, Matthew J

    2016-01-01

    Environmental challenges are often marked by an intergroup dimension. Political conservatives and progressives are divided on their beliefs about climate change, farmers come into conflict with scientists and environmentalists over water allocation or species protection, and communities oppose big business and mining companies that threaten their local environment. These intergroup tensions are reminders of the powerful influence social contexts and group memberships can have on attitudes, beliefs, and actions relating to climate change and the environment more broadly. In this paper, we use social identity theory to help describe and explain these processes. We review literature showing, how conceiving of oneself in terms of a particular social identity influences our environmental attitudes and behaviors, how relations between groups can impact on environmental outcomes, and how the content of social identities can direct group members to act in more or less pro-environmental ways. We discuss the similarities and differences between the social identity approach to these phenomena and related theories, such as cultural cognition theory, the theory of planned behavior, and value-belief-norm theory. Importantly, we also advance social-identity based strategies to foster more sustainable environmental attitudes and behaviors. Although this theoretical approach can provide important insights and potential solutions, more research is needed to build the empirical base, especially in relation to testing social identity solutions.

  16. A Social Identity Analysis of Climate Change and Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors: Insights and Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fielding, Kelly S.; Hornsey, Matthew J.

    2016-01-01

    Environmental challenges are often marked by an intergroup dimension. Political conservatives and progressives are divided on their beliefs about climate change, farmers come into conflict with scientists and environmentalists over water allocation or species protection, and communities oppose big business and mining companies that threaten their local environment. These intergroup tensions are reminders of the powerful influence social contexts and group memberships can have on attitudes, beliefs, and actions relating to climate change and the environment more broadly. In this paper, we use social identity theory to help describe and explain these processes. We review literature showing, how conceiving of oneself in terms of a particular social identity influences our environmental attitudes and behaviors, how relations between groups can impact on environmental outcomes, and how the content of social identities can direct group members to act in more or less pro-environmental ways. We discuss the similarities and differences between the social identity approach to these phenomena and related theories, such as cultural cognition theory, the theory of planned behavior, and value-belief-norm theory. Importantly, we also advance social-identity based strategies to foster more sustainable environmental attitudes and behaviors. Although this theoretical approach can provide important insights and potential solutions, more research is needed to build the empirical base, especially in relation to testing social identity solutions. PMID:26903924

  17. A social identity analysis of climate change and environmental attitudes and behaviors: Insights and opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kelly Shanene Fielding

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Environmental challenges are often marked by an intergroup dimension. Political conservatives and progressives are divided on their beliefs about climate change, farmers come into conflict with scientists and environmentalists over water allocation or species protection, and communities oppose big business and mining companies that threaten their local environment. These intergroup tensions are reminders of the powerful influence social contexts and group memberships can have on attitudes, beliefs, and actions relating to climate change and the environment more broadly. In this paper we use social identity theory to help describe and explain these processes. We review literature showing how conceiving of oneself in terms of a particular social identity influences our environmental attitudes and behaviors, how relations between groups can impact on environmental outcomes, and how the content of social identities can direct group members to act in more or less pro-environmental ways. We discuss the similarities and differences between the social identity approach to these phenomena and related theories such as cultural cognition theory, the theory of planned behavior and value-belief-norm theory. Importantly, we also advance social-identity based strategies to foster more sustainable environmental attitudes and behaviors. Although this theoretical approach can provide important insights and potential solutions, more research is needed to build the empirical base, especially in relation to testing social identity solutions.

  18. Effectiveness of a Psycho-Educational Staff Training Program on Attitudes of Staff in a Long-Term Care Facility: A Pilot Study and Framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elpers, Kathy; Amano, Takashi; DeCoster, Vaughn; Johnson, Missy

    2017-01-01

    Managing Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) is a significant challenge for staff working in long-term care facilities. This study examines the effectiveness of a psycho-educational training aimed at changing staff's attitudes. The results indicated that participants' attitudes toward dementia were more positive,…

  19. Sunburn in children and adolescents: associations with parents' behaviour and attitudes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behrens, Christine L; Thorgaard, Camilla; Philip, Anja; Bentzen, Joan

    2013-05-01

    Sunburn in childhood is a known risk factor for melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer. Based on a theoretical model, we tested the hypothesis that parental attitudes and behaviour are related to the risk of sunburn in their children. We analysed the association between behaviour in the sun and attitudes related to tanning among Danish parents and their children's risk for sunburn by logistic regression. Gender, educational level, and skin type of the responding parent were included as confounders and analyses were stratified for child age. In children aged 7-12 and 13-17 years, the risk of sunburn increased when parents had experienced sunburn themselves, and also for 13-17 year olds if parents had a very positive attitude towards tanned skin. We found no association between parental attitudes and behaviour and the risk of sunburn in children aged 0-6 years. Interventions to influence the attitudes and behaviour of parents could reduce their children's risk for excessive sun exposure and thereby their risk for melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer. The results encourage preventive campaigns to focus on changing parental attitudes towards tanned skin and sun behaviour.

  20. Neuroticism and Attitudes Toward Action in 19 Countries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ireland, Molly E.; Hepler, Justin; Li, Hong; Albarracín, Dolores

    2018-01-01

    Although individuals scoring high on Neuroticism tend to avoid taking action when faced with challenges, Neuroticism is also characterized by impulsivity. To explore cognitive biases related to this costly behavior pattern, we tested whether individuals who rated themselves as higher in Neuroticism would evaluate the general concepts of action and inaction as, respectively, more negative and positive. We further investigated whether anxiety and depression would mediate and individualism-collectivism would moderate these relations in a large international sample. Participants (N = 3,827 college students; 69% female) from 19 countries completed surveys measuring Neuroticism, attitudes toward action and inaction, depression, anxiety, and individualism-collectivism. Hierarchical linear models tested the above predictions. Neuroticism negatively correlated with attitudes toward action and positively correlated with attitudes toward inaction. Furthermore, anxiety was primarily responsible for emotionally unstable individuals’ less positive attitudes toward action, and individuals who endorsed more collectivistic than individualistic beliefs showed a stronger negative association between Neuroticism and attitudes toward action. Researchers and practitioners interested in understanding and remediating the negative consequences of Neuroticism should pay greater attention to attitudes toward action and inaction, particularly focusing on their links with anxiety and individualism-collectivism. PMID:24684688