Beliefs of teachers versus non-teachers about people who stutter

PurposeAlthough prior research has investigated teachers’ beliefs about people who stutter (PWS), this work has not indicated how these beliefs compare with those of the general public or taken into account key demographic variables that may be related to these beliefs. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate whether beliefs about PWS in teachers are different from those in the general public. The second purpose of this study was to examine whether gender is related to beliefs about PWS for teachers, who are more frequently women.MethodsAnalyses were based on questionnaire responses regarding beliefs about PWS from 269 teachers and 1388 non-teachers in the United States. Due to their potential link to beliefs about PWS, familiarity with PWS and sociodemographic variables were included in the statistical model for this study.ResultsTeachers’ beliefs about PWS are no different than those of people in non-teaching professions. Findings also indicated that, regardless of whether respondents were teachers, women had more accurate beliefs about PWS than men. The statistical model tested indicated that beliefs about PWS were more accurate when the respondents were older, had more education, and had familiarity with a PWS.ConclusionIn the first study to compare teachers’ beliefs about PWS to the general public, findings indicated that teachers are no more accurate than the public in their beliefs about PWS. Associations found between these beliefs and several variables may indicate some promising mechanisms for improving beliefs, such as increased familiarity with individuals who stutter.Educational Objectives: Readers should be able to: (a) describe stuttering's potential effects on children's participation in the school setting; (b) identify actions teachers can take to improve the school experience of their students who stutter; (c) summarize findings regarding teachers’ beliefs about people who stutter (PWS); (d) identify key variables that are associated with beliefs about PWS.     

The social context as a determinant of teacher motivational strategies in physical education

ObjectivesThe purpose of the study was to provide an in-depth analysis of how the Physical Education (PE) teaching context influences teachers' motivational strategies towards students.DesignQualitative semi-structured interviewsMethodsUsing Self-determination theory (Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). Psychological Enquiry, 11, 227-268) as a guiding framework, semi-structured interviews of 22 PE teachers were examined using categorical content analysis.ResultsThe teachers perceived that an emphasis on student assessment and the time constraints associated with PE lessons often compelled them to use teaching strategies which conflicted with their beliefs about the most appropriate ways to motivate students. The teachers' own performance evaluations and pressure to conform to other teachers' methods also influenced the teachers' motivational strategies, but these influences were often congruent with their teaching beliefs. Additionally, the teachers discussed how perceived cultural norms associated with the teacher-student relationship impacted upon their chosen motivational strategies. These cultural norms were reported by different teachers as either in line, or in conflict with their teaching beliefs. Finally, the influence of the teachers' perceptions of their students helped produce strategies that were congruent with their beliefs, but often different to empirically suggested strategies.ConclusionsIt is important that teacher beliefs are targeted in education programs and that the teaching context aid in facilitating adaptive motivational strategies.     

Fatalistic beliefs,risk perception and traffic safe behaviors

IntroductionRoad safety is a major worldwide concern especially for developing countries where a certain feeling of helplessness predominate. Local authorities are seeking ways to change people's behaviors considered as the first causal factor of traffic accidents. Risk perception and fatalistic beliefs have been identified as important socio-cognitive functioning patterns, which can shed light on people's behaviors towards risks, for prevention purpose. But the way fatalistic beliefs are associated with risk perception and safety behaviors remains blurred in literature.ObjectiveThis article examined the relationship between fatalistic beliefs, risk perception and traffic safety-related behaviors.MethodThe study was carried out in Cameroon on a sample of 525 road users with a questionnaire made up of scales measuring fatalistic beliefs, perceived risk for dangerous traffic events and reported safe behaviors.ResultsAs expected, participants with higher levels of fatalistic beliefs perceived dangerous traffic situations as less risky and reported less safe behaviors. Perceived risk partially mediated the association between fatalistic beliefs and reported safe behaviors.ConclusionPerceiving dangerous traffic situations as risky can mitigate the magnitude of one's fatalistic beliefs on the engagement in protective behaviors. The implications for more effective prevention including both beliefs and perceptions are suggested. One can explain to people how to avoid accidents, emphasizing on their capacity to change their behavior and the gains they retrieved from that behavioral change.     

Cognitive Organization of Favorable and Unfavorable Beliefs About Performing a Behavior

Abstract

Intentions to perform behaviors are influenced by beliefs about their consequences, but researchers have not addressed how such beliefs are cognitively organized. In 3 experiments, the authors tested the hypothesis that beliefs are organized according to whether they are favorable or unfavorable in regard to performing a behavior. In Experiment 1, a group of U.S. students first read a list of beliefs favorable and unfavorable to going to a vacation resort and then listed their beliefs about condom use. In Experiment 2, another group of U.S. students listed their beliefs about condom use. In Experiment 3, a 3rd group of U.S. students listed their beliefs about a novel behavior (asking the experimenter for candy). The results of all 3 experiments were consistent with the hypothesis that people cognitively organize their beliefs according to whether they are favorable or unfavorable to the behavior in question.     

Distributive Justice Beliefs are Guided by Whether People Think the Ultimate Goal of Society is Well-Being or Power

Abstract

Disagreements about how resources should be distributed are often heated, perhaps because people suspect that distributive justice beliefs that clash with their own derive from nefarious motives. In this paper, we consider a less pessimistic explanation for diversity in distributive justice beliefs: such beliefs are influenced by what one considers the primary utility or value of their society in the first place. In five studies (N?=?21,515), we demonstrate the existence of two separable types of distributive justice beliefs, one (Equality/need) influenced by a focus on societal well-being, and the other (Equity/merit) by a focus on societal power. These findings lend insight into how growing tensions rooted in resource allocation might be defuzed.     

Self-efficacy,mental models and team adaptation: A first approach on football and futsal refereeing

ObjectiveWithin the football and futsal refereeing context, even though referees work within teams, there is very little research considering the implications of team dynamics. In response, this study starts to address this gap in the literature by investigating the moderating effect of mental models on the relationship between self-efficacy beliefs and perceptions of team adaptation within the exciting context of professional and national football and futsal refereeing.DesignWe obtained online questionnaires from 339 active football and futsal referees within the National and Professional league at two distinct points (April and May) within the football season.ResultsSelf-efficacy beliefs were positively associated with perceptions of team adaptation (only for football referees). Mental models were positively associated with team adaptation. Likewise, the moderation between mental models and self-efficacy beliefs was positively associated with perceptions of team adaptation. However, such an effect was only significant at the futsal referees’ level.ConclusionThis study emphasises the importance of mental models for team adaptation and the importance of self-efficacy beliefs in predicting perceptions of team adaptation. We hope that this study represents the first step in a greater appreciation of the salience of team dynamics and their impact on football and futsal referees’ performance and that future research can build upon our work.     

Why conceptual competence won’t help the non-naturalist epistemologist

Abstract

Non-naturalist normative realists face an epistemological objection: They must explain how their preferred route of justification ensures a non-accidental connection between justified moral beliefs and the normative truths. One strategy for meeting this challenge begins by pointing out that we are semantically or conceptually competent in our use of the normative terms, and then argues that this competence guarantees the non-accidental truth of some of our first-order normative beliefs. In this paper, I argue against this strategy by illustrating that this competence based strategy undermines the non-naturalist’s ability to capture the robustly normative content of our moral beliefs.     

Predictors of cancer survivors’ response to a community-based exercise program

ObjectiveTo explore the degree to which sociodemographic (i.e., age, sex, ethnicity, weight status, vocational status, marital status), medical (i.e., stage of cancer, treatment status, comorbidity burden), functional (i.e., self-rated health, exercise capacity), cognitive (i.e., exercise self-efficacy beliefs), and behavioural (i.e., program adherence, extra-curricular exercise) factors predicted cancer-related fatigue and quality of life among 224 cancer survivors who participated in the community-based Wellspring Cancer Exercise Program (WCEP).DesignProspective, quasi-experimental single-group repeated measures design.MethodData on predictors and outcomes were collected using self-report and objective measures upon enrollment in the program (week 0), every 10 weeks until program completion (weeks 10, 20, 30), and at 16-weeks follow-up (46 weeks). Data were analyzed using multilevel modeling.ResultsIn general, participants who were working or transitioning to work, rated their health better, and had higher exercise self-efficacy beliefs had lower cancer-related fatigue, and those who rated their health better and had higher exercise self-efficacy beliefs had higher quality of life. Also, there was a significant interaction between time and exercise self-efficacy beliefs for cancer-related fatigue and quality of life such that greater improvements were observed among participants with higher exercise self-efficacy beliefs.ConclusionCancer survivors’ perceptions of their health and their ability to exercise should be fostered to ensure they respond positively to exercise programs in terms of cancer-related fatigue and quality of life.     

Meaning in life and violations of beliefs and goals: reciprocal relations among individuals with congestive heart failure

Background and objectives: In the context of highly stressful experiences, violations of beliefs and goals and meaning in life may have a reciprocal relationship over time. More violations may lead to lowered meaning, whereas higher meaning may lead to lowered violations. The present study examines this relationship among congestive heart failure (CHF) patients.

Design: A cross-lagged panel design was used.

Methods: CHF patients (N?=?142) reported twice, six months apart, on their meaning in life and the extent to which CHF violates their beliefs and goals.

Results: Overall, results were consistent with a reciprocal relationship, showing that greater goal violations led to negative subsequent changes in meaning, whereas greater meaning led to favorable subsequent changes in violations of beliefs and goals.

Conclusions: Meaning in life and violations may contribute to one another, and therefore, in understanding the adjustment process, it is important to consider their interrelationship. The results are also broadly informative regarding the experience of meaning, showing that disruption of beliefs and goals may undermine meaning.     

The Origins and Resolution of Marital Discord from a Control Mastery Perspective

SUMMARY

This article focuses on individuals who grow up in proximity to suffering and/or possessive parents or siblings. It is not uncommon for such individuals to develop pathogenic beliefs that mitigate against them enjoying their lives, relationships, etc., while others are perceived as suffering or in need. Unconscious beliefs associated with survivor and separation guilt occasion maladaptive behaviors, i.e., undoing, spoiling, that prevent people who might otherwise yearn for success in the domain of work and love from achieving this. Often couples experiencing strife are unknowingly acting out such beliefs so as to maintain loyalty and allegiance with the discontented and/or needy parent or sibling. The task of therapy is to make these beliefs conscious so that they can be resisted and overcome.     

Traditional Religious Doctrine and Women's Sexuality

Abstract

For many women the connection between sexuality and spirituality is frequently experienced in the context of their past or current religious beliefsbeliefs that privilege intercourse and male pleasure while ignoring much of what is rich and important in women's sexual experiencingresulting in feelings of shame, guilt and disconnection from a vital source of their power and pleasure. The focus of this paper is on the differences between religiosity and spirituality, and how women can be assisted to develop more positive and affirming sexual self constructions and nurture a more empowering sense of spirituality in their lives, in the face of sometimes oppressive religious teachings and beliefs. Suggestions are provided for helping women create more positive connections between their spiritual and sexual selves, irrespective of their religious affiliations and beliefs.     

Weight-based discrimination,body dissatisfaction and emotional eating: The role of perceived social consensus

Objective: Discrimination can have a negative impact on psychological well-being, attitudes and behaviour. This research evaluates the impact of experiences of weight-based discrimination upon emotional eating and body dissatisfaction, and also explores whether people's beliefs about an ingroup's social consensus concerning how favourably overweight people are regarded can moderate the relationship between experiences of discrimination and negative eating and weight-related cognitions and behaviours.

Research methods and procedures: 197 undergraduate students completed measures about their experiences of weight-based discrimination, emotional eating and body dissatisfaction. Participants also reported their beliefs concerning an ingroup's attitude towards overweight people.

Results: Recollections of weight-based discrimination significantly contributed to emotional eating and body dissatisfaction. However, the relationships between experiencing discrimination and body dissatisfaction and emotional eating were weakest amongst participants who believed that the ingroup held a positive attitude towards overweight people.

Discussion: Beliefs about ingroup social consensus concerning overweight people can influence the relationships between weight-based discrimination and emotional eating and body dissatisfaction. Changing group perceptions to perceive it to be unacceptable to discriminate against overweight people may help to protect victims of discrimination against the negative consequences of weight-based stigma.     

Aging,memory loss,and Alzheimer’s disease: What do refugees from the former Soviet Union think?

ABSTRACT

Since the mid-1970s, approximately 700,000 émigrés from the former Soviet Union (FSU), most of Jewish descent, settled in the United States. Now, 25 or more years post-emigration, they have “aged in place” in the United States, but their values, beliefs, and attitudes about growing old, memory changes, and Alzheimer’s disease remain grounded in their earlier life experiences. Based on findings from a study of the social and cultural factors affecting beliefs about Alzheimer’s disease, aging, and memory loss, this article examines how past life experiences, the immigration experience, and cultural values affect Russian-speaking refugees’ beliefs and views about aging, memory loss, and Alzheimer’s disease.     

Speech pathology student clinician attitudes and beliefs towards people who stutter: A mixed-method pilot study

PurposeStuttering is a disorder of fluency that extends beyond its physical nature and has social, emotional and vocational impacts. Research shows that individuals often exhibit negative attitudes towards people who stutter; however, there is limited research on the attitudes and beliefs of speech pathology students towards people who stutter in Australia. Existing research is predominantly quantitative; whereas this mixed-method study placed an emphasis on the qualitative component. The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes and beliefs of final year Australian speech pathology students towards people who stutter.MethodsThis mixed-method study applied the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes – Stuttering (POSHA-S) and semi-structured interviews to gather data from final year speech pathology students from a major university in Australia.Principal resultsThe overall qualitative findings identified that final year Australian speech pathology students exhibit positive attitudes towards people who stutter. The results also illustrated the role of education in influencing attitudes of students as well as increasing their confidence to work with people who stutter.Major conclusionThis research revealed that Australian final year speech pathology students exhibit positive attitudes towards people who stutter. They displayed an understanding that people who stutter may have acquired traits such as shyness as a response to their personal situation and environment, rather than those traits being endemic to them. Results also suggested that education can play a role in creating confident student clinicians in their transition to practice, and positively influence their attitudes and beliefs.     

British Olympic hopefuls: The antecedents and consequences of implicit ability beliefs in elite track and field athletes

ObjectivesThis study provided an in-depth examination of the implicit ability beliefs held by elite British track and field athletes, including the antecedents and consequences of these beliefs.Design and MethodsA qualitative design was employed involving semi-structured interviews with 4 Olympic hopefuls in the sport of track and field athletics. Thematic analysis was utilised to interpret the results of the study, involving a combination of inductive and deductive approaches.ResultsThe core components of ability beliefs included beliefs that ability is stable, ability is malleable, and that it is possible to build on natural ability. A variety of personal, social and environmental antecedents appeared to influence the athletes' ability beliefs. The consequences of implicit beliefs encompassed three major themes, which were achievement motivation, setbacks and attributions for success and failure.ConclusionsThe results from the analysis indicated that the athletes' implicit beliefs were very specific, as their beliefs about ability appeared to underpin sport-specific performance. The belief that ability was malleable was universal amongst the athletes and this may be related to their age, experience, high perceived ability and the high level at which they compete. However, the athletes believed that although natural ability is useful, talent is only a small part of the equation as learning, improving and working hard are all necessary for success at the highest level.     

Predictors of young dating adults' inclination to engage in extradyadic sexual activities: A multi‐perspective study

Using a multi‐perspective vignette design, we explored predictors of young peoples' (N=119) propensity to engage in unfaithful activities while dating. Demographic measures, a datding investment model, and measures of functional and dysfunctional impulsivity were used to predict inclination to engage in each of two extradyadic activities (kissing and sexual activity). The results of moderated multiple regression analyses revealed that a respondent's number of sexual partners, level of dysfunctional impulsivity, satisfaction with current relationship, and quality of relationship alternatives significantly predicted inclination to engage in both of the extradyadic activities. Consistent with previous findings, gender only showed significant predictive value in relation to extradyadic sex inclination. Moreover, the association between sex, love, and marriage interacted with gender in the prediction of both extradyadic activities and interacted with commitment in the prediction of extradyadic sex inclination. Suggestions for future research in this area are offered in light of these new findings.     

Why are they being so nice to us? Social identity threat and the suspicion of Whites’ motives

Abstract

Stigmatizing racism has made Whites’ kindness attributional ambiguous to people of color (POC). When this ambiguity is experienced in domains where stereotypes are active, POC may experience praise from Whites as a form of social identity threat. The current article reviews how POC are predicted to respond to Whites’ positivity as a function of their beliefs about Whites’ motives. To the extent that POC are suspicious of Whites’ motives and chronically discount positivity from Whites, praise and positive overtures from Whites were predicted to be threatening. Evidence suggests that POC suspicious of Whites motives are the most sensitive to positive responses from Whites, reacting with both greater threat and social accuracy compared to non-suspicious POC. The current work reviews the empirical evidence on suspicion and highlights avenues for future research that explores suspicion’s origins and capacity to shape the academic and professional identities of POC.     

Negotiating female judoka identities in Greece: A Foucauldian discourse analysis

ObjectivesThe objectives of this paper are to trace the discourses through which female Greek judokas articulate their sporting experiences and to explore how they construct their identities through the negotiation of sociocultural beliefs and gender stereotypes.DesignThis article is based on interview data from a larger ethnographic research with women judo athletes, grounded in a cultural praxis framework.MethodTen semi-structured interviews were conducted during fieldwork in Greece. Interview data were analyzed drawing on a Foucauldian approach to discourse analysis.ResultsWe identified four concepts—biology, gender, femininity, and judo/sport—that were central to unearthing the discourses in which female Greek judokas constructed their identities. Female athletes (strategically) negotiated multiple identities, each serving different purposes.ConclusionThe gender power dynamics in Greek society at large are reproduced in the sporting experience of Greek female judokas. Although women have agency to negotiate their identity, they tend to accept the “given” subject positions within dominant discourses of gender relations. By doing so, female athletes become agents in the reproduction of patriarchal power.     

Mental Files,Blown Up by Indexed Files

Abstract

Our paper discusses Recanati’s application of the mental files apparatus to reports of beliefs and other attitudes. While mental files appear early on in Recanati’s work on belief-reports, his latest book introduces the concept of indexed files (a.k.a. vicarious files) and puts it to work to explain how we can report other people’s attitudes and to account for opacity phenomena. Our goal is twofold: we show that the approach in Recanati’s Mental Files (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012) departs significantly from his earlier proposals as well as from the very spirit of truth-conditional pragmatics; and we argue that the indexed files approach, qua an attempt to provide a semantics for belief-reports, is untenable.     

The effects of prediction,understanding, and control: A test of the stress antidote model

Abstract

A study was undertaken to examine further the effects of perceived work control on employee adjustment. On the basis of the stress antidote model, it was proposed that high levels of prediction, understanding, and control of work-related events would have direct, indirect, and interactive effects on levels of employee adjustment. These hypotheses were tested in a short-term longitudinal study of 137 employees of a large retail organization. The stress antidote measures appeared to be indirectly related to employee adjustment, via their effects on perceptions of work stress. There was weak evidence for the proposal that prediction, understanding, and control would buffer the negative effects of work stress. Additional analyses indicated that the observed effects of prediction, understanding, and control were independent of employees' generalized control beliefs. However, there was no support for the proposal that the effects of the stress antidote measures would be dependent on employees' generalized control beliefs.