A functional approach to understanding attitudes toward AIDS victims.

Attitudes toward victims of AIDS were conceptualized as serving three possible functions: a value-expressive function (e.g., stigmatization), an ego-defensive function (e.g., homosexual prejudice), or a knowledge function (e.g., victim derogation). These functions were evaluated by having a sample of U.S. undergraduates respond to a victim who had contracted AIDS by one of three different means: a blood transfusion, a sexual encounter of a homosexual nature, or intravenous drug use. Subjects then indicated their beliefs about the victim's responsibility for the disease, feelings toward the victim, and likely behavioral interactions with the victim. The findings provided most support for the knowledge function of attitudes toward AIDS victims.     

Holistic attitudes of high school students toward themselves and their school experiences.

This study was based on an analysis of essays written by 47 teacher education students in response to the question, "If you could live your high school days over again, what, if anything, would you change?" The responses were organized into 20 different categories and tabulated according to students' age and sex. In retrospect, 38% of these students would have improved their attitude toward high school. Thirty-six percent indicated that high school was a positive experience, though this attitude was often unrelated to academic achievement. The responses strongly suggest that for many high school students, general attitude toward school affects achievement more than do attitudes toward specific school characteristics.     

High school and college students' attitudes toward rape

This study explored the relationship between agreement with myths about rape and the tendency to blame the victim in a sample of high school and college students. It was found that high school males believed more strongly than did both high school females and college males in myths about rape, and they assigned greater blame to the victims of rape. For both high school males and females, belief in myths about rape was associated with assigning more blame to the victims.     

Relationships among attitudes toward children,women's liberation,and personality characteristics

Replication and extension of a 1973 article, Who Wants the Children?, were undertaken. Attitudes toward child rearing, one's own remembered childhood experiences, views of women's liberation, and personality characteristics were assessed for 76 college students and 63 community residents. Some of the earlier findings were replicated: individuals with highly positive attitudes toward child rearing considered it a more creative and socially valuable activity and anti-liberation women expressed greater personal interest in child rearing than pro-liberation women. The failure to replicate other results suggests that attitudes have changed, with attitudes of the sexes converging. The inclusion of a sample of community subjects here clearly points to the need to employ a representative sample when studying attitudes of far-reaching social significance. Analysis of personality differences between pro- and anti-liberation women revealed some differences but also pointed to contradictions in literature.     

Bullying experiences and literacy achievement amongst primary school children

This study investigated the association between school bullying and literacy achievements in a sample of primary school children from Johannesburg, South Africa. The children (n?=?443; females?=?56%, males?=?44%) attending six primary schools in the Soweto area suburbs, self-reported their experience of bullying by peers. In addition, they completed tests of literacy. The results indicate that learners who self-reported being bullied performed poorly in literacy tests when compared to their peers, who were not subjected to bullying. In particular, those who experienced bullying scored lower on tasks that required literacy skills in phonics, spelling, and word choice. The findings indicate that learner support for school bullying survivors should aim to address the deleterious effects of bullying on literacy development.     

Bullying and its association with altruism toward victims,blaming the victims,and classroom prevalence of bystander behaviors: a multilevel analysis

With reference to social-ecological, self-determination, attributional, and social cognitive theories, the current study examined whether gender, age, altruistic motivation to defend victims, and tendency to blame the victims, at the individual level, and the prevalence of reinforcing and defending, at the classroom level, were associated with bullying. A sample of 901 Swedish students (9–13 years old, M?=?11.00, SD?=?.83) from 43 classrooms filled out a questionnaire. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that the perpetration of bullying was positively associated with the prevalence of reinforcing at the classroom level and blaming the victims at the individual level, whereas it was negatively associated with altruistic motivation to defend victims of bullying at the individual level. Furthermore, students with high altruistic motivation to defend victims of bullying were less inclined to bully, independent of the classroom level of reinforcing. The current study suggests that bullying prevention and intervention programs should: explicitly target bystander behaviors, in particular to reduce the prevalence of reinforcing bullying; include efforts to strengthen altruistic self-concept and motivation to defend victims; and prevent, challenge, and counteract tendencies among students to blame the victim.     

The attitudes toward rape victims scale: Reliability and validity in a chinese context

Two studies were conducted to assess the cross-cultural applicability of Ward's Attitudes toward Rape Victims Scale (ARVS). In the first study, 202 Chinese college students took the ARVS, the Attitudes toward Women Scale, and the Traditionality-Modernity Factor Scale. Reliability and convergent validity were established for ARVS. In the second study, construct validity of the ARVS was further examined, using the known-group method. The scores of four professional groups were compared. Consistent with previous studies, women showed significantly more favorable attitudes toward the rape victims than men. The findings generally suggest that the ARVS is promising in further cross-cultural research and application.     

Atttudes and behavior: Implications of attitudes toward behavioral alternatives

The relationship between attitudes and behavior was considered. An attitudinal model of behavioral alternatives was presented and its applied and theoretical implications explicated. Three investigations were reported that tested the initial viability of the approach. Support for the model was observed in all three investigations.     

Asian Australian acculturation and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help

Research with 112 Asian Australian university students found that adherence to Asian cultural values inversely predicted attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Students completed demographic questions, the Asian Values Scale, the Suinn – Lew Asian Self‐Identity Scale, (which is a measure of acculturation), and the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale. There was a significant positive relationship between the Asian Australian students' level of behavioural acculturation and their attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Significant differences were found between male and female participants in their attitudes, with female participants indicating greater willingness to seek help. Results also demonstrated a significant difference in gender on acculturation level as well as a significant difference in generational status and acculturation level.     

Adolescent attitudes toward body image and anorexic behavior

This study explored the relationship between anorexic behavior and selected dimensions of body image. Anorexic behavior was assessed by two scales, the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT 26) (Garner, Olmstead, Bohr, & Garfinkel, 1982) and the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI) (Garner, Olmstead, & Polivy, 1983). Predictor variables, selected dimensions of body image, physical attractiveness, self-esteem, and physical effectiveness, were measured by scales adapted by Lerner and Karabenick (1974) and Lerner, Orlos, and Knapp (1976). Multiple regression techniques were used to determine how much of the tendency toward anorexic behavior can be predicted by selected dimensions of body image. The major focus of the analysis was to explore the contributions of each of the dimensions of body image to predicting tendencies toward anorexic behavior in adolescents. The research sample consisted of 169 high school students, aged 15 to 18, who were enrolled in health, physical education, or psychology classes in the spring of 1983. Results indicated that the dimension of self-esteem was the major factor in the prediction of anorexic behaviors as measured by the Eating Disorders Inventory.