Health Beliefs and Attitudes: A Comparison Between Turkey and Palestine

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to identify the beliefs and attitudes that influence health-related behavior while comparing two countries that can have different political and economic structures. This study also gathers both Turkish and Palestinian citizens' beliefs and attitudes towards health determinants. To assess and compare citizens' attitudes toward health care and health determinants a total of 4,100 questionnaires were distributed, whereas 2,600 were distributed in Turkey, and another 1,500 questionnaires in the Palestine. According to the research, the individuals surveyed in Turkey noted that smoking, stress, and getting access to a medical institution were noted as the most influential determinants which affect their health; whereas, the people of Palestine thought that income status, and educational levels were the most influential factors in health. In addition, it was found that there were some statistically significant differences between participants' responses in Turkey and Palestine; however, what both samples shared was that economic factors were an important factor affecting health beliefs and attitudes, regardless of where a participant lived. Finally, comparisons and future recommendations are made to improve health-related beliefs, attitudes and behaviors in both countries.     

浅析中国道教对越南宗教信仰的影响

作为与中国山水相连的邻邦,越南受到了汉文化的巨大影响。中国的本土宗教道教对越南的宗教形成发展及民族文化有着深刻的影响,并且这种影响延续到了今天。了解中国道教对越南宗教信仰的影响,是人们了解和研究越南文化一个不可或缺的重要内容,这将有助于进一步了解越南。     

Is Probability Weighting Sensitive to the Magnitude of Consequences? An Experimental Investigation on Losses

Experimental investigations of the probability weighting function over losses are scarce and all involve small payoffs. The paper aims to give new insight into the probability weighting function for losses, by eliciting it through a simple two-stage semi-parametric procedure over more realistic losses, and by investigating its sensitivity to the magnitude of the payoffs. Current data confirm previous evidence of convex utility functions and inverse-S-shaped weighting functions. Still, at least for small probabilities, probability weighting appears to be affected by the size of consequences: the larger the losses, the more aversive the gambles and the more pessimistic the subjects are.     

试论宗教信仰的政治意蕴

信仰源于人类的本性需要,宗教信仰也是如此,对宗教信仰的社会作用应给以科学评价。宗教信仰之所以得到许多国家的认同和支持,在于其具有深刻的政治意蕴。它不仅是统治者进行政治统治的理论辩护工具,而且是进行社会控制和稳定社会秩序的调节器,特别是凝聚民族力量的强力粘合剂,一些重要政治运动的传播机。因此,在对待宗教信仰的态度上,我们一方面应该实行宗教信仰自由政策,另一方面必须反对封建迷信、抵制和铲除邪教。同时,维护宗教信仰的民族性特点,坚决反对利用宗教信仰作掩护的民族分裂主义。     

Preschoolers' Beliefs About the Stability of Antisocial Behavior: Implications for Navigating Social Challenges

The relation between 3‐ to 5‐year‐old children's beliefs about sociomoral stability (the tendency for antisocial behavior to remain stable over time) and their reasoning about peer interactions was examined. Participants were 100 preschoolers enrolled in a Head Start program. Children who endorsed sociomoral stability beliefs were less likely than their peers to make prosocial inferences, were rated by their teachers as less likely to engage in prosocial behavior, and were more likely to endorse the use of aggression to solve conflict with peers. These findings suggest that as early as preschool, children have general patterns of beliefs about the stability of antisocial behavior that predict a tendency to de‐emphasize prosocial strategies that can mediate social challenges.     

Thai Adolescents' Normative Beliefs of the Popularity of Smoking Among Peers,Adults, the Successful and Elite,and Parents

The purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions of Thailand adolescents regarding the prevalence of smoking, the popularity of smoking among successful/elite elements of society, and disapproval of smoking by friends and parents. These perceptions were analyzed in conjunction with actual smoking and smoking susceptibility rates among the subjects to determine whether beliefs and behaviors were associated with each other. This study was conducted among a school‐based sample of 2516 Chiang Mai, Thailand upper secondary and vocational students. Although perceived prevalence of smoking was not associated with smoking outcomes, perceived popularity of smoking among the successful and elite was associated with higher risk, and perceived disapproval by friends/parents was associated with lower risk. Youth smoking programs should consider assessing and taking these social normative factors into account when considering educational intervention strategies that aim to lower adolescent smoking rates.     

From Narcissistic Exploitativeness to Bullying Behavior: The Mediating Role of Approval‐of‐aggression Beliefs

This study examined the role of approval‐of‐aggression beliefs in the relationship between narcissistic exploitativeness and bullying behavior in an Asian sample (N = 809) comprising elementary children and middle school adolescents. Narcissistic exploitativeness was significantly and positively associated with both bullying behavior and approval‐of‐aggression beliefs, and approval‐of‐aggression beliefs was significantly and positively associated with bullying behavior. Additionally, findings indicated that approval‐of‐aggression beliefs was a statistically significant mediator and 53 percent of the total effect of narcissistic exploitativeness on bullying behavior was mediated by approval‐of‐aggression beliefs. Approval‐of‐aggression beliefs did not moderate the association between narcissistic exploitativeness and bullying behavior. There are important theoretical implications as well as implications for prevention and intervention efforts targeting aggressive, bullying behavior among children and adolescents.     

An Experimental Investigation of the Disparity Between WTA and WTP for Lotteries

In this paper we experimentally investigate the disparity between willingness-to-accept (WTA) and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for risky lotteries. The direction of the income effect is reversed by endowing subjects with the highest price of a lottery when asking the WTP question. Our results show that the income effect is too small to be the only source of the disparity. Since the disparity concentrates on a subsample of subjects, parametric and nonparametric tests of the WTA-WTP ratio may lead to contradictory results. The disparity is significantly reduced when background risk is introduced. That is, putting subjects always into a risky position could improve the contingent valuation method, which is often concerned with the assessment of risky situations such as health risks, automobile safety, etc.      

Beliefs,Death Anxiety,Denial, and Treatment Preferences in End-of-Life Care

Abstract

This study examined cultural and religious beliefs, death anxiety, denial, and medical treatment preferences in end-of-life care in a sample of social work students, community residents, and medical students in a mid-western city of 49,000. Results indicated that most social work students, community residents, and medical students preferred palliative as opposed to life-prolonging care during terminal illness. The three groups differed in cultural and religious beliefs and all three reported a moderate amount of death anxiety. Students reported less denial of terminality than community residents. Implications for personal and professional preparation to provide end-of-life care are discussed.     

The Effects of Beliefs Versus Risk Attitude on Bargaining Outcomes

In bargaining environments with uncertain disagreement or “impasse” outcomes (e.g., litigation or labor strike outcomes), there is an identification problem that confounds data interpretation. Specifically, the minimally acceptable settlement value from a risk-averse (risk-loving) but unbiased-belief bargainer is empirically indistinguishable from what one could get with risk-neutrality and pessimistically (optimistically) biased beliefs. This article reports results from a controlled bargaining experiment where data on both risk attitude and beliefs under uncertainty are generated in order to assess their relative importance in bargaining experiment outcomes. The average lab subject is risk-averse, yet optimistic with respect to uncertainty, which is consistent with existing studies that examine each in isolation. I also find that the effects of optimism dominate those of risk-aversion. Optimistic bargainers are significantly more likely to dispute and have aggressive final bargaining positions. Dispute rates are not statistically affected by risk attitude, but there is some evidence that risk aversion leads to a weakened bargaining position. Though additional research is needed to understand the limits of extending these results, a key implication follows. In uncertainty environments where optimism dominates, increased settlement rates are more likely achieved by minimizing impasse uncertainty (to limit the potential for optimism) rather than maximizing uncertainty (to weaken the reservation point of risk-averse bargainers), as has been argued in the dispute resolution literature.      

A Retrospective,Empirical Study of Grief-Related Beliefs in a Veterans Affairs Medical Center

This article reports on the findings of a retrospective, empirical study that explores and describes grief-related beliefs of a convenience sample of 312 persons in a Veterans hospital. These beliefs may facilitate bereaved individuals’ emotional regulation and adaptive responses to loss conceptualized in the dual process model. The study addresses the question: Do gender, employment status, and loss burden contribute to differences in grief-related beliefs? The findings reveal significant gender differences, and also that grief-related beliefs are reality rather than myth-oriented. Study limitations and implications for social work practice in bereavement care and hospice settings are discussed.     

诱发和启动农村需求问题的探讨

中国农村市场是世界最大的、最具潜力的市场,但现阶段农民收入、农民消费、消费品供给、消费环境、需求宏现政策都对农村需求产生影响,在诱发和扩大农村市场需求中存在许多问题,因而必须采取措施加速启动农村市场需求,推动整个国民经济的持续发展。     

Impersonal probability as an ideal assessment based on accessible evidence: A viable construct?

When risk analysts and others refer to the true probability of an event, it is not easy to give it a meaning which is sound and useful as a communication device for regulatory, research planning, and related purposes. An interpretation is herein offered which, unlike Bayesian probability, is impersonal and does not depend on a particular assessor; unlike Carnap's logical probability, it does not depend on information actually to hand. It is a generalization of frequency and propensity interpretations of impersonal probability applicable to unique events: an ideal assessment based on currently accessible (not in general perfect) evidence. The argument is illustrated from decision-aiding experience which motivated the enquiry.This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, Division of Social and Economic Sciences. The author thanks John Pratt, Marvin Cohen, Dennis Lindley, Jon Baron, Kathy Laskey, and Stephen Watson for their most helpful review. They do not necessarily share his views.     

Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories Among African Americans: A Comparison of Elites and Masses*

Objective. Several studies have reported a widespread belief in conspiracy theories among African Americans. Such theories have been shown to have possible deleterious effects, especially when they deal with HIV/AIDS. It has been conjectured that African‐American elites could play a role in dispelling these beliefs, unless, of course, they believe in these theories themselves. To examine this possibility the present study examines the conspiratorial beliefs of African‐American locally elected officials in Louisiana and compares them with a previous study of African‐American churchgoers in the same state. Methods. A systematic sample of 400 African‐American locally elected officials was drawn from a list of all African‐American elected officials in the state and 170 officials completed and returned the mail survey. Confirmatory factor analysis and OLS regression were used to analyze the attitude structure and determinants of beliefs, respectively. Results. The locally elected officials believe in these theories as much as the churchgoers and the structures of their beliefs are also very similar. In some very important ways, however, the predictors of these beliefs differ between the two samples. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that beliefs in conspiracy theories are widespread and that African‐American locally elected officials will not seek to dispel these beliefs.     

Updating Subjective Risks in the Presence of Conflicting Information: An Application to Climate Change

Willingness to support public programs for risk management often depends on individual subjective risk perceptions in the face of uncertain science. As part of a larger study concerning climate change, we explore individual updated subjective risks as a function of individual priors, the nature of external information, and individual attributes. We examine several rival hypotheses about how subjective risks change in the face of new information (Bayesian updating, alarmist learning, and ambiguity aversion). The source and nature of external information, as well as its collective ambiguity, can have varying effects across the population, in terms of both expectations and uncertainty.JEL Classification  D8, Q51, Q54     

Risk,ambiguity, and insurance

In a series of experiments, economically sophisticated subjects, including professional actuaries, priced insurance both as consumers and as firms under conditions of ambiguity. Findings support implications of the Einhorn-Hogarth ambiguity model: (1) For low probability-of-loss events, prices of both consumers and firms indicated aversion to ambiguity; (2) As probabilities of losses increased, aversion to ambiguity decreased, with consumers exhibiting ambiguity preference for high probability-of-loss events; and (3) Firms showed greater aversion to ambiguity than consumers. The results are shown to be incompatible with traditional economic analysis of insurance markets and are discussed with respect to the effects of ambiguity on the supply and demand for insurance.University of Chicago Graduate School of BusinessUniversity of Pennsylvania The Wharton School     

The Relation Between Probability and Evidence Judgment: An Extension of Support Theory

We propose a theory that relates perceived evidence to numerical probability judgment. The most successful prior account of this relation is Support Theory, advanced in Tversky and Koehler (1994). Support Theory, however, implies additive probability estimates for binary partitions. In contrast, superadditivity has been documented in Macchi, Osherson, and Krantz (1999), and both sub- and superadditivity appear in the experiments reported here. Nonadditivity suggests asymmetry in the processing of focal and nonfocal hypotheses, even within binary partitions. We extend Support Theory by revising its basic equation to allow such asymmetry, and compare the two equations' ability to predict numerical assessments of probability from scaled estimates of evidence for and against a given proposition. Both between- and within-subject experimental designs are employed for this purpose. We find that the revised equation is more accurate than the original Support Theory equation. The implications of asymmetric processing on qualitative assessments of chance are also briefly discussed.