Effects of Disease Threat and Attitude Similarity on Willingness to Help: The Mediating Role of Disgust

2021 ◽  
pp. 003329412110434
Author(s):  
Murray Millar ◽  
R. Shane Westfall ◽  
Andrea Fink-Armold
Keyword(s):  
Target Person ◽  
Attitude Similarity ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Willingness To Help ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability To Disease ◽  
University Undergraduates

The current research tested the hypothesis that an increase in perceived disease vulnerability would create more feelings of disgust and a reduced willingness to help persons with dissimilar attitudes. To test these hypotheses, two studies were performed. In the first study, 173 university undergraduates indicated their willingness to help a target person who held similar or dissimilar attitudes. Then the participants’ feelings of disgust about helping, and perceived vulnerability to disease were measured. In the second study, 127 university undergraduates read materials designed to make a disease threat or a non-disease threat salient then indicated their willingness to help a target person with similar or dissimilar attitudes. As predicted a concern about disease and attitude similarity interacted to influence willingness to help and this effect was mediated by feelings of disgust.

scholarly journals Food Neophobia and Food Disgust: The Mediating Role of Perceived Vulnerability to Disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Santisi ◽  
Paola Magnano ◽  
Vittorio Edoardo Scuderi
Keyword(s):  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
Strong Positive Correlation ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Food Neophobia ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability To Disease

Negative attitudes towards food are influenced by two factors, neophobia and often related disgust. Neophobia is the tendency to avoid new foods, while food disgust is the refusal of food that is considered potentially harmful to health. The study presented here aims to analyze the correlation between these two attitudes and the possible mediation operated by the perception of vulnerability to diseases, in order to understand if and how this contributes to the disgust towards certain unfamiliar foods. The study was developed through the administration of an anonymous questionnaire to a sample of 487 Italian citizens participating on a voluntary basis. Three tools were used: Food Neophobia Scale, Perceived Vulnerability to Disease, and Food Disgust Scale. The results showed a strong positive correlation between food disgust and food neophobia. Furthermore, through the application of structural mediation models, it has been shown that between food neophobia and food disgust, there is a mediation effect determined by perceived infectivity. The research aims to make a significant contribution to the understanding of the relationship between food disgust and some individual and psychological characteristics of people, demonstrating that the fear of disease transmission affects their food choices.

scholarly journals A Bayesian approach to reveal the key role of mask wearing in modulating projected interpersonal distance during the first COVID-19 outbreak

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0255598
Author(s):  
Matteo P. Lisi ◽  
Marina Scattolin ◽  
Martina Fusaro ◽  
Salvatore Maria Aglioti
Keyword(s):  
Situational Factors ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Interpersonal Distance ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Perceived Severity ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability ◽  
Dispositional Factors ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability To Disease ◽  
Moral Attitudes

Humans typically create and maintain social bonds through interactions that occur at close social distances. The interpersonal distance of at least 1 m recommended as a relevant measure for COVID-19 contagion containment requires a significant change in everyday behavior. In a web-based experimental study conducted during the first pandemic wave (mid-April 2020), we asked 242 participants to regulate their preferred distance towards confederates who did or did not wear protective masks and gloves and whose COVID-19 test results were positive, negative, or unknown. Information concerning dispositional factors (perceived vulnerability to disease, moral attitudes, and prosocial tendencies) and situational factors (perceived severity of the situation in the country, frequency of physical and virtual social contacts, and attitudes toward quarantine) that may modulate compliance with safety prescriptions was also acquired. A Bayesian analysis approach was adopted. Individual differences did not modulate interpersonal distance. We found strong evidence in favor of a reduction of interpersonal distance towards individuals wearing protective equipment and who tested negative to COVID-19. Importantly, shorter interpersonal distances were maintained towards confederates wearing protective gear, even when their COVID-19 test result was unknown or positive. This protective equipment-related regulation of interpersonal distance may reflect an underestimation of perceived vulnerability to infection; this perception must be discouraged when pursuing individual and collective health-safety measures.

scholarly journals Entrepreneurship education and sustainable development: mediating role of entrepreneurial skills

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-339
Author(s):  
James Edomwonyi Edokpolor
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Entrepreneurship Education ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Entrepreneurial Skills ◽  
Nigerian University ◽  
University Undergraduates ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

Purpose This study aims to examine the mediating role of entrepreneurial skills developed by undergraduates (ESDU) in the relationship between entrepreneurship education (EE) and the core values of sustainable development (CVSD). Design/methodology/approach This is a correlational study that used a structured questionnaire for quantitative data collection from 399 purposively selected Nigerian university undergraduates. Findings The results confirmed the statistically significant and positive mediating role of ESDU on the relationship between EE and the CVSD. Originality/value This study has contributed to the mediating role of ESDU in the relationship between EE and the CVSD. This interrelationship can further provide a better understanding or insights into how ESDU can help mediate the relationship between EE and the CVSD.

scholarly journals Mediating Role of Fluid Intelligence Between Working Memory and Academic Achievement of University Undergraduates: Does Gender Matter?

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadia Niazi ◽  
Adnan Adil
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Gender Differences ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Path Analysis ◽  
Indirect Effect ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Model Invariance ◽  
University Undergraduates

The present study examined the mediating role of fluid intelligence between working memory (WM) and academic achievement and tested the invariance of this model across gender in a random sample of university students (N = 560, 228 boys & 332 girls). Heart and Flower task (Diamond, 2013) and Raven’s Standard Progressive MatricesTM Plus (Raven, 1998) were used to operationalize WM and fluid intelligence, respectively. Academic achievement was operationalized through the CGPAs of students. Findings of the path analysis suggested that fluid intelligence mediated between WM and CGPA. Test of the model invariance indicated that fluid intelligence was a stronger predictor of academic achievement for boys as compared to the girls, which suggested that the indirect effect of WM on academic achievement through fluid intelligence was stronger for boys. Significant gender differences were observed as girls’ mean scores on WM and academic achievement were higher than those of the boys.

scholarly journals Testing the Disgust-Based Mechanism of Homonegative Attitudes in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Szymkow ◽  
Natalia Frankowska ◽  
Katarzyna Galasinska
Keyword(s):  
System Theory ◽  
Immune System ◽  
Defense Mechanisms ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability ◽  
Behavioral Immune System ◽  
Functional Flexibility ◽  
Sexual Disgust ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability To Disease

Negative attitudes and stigmatization can originate from the perception of a disease-related threat. Following the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is often suggested that incidents of discriminatory behavior are the result of defense mechanisms aimed at avoiding pathogens. According to the behavioral immune system theory, people are motivated to distance themselves from individuals who show signs of infection, or who are only heuristically associated with a disease, primarily because of the disgust they evoke. In this paper we focus on negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians who are among social groups that have been persistently framed as “unclean.” In our correlational study (N = 500 heterosexual participants; Polish sample data collected during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Poland, in March/April 2020) we tested moderation models derived from the behavioral immune system theory. Specifically, we investigated whether perceived vulnerability to disease and perceived threat of contracting COVID-19 moderate the relation between disgust and homonegativity. We found that sexual disgust (but not pathogen nor moral disgust) predicted homonegative attitudes. This effect was stronger for participants expressing higher levels of perceived vulnerability to disease but was not dependent on the perception of the COVID-19 threat. The results reaffirm previous evidence indicating a pivotal role of disgust in disease-avoidance mechanisms. They also point to functional flexibility of the behavioral immune system by demonstrating the moderating role of perceived vulnerability to disease in shaping homonegative attitudes. Finally, they show that the threat of COVID-19 does not strengthen the relationship between disgust and homonegativity.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Lockdown and Mental Health in a Sample Population in Spain: The Role of Self-Compassion

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 2103
Author(s):  
María Elena Gutiérrez-Hernández ◽  
Luisa Fernanda Fanjul ◽  
Alicia Díaz-Megolla ◽  
Pablo Reyes-Hurtado ◽  
Jonay Francisco Herrera-Rodríguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Physical Symptoms ◽  
Mental Health Status ◽  
Sample Population ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability ◽  
Self Compassion ◽  
Perceived Vulnerability To Disease ◽  
Anxiety Depression

Previous data support that mental health is affected during pandemic and lockdown situations. Yet, little is known about the positive factors that protect mental health during a lockdown. This study analyzed mental health status—particularly emotional problems—and the role of several sociodemographic and clinical variables; it also explored whether there is a positive relationship between self-compassion and better mental health status. A cross-sectional study was carried out in Spain with the participation of 917 fluent Spanish-speaking residents in a survey conducted approximately midway through the COVID-19 lockdown. The survey tested for anxiety, depression, and stress using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) to measure self-compassion values, and the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Questionnaire (PVDQ) to assess the degree of risk perceived by participants. Around 30% of the individuals surveyed (recruited by snowball sampling) showed clinically significant levels of anxiety, depression, and stress. The variables most frequently associated with anxiety, depression, and stress were low levels of self-compassion, age, gender, previous physical symptoms, a previous mental disorder, being a student, and perceived vulnerability to disease. We discuss the hypothetical protective role against anxiety, depression, and stress of certain skills such as self-compassion and the possibility that increasing self-compassion may be used to promote better mental health in similar situations.

The More You Say, the Less They Hear

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 159-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsbeth D. Asbeek Brusse ◽  
Marieke L. Fransen ◽  
Edith G. Smit
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Protection ◽  
Entertainment Education ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Attitude Measures ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

Abstract. This study examined the effects of disclosure messages in entertainment-education (E-E) on attitudes toward hearing protection and attitude toward the source. In addition, the (mediating) role of the underlying mechanisms (i.e., transportation, identification, and counterarguing) was studied. In an experiment (N = 336), three different disclosure messages were compared with a no-disclosure condition. The results show that more explicit disclosure messages negatively affect transportation and identification and stimulate the generation of counterarguments. In addition, the more explicit disclosure messages affect both attitude measures via two of these processes (i.e., transportation and counterarguing). Less explicit disclosure messages do not have this effect. Implications of the findings are discussed.

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