Pseudoscientific Health Beliefs and the Perceived Frequency of Causal Relationships

Beliefs about cause and effect, including health beliefs, are thought to be related to the frequency of the target outcome (e.g., health recovery) occurring when the putative cause is present and when it is absent (treatment administered vs. no treatment); this is known as contingency learning. However, it is unclear whether unvalidated health beliefs, where there is no evidence of cause–effect contingency, are also influenced by the subjective perception of a meaningful contingency between events. In a survey, respondents were asked to judge a range of health beliefs and estimate the probability of the target outcome occurring with and without the putative cause present. Overall, we found evidence that causal beliefs are related to perceived cause–effect contingency. Interestingly, beliefs that were not predicted by perceived contingency were meaningfully related to scores on the paranormal belief scale. These findings suggest heterogeneity in pseudoscientific health beliefs and the need to tailor intervention strategies according to underlying causes.

Multifactorial causal beliefs and colorectal cancer screening: A structural equation modeling investigation

We tested a conceptual model that describes the relationship between individuals’ understanding of the multifactorial nature of cancer and their self-reported colorectal cancer screening. We collected cross-sectional survey data from 205 men and women age 50–75. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The proposed model had reasonable fit (RMSEA = 0.09, CFI = 0.65). Multifactorial causal beliefs were associated with cancer risk perceptions (β = 0.16, p = 0.019) and more optimistic cancer cognitions (β = 0.17, p = 0.013). However, these constructs were not associated with colorectal cancer screening ( p’s > 0.05). Further testing could reveal whether this model can be applied to other cancer-related health behaviors including lifestyle changes and genetic testing.

Ideias e Agenda da Cooperação Prestada: o Caso do Prosavana | Ideas and delivered cooperation agenda: the ProSAVANA case

Alguns fatores domésticos determinam a alocação da ajuda internacional, contribuindo com as abordagens que procuram uma interface entre o doméstico e o externo, o que não é diferente na cooperação brasileira. Neste trabalho, busca-se explorar um desses fatores, as ideias que, ao influenciarem a política externa e a cooperação prestada pelo Brasil, podem ter influenciado também a adoção do ProSAVANA na agenda da Política Externa Brasileira. Portanto, a partir de uma revisão bibliográfica e documental, depreende-se que o programa de cooperação triangular entre Brasil, Moçambique e Japão na área agrícola, assinado em 2009, sofreu influências de visões de mundo, crenças causais e normas de seu tempo. A exemplo disso, a identidade brasileira, enquanto modelo de país em desenvolvimento para os países africanos, e sua posição de liderança, buscada a nível global.Palavras-chave: ideias; cooperação internacional; política externa; ProSAVANA.ABSTRACTSome domestic factors determine the allocation of international aid, contributing to approaches that seek an interface between the domestic and the external, that is not different in Brazilian cooperation. In this research, we seek exploring one of these factors, ideas, which influencing foreign policy and cooperation provided by Brazil, may also have influenced theadoption of ProSAVANA on the Brazilian Foreign Policy agenda. Therefore, from a bibliographic and documentary review, it appears that the program, triangular cooperation between Brazil, Mozambique and Japan in the agricultural area (signed in 2009) was influenced by worldviews, causal beliefs and norms of its time, such as Brazilian identity as a model of developing country for African countries and its leadership position, sought globally.Keywords: ideas; international cooperation; foreign policy; ProSAVANA. Recebido em: 10 abr. 2021 | Aceito em: 18 ago. 2021.

Part VI Actors, Ch.40 Epistemic Communities

This chapter begins with a definition and intellectual history of epistemic communities. ‘Epistemic communities’ is a concept developed by ‘soft’ constructivist scholars of international relations concerned with agency. Soft constructivists in general focus on the role of various types of norms, principled beliefs, causal beliefs, and discourses in establishing roles and rules in international relations: that is, determining the identities, interests, and practices that shape the identification of actors in international relations. The chapter then applies this definition to the study of international environmental law and discusses whether or not international lawyers constitute an epistemic community. It concludes with a discussion of some of the recent challenges to the influence of epistemic communities in world politics more broadly, and thus the future of international environmental law.

Beliefs About the Causes of Type 2 Diabetes Among First-Generation Asian Indians in the United States

Introduction Asian Indians (AIs) have the highest prevalence rates (18.3%-29%) of diabetes in any minority group in the United States, yet little is known about their beliefs about what causes type 2 diabetes. The purpose of this study was to examine first generation AIs causal beliefs about type 2 diabetes. Method Interpretative phenomenology was used to interview 12 first-generation AI participants with type 2 diabetes to elicit causal beliefs of their disease. Interpretative and thematic analysis were completed. Results Beliefs about the causes of diabetes in AIs were influenced by a general familiarity with the disease, limited knowledge about causal and preventative factors of the disease, and gender specific roles and norms. Discussion Health programs that aim to incorporate AI’s cultural and health beliefs about the causes of diabetes are warranted.

Testing the mixed-blessings model: What is the role of essentialism for stigmatizing attitudes towards schizophrenia?

It is well established that emphasizing a biogenetic etiology of mental health problems in anti-stigma interventions inadvertently increases potentially stigmatizing attitudes. The “mixed-blessings” model suggests that biogenetic explanations and greater stigma are linked by essentialism. The present study tests this hypothesis experimentally. In this online experiment, 367 subjects read either a biogenetic or a psychosocial explanation for the etiology of schizophrenia, followed by a vignette describing an individual who has schizophrenia. Subsequently, we measured (a) causal beliefs on the etiology of schizophrenia (as a manipulation check), (b) the degree of essentialist beliefs (mediator), (c) the extent to which subjects subscribed to assumptions of dangerousness, (d) prognostic pessimism, and (e) desire for social distance. Subjects reported a stronger agreement with the etiology they had been presented. Against our expectations, this did not result in higher levels of stigmatizing attitudes in the biogenetic vignette group. Correspondingly, mediation through essentialism could not be tested. In the psychosocial vignette group, biogenetic causal beliefs were associated with a stronger desire for social distance. Essentialist thinking fully mediated this effect. The evidence we found for the assumptions of the mixed-blessings extended to the psychosocial vignette group only. We explain this by the subjects’ different readiness to subscribe to biogenetic and psychosocial causal beliefs. We argue that the same levels of essentialism between the experimental groups contributed to the equal levels of stigmatizing attitudes. This underlines the fundamental importance of essentialism in stigma, going beyond a role in the psychological effects of biogenetic causal models.

Regionalism under Challenge: Ideas and Joko Widodo’s Foreign Policy towards ASEAN, 2014-2019

Indonesia’s foreign policy under Joko Widodo ‘Jokowi’ has significantly shifted compared with his predecessor’s era, especially regarding policies on regionalism. While former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono emphasises multilateralism with a particular focus on ASEAN, Jokowi’s administration tends to overlook ASEAN as a multilateral organization. The research investigates the causal root of the tendency by using the concept of ideas in foreign policy. The results argue that the diminished role of Indonesia in ASEAN, especially during the first term of Jokowi’s presidency, is strongly influenced by causal beliefs held by Indonesian political elites and presidential advisors. Despite varying from one individual to another, these ideas have similar characteristics in proposing that Indonesia should expand its concentric circle beyond ASEAN, arguing that ASEAN is intrinsically weak and thus can no longer accommodate Indonesian aspirations. This idea acts as a road map that defines Indonesia’s national interests amid international politics dynamics in the 21st century.