Investigation on “gender” and “area of study” stereotypes among Irish third level students

Since the industrial revolution, we have witnessed the slow but steady change of the female identity from the single role of housewives raising their children to highly educated and professional individuals. Furthermore, the pursue of similar opportunities for both men and women in all areas of study and work, led to the investigation of the different stereotypes, regarding gender and area of study among men and women. A survey was conducted on Irish third level students to investigate the gender-area of study stereotypes among Irish third level students. A quantitative analysis was performed on the data collected, to identify the differences in the gender-area of study stereotypes of the two groups (females and males) of the participants. The study’s results indicate that males were higher scored as better performers in mathematics and having more ‘natural’ interest in Science. Also, men scored higher as the gender having personal preference, attitude, importance to be knowledgeable in Science and Mathematics. The results of this paper’s study, which align with the current international trends, indicate that the gender-area of study stereotype in favour of men still exists, especially within the female group of participants.

Attitude importance, more than extremity, predicts costly intergroup behavior

Which features of attitudes toward minoritized racial out-groups best predict majority-group members’ costly behaviors? Social attitudes research has typically measured the extremity of social group valence—ranging from negative to positive—to predict intergroup behavior, assuming that people with more extreme evaluations toward social out-groups will engage more in behaviors that affect those out-groups. But this assumption is simplistic: many people make strongly-valenced statements—e.g., posting a message in support of racial justice on social media—without engaging in corresponding actions—e.g., participating in a racial justice protest. To explain this disconnect, we investigate an additional feature of social group attitudes, subjective attitude importance, as a competing predictor of engagement in costly intergroup behaviors. Across three studies, we find that when White respondents rate their attitudes toward minoritized racial out-groups as more important to them, they are more likely to give up money in order to prevent prejudiced norm signaling (Study 1), preserve their own reputations (Study 2), and affect a charitable donation to an ethnic out-group- supporting nonprofit (Study 3). By contrast, respondents’ attitude valence extremity was consistently a worse predictor of behavioral engagement than attitude importance. Our results suggest that including attitude importance measures in future social group attitude research would help better predict both supportive and discriminatory behaviors toward minoritized groups amid the ongoing racial and social justice movements.

Which Coastal Vacay Enjoyer Wants Local Oysters, Him or Her?

Investment in mariculture is increasing as an alternative to wild-caught seafood in order to support sustainability of fisheries resource. A persistent negative perception continues to create barriers to consumer demand for maricultured products. Previous research indicates that consumer decision-making between wild-caught and maricultured seafood is affected by many factors. Of particular interest to this study is prior findings indicating differences between men and women with regard to general attitudes about maricultured seafood and environmental sustainability. Since shellfish mariculture occurs in coastal communities that are also popular tourist destinations, there is an opportunity to promote it through positive tourist interactions. On the South Carolina (USA) coast interest in eating wild-caught shellfish has gradually increased among tourists, but the recent introduction of shellfish produced by mariculture makes consumer decision-making more complex. This study examined differences between men and women for attitude, importance, and intention to eat wild-caught or maricultured oysters while visiting a popular coastal tourist destination in South Carolina, where both types of oysters were local. Data were collected from 380 individuals during October 2014. Results showed that even though women have a more negative attitude towards maricultured oysters compared to men, their intention to eat maricultured oysters was not different than men. This study provides insight into how strongly gender differences may influence tourists' perception towards maricultured and wild-caught oysters, in the context of purchasing seafood where seafood is harvested.

Selective Exposure During Uprisings: Examining the Public’s News Consumption and Sharing Tendencies During the 2019 Lebanon Protests

This study examines selective exposure and trust during uprisings. It studies major uses of traditional and social media and assesses the public’s trust in these media and their engagement in sharing news. Focusing on the October 2019 Lebanon uprising, the research surveys thousand Lebanese individuals using a nationally representative probability sample. The findings provide support for selective exposure theory beyond the Western context, particularly for people undergoing stressful political change. The findings also provide support to the robustness of issue publics as a theoretical construct that predicts selective exposure to pro-attitudinal news content, as well as support for attitude strength and attitude importance as two separate predictors.

Chinese farmers' attitude towards the improvement of animal welfare in their facilities

This study sought to investigate Chinese farmers' attitude towards animal welfare by using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). According to the TPB, an individual's intention to behave in a certain way is determined by his/her attitude towards the behaviour (specific attitude — importance — and general attitudes), the perceived behavioural control (easiness), and the supposed opinion of the people who are important to him/her (subjective norms). A total of 253 questionnaires are used, which included the three main animal productions in chena (swine, poultry and cattle). Chinese farmers have perceived the improvement of animal welfare as two abstracts: general attitudes (reward-seeking, and empathic farmer); and four specific categories of actions (favourable environment, animal health, humane treatment of animals and farmers' well-being). Our analysis revealted that general and specific attitudes were the strongest predictors of farmers' intentions to improve animal welfare in the questionnaire study. In fact, Chinese farmers considered it fairly important to improve the animal welfare meaures considered in the survey. In contrast, the same animal welfare measures were considered difficult to improve by the farmers as indicated by the lack of association between the easiness of improving animal welfare and the intentions. In addition, veterinarians, agricultural advisers, and scientific experts were considered to be relatively influential subjective norms as regards the activities of the farmers. This is the first study to provide an insight into the underlying meanings and values of Chinese farmers views on improvements to animal welfare.

Factor affecting the political knowledge of first-time voters: a survey on first-time voters in Indonesia

Democracy is prerequisite for a society that is active in politics. Political participation itself is measured by political knowledge This study wants to find out the extent of the political knowledge of first-time voters in Depok, West Java, and what factors make up their political knowledge. This study uses six concepts developed by Penny S Visser, namely self-interest, social identification, value-relevance, media use, attitude-importance, and attitude-relevant knowledge. By using path analysis method in testing, this research produces a model of modification that has been previously developed. After calculating the fit model coefficients, this study finds that the self-interest variable was removed from the model because it was not significant. Following this, it can be concluded that the knowledge of first-time voters in Depok is influenced by only four main factors.

(At least) two factors moderate the relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes

This initial research synthesis suggests that the relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes is determined by (at least) two factors – self-presentation and elaboration. A new formulation of the nature of the relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes must be devised to handle these observations. The independent evaluations view does not explain how reliable and predictable relationships can exist between implicit and explicit attitudes. And, the implicit as lie detector view does not anticipate that factors other than self-presentation will moderate IE correspondence. Developing strong theory about the functional relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes requires examination of other factors that could moderate the relationship (e.g., attitude accessibility, attitude importance), and attention to the cognitive processes that give rise to these two modes of evaluation. In other words, the same heavy doses of theorizing about explicit attitudes, if brought to bear on the IE relationship will quickly provide answers to the conditions under which they are likely to be associated or dissociated.