The Determinants of Attitude Formation: An Application to Nuclear Power

This paper presents an expectancy-value model which allows identification of the technological, psychological and social determinants of attitude formation. The utility of the model with respect to attitudes toward nuclear power, and attitudes toward the risks associated with nuclear power, was tested by an empirical application. Attitudes estimated from the model correlated highly (r = 0.66 and 0.76, respectively) and significantly (p < 0.001) with direct measures of these attitudes. An analysis of the cognitive structures underlying attitudes, including a comparison of sub-groups "pro" and "con" nuclear power, is reported. These groups were found to significantly differ in their beliefs concerning the benefits of nuclear power but not in their beliefs about the risks. A similar analysis of sub-groups relatively favorable and unfavorable toward nuclear power risks suggests that those who believe that people are involuntarily exposed to these risks, and in a passive way, also tend to judge the risks as being unacceptable

Public Attitudes and Decision Making

Decision makers are increasingly being faced with the necessity of considering the relevant attitudes of various publics. This paper describes a method by which these attitudes may be measured. The model has the feature of synthesizing the cognitive and evaluative components underlying attitude in a fashion that preserves the distinction between them. Preliminary results are reported of an application of this model, using a revised measuring instrument, to attitudes toward five different types of energy systems. The sample was a heterogenous group of 224 respondents residing in various parts of Austria. Results from this sample of the general public are reported only for attitudes towards nuclear power; they are generally consistent with the pilot study. A factor analysis of the beliefs underlying this attitude suggested four basic belief factors: beliefs about psychological risks, about economic and technological benefits, about socio-political risks and about environmental and physical risks

Blurring the boundaries between synthesis and evaluation. A customized realist evaluative synthesis into adolescent risk behavior prevention

Realist methodologies have been increasingly advocated for the investigation of complex social issues. Public health programs, such as those designed to prevent adolescent risk behavior, are typically considered complex. In conducting a realist review of the empirical literature relating to such programs, we encountered several challenges, including (a) an overabundance of empirical evidence, (b) a problematic level of heterogeneity within and between methodological approaches, (c) discrepancies between theoretical underpinnings and program operationalization, (d) homogeneity of program outcomes, with very little variation in program effectiveness, and (d) a paucity of description relating to content and process. To overcome these challenges, we developed a customized approach to realist evidence synthesis, drawing on the VICTORE (Volition, Implementation, Contexts, Time, Outcomes, Rivalry, and Emergence) complexity checklist and incorporating stakeholder engagement as primary data to achieve greater depth of understanding relating to contextual and mechanistic factors, and the complex interactions between them. Here we discuss the benefits of this adapted methodology alongside an overview of the research through which the methodology was developed. A key finding from this research was that combining the complexity checklist with primary data from stakeholder engagement enabled us to systematically interrogate the data across data sources, uncovering and evidencing mechanisms which may otherwise have remained hidden, giving greater ontological depth to our research findings. This paper builds on key methodological developments in realist research, demonstrating how realist methodologies can be customized to overcome challenges in developing and refining program theory from the literature, and contributes to the broader literature of innovative approaches to realist research

The Prediction of Voting Behaviour in a Nuclear Energy Referendum

This report describes an application of Fishbein's model of intention formation to a study of voting choice in a nuclear energy ballot in the USA. The sample was randomly selected from the general public (N = 89). The model successfully predicted bvoting intention (multiple regression coefficient = .92) using two major variables: attitudes to the act of voting CON and subjective norms, i.e. the voter's perceptions of how the people or groups important to them (referents) would want them to vote. Both of these components contributed significantly to voting choice although the attitude was the primary determinant. The attitudes to the act of voting and the subjective norms were, in turn, well predicted from underlying beliefs, thus allowing identification of the specific issues which differentiated between those intending to vote PRO and CON on nuclear energy. In general both groups of voters agreed on their evaluations of the possible consequences of the ballot. Further, they were both well informed about the basic issues and potential legal consequences of the proposal. What ultimately appears to have influenced the direction of their vote was their disagreement (i.e. their contrary beliefs) about the likely effects of the proposal on three major issues: the economy, the energy crisis and improvements in nuclear safety. The positions taken on these issues clearly differentiated those intending to vote PRO and CON. It should be noted, however, that the other issues about which there was considerable debate, e.g. the question of the constitutional status of the proposal, did not significantly differentiate the two groups of voters

The identification of salient beliefs concerning university students’ decision to participate in sport

The aim of this study was to identify salient beliefs toward university-provided recreational sport in first-year undergraduate students. A purposive sample of 76 students (36 males, 40 females; mean age: 19.2 ± 1.7 years) undertaking various degree subjects at a higher education institution in the North of England, United Kingdom, was used in the study. The instrument was a theory-based open-ended questionnaire informed by the Theory of Planned Behavior, addressing behavioral, normative, and control beliefs. Thematic content analysis and coding was conducted on 30 randomly selected questionnaires followed by a frequency count to identify the modal salient beliefs. The modal set revealed 17 beliefs from a possible 53: six behavioral, five normative, and six control. These beliefs were related to health benefits, enjoyment, friendships, time constraints, study workloads, awareness, and the perception of family, friends, and academics. The results highlight the factors that should be targeted for intervention and provide data to be utilized for a second main quantitative study which will identify more specific belief targets. Due to equivocal intervention success, this formative research can serve to help increase the number of students participating in university recreational spor

Previous Experiences with Epilepsy and Effectiveness of Information to Change Public Perception of Epilepsy

Differences with regard to the effectiveness of health information and attitude change are suggested between people with direct, behavioral experiences with a health topic and people with indirect, nonbehavioral experiences. The effects of three different methods of health education about epilepsy, frequently used in health education practice, are assessed in a pretest posttest design with control groups, controlling for experiences with epilepsy. Subjects were 132 students from teacher-training colleges. After all treatments, attitudes, and knowledge about epilepsy were changed in a positive way. Treatments were found to be equally effective. Before treatment, direct behavioral experiences were related to knowledge and a more positive attitude towards epilepsy. After treatment, subjects with direct behavioral experiences with epilepsy showed less change of attitude and knowledge as compared with subjects with indirect experiences. Direct experiences appear to restrain the processing of new information and attitude change

Antimicrobial resistance: a biopsychosocial problem requiring innovative interdisciplinary and imaginative interventions

To date, antimicrobials have been understood through largely biomedical perspectives. There has been a tendency to focus upon the effectiveness of pharmaceuticals within individual bodies. However, the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance demands we reconsider how we think about antimicrobials and their effects. Rather than understanding them primarily within bodies, it is increasingly important to consider their effects between bodies, between species and across environments. We need to reduce the drivers of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) at a global level, focusing on the connections between prescribing in one country and resistance mechanisms in another. We need to engage with the ways antimicrobials within the food chain will impact upon human healthcare. Moreover, we need to realise what happens within the ward will impact upon the environment (through waste water). In the future, imaginative interventions will be required that must make the most of biomedicine but draw equally across a wider range of disciplines (e.g. engineering, ecologists) and include an ever-increasing set of professionals (e.g. nurses, veterinarians and farmers). Such collective action demands a shift to working in new interdisciplinary, inter-professional ways. Mutual respect and understanding is required to enable each perspective to be combined to yield synergistic effects

Some considerations concerning the challenge of incorporating social variables into epidemiological models of infectious disease transmission

Incorporation of ‘social’ variables into epidemiological models remains a challenge. Too much detail and models cease to be useful; too little and the very notion of infection —a highly social process in human populations—may be considered with little reference to the social. The French sociologist Emile Durkheim proposed that the scientific study of society required identification and study of ‘social currents.’ Such ‘currents’ are what we might today describe as ‘emergent properties,’ specifiable variables appertaining to individuals and groups, which represent the perspectives of social actors as they experience the environment in which they live their lives. Here we review the ways in which one particular emergent property, hope, relevant to a range of epidemiological situations, might be used in epidemiological modelling of infectious diseases in human populations. We also indicate how such an approach might be extended to include a range of other potential emergent properties to repre

Nuclear Energy: The Accuracy of Policy Makers Perceptions of Public Beliefs

The primary purpose of this study was to empirically test how accurate a group of policy makers were in their assessment of the beliefs and attitudes of the public with regard to the use of nuclear energy. The respondents (n=40) were senior Austrian civil servants responsible for energy matters. The questionnaire used was the same as that employed earlier to measure the attitudes and underlying beliefs of the Austrian public (n=224) and the sub-groups (n=50) of this sample most PRO and CON the use of nuclear energy. The policy makers completed this questionnaire twice: once with respect to their own positions and, on the second occasion, in the role of a typical member of the Austrian public who was either PRO or CON the use of nuclear energy. This experimental design also permitted comparisons between the policy makers' own positions and those of the general public. Public attitudes toward the use of nuclear energy were found, using factor analysis, to be based upon four underlying dimensions of belief: psychological (anxiety-inducing) risks; economic/technical benefits; socio-political implications; and environmental/physical risks. The policy makers' own attitudes were found to be significantly more favourable than those of the total public sample; this was primarily because the policy makers' beliefs about psychological risks made a significantly smaller negative contribution to attitude, and their beliefs about environmental risks made a significantly larger positive contribution. The policy makers were able to shift their own (personal) responses in the directions indicated by their role-play assignments to accurately reproduce the overall attitudes of the PRO and CON groups on this controversial topic, although there was a tendency to overestimate the positive attitudes of the PRO nuclear public. In terms of the underlying belief dimensions however, there was a significant failure to recognise the extent to which issues of psychological significance contribute negatively to the attitudes of both PRO and CON public groups. The policy makers underestimated the negative value both groups assigned to these risks as well as the extent to which the public believed that nuclear energy would lead to such risks

Screencasts: how effective are they and how do students engage with them?

The use of screencasts as an instructional technology is increasing rapidly in higher education. While there appears to be a consensus around students’ satisfaction with the provision of technology enhanced tools, there is limited evidence revolving around their impact in terms of knowledge acquisition. Moreover, the reasons why students choose to engage (or not) with these resources remain largely unreported. The study assessed the effect of using screencasts on undergraduate students’ understanding and engagement with learning material in one of their modules. Customised screencasts were used as optional additional learning and teaching resources. Grades obtained in a test module (with screencasts) and a control module (without screencasts) were compared to gauge the impact of screencasts on knowledge acquisition. Furthermore, the reasons for students’ engagement (or lack thereof) with the screencasts were explored using questionnaires. A modest but significant impact of screencasts on knowledge acquisition was found and students’ perception of the screencasts was overwhelmingly positive. Students suggested that screencasts should be kept short to summarise lectures or delve in-depth into complex concepts but should not replace whole lectures. Reasons for not using screencasts revolved around a lack of understanding of what the resources were but also a reported lack of fit between the nature of the tool and self-assessed learning style