Civic Participation and Other Interventions That Promote Children\u2019s Tolerance of Migrants

In this chapter, we begin by providing a definition of \u2018tolerance\u2019, illustrating the wide range of attributes associated with the concept in the literature. Second, we identify some key paths through which tolerance can develop at different stages of an individual\u2019s development. Through a literature review, we will track some of the factors that can increase tolerance toward migrants during early and late stages development. Finally, we will conclude by presenting an overview of methodological approaches that practitioners have at their disposal to promote tolerance toward migrants

Peer norm guesses and self-reported attitudes towards performance-related pay

Due to a variety of reasons, people see themselves differently from how they see others. This basic asymmetry has broad consequences. It leads people to judge themselves and their own behavior differently from how they judge others and others’ behavior. This research, first, studies the perceptions and attitudes of Greek Public Sector employees towards the introduction of Performance-Related Pay (PRP) systems trying to reveal whether there is a divergence between individual attitudes and guesses on peers’ attitudes. Secondly, it is investigated whether divergence between own self-reported and peer norm guesses could mediate the acceptance of the aforementioned implementation once job status has been controlled for. This study uses a unique questionnaire of 520 observations which was designed to address the questions outlined in the preceding lines. Our econometric results indicate that workers have heterogeneous attitudes and hold heterogeneous beliefs on others’ expectations regarding a successful implementation of PRP. Specifically, individual perceptions are less skeptical towards PRP than are beliefs on others’ attitudes. Additionally, we found that managers are significantly more optimistic than lower rank employees regarding the expected success of PRP systems in their jobs. However, they both expect their peers to be more negative than they themselves are

Consumer Attitudes and Use of Antibiotics

Recent antibiotic use is a risk factor for infection or colonization with resistant bacterial pathogens. Demand for antibiotics can be affected by consumers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices. In 1998–1999, the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) conducted a population-based, random-digit dialing telephone survey, including questions regarding respondents’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices of antibiotic use. Twelve percent had recently taken antibiotics; 27% believed that taking antibiotics when they had a cold made them better more quickly, 32% believed that taking antibiotics when they had a cold prevented more serious illness, and 48% expected a prescription for antibiotics when they were ill enough from a cold to seek medical attention. These misguided beliefs and expectations were associated with a lack of awareness of the dangers of antibiotic use; 58% of patients were not aware of the possible health dangers. National educational efforts are needed to address these issues if patient demand for antibiotics is to be reduced

Mobile Phone Data for Children on the Move: Challenges and Opportunities

Today, 95% of the global population has 2G mobile phone coverage and the number of individuals who own a mobile phone is at an all time high. Mobile phones generate rich data on billions of people across different societal contexts and have in the last decade helped redefine how we do research and build tools to understand society. As such, mobile phone data has the potential to revolutionize how we tackle humanitarian problems, such as the many suffered by refugees all over the world. While promising, mobile phone data and the new computational approaches bring both opportunities and challenges. Mobile phone traces contain detailed information regarding people's whereabouts, social life, and even financial standing. Therefore, developing and adopting strategies that open data up to the wider humanitarian and international development community for analysis and research while simultaneously protecting the privacy of individuals is of paramount importance. Here we outline the challenging situation of children on the move and actions UNICEF is pushing in helping displaced children and youth globally, and discuss opportunities where mobile phone data can be used. We identify three key challenges: data access, data and algorithmic bias, and operationalization of research, which need to be addressed if mobile phone data is to be successfully applied in humanitarian contexts.Comment: 13 pages, book chapte

Development and assessment of a questionnaire for a descriptive cross – sectional study concerning parents' knowledge, attitudes and practises in antibiotic use in Greece

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Upper Respiratory Infections (URIs) are common in children. The cause is usually viral, but parents' attitude often contributes to inappropriate antibiotic prescribing, promoting antibiotic resistance. The objective is to describe the process of developing a questionnaire to assess parents' Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) concerning the role of antibiotics when children suffer from URIs, as well as to evaluate the response rates, the completeness and the reliability (Cronbach) of the questionnaires. Finally, to note any limitations of the study.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Literature review, along with pre – testing yielded a questionnaire designed to assess the parents' KAP – level. A postal survey was set, in a national sample of 200 schools stratified by geographical region. The participants consist of a multistage geographical cluster sample of 8000 parents. The influence of demographic characteristics (i.e. sex, age, education) was analyzed. Cronbach index test and factor analysis were used to assess the reliability of the questionnaire.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The response rate of the parents was 69%. Islands presented the lowest response rate while in Northern Greece the response rate was the highest. Sixty – eight point nine percent of the sample returned questionnaires fully completed, while 91.5% completed 95% of the questions. Three questions out of 70 were answered in a very low rate which was associated mostly with immigrant respondents. The section describing parents' attitude toward antibiotic use was not completed as much as the sections of knowledge or practices. The questions were factor analyzed and 10 out of the 21 extracted factors were finally evaluated, reducing the number of independent variables to 46. The reliability of the questionnaire was 0.55. However, only items that increased the Cronbach when added were eventually included in the final scales raising the internal consistency to 0.68. Limitations of the study, such as the vocabulary and form of the questionnaire and the idiocycrancy of the respondents, emerged during the analysis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The response rate and the completeness of the questionnaires were higher than expected, probably attributed to the involvement of the teachers. The study findings were satisfactory regarding the development of a reliable instrument capable to measure parents' KAP characteristics.</p

The association between transgender-related fiction and transnegativity: Transportation and intergroup anxiety as mediators

Fictional narratives can serve as an indirect contact strategy when direct contact between two groups is not feasible. This study investigated whether exposing cisgender individuals to transgender-related fiction was associated with reduced transnegativity. Two emotion-related mediators were examined in this relationship: transportation into the story (proximal to fiction exposure) and intergroup anxiety (proximal to contact theory). Cisgender participants (N = 84) viewed or read stories involving transgender characters or read a science article. Those who encountered transgender characters reported lower transnegativity than those who read the control story. Transportation into the story and intergroup anxiety serially mediated this relationship. The findings suggest conditions under which a fictional story can expand an audience’s social world and thereby serve as a strategy for prejudice reduction