Perception of Risk and Terrorism-Related Behavior Change: Dual Influences of Probabilistic Reasoning and Reality Testing

In the eye of the beholder: Decision-making of lawyers in cases of sexual harassment

Objective

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of deliberative vs. intuitive thinking styles on forensic judgments of legal professionals. Two hypotheses were tested: (a) that low deliberative thinking would be related to judgmental biases (b) that lawyers would report a greater tendency and preference toward deliberative thinking in comparison to students and make more rational judgments.

Method

Ninety-one lawyers and 120 undergraduate students, who served as controls, were asked to read a criminal case depicting sexual harassment (SH) and judge victim and offender blame, whether the case constitutes SH, and the damage for the victim.

Results

Deliberative thinking of lawyers was higher than students, and higher than their intuitive thinking style, supporting the more rational blame attributions of the former. In addition, higher deliberative thinking was related to a stronger perception of the event as SH. Nevertheless, all the participants were more inclined to perceive the case as SH when the victim was a woman instead of a man.

Conclusions

The results suggest that gender stereotypes and bias may persist despite high deliberative thinking and may even be manifested through deliberative thinking processes. Awareness of legal professionals of these biases as well as the development of more objective tools which will help make the judging process less subjective—will ensure more accurate assessment of victims, offenders, and cases.

The relational calibration of fear

In this article, I consider how fear in contexts of crisis shapes and is shaped by agents' relationships. I survey a number of approaches to understanding fearing at the intersection of empirical psychology and philosophy, highlighting the extent to which interpersonal relationships are positioned as involved in processes of fearing, and establish what I take to insufficient attention paid by these approaches to the ways interpersonal relations shape the emotions we come to have. Contexts of acute crisis and uncertainty can involve rapidly adjusting practices of fearing in response to other agents, both those we trust and those we do not. I call for the development of a model of 'relational calibration' for understanding the complex interpersonal dynamics of fearing during crises, including in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paranormal Belief, Thinking Style and Delusion Formation: A Latent Profile Analysis of Within-Individual Variations in Experience-Based Paranormal Facets

This study examined the degree to which within-individual variations in paranormal experience were related to belief in the paranormal, preferential thinking style, and delusion formation. A sample of 956 non-clinical adults completed measures assessing experience-based paranormal indices (i.e., paranormal experience, paranormal practitioner visiting, and paranormal ability), paranormal belief, belief in science, proneness to reality testing deficits, and emotion-based reasoning. Latent profile analysis (LPA) combined the experience-based indices to produce six underlying groups. Inter-class comparison via multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that both breadth and intensity of experiential factors were associated with higher belief in in the paranormal, increased proneness to reality testing deficits, and greater emotion-based reasoning. Belief in science, however, was less susceptible to experiential variations. Further analysis of reality testing subscales revealed that experiential profiles influenced levels of intrapsychic activity in subtle and intricate ways, especially those indexing Auditory and Visual Hallucinations and Delusional Thinking. Collectively, identification of profiles and inter-class comparisons provided a sophisticated understanding of the relative contribution of experiential factors to differences in paranormal belief, belief in science, proneness to reality testing deficits, and emotion-based reasoning.

Fear of the Unknown: Does Fear of Terrorism Differ From Fear of Contracting COVID-19?

The aim of the study was to explore whether living under constant security threat would result in better coping and higher resilience when exposed to an unknown threat such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, fear of COVID-19 and fear of terrorism as well as the associations with coping strategies and resilience were examined among Israelis living in conflict zones as well as Israelis living in the center, where exposure to security incidents is rare. Six hundred and fifteen Israeli adults (260 men and 356 women) were interviewed via the internet while Israel was under mandatory first lockdown. Fear of COVID-19 was found to be higher than fear of terrorism among both groups. those living in the conflict zones and those living in the central Israel. In contradiction to our assumption, we found that those who were living in a conflict zone did not exhibit higher levels of resilience and did not cope better when exposed to a new threat-even though they may be more skilled at handling prolonged exposure to a threat such as terrorism. A regression analysis indicated that the best predictor of both fear of COVID-19 and of terrorism is financial concerns-more than geographical area.

Differences in Cognitive-Perceptual Factors Arising From Variations in Self-Professed Paranormal Ability

This study examined whether scores on indices related to subclinical delusion formation and thinking style varied as a function of level of self-professed paranormal ability. To assess this, the researchers compared three groups differing in personal ascription of paranormal powers: no ability, self-professed ability, and paranormal practitioners (i.e., Mediums, Psychics, Spiritualists, and Fortune-Tellers). Paranormal practitioners (compared with no and self-professed ability conditions) were expected to score higher on paranormal belief, proneness to reality testing deficits, emotion-based reasoning, and lower on belief in science. Comparable differences were predicted between the self-professed and no ability conditions. A sample of 917 respondents (329 males, 588 females) completed self-report measures online. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed an overall main effect. Further investigation, using discriminant descriptive analysis, indicated that paranormal practitioners scored higher on proneness to reality testing deficits, paranormal belief, and emotion-based reasoning. Belief in science did not meaningfully contribute to the discriminant function. Overall, results were consistent with previous academic work in the domains of paranormal belief and experience, which has reported that paranormal-related cognitions and perceptions are associated with factors related to subclinical delusion formation (i.e., emotion-based/intuitive thinking).

Psychometric assessment of the Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale

The Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale (GCBS) is the most widely used measure of general belief in conspiracy theories. The scale comprises five related but distinct factors (Government Malfeasance, Extraterrestrial Cover-up, Malevolent Global Conspiracies, Personal Wellbeing, and Control of Information). Despite this, investigators have typically treated the GCBS as unidimensional by referencing only overall total. Although, the GCBS possesses established psychometric properties, critics question its factorial structure, suggest alternative models, and recommend routine examination of GCBS dimensions as part of analysis. Through two studies, the present paper assessed GCBS factorial structure, internal reliability, convergent validity, and invariance. This involved comparing the original five-factor solution with alternative one, two, and three-factor models. To ensure that the best fitting model was robust, the authors conducted analysis in two independent samples (Study one, N = 794, UK university-based sample; and Study two, N = 418, UK respondents collected via a market research company). Results in both studies indicated superior fit for the correlated five-factor solution. This solution demonstrated invariance across gender, and samples (Study one and two). Furthermore, the total scale and five subfactors evinced good alpha and omega total reliability. Convergent validity testing exhibited associations of an expected strength between conspiracist beliefs, reality testing, and cognitive insight. Large intercorrelations existed among GCBS subfactors, suggesting that the measure reflects a narrow set of interrelated conspiracist assumptions. These findings support the use of overall scale scores as an index of belief in conspiracy theories.

Lucid Dreaming, Nightmares, and Sleep Paralysis: Associations With Reality Testing Deficits and Paranormal Experience/Belief

Focusing on lucid dreaming, this paper examined relationships between dissociated experiences related to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep (lucid dreaming, nightmares, and sleep paralysis), reality testing, and paranormal experiences/beliefs. The study comprised a UK-based online sample of 455 respondents (110 males, 345 females, Mean age = 34.46 years, SD = 15.70), who had all previously experienced lucid dreaming. Respondents completed established self-report measures assessing control within lucid dreaming, experience and frequency of nightmares, incidence of sleep paralysis, proneness to reality testing deficits (Inventory of Personality Organization subscale, IPO-RT), subjective experience of receptive psi and life after death (paranormal experience), and paranormal belief. Analysis comprised tests of correlational and predictive relationships between sleep-related outcomes, IPO-RT scores, and paranormal measures. Significant positive correlations between sleep and paranormal measures were weak. Paranormal measures related differentially to sleep indices. Paranormal experience correlated with lucid dreaming, nightmares, and sleep paralysis, whereas paranormal belief related only to nightmares and sleep paralysis. IPO-RT correlated positively with all paranormal and sleep-related measures. Within the IPO-RT, the Auditory and Visual Hallucinations sub-factor demonstrated the strongest positive associations with sleep measures. Structural equation modeling indicated that Auditory and Visual Hallucinations significantly positively predicted dissociated experiences related to REM sleep, while paranormal experience did not. However, paranormal experience was a significant predictor when analysis controlled for Auditory and Visual Hallucinations. The moderate positive association between these variables explained this effect. Findings indicated that self-generated, productive cognitive-processes (as encompassed by Auditory and Visual Hallucinations) played a significant role in conscious control and awareness of lucid dreaming, and related dissociative sleep states (sleep paralysis and nightmares).

Assessing a domain-specific risk-taking construct: A meta-analysis of reliability of the DOSPERT scale

The DOSPERT scale has been used extensively to understand individual differences in risk attitudes across varying decision domains since 2002. The present study reports a reliability generalization meta-analysis to summarize the internal consistency of both the initial and the revised versions of DOSPERT. It also examined factors that can influence the reliability of the DOSPERT and its subscales. A total of 104 samples (N = 30,109) that reported 465 coefficient alphas were analyzed. Results of meta-regression models showed that the overall coefficient alpha of the DOSPERT total scores was satisfactory, regardless of the scale and study characteristics. Coefficient alphas varied significantly across domain subscales, with values ranging from .68 for the social domain to .80 for the recreational domain. In addition, the alpha coefficients of subscales varied significantly depending on various study characteristics. Finally, we report the meta-analysis of the intercorrelations among DOSPERT subscales and reveal that intercorrelations among the subscales are heterogeneous. We discuss the theoretical implications of the present findings.

An Evaluation of the Belief in Science Scale

The Belief in Science Scale (BISS) is a unidimensional measure that assesses the degree to which science is valued as a source of superior knowledge. Due to increased academic interest in the concept of belief in science, the BISS has emerged as an important measurement instrument. Noting an absence of validation evidence, the present paper, via two studies, evaluated the scale’s factorial structure. Both studies drew on data collected from previous research. Study 1 (N = 686), using parallel analysis and exploratory factor analysis, identified a unidimensional solution accounting for 56.43% of the observed variance. Study 2 (N = 535), using an independent sample, tested the unidimensional solution using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Data-model fit was good (marginal for RMSEA): CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.91, RMSEA = 0.09 (90% CI of 0.08 to 0.10), SRMR = 0.04. Invariance testing across gender supported invariance of form, factor structure, and item intercepts for this one-factor model. BISS at the overall level correlated negatively with the reality testing dimension of the Inventory of Personality Organization (IPO-RT), demonstrating convergent validity. Researchers often use the IPO-RT as an indirect index of preference for experiential processing (intuitive thinking). In this context, only BISS scores above the median (second quartile) produced a reduction in experiential-based thinking. The authors discuss these findings in the context of belief in science as a psychometric construct.

The Australian Sheep-Goat Scale: An Evaluation of Factor Structure and Convergent Validity

The Australian Sheep-Goat Scale (ASGS) is a commonly used measure of belief in the paranormal. The scale contains items that index extrasensory perception (ESP), psychokinesis (PK), and life after death (LAD). Although, research employs the ASGS as both a general (unidimensional) and factorial (multidimensional) measure, few studies have examined the appropriateness of these solutions. Accordingly, the present paper tested the psychometric integrity of the ASGS via two studies. Study 1 assessed ASGS factorial structure using confirmatory factor analysis. To achieve this, merging of ASGS data from previously published studies and ongoing work created a heterogeneous sample of 1,601 responses. Analysis revealed that a two-factor bifactor model best explained ASGS organization. This comprised a general overarching factor incorporating two subfactors (ESP and PK). Factor loadings and omega reliability supported a unidimensional structure for the most part. Removal of LAD items improved model fit because the factor added unnecessary complexity and undermined scale psychometric integrity. Study 2, using a supplementary composite sample of 320 respondents, assessed the convergent validity of the emergent ASGS model against a recently published Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS) bifactor solution. Comparison revealed high convergent validity. The general ASGS factor, despite deriving from only psi-related dimensions (ESP and PK) predicted RPBS scores. This finding indicated that ASGS brevity relative to the RPBS is advantageous when assessing general belief in the paranormal. The ASGS, notwithstanding limited construct content, functions as an effective measure of paranormal belief. Additionally, Study 2 replicated the bifactor structure identified in Study 1 and invariance testing supported invariance of form, factor loadings and item intercepts for this solution across Studies 1 and 2.

Parents' preferences for interventions to improve childhood immunization uptake in northern Nigeria

BACKGROUND

Routine childhood immunization coverage has been low in northern Nigeria. While local authorities and international partners have been working hard to improve coverage, population preferences for interventions have not been documented. This study aimed to understand parents' preferences and identify possible interventions to improve uptake of childhood immunization.

METHODS

Preferences for immunization interventions were elicited using a best-worst scaling (BWS) instrument among parents with children under five. We explored the value of six program attributes (each varying across three levels) identified through a literature review and engagement with local stakeholders. In each of 18 hypothetical programs identified through a main effect orthogonal design, respondents selected the best and worst attributes that may facilitate vaccination of children. Assuming sequential best-worst responses, we used conditional logit to estimate preferences. We employed latent class analysis (LCA) to categorize and examine respondents' preferences across interventions.

RESULTS

97 men and 101 women in 198 households were surveyed. The most preferred level for each attribute included door-to-door vaccinations, free food supplements, bundling with nutritional support programs, involvement of religious leaders, information dissemination through media campaigns, and strengthening of health services by the government. Three types of preferences were recognized in the LCA. The value-driven group (14%) characterized by youngest age, predominantly female, and lower education perceived bundled services with food and nutritional programs as the most important feature of an intervention. Convenience and information seekers (28%) characterized by oldest age and the lowest employment preferred door-to-door vaccinations and media campaigns. The remaining complacent group (58%), characterized by highest education and highest employment, did not show strong preferences to any intervention compared to the other two groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Routine immunization programs should consider joining forces with food and nutritional programs to improve vaccination uptake. Incorporating door-to-door visits and media campaigns to target older and unemployed populations may increase childhood immunization uptake in northern Nigeria.