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Own Beliefs (own + belief)
Selected AbstractsWhat's Cultural about Biocultural Research?ETHOS, Issue 1 2005WILLIAM W. DRESSLER Advances in biocultural research have been hampered by the lack of an explicit theory of culture. Culture can be viewed as a collection of cultural models of specific domains with empirically verifiable distributions within a social group. Individuals are variably able to approximate these models in their own beliefs and behavior, a concept referred to as "cultural consonance." Cultural consonance is hypothesized to be associated with psychophysiologic outcomes, including blood pressure and depressive symptoms. In this article, the cultural domain of family life in Brazil is used to illustrate both the concept and measurement of cultural consonance. It is associated with arterial blood pressure and depressive symptoms, controlling for covariates and other explanatory variables. This theoretical orientation can define more precisely the cultural in the biocultural. [source] The EMF uncertainty problem related to mobile phones: where do consumers place their trust?INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 2 2010Lisbet Berg Abstract This paper addresses the uncertainty problem, i.e. cases characterized by lack of knowledge or scientific uncertainty. In such situations, it can be hard for consumers to ,voice' or practise consumer power. One field characterized by the uncertainty problem is electromagnetic radiation. An explicit goal of this study has been to articulate Norwegian consumers' practices, attitudes and beliefs regarding electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones to public authorities and consumer policy makers. The study was based on 1000 telephone interviews collected in 2008. Today, experts disagree on the potential health effects of radiation from electromagnetic fields (EMF), as well as standards for safe limits of exposure to mobile phones, base stations and wireless telecommunication systems. In addition, complicated technology and extremely rapid product development and diffusion leave consumers' security considerations to their own beliefs and trust. Whether or not electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones constitutes a health hazard will not be addressed in this paper. Rather, it will focus on how consumers react to this situation of uncertainty. The material reveals four main ways in which consumers can solve what we have named the EMF uncertainty problem: the confident and comfortable way, the sceptical and cautious way, the responsible and good citizen way, and finally, the neglecting way. The paper also discusses the precautionary principle related to EMF. Who should be precautionary: the public authorities, the mobile phone industry or the consumers themselves? We believe that a consistent governmental precautionary policy in combination with consumers taking their own precautionary measures is a viable solution. In this way, all consumers would be addressed and aided when navigating this field of uncertainty. [source] Cross-cultural evaluation of factors driving intention to purchase new food products , Beijing, China and south-east EnglandINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 4 2007Anita Eves Abstract It has been reported that consumers in different countries have distinctive perceptions of, and attitudes to, products. This study investigated consumers' thoughts on new food products in south-east England (n = 222) and Beijing, China (n = 139), using a questionnaire-based largely on the Theory of Reasoned Action. Results indicated that consumers in both countries believe it is necessary for the food industry in their respective countries to introduce new food products and they would like to try new products. There appears to be great interest in new products among the Beijing Chinese, with most interest in new healthy food products. The influences on choices suggest that a marketing focus on quality, utility and health benefits would be most fruitful, as personal beliefs were more important in intention to purchase than the influence of other people. Results point away from the expected result that the Chinese, as a collectivist culture, would place more emphasis on others' opinions than their own beliefs. This may be linked to food not being an item of conspicuous consumption, or to a cultural shift among urban Chinese. [source] Mental health professionals' attitudes towards consumer participation in inpatient unitsJOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 1 2008T. V. MCCANN rmn rgn phd ma ba dipnurs (lond) rnt rcnt Consumer participation has been a major focus in mental health services in recent years, but the attitudes of mental health professionals towards this initiative remain variable. The purpose of this study was to describe mental health professionals' attitudes towards mental health consumer participation in inpatient psychiatric units. The Consumer Participation and Consultant Questionnaire was used with a non-probability sample of 47 mental health professionals from two adult inpatient psychiatric units situated in a large Australian public general hospital. Ethics approval was obtained from a university and a hospital ethics committee. Data were analysed using spss, Version 12. Overall, respondents had favourable attitudes towards consumer participation in management, care and treatment, and mental health planning. They were less supportive about matters that directly or indirectly related to their spheres of responsibility. The type of unit that the respondents worked in was not a factor in their beliefs about consumer participation. Recommendations are made about the development of guidelines for consumer participation in inpatient units, the educational preparation of mental health clinicians, and the need for mental health professionals to reflect on, and discuss their own beliefs and practices about, consumer participation. [source] Cultural consonance and adult body composition in urban BrazilAMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2008William W. Dressler In previous research in Brazil, we found socioeconomic and gender differences in body mass and percent body fat, consistent with a model in which individuals in higher socioeconomic strata, especially women, could achieve a cultural ideal of body size and shape. In this article, using new data, we examine these processes more precisely using measures of cultural consonance. Cultural consonance refers to the degree to which individuals approximate, in their own beliefs and behaviors, the shared prototypes for belief and behavior encoded in cultural models. We have found higher cultural consonance in several domains to be associated with health outcomes. Furthermore, there tends to be a general consistency in cultural consonance across domains. Here we suggest that measures of body composition can be considered indicators of individuals' success in achieving cultural ideals of the body, and that cultural consonance in several domains will be associated with body composition. Using waist circumference as an outcome, smaller waist size was associated with higher cultural consonance in lifestyle (, = ,0.311, P < 0.01) and higher cultural consonance in the consumption of high prestige foods (, = ,0.260, P < 0.01) for women (n = 161), but not for men (n = 106), controlling for age, family income, tobacco use, and dietary intake of protein and carbohydrates. Similar results were obtained using the body mass index and weight as outcomes, while there were no associations with height. These results help to illuminate the cultural mediation of body composition. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2008. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] The World Wide Web and the U.S. Political News MarketAMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2010Norman H. Nie We propose a framework for understanding how the Internet has affected the U.S. political news market. The framework is driven by the lower cost of production for online news and consumers' tendency to seek out media that conform to their own beliefs. The framework predicts that consumers of Internet news sources should hold more extreme political views and be interested in more diverse political issues than those who solely consume mainstream television news. We test these predictions using two large datasets with questions about news exposure and political views. Generally speaking, we find that consumers of generally left-of-center (right-of-center) cable news sources who combine their cable news viewing with online sources are more liberal (conservative) than those who do not. We also find that those who use online news content are more likely than those who consume only television news content to be interested in niche political issues. [source] Femmes musulmanes au Canada: altérité, paroles et politique de l'action,CANADIAN REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY/REVUE CANADIENNE DE SOCIOLOGIE, Issue 4 2004RATIBA HADJ-MOUSSA This paper examines the question of how first-generation Muslim women in Canada respond to and interpret dominant representations of themselves. The goal is to consider the positionalities of these women, pointing out the importance of their interpretive capabilities. It discusses the displacement that they experience as being due in part to stereotypes which situate them as "Other," the dynamics of their own communities and their own beliefs. Cet article examine comment les femmes musulmanes de première génération au Canada répondent aux représentations qui leur sont données d'elles-mêmes et comment elles les interprètent. Il s'agit de rendre compte des positions prises par ces femmes et de comprendre comment, dans la parole et l'action, elles opèrent un déplacement non seulement par rapport aux stéréotypes qui les situent comme l'Autre, mais aussi par rapport à leurs groupes d'appartenance ainsi qu'à leurs propres croyances. [source] | ||||||||||