negative attitudes
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The 26/11 Mumbai attacks in India severely impacted the already strained Indo–Pak political relations and fuelled prejudice against the common people of Pakistan. Since the attacks, Indian people have found various expressions of collective memory and ways to commemorate the incident. While these serve as a remembrance of the attack, it also reinforces negative attitudes towards Pakistan and its people, hindering any prospects of peace and reconciliation. This article describes a peace education through art initiative implemented in a high school in Mumbai. It draws from a synergy of theoretical concepts in peace, reconciliation and conflict transformation for its curricular framework that has three inquiry processes: Examine–Envision–Envisage. This article describes the implementation and outcomes of the initiative that support the value of an integrated peace- and reconciliation-focused art education pedagogy aimed at promoting reconciliation in relation to ongoing/intractable conflicts. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of addressing negative emotions inherent in ongoing conflicts and how empathy might contribute towards reducing prejudice towards the ‘Other’.

Currently, during the pandemic, the forced transition to distance learning carries a number of problems. These problems affect various aspects of education, including the study of students’ attitudes to distance learning. The purpose of this research is to study the features of the subjective attitude of schoolchildren and students to distance learning. This research involved 140 secondary school students (average age M = 10.7, SD = 7.2 (66.3% men)) and 30 university students (average age M = 22.5, SD = 2.4 (20% men)). The methods used were a questionnaire, Chi-square test and Criterion φ*. Fisher angular transformation. The study showed that schoolchildren do not intend to continue studying in the distance form if they choose, with a generally positive attitude towards distance learning. The self-assessment of motivation to study in a distance format has not changed, both among schoolchildren and students. Students are more likely to have a positive attitude to distance learning than schoolchildren. The variety of choices of advantages and disadvantages of distance learning is greater among students than among schoolchildren. The perspective of this study is thus to study the factors that determine the positive and negative attitudes to distance learning.

Abstract Background There is research evidence regarding the presence of stigmatising attitudes in psychiatrists towards people with mental illness, but a lack of studies and interventions focused on this issue in low and middle-income countries. Aims To assess the feasibility of implementing an anti-stigma intervention for Mexican psychiatric trainees, and its potential effects. Methods This study comprised a pre-post design with outcome measures compared between baseline and 3-month follow-up. Quantitative outcome measures were used to evaluate the potential effects of the intervention, whilst the process evaluation required the collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data. Results Twenty-nine trainees (25% of those invited) participated in the intervention, of whom 18 also participated in the follow-up assessment. Outcome measures showed the intervention had moderately large effects on reducing stereotypes and the influence of other co-workers on trainees’ own attitudes. The main mechanisms of impact identified were recognition of negative attitudes in oneself and colleagues, self-reflection about the impact of stigma, one’s own negative attitudes and recognition of one’s ability to make change. Participants accepted and were satisfied with the intervention, which many considered should be part of their routine training. However, trainees’ work overload and lack of support from the host organisation were identified as barriers to implement the intervention. Conclusions A brief anti-stigma intervention for Mexican psychiatric trainees is feasible, potentially effective, well accepted and was considered necessary by participants. This study also suggests mechanisms of impact and mediators should be considered for developing further interventions, contributing to reducing the damaging effects that mental health-related stigma has on people’s lives.

COVID-19 vaccines are the most promising means of limiting the pandemic. The present study aims at determining the roles of several psychological variables in predicting vaccination intention in Italy. An online questionnaire was disseminated between 9 March and 9 May 2021. The sample included 971 participants. Results showed that most of the participants were willing to vaccinate. Acceptance rates were correlated with age, marital status, and area of residence. Intention to be vaccinated was positively correlated with perceived risk, pro-sociality, fear of COVID-19, use of preventive behaviors, and trust in government, in science, and in medical professionals. Intention to be vaccinated was negatively associated with belief in misinformation. The degree of acceptance is likely to be a result of the campaign tailored to address people’s negative attitudes towards vaccines. Trust in government and trust in science were among the strongest psychological predictors of vaccination intention. Fear of COVID-19, but not perceived risk, was associated with increased vaccine uptake, suggesting that the affective component of risk perception was more important than the cognitive component in predicting participants’ behaviors. Belief in misinformation was associated with reduced vaccination intention. Future studies will take into consideration these variables, to better understand the multifaceted process underlying vaccination intention.

This study aimed to explore the attitudes of students of a higher education institution towards infopreneurship. The study emanated from observations that the widespread use of information technologies has created a new sector in the labor market – infopreneurship. The study adopted the case study research design based on focus group discussions to establish the students’ attitudes towards infopreneurship. The participants for the focus groups were students of the Information Science department at the University of Technology, Cape Town. Data collection during the focus group discussions was based on unstructured interviews. Quantitative data analysis was applied based on data reduction from codes to categories. An enterprising attitude (26.4% code frequency) dominated the positive responses while negative attitudes were mainly reflected by a critical attitude (20.8% code frequency) towards infopreneurship. While it appeared that positive attitudes were more prevalent than negative attitudes, there were notable observations that the respondents were critical or neutral towards the essence of infopreneurship in the South African context. It was found that the belief that infopreneurship is not a viable form of employment was still prevalent. Some respondents believed that employment means working for someone. They felt that there is greater respect in being employed than engaging in infopreneurship. Some respondents, however, appear to have stronger entrepreneurial orientations and felt that infopreneurship offers the best employment opportunities. The study recommends changes in higher education curricula and the creation of a stimulating environment for infopreneurship.

Background: Smoking behavior is the main cause of adolescent health problems in the world such as upper respiratory infections, bronchitis, and pneumonia. Adolescent smoking behavior is influenced by knowledge, attitudes, extracurricular activities, cigarette advertisements, the influence of parents and peers.Objective: This study aims to determine the determinants of smoking behavior in MTSS Alue Bilie students, Darul Makmur District, Nagan Raya Regency.Method: The research method uses comprehensive analytic with a cross sectional approach. The population is all class students at MTSS Alue Bilie from grades VII and VIII totaling 40 male students. Sampling using the total population technique. Data analysis used univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analysis.Results: Based on the results of the study, it was found that there was a relationship between knowledge and smoking behavior (ρ=0.001), there was a relationship between attitudes towards smoking behavior (ρ= 0.004, there was a relationship between cigarette advertising and smoking behavior (ρ= 0.003), there was a peer relationship with smoking behavior. (ρ= 0.004), and there is a parental relationship to smoking behavior (ρ= 0.042). The determinant factor that has the greatest relationship to smoking behavior is knowledge with an OR=  13.9.Conclusion: Positive attitudes had a 2.24 times relationship to the participation of pregnant women in hepatitis B screening than negative attitudes.

Newcomers to Ireland confront a context of reception shaped by large-scale historical emigration and more recent immigration defined by an increasingly diverse set of origin contexts, both within and outside the European Union (EU). How has the Irish population responded to these groups, and how openly do Irish residents express their views toward different immigrant groups? We test this response using a survey experiment, which offered respondents an anonymous way to express any negative attitudes to immigrant groups they may have had. Results from the survey experiment show that Irish residents’ support for Black and Polish immigrations is overstated when expressed directly. In contrast, their sentiment toward Muslim immigrants is notably insensitive to the level of anonymity provided, indicating little difference between overt and covert expression of support (or antipathy). In other words, when race/ethnicity or EU origin is made salient, Irish respondents are more likely to mask negative sentiment. When Islam is emphasized, however, Irish antipathy is not masked. We find that in-group preferences, instead of determining support in an absolute sense, shape the reluctance with which opposition to immigrant groups is overtly expressed.

Consensual non-monogamy (CNM) involves being in a relationship that allows participants multiple concurrent sexual and/or intimate partners. Previous studies exploring attitudes toward different types of extra-dyadic sexual activity (EDSA) has typically distinguished between, on the one hand, polyamory/open relationships/swinging and, on the other, infidelity. The aim of this article is to develop further these discussions by showing how the distinctions between relationship types are drawn and/or blurred in social interactions, and how this requires moral work and negotiations of what ethical polyamory is. The research questions are as follows: 1. How are different CNM relationship types distinguished from each other, as well as intertwined and negotiated in social interactions? 2. How are ideals of consent, honesty, and communication reproduced and renegotiated in CNM relationships? 3. How does moral work become important for responding to negative attitudes toward CNM? The material consists of interviews with 22 persons practicing polyamory, CNM, or relationship anarchy, analyzed using thematic analysis. Results show that CNM relationship types are not clearly distinguishable but rather negotiated in social interactions both within a relationship and with others. Interviewees express that consent, honesty, and communication are central for their relationships, but also that they are negotiated. For example, honesty can be renegotiated by introducing an option of not telling your partner everything. Consent can also be renegotiated with some conditions, such as not actively searching out potential partners. They describe several different types of moral work: negotiating and reformulating others’ moral opinions, reversing moral hierarchies, and taking responsibility to explain and to soothe situations. These results contribute to existing research on attitudes toward CNM practices pointing out the importance of taking social interactions into account in order to explore the full extent of negative attitudes toward people involved in CNM relationships and how they handle these interactions.

Sector preferences in job choice have rarely been tested empirically across different administrative systems. We address this gap and apply a between-subject experimental design to examine the attractiveness of public, private, and nonprofit employers in two countries in different administrative traditions. Respondents ( n = 362) from an Anglo-Saxon (i.e., the U.S.) and continental European country (i.e., Germany) were exposed to job advertisements that only differed in the employer’s sector affiliation, with other job attributes, such as payment and working hours, held constant. Contrary to expectations, and consistently across the two country samples, respondents evaluated public sector jobs more positively compared to vacancies in the private sector. In contrast, we found no such comparative advantage of public over nonprofit employers. By providing counterevidence to the prevalence of negative attitudes toward public organizations, our study warns against overgeneralizing previous findings on negativity biases to the context of employer attractiveness.