Learning of Biographical Writing for Coping with Ethnic Prejudice in a Culturally Diverse Society

<p style="text-align: justify;">The purpose of this paper is to explore if the learning of biographical writing contributes to the positive views and attitudes towards others of different groups. The paper used the Research and Development approach by designing and implementing a learning model of biographical writing. The subjects of this study were 200 seventh-grade students having different ethnic and religious backgrounds from nine junior high schools. The data-collecting method was pretest-posttest. The results of the study demonstrated that the average scores of the aspects of student empathy, student positive attitudes towards ethnic differences, and student positive attitudes towards religious differences increased in all the schools investigated. The increase of average score in the aspect of student empathy, positive attitudes towards ethnic differences, and positive attitudes towards religious differences could be classified into three categories: high, medium, and low. Most of the schools under study experienced medium and low increases of average score in all aspects.</p>

Investigating Crowdworkers' Identify, Perception and Practices in Micro-Task Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing is rapidly gaining popularity among academic and business communities. Yet, our understanding of this work way is still in its incipient stage, in particular regarding the increasingly large and diverse crowdworkers. As such, we aim to understand crowdworkers' perception and experience to themselves and their work from their own perspective. We explore this by a mix-methods study of crowdworkers in Ali, one of prominent micro-task crowdsourcing platforms in China. Our findings highlight crowdworker in Ali is not only a coded name, but also an identity with some positive attitudes and beliefs towards work and life. In particular, this identity provides many socio-psychological benefits for crowdworkers, which further contributes to their consistent engagement in Ali and proactive practices to improve crowdworker communities and Ali platform collaboratively. We according suggest that taking crowdworker identity as a lens for crowdsourcing research, and turning attention towards construction and expressions of crowdworkers' identity and values in their own context.

Do Mothers and Fathers of Egyptian Stuttering Children View Stuttering Differently?

Purpose: Limited research has shown that knowing or interacting with a person who stutters facilitates more positive attitudes toward stuttering. This is true when the stuttering person is a close friend or a family member. The study sought to determine if Egyptian mothers held different stuttering attitudes than fathers as joint parents of children who stuttered. Method: Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes–Stuttering results of 25 mothers and 25 fathers of the same children who stuttered were compared. Also, children's severity scores were correlated with their parents' attitudes. Results: There were no significant differences between mothers' and fathers' stuttering attitudes; however, an unexpected trend for more positive attitudes of fathers was observed. Weak relationships between children's stuttering severity and their parents' attitudes existed, with slightly higher correlations for the fathers. Conclusion: Nonsignificant trends for slightly more positive attitudes for fathers than mothers should be explored in larger sample sizes in order to answer the question “Should information provided for parents of children who stutter be different or differently presented to mothers versus fathers?”

The Mediating Effect of Dispositional Gratitude on the Relationship between Religious Struggles and Self-Esteem: Preliminary Results

In comforting or distressing circumstances, individuals tend to have various perceptions of themselves. It seems that religious comfort and religious distress correlate differently with people’s self-esteem. Since the relationship between religiosity and self-esteem is not only direct but can be mediated by other factors that are recognized as buffers against adverse situations, our main goal was to verify whether dispositional gratitude may have an indirect effect on the association between both variables. The research involved data from 254 participants aged 18 to 25 (M = 21.24; SD = 2.09) and included 192 women (76%) and 62 men (24%). To measure the title variables, we used: the Religious Comfort and Strain Scale (RCSS), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and the Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ-6). The results showed that people who consider religion as a source of comfort express positive attitudes toward the self and recognize others’ kindness, as well. In contrast, people who consider religiosity as a cause of fear, stress, and internal strain tend to display a lower subjective sense of personal worth and lower appreciation of the positivity around them. Moreover, gratitude had a mediatory effect on the relationships between religious comfort/negative emotions toward God and self-esteem.

Social Repercussion of Translocating a Jaguar in Brazil

The translocation of “problem-animals” is a common non-lethal strategy to deal with human-wildlife conflict. While processes of wildlife translocation have been widely documented, little is known about the social repercussions that take place once the capture and the return of a problem-animal to its natural habitat fail and it has to be permanently placed in captivity. We investigated how the public, an important stakeholder in wildlife conservation, perceived the translocation of a female jaguar to a wildlife captivity center. The objectives were to (1) assess the public's perceptions (e.g., attitudes, emotions, awareness) toward the jaguar and its translocation process, and (2) how these psychological constructs are related. We used the social media profiles of the three institutions involved in the process (one responsible for the jaguar rescues, one that supported its recovery, and the one responsible for the jaguar's final destination) and analyzed the comments left by their followers on posts related to the jaguar and the translocation itself during 25 days. A total of 287 comments were analyzed through coding, a categorizing strategy of qualitative analysis; 33 codes were identified. Results showed high admiration for the work done, positive attitudes and emotions, and concern toward the animal. Lack of awareness about the translocation process was high, with comments of curiosity toward the situation being one of the most commonly found. To a lesser extent, people felt sad for the jaguar not being able to return to the wild and criticized the need for translocation. Admiration for the work had a strong relation with gratitude and broader positive perceptions toward the jaguar's story. Criticism related to concern, which was also related to a need for more information and curiosity. Our findings suggest that the public who engaged with those institutions through their Instagram accounts were grateful for seeing the jaguar safe, but were not aware of the complexity of the operation nor about the nature of the conflict with farmers. The public can either reinforce a particular action or jeopardize an entire operation, depending on their perceptions of the matter. In the case of this jaguar, the public held a positive view; however, we acknowledge the limitations of our sample and recommend further analyses of social repercussions among people who are not followers of these organizations. Furthermore, we recommend engaging other stakeholders to fully understand the human dimensions of translocating this jaguar. Finally, for social acceptance, we highlight the importance of transparency and reliability of the organizations operating the translocation.

Examination of Chinese Teachers' Attitudes Towards Inclusive Education

The purpose of this study was to understand the status and influential factors of preschool teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education, given the evidence that attitudes predict successful inclusion for young children with or at risk for developmental delays or disabilities. We translated the Multidimensional Attitudes Toward Inclusive Education Scale (MATIES, Mahat, 2008) to Simplified Chinese (MATIES-C). We then administered the MATIE-C to a representative sample of in-service preschool teachers (N = 481) in Beijing, China. The confirmative factor analysis and reliability tests suggested an acceptable construct validity and internal reliability of the MATIES-C. We also found preschool teachers in Beijing held positive attitudes towards inclusion across cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions of attitudes. The ANOVA results indicate teachers' experience and knowledge about children with disabilities had statistically positive associations with favorable attitudes. Preschool area, teacher age, and educational background were also found to have a statistically significant impact on teacher attitudes.

Attitude and communication skills of German medical students

Objective While the development of communication competencies in medical schools plays a pivotal role in the curriculum, studies show that students’ communication skills and patient-centred attitudes may vary based on gender and ethnicity. The goal of this study was to investigate the socio-demographic factors that influence medical students’ communication abilities and, more specifically, to what extent their attitude toward communication skills learning and patient orientation associate with communication abilities. Our population included medical students admitted in 2017. Used tools included a communication score, the patient-provider orientation and communication skills attitudes scales. Results Three hundred and sixty-five students participated in the study (56.4% female, 85.2% German native speakers, mean age 24.2 ± 3.5 years). Female and German native speaking students had a better communication skills OSCE performance, were more patient-oriented and had more positive attitudes toward communication skills learning than male and non-native speaking students. There was a significant association between gender, native tongue, attitudes towards communication skills learning and communication skills OSCE performance. In conclusion, to support medical students to improve their communication proficiency and attitudes towards the importance of clear communication and patient-oriented care, medical educators should consider teaching and assessment strategies that address socio-cultural aspects of communication.

Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, Behavior and Risk Perception of COVID-19 Pandemic among University Students of Pakistan

Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has substantially affected students around the globe due to the closure of educational institutes. However, student involvements and contributions are important in combating the disease for this reason current study was designed to assess the knowledge-attitude-practice (KAP), preventive behavior, and risk perception among university students. Methods: A cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted among university students of Punjab, Pakistan from April 1st to June 30th, 2020. The 68 items questionnaire was used to evaluated responses using statistical approaches (student’s t-test, regression-analysis and co-relation analysis) by considering p-value <0.05 statistically significant. Results: A total of 503 university students (medical and non-medical) were selected with the majority of participants were females (83%) and 64.5% were of age ranged from 16 to 21 years old. The participants (80%) reported good disease knowledge with a mean score of 12.06 ± 1.75 (p<0.05), which substantially higher among medical students. Most of the respondents (72%) believed that COVID-19 will be effectively controlled through precautionary measures. In correlation subgroup analysis, a significant relationship (p=0.025) between knowledge and positive attitude were indicated. Fear and knowledge of COVID-19 emerged as strong predictors (p<0.001) of preventive behaviors towards disease. Conclusion: This study demonstrated satisfactory knowledge, positive attitudes, and suitable practices among students towards COVID-19. University students can be involved in public education to aid the health authorities in achieving the targets of educational campaigns with maximum population coverage.

Determinan perilaku merokok pada siswa MTSS Alue Bilie Kecamatan Darul Makmur Kabupaten Nagan Raya

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.

Empathy, Burnout, and Attitudes towards Mental Illness among Spanish Mental Health Nurses

Mental health nurses, together with psychiatrists, are the healthcare professionals who display the highest levels of empathy and the best attitudes towards patients with mental disorders. However, burnout is a common problem among these professionals. The aim of our study is to describe the association between empathy, burnout, and attitudes towards patients with mental disorders among mental health nurses in Spain. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used involving a sample of 750 specialist nurses working in mental health facilities in Spain. An intentional, non-probability, non-discriminative, exponential snowball sampling method was used. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Community Attitudes towards Mental Illness Inventory were used to measure the study variables. A positive correlation was observed between empathy and all the study variables, with the exception of the personal accomplishment dimension of burnout and the social restrictiveness and authoritarianism dimensions of attitudes towards mental illness, where a negative relation was observed. Our findings suggest that empathy is associated with an increase in positive attitudes towards patients with mental disorders, decreasing associated stigma, but did not act as a protective factor against burnout in the study sample.