Nursing students' perceptions of substance abusers: The effect of social status on stigma
Nurse Education Today
The stigma associated with drug addiction in the U.S. has been found to be a deterrent for indivi... more The stigma associated with drug addiction in the U.S. has been found to be a deterrent for individuals seeking treatment (SAMHSA, 2013). This experimental vignette study examined substance abuse stigma toward a hypothetical heroin addict ("John") in a sample of 62 nursing students who were given different occupational information about John to manipulate their perceptions of his social status. Each study participant read one of three vignettes in which John was portrayed as high-status (mayor of a large city), low-status (restaurant table busser), or unspecified status (no occupational information provided). Findings indicated that high social status resulted in significantly less substance abuse stigma than low social status. There was no significant difference in substance abuse stigma between the low-status condition and the condition in which social status was unspecified. This supports the conclusion that knowledge of John's heroin addiction effectively established his social status as low. The study also showed that the fact of John's addiction alone outweighed contradictory occupational information in determining his perceived social status.
The purpose of this study was to provide a cross-cultural comparison between China and the United... more The purpose of this study was to provide a cross-cultural comparison between China and the United States of neutralization and academic entitlement on academic dishonesty, often referred to as college cheating. The sample consisted of 434 American Students and 180 Chinese students. Neutralization was a predictor of cheating in college for both the Chinese and American students, although Chinese students engaged in more neutralization than did the American students. While academic entitlement was found to be a predictor of college cheating among American students, it was not a predictor of cheating among Chinese students, even though Chinese students exhibited higher levels of academic entitlement. For American students, cheating was highest on class assignments, but for Chinese students the highest percentage of cheating was for copying an internet document. Explanations for cross-cultural differences and similarities are suggested.
Prevention and Detection of Academic Misconduct in Higher Education, 2019
Researchers focusing on academic dishonesty (AD) have suggested the power of peer influence in pr... more Researchers focusing on academic dishonesty (AD) have suggested the power of peer influence in predicting cheating behaviors. Cheating has been found to occur mostly when it is perceived as normative. Students' overestimation of the extent to which their peers cheat, as well as their beliefs that cheating would not lead to consequences, has been found to reinforce AD. Primarily employing Bandura's social learning theory (SLT), the current authors present an in-depth discussion of the variables hypothesized to contribute to the factors involved in the acquisition and maintenance of cheating behaviors. The authors present the results of a 2018 study examining cheating behaviors by students attending a state-supported university in the United States (US). Students' perceptions that their peers cheated, and their belief that cheating was an acceptable means of coping with academic pressure, were significant predictors of cheating. Potential intervention strategies are discus...
Prevention and Detection of Academic Misconduct in Higher Education, 2019
Academic dishonesty (AD) continues to be of great concern in higher education (HE). In this chapt... more Academic dishonesty (AD) continues to be of great concern in higher education (HE). In this chapter, the authors review literature in this area, with a particular emphasis on preventive interventions. In recent years, with the dramatic increase of international students in HE, the authors also address how cultural diversity may further complicate this issue. A current study of cheating behaviors is discussed comparing a sample of undergraduate college students from the United States (US) with a sample of undergraduate college students from China. With reference to those results, the authors then propose intervention strategies for reducing AD based on the literature and results of this comparative study.
Much scholarship on militarism examines the phenomenon itself rather than determinants of militar... more Much scholarship on militarism examines the phenomenon itself rather than determinants of militaristic ideology. We designed and administered a survey to college students and created a Militaristic Ideology Index based on student perceptions of the "need" for increasing military spending, foreign interventions, economic sanctions and anticommunist interventionism. We then created an Imperialism Awareness Index that provides a measure of respondent knowledge of military spending levels, US interference in other countries' political systems and international response to US interventions. Using regression analysis, we examined the relationships between imperialism awareness and militarist ideology. We also investigated the relationship between the perception that mainstream media inform about the genuine motives behind US interventions and respondents' militarist ideology. We found that greater awareness of imperialism is inversely associated with militarism. Similarly, we found that greater trust in mainstream media outlets reporting on US foreign policy is positively associated with militarist ideology.
Individuals with disabilities are often seen exdusively in tenns oftheirdisabUities, resulting in... more Individuals with disabilities are often seen exdusively in tenns oftheirdisabUities, resulting in the perception thattheypossesslinltationsinaNareasoflife.ThishasledtoamythofnonsexuallyforindividualswithdisabHities. This paper reports an exploratory study of the knowledge college students have of sexuality among individuals with spinal cord injuries. Over 120 students at a small southwestern university participated in an in-class exercise in which a male and female student volunteered, alternately, to sit in a wheelchair and portray an individual with a serious spinal cord injury. Students wrote two papers, anon~usty, on what the issues would be if the disabled male, and then the disabled female, were establishing an rntimate relationship with the able-bodied person standing next to him or her. The student responses were then analyzed for recurrent themes, stereotypes, and attitudes concerning sexuality. Results indicate that students consistently believe that sex would be a major problem, or that sex would be impossible, fora couple in which one partner had a physical disability. Other issues inextricably linked with being disabled were also prominent themes (stigma, pity, relationship and childbearing problems). Stereotypical gender roles and norms were also promoted, especially in the realm of sexuality. Responses evidenced an overwhelming concern for the male's sexual enjoyment.
Nursing students' perceptions of substance abusers: The effect of social status on stigma
Nurse Education Today
The stigma associated with drug addiction in the U.S. has been found to be a deterrent for indivi... more The stigma associated with drug addiction in the U.S. has been found to be a deterrent for individuals seeking treatment (SAMHSA, 2013). This experimental vignette study examined substance abuse stigma toward a hypothetical heroin addict ("John") in a sample of 62 nursing students who were given different occupational information about John to manipulate their perceptions of his social status. Each study participant read one of three vignettes in which John was portrayed as high-status (mayor of a large city), low-status (restaurant table busser), or unspecified status (no occupational information provided). Findings indicated that high social status resulted in significantly less substance abuse stigma than low social status. There was no significant difference in substance abuse stigma between the low-status condition and the condition in which social status was unspecified. This supports the conclusion that knowledge of John's heroin addiction effectively established his social status as low. The study also showed that the fact of John's addiction alone outweighed contradictory occupational information in determining his perceived social status.
The purpose of this study was to provide a cross-cultural comparison between China and the United... more The purpose of this study was to provide a cross-cultural comparison between China and the United States of neutralization and academic entitlement on academic dishonesty, often referred to as college cheating. The sample consisted of 434 American Students and 180 Chinese students. Neutralization was a predictor of cheating in college for both the Chinese and American students, although Chinese students engaged in more neutralization than did the American students. While academic entitlement was found to be a predictor of college cheating among American students, it was not a predictor of cheating among Chinese students, even though Chinese students exhibited higher levels of academic entitlement. For American students, cheating was highest on class assignments, but for Chinese students the highest percentage of cheating was for copying an internet document. Explanations for cross-cultural differences and similarities are suggested.
Prevention and Detection of Academic Misconduct in Higher Education, 2019
Researchers focusing on academic dishonesty (AD) have suggested the power of peer influence in pr... more Researchers focusing on academic dishonesty (AD) have suggested the power of peer influence in predicting cheating behaviors. Cheating has been found to occur mostly when it is perceived as normative. Students' overestimation of the extent to which their peers cheat, as well as their beliefs that cheating would not lead to consequences, has been found to reinforce AD. Primarily employing Bandura's social learning theory (SLT), the current authors present an in-depth discussion of the variables hypothesized to contribute to the factors involved in the acquisition and maintenance of cheating behaviors. The authors present the results of a 2018 study examining cheating behaviors by students attending a state-supported university in the United States (US). Students' perceptions that their peers cheated, and their belief that cheating was an acceptable means of coping with academic pressure, were significant predictors of cheating. Potential intervention strategies are discus...
Prevention and Detection of Academic Misconduct in Higher Education, 2019
Academic dishonesty (AD) continues to be of great concern in higher education (HE). In this chapt... more Academic dishonesty (AD) continues to be of great concern in higher education (HE). In this chapter, the authors review literature in this area, with a particular emphasis on preventive interventions. In recent years, with the dramatic increase of international students in HE, the authors also address how cultural diversity may further complicate this issue. A current study of cheating behaviors is discussed comparing a sample of undergraduate college students from the United States (US) with a sample of undergraduate college students from China. With reference to those results, the authors then propose intervention strategies for reducing AD based on the literature and results of this comparative study.
Much scholarship on militarism examines the phenomenon itself rather than determinants of militar... more Much scholarship on militarism examines the phenomenon itself rather than determinants of militaristic ideology. We designed and administered a survey to college students and created a Militaristic Ideology Index based on student perceptions of the "need" for increasing military spending, foreign interventions, economic sanctions and anticommunist interventionism. We then created an Imperialism Awareness Index that provides a measure of respondent knowledge of military spending levels, US interference in other countries' political systems and international response to US interventions. Using regression analysis, we examined the relationships between imperialism awareness and militarist ideology. We also investigated the relationship between the perception that mainstream media inform about the genuine motives behind US interventions and respondents' militarist ideology. We found that greater awareness of imperialism is inversely associated with militarism. Similarly, we found that greater trust in mainstream media outlets reporting on US foreign policy is positively associated with militarist ideology.
Individuals with disabilities are often seen exdusively in tenns oftheirdisabUities, resulting in... more Individuals with disabilities are often seen exdusively in tenns oftheirdisabUities, resulting in the perception thattheypossesslinltationsinaNareasoflife.ThishasledtoamythofnonsexuallyforindividualswithdisabHities. This paper reports an exploratory study of the knowledge college students have of sexuality among individuals with spinal cord injuries. Over 120 students at a small southwestern university participated in an in-class exercise in which a male and female student volunteered, alternately, to sit in a wheelchair and portray an individual with a serious spinal cord injury. Students wrote two papers, anon~usty, on what the issues would be if the disabled male, and then the disabled female, were establishing an rntimate relationship with the able-bodied person standing next to him or her. The student responses were then analyzed for recurrent themes, stereotypes, and attitudes concerning sexuality. Results indicate that students consistently believe that sex would be a major problem, or that sex would be impossible, fora couple in which one partner had a physical disability. Other issues inextricably linked with being disabled were also prominent themes (stigma, pity, relationship and childbearing problems). Stereotypical gender roles and norms were also promoted, especially in the realm of sexuality. Responses evidenced an overwhelming concern for the male's sexual enjoyment.
Understanding Differences in Mental Health History and Behavioral Choices in a Community Sample of Individuals with and without Body Modifications
Deviant Behavior, 2016
ABSTRACT This study investigated the differences in mental health history and social, health, alc... more ABSTRACT This study investigated the differences in mental health history and social, health, alcohol and substance, and sexual behaviors of individuals with and without body modification in a community sample. Previous research primarily focused on negative behavioral and psychological correlates of body modification practices in college student, juvenile delinquent, inpatient, and incarcerated populations. This tendency does not take into account changes in the demographics and motivations of individuals who obtain body modifications in the last two decades. The Community Body Modification Checklist was developed based on previous studies; reliability and validity for the measure were established using Cronbach’s alpha and factor analysis. The results indicated that individuals with body modifications were not more likely to engage in risky behaviors or report a history of mental health problems when compared to non-modified persons; however, they were more likely to engage in social and health behaviors. These findings may be best explained by the body modification community becoming diversified by the middle class whose meanings, motivations, and usage of tattoos and piercings are unique.
Understanding Differences in Mental Health History and Behavioral Choices in a Community Sample of Individuals with and without Body Modifications
Deviant Behavior, 2016
ABSTRACT This study investigated the differences in mental health history and social, health, alc... more ABSTRACT This study investigated the differences in mental health history and social, health, alcohol and substance, and sexual behaviors of individuals with and without body modification in a community sample. Previous research primarily focused on negative behavioral and psychological correlates of body modification practices in college student, juvenile delinquent, inpatient, and incarcerated populations. This tendency does not take into account changes in the demographics and motivations of individuals who obtain body modifications in the last two decades. The Community Body Modification Checklist was developed based on previous studies; reliability and validity for the measure were established using Cronbach’s alpha and factor analysis. The results indicated that individuals with body modifications were not more likely to engage in risky behaviors or report a history of mental health problems when compared to non-modified persons; however, they were more likely to engage in social and health behaviors. These findings may be best explained by the body modification community becoming diversified by the middle class whose meanings, motivations, and usage of tattoos and piercings are unique.
Theoretically informed models are estimated using the MicroCase data set for India to examine "av... more Theoretically informed models are estimated using the MicroCase data set for India to examine "availability" of contraception as predictors of both contraceptive use and method of contraception chosen. More specifically, this research examines the availability of health facilities and health professionals as predictors of total contraceptive use and as predictors of sterilization and IUD insertion as contraceptive methods. Partial support was found for the hypothesis that availability of contraceptives is a predictor of the rate of IUD insertion in the states of India. Availability was not a significant determinant of the percentage of couples using contraception or the rate of sterilization within India.
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