Lay Misperceptions of Culture as "Biological" and Suggestions for Reducing Them.

Culture is typically studied as socialized and learned. Yet lay intuitions may hold that culture is associated with biology via perceptions of race, presenting a problem for those who study culture: There may be a mismatch between how psychologists study culture and how their research is interpreted by lay audiences. This article is a call to researchers to recognize this mismatch as a problem and to critically evaluate the way we study culture. We first describe evidence that laypeople tend to associate culture with notions of folk biology. Next, we propose three suggestions for researchers: explicitly address whether biological processes are, or are not, relevant for studying culture in their work; consider using multiple methods because different methods for studying culture may come with assumptions about culture as more tied to socialization or biology; and represent all people as cultural by studying multiple forms of culture and by contextualizing all psychological research. Last, we provide an example for how researchers can implement these suggestions to encourage more accurate interpretations of findings.

Which kind of sameness? Disambiguating two senses of identity with a novel linguistic task.

When people report that a person's identity has changed, what do they mean by this? Recent research has often assumed that participants are indicating a change in numerical, rather than qualitative, identity. Investigations into this matter have been hampered by the fact that English has no clear way to demarcate one type of identity from the other. To resolve this matter, we develop and test a novel task in Lithuanian, which has lexical markers for numerical and qualitative identity. We apply this task to intuitions about changes in moral capacities, which has previously shown to lead to high ratings in identity change. We discover that, when people say that a morally altered person is dramatically different, they mean the person is qualitatively transformed, but numerically intact. We conclude that this methodology is a valuable tool not only for illuminating the specific phenomenon of the moral self, but for general use in studying folk ascriptions of identity persistence.

Is Identity Essentialism a Fundamental Feature of Human Cognition?

The present research examines whether identity essentialism, an important component of psychological essentialism, is a fundamental feature of human cognition. Across three studies (Ntotal = 1723), we report evidence that essentialist intuitions about the identity of kinds are culturally dependent, demographically variable, and easily malleable. The first study considered essentialist intuitions in 10 different countries spread across four continents. Participants were presented with two scenarios meant to elicit essentialist intuitions. Their answers suggest that essentialist intuitions vary dramatically across cultures. Furthermore, these intuitions were found to vary with gender, education, and across eliciting stimuli. The second study further examined whether essentialist intuitions are stable across different kinds of eliciting stimuli. Participants were presented with two different scenarios meant to elicit essentialist intuitions-the "discovery" and "transformation" scenarios. Their answers suggest that the nature of the eliciting stimuli influences whether or not people report essentialist intuitions. Finally, the third study demonstrates that essentialist intuitions are susceptible to framing effects. Keeping the eliciting stimulus (i.e., the scenario) constant, we show that the formulation of the question eliciting a judgment influences whether or not people have essentialist intuitions. Implications of these findings for identity essentialism and psychological essentialism, in general, are discussed.

Explaining Health Misinformation Belief through News, Social, and Alternative Health Media Use: The Moderating Roles of Need for Cognition and Faith in Intuition.

Explaining the spread and impact of health misinformation has garnered considerable attention with the uptake of social media and group messaging applications. This study contributes to that line of work by investigating how reliance on multiple digital media may help support or suppress misinformation belief, and how individual differences in misinformation susceptibility condition this process. Alternative health outlets (AH media), advocating home/homeopathic remedies over conventional medicine can be important sources of misinformation, yet are largely ignored previously. In this study, we first test how reliance on different platforms predicts health misinformation belief. Drawing from the elaboration likelihood model, we further investigate how need for cognition (NFC) and faith in intuition (FI) moderate the relationship between news reliance and susceptibility to misinformation. We conducted a survey in Singapore, Turkey, and the U.S (N = 3,664) to measure how these proposed relationships explain misinformed beliefs about vaccines, genetically modified foods and alternative medicine. We found reliance on online legacy news was negatively associated with the likelihood of believing health misinformation, while the reverse was true for social media and AH media. Additionally, those with both greater NFC and FI were more susceptible to health misinformation when they relied on social media and AH media more. In contrast, neither NFC nor FI moderated the relationship between reliance on online legacy news and health misinformation belief. These findings, mostly consistent across countries, also show that extensive reliance on social media and AH media for news mostly overwhelms the individual differences in predicting misinformation belief.

Reflexo e sombra: o duplo e o narcisismo em hoffmann e chamisso / Reflection and shadow: the double and the narcissism in hoffmann and chamisso / Reflejo y penumbra: el doble y el narcisismo en hoffman y chamisso

Esta é uma pesquisa qualitativa, em formato de ensaio, que realiza o estudo comparado de duas obras literárias, de A. Von Chamisso e E. T. A. Hoffmann, e de uma anotação do diário deste último para problematizar a repercussão de algumas formas de desestabilizações do Eu na dinâmica psíquica da neurose. O foco dos textos referidos está no fenômeno do duplo na sua forma negativizada, isto é, como o desaparecimento da imagem exterior que dá suporte ao Eu. As ausências da sombra e do reflexo são entendidas como representações metafóricas de uma alteração do Eu que engendra repercussões importantes na homeostase psíquica, sobretudo nas relações sociais de troca. Explora-se daí a menção no diário de Hoffmann de instrumentos ópticos para interrogar o uso desses aparelhos como modelos metapsicológicos na psicanálise. Salienta-se, ainda, a participação de processos de natureza estética na dinâmica psíquica do infamiliar, tomando como referência a ligação entre o conto de Hoffmann e o relato de Stendhal sobre a sua estadia em Florença.(AU)

This is a qualitative research, in essay format, which performs the comparative study of two literary works, by A. Von Chamisso and E. T. A. Hoffmann, and an annotation in the latter's diary to problematize the repercussion of some forms of destabilization of the Ego's in the psychic dynamics of neurosis. The focus of the referred texts is on the phenomenon of the double in its negative form, that is, as the disappearance of the outer image that supports the Ego. The absences of the shadow and the reflection are understood as metaphorical representations of an alteration of the Ego that generates important repercussions on psychic homeostasis, above all in social relationships of exchange. Thus, we analyze the mention of optical instruments in Hoffmann's diary to question the use of these devices as metapsychological models in psychoanalysis. Note, also, the participation of processes of aesthetic nature in the psychic dynamics of the uncanny, taking as reference the connection between Hoffmann's short story and Stendhal's account of his stay in Florence.(AU)

Este ensayo cualitativo realiza un estudio comparativo de dos obras literarias de A. Von Chamisso y de E. T. A. Hoffmann, junto con una anotación en el diario de este último para problematizar la repercusión de algunas formas de desestabilizaciones de la función del Yo en la dinámica psíquica de la neurosis. Los textos se centran en el fenómeno del doble en su forma negativa, como la desaparición de la imagen exterior que sostiene el Yo. Se entienden las ausencias de la penumbra y el reflejo como una representación metafórica de una alteración de la función del Yo que genera importantes repercusiones en la regulación psíquica, sobre todo en las relaciones de intercambio social. Se analiza la presencia en el diario de Hoffmann de instrumentos ópticos para discutir el uso de estos dispositivos como modelos metapsicológicos en psicoanálisis. Se destaca la reverberación de procesos de naturaleza estética en la dinámica psíquica de lo ominoso, tomando como referencia la conexión entre el cuento de Hoffmann y el relato de Stendhal sobre su estancia en Florencia.(AU)

Polish Adaptation and Validation of the Intuitive (IES-2) and Mindful (MES) Eating Scales-The Relationship of the Concepts with Healthy and Unhealthy Food Intake (a Cross-Sectional Study).

Intuitive (IE) and mindful (ME) eating share internally focused eating, yet previous studies have shown that these concepts are not strongly correlated, which suggests that they might be differently related to food intake. The study aimed to adapt the original Intuitive (IES-2) and Mindful (MES) Eating Scales to the Polish language, to test their psychometric parameters and, further, to examine associations of IE and ME with an intake of selected food groups, i.e., healthy foods (fresh and processed vegetables, fresh fruit) and unhealthy foods (sweets, salty snacks). A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2020 in a group of 1000 Polish adults (500 women and 500 men) aged 18-65 (mean age = 41.3 ± 13.6 years). The factor structure was assessed with exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory (CFA) factor analysis as well as structural equation modeling (SEM). Measurement invariance across gender was assessed with multiple-group analysis. Internal consistency and discriminant validity of the two scales was tested. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to examine the correlation between IES-2 and MES subscales with food intake. A 4-factor, 16-item structure was confirmed for IES-2, while EFA and CFA revealed a 3-factor, 17-item structure of MES. Both scales demonstrated adequate internal consistency and discriminant validity. Full metric and partial scalar invariance were found for IES-2, while MES proved partial invariances. "Awareness" (MES) and "Body-Food Choice Congruence" (IES-2) positively correlated with intake of healthy foods and negatively with the intake of unhealthy ones. "Eating For Physical Rather Than Emotional Reasons" (IES-2) and "Act with awareness" (MES) favored lower intake of unhealthy foods, whereas "Unconditional Permission to Eat" and "Reliance on Hunger and Satiety Cues" (IES-2) showed an inverse relationship. A greater score in "Acceptance" (MES) was conducive to lower intake of all foods except sweets. The results confirmed that adapted versions of the IES-2 and MES are valid and reliable measures to assess IE and ME among Polish adults. Different IE and ME domains may similarly explain intake of healthy and unhealthy foods, yet within a single eating style, individual domains might have the opposite effect. Future studies should confirm our findings with the inclusion of mediating factors, such as other eating styles, childhood experiences, dieting, etc.

Deciding to be authentic: Intuition is favored over deliberation when authenticity matters.

Deliberative analysis enables us to weigh features, simulate futures, and arrive at good, tractable decisions. So why do we so often eschew deliberation, and instead rely on more intuitive, gut responses? We propose that intuition might be prescribed for some decisions because people's folk theory of decision-making accords a special role to authenticity, which is associated with intuitive choice. Five pre-registered experiments find evidence in favor of this claim. In Experiment 1 (N = 654), we show that participants prescribe intuition and deliberation as a basis for decisions differentially across domains, and that these prescriptions predict reported choice. In Experiment 2 (N = 555), we find that choosing intuitively vs. deliberately leads to different inferences concerning the decision-maker's commitment and authenticity-with only inferences about the decision-maker's authenticity showing variation across domains that matches that observed for the prescription of intuition in Experiment 1. In Experiment 3 (N = 631), we replicate our prior results and rule out plausible confounds. Finally, in Experiment 4 (N = 177) and Experiment 5 (N = 526), we find that an experimental manipulation of the importance of authenticity affects the prescribed role for intuition as well as the endorsement of expert human or algorithmic advice. These effects hold beyond previously recognized influences on intuitive vs. deliberative choice, such as computational costs, presumed reliability, objectivity, complexity, and expertise.

The cartesian folk theater: People conceptualize consciousness as a spatio-temporally localized process in the human brain.

The present research (total N = 2,057) tested whether people's folk conception of consciousness aligns with the notion of a "Cartesian Theater" (Dennett, 1991). More precisely, we tested the hypotheses that people believe that consciousness happens in a single, confined area (vs. multiple dispersed areas) in the human brain, and that it (partly) happens after the brain finished analyzing all available information. Further, we investigated how these beliefs are related to participants' neuroscientific knowledge as well as their reliance on intuition, and which rationale they use to explain their responses. Using a computer-administered drawing task, we found that participants located consciousness, but not unrelated neurological processes (Studies 1a and 1b) or unconscious thinking (Study 2) in a single, confined area in the prefrontal cortex, and that they considered most of the brain not involved in consciousness. Participants mostly relied on their intuitions when responding, and they were not affected by prior knowledge about the brain. Additionally, they considered the conscious experience of sensory stimuli to happen in a spatially more confined area than the corresponding computational analysis of these stimuli (Study 3). Furthermore, participants' explicit beliefs about spatial and temporal localization of consciousness (i.e., consciousness happening after the computational analysis of sensory information is completed) are independent, yet positively correlated beliefs (Study 4). Using a more elaborate measure for temporal localization of conscious experience, our final study confirmed that people believe consciousness to partly happen even after information processing is done (Study 5). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Intuitions about magic track the development of intuitive physics.

Many successful magic tricks violate our assumptions about how physical objects behave, but some magic tricks are better than others. We examined whether the interest adults express in a magic trick is predicted by the age at which infants first respond to violation of the corresponding physical principle. In Experiment 1, adults (N = 319) rated their interest in magic tricks mimicking stimuli from violation-of-expectation experiments with infants. We found a clear correlation between how interesting a trick is and the age at which infants demonstrate a sensitivity to its underlying principle. In a second experiment (N = 350), we replicated this finding and also used three additional tricks for which there is no established age of acquisition to predict the age at which those physical principles might be acquired. A third experiment (N = 368) replicated these findings measuring adults' surprise at physical violations rather than their interest in magic tricks. Our results suggest that adults' intuitions reflect the development of physical knowledge and show how magic can reveal our expectations about the physical world.

Gut feelings in obstetrics and midwifery: the role of intuition in deciding when to perform cesarean section during labor.

PURPOSE: To describe the role of intuition for maternity care workers in deciding when a cesarean section should be advised during labor. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Focus group discussions with midwives and gynecologists, and nonparticipating observation at an obstetric ward. RESULTS: The decision about when to propose a cesarean section during labor is the result of interaction between objective and intuitive factors. Junior delivery ward workers report that they use more analytic reasoning for objective diagnosis of fetal distress, non-progressive labor, macrosomia or other indications for cesarean section; with increasing experience, however, non-analytic reasoning takes the overhand. Both consciously and unconsciously, other activities going on outside the individual delivery room seem to influence the decision. Out of the 50 deliveries observed, 38 births occurred through vaginal deliveries and 12 through cesarean sections. Maternity care workers clearly have "gut feelings" that the course of labor is moving toward a cesarean section. We were unable to detect any predictable pattern in the transition from gut feeling to decision. CONCLUSION: Intuition plays a still not completely uncovered role in the decision to advise cesarean section during labor. The level of consciousness at which professionals use intuition or gut feeling and are aware of it in decision making is variable. Intuition or gut feelings seem to contribute more to the decision process as the level of experience increases.

Understanding the "gut instinct" of expert coaches during talent identification.

Coaches are an integral part of talent identification in sport and are often used as the "gold standard" against which scientific methods of talent identification are compared. However, their decision-making during this process is not well understood. In this article, we use an ecological approach to explore talent identification in combat sports. We interviewed twenty-four expert, international-level coaches from the Olympic disciplines of boxing, judo, and taekwondo (age: 48.7 + 7.5 years; experience: 20.8 + 8.3 years). Findings indicated that when coaches identify talent they rely on "gut instinct": intuitive judgements made without conscious thought, used to direct attention to particular athletes or characteristics. Our analysis revealed four major contributors to coaches' intuition: experiential knowledge, temporal factors, seeing athletes in context, and what can be worked with. Our findings demonstrate that i) athlete selections may be influenced by the coaches' perceived ability to improve certain athletes (rather than solely on athlete ability); and ii) "instinctual" decisions are the result of years of experience, time spent with the athlete, and the context surrounding the decision. Based on these findings, we recommend that future research focuses on the duration and conditions that are required for coaches to confidently and reliably identify talented athletes.

Assessing the Accuracy of Medical Intuition: A Subjective and Exploratory Study.

Background: Medical Intuition is a system of expanded perception gained through the human sense of intuition. Medical Intuition focuses on visualization skills and intuitive and innovative scanning to obtain information from the physical body and its energy systems. Medical Intuition is designed to assist health care providers in a cost-effective, targeted approach to a patient's presenting concerns, and is not meant to serve as a diagnosis of illness or disease. Objectives: This exploratory study examined subjective accuracy and rates of acceptance of trained Medical Intuitives. Settings: Sixty-seven adult women and men served as study participants. Procedure: The procedure for each medical intuition session was standardized. Thirty or 60-min sessions were conducted by phone or video. The participant verbally provided their name at the beginning of the session. The Medical Intuitives were instructed not to engage in any conversation with the participant other than telling them the information they were "seeing" during the scanning process. Following the session, each participant completed an anonymous online standardized case report form documenting their assessment of the reading. Results: Findings included a 94% accuracy rate of the Medical Intuitive's ability to locate and evaluate the participant's primary physical issue; 100% accuracy to locate a secondary physical issue (86% of participants responding); 98% accuracy in describing the participant's life events, and 93% accuracy in describing a connection between the life events and health issues. Conclusions: These initial findings suggest that trained Medical Intuitives have strong subjectively reported accuracy rates identifying primary and secondary health issues and that their services are positively evaluated in the context of an individual's concerns regarding their health.

Expert or Esoteric? Philosophers Attribute Knowledge Differently Than All Other Academics.

Academics across widely ranging disciplines all pursue knowledge, but they do so using vastly different methods. Do these academics therefore also have different ideas about when someone possesses knowledge? Recent experimental findings suggest that intuitions about when individuals have knowledge may vary across groups; in particular, the concept of knowledge espoused by the discipline of philosophy may not align with the concept held by laypeople. Across two studies, we investigate the concept of knowledge held by academics across seven disciplines (N = 1,581) and compare these judgments to those of philosophers (N = 204) and laypeople (N = 336). We find that academics and laypeople share a similar concept of knowledge, while philosophers have a substantially different concept. These experiments show that (a) in contrast to philosophers, other academics and laypeople attribute knowledge to others in some "Gettier" situations; (b) academics and laypeople are much less likely to attribute knowledge when reminded of the possibility of error, but philosophers are not affected by this reminder; and (c) non-philosophy academics are overall more skeptical about knowledge than laypeople or philosophers. These findings suggest that academics across a wide range of disciplines share a similar concept of knowledge, and that this concept aligns closely with the intuitions held by laypeople, and differs considerably from the concept of knowledge described in the philosophical literature, as well as the epistemic intuitions of philosophers themselves.

Intuitive eating is associated with weight loss after bariatric surgery in women.

BACKGROUND: Although the data on eating behavior after bariatric surgery are substantial, data on "intuitive eating" are lacking. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the link between intuitive eating and weight loss after bariatric surgery. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used a self-administered questionnaire freely available on social networks and targeted women who had undergone bariatric surgery. Intuitive eating was evaluated with the Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2). The 3 questionnaire subscores (Eating for Physical Rather than Emotional Reasons, Reliance on Hunger and Satiety Cues, and Unconditional Permission to Eat) were also analyzed. The relation between IES-2 scores and the relative variation in body mass index [BMI (in kg/m2)] was assessed with linear regression models. Adjusted ß (ßAdj) and standardized ß $( {{\rm{\beta }}_{{\rm{Adj}}}^{{\rm{STD}}}} )$ were reported. RESULTS: We analyzed the responses of 401 women with a mean age of 39 ± 11 y, a mean preoperative BMI of 45.5 ± 7.9, and a mean current BMI of 30.5 ± 7. The mean relative BMI loss was 32.7 ± 12.9%, and the mean IES-2 score was 3.3 ± 0.6. The total IES-2 score was associated with the relative BMI loss, with ∼2.6% BMI loss for each 1-point increase in the IES-2 score [PAdj = 0.007; ßAdj = -2.57 (95% CI: -4.44, -0.70); ${\rm{\beta }}_{{\rm{Adj}}}^{{\rm{STD}}}$= -0.12] after adjusting for elapsed time since surgery and type of surgery. Eating for Physical Rather than Emotional Reasons was the subscore most strongly associated with BMI change after adjustment [PAdj = 0.002; ßAdj = -2.08 (95% CI: -3.37, 0.79); ${\rm{\beta }}_{{\rm{Adj}}}^{{\rm{STD}}}$ = -0.14]. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights a significant association between intuitive eating and BMI decrease after bariatric surgery. Furthermore, eating behaviors changed with increasing time since surgery. An intuitive nutritional approach may be complementary with bariatric surgery in the postoperative phase, which should prompt complementary prospective studies to evaluate the effectiveness of therapeutic education programs centered on intuitive eating in the postoperative period.

Judgments of effort for magical violations of intuitive physics.

People spend much of their time in imaginary worlds, and have beliefs about the events that are likely in those worlds, and the laws that govern them. Such beliefs are likely affected by people's intuitive theories of the real world. In three studies, people judged the effort required to cast spells that cause physical violations. People ranked the actions of spells congruently with intuitive physics. For example, people judge that it requires more effort to conjure up a frog than to levitate it one foot off the ground. A second study manipulated the target and extent of the spells, and demonstrated with a continuous measure that people are sensitive to this manipulation even between participants. A pre-registered third study replicated the results of Study 2. These results suggest that people's intuitive theories partly account for how they think about imaginary worlds.

Space for intuition - the 'Surprise'-Question in haemato-oncology: Qualitative analysis of experiences and perceptions of haemato-oncologists.

BACKGROUND: Early integration of palliative care can improve outcomes for people with cancer and non-cancer diagnoses. However, prediction of survival for individuals is challenging, in particular in patients with haematological malignancies who are known to have limited access to palliative care. The 'Surprise'-Question can be used to facilitate referral to palliative care. AIM: To explore experiences, views and perceptions of haemato-oncologists on the use of the 'Surprise'-Question in the haemato-oncology outpatients clinics of a university hospital in Germany. DESIGN: A qualitative study using individual semi-structured interviews transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically based on the framework approach. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: The study took place at the haemato-oncology outpatient clinic and the bone marrow transplantation outpatient clinic of a university hospital. Nine haemato-oncologists participated in qualitative interviews. RESULTS: Thematic analysis identified 4 themes and 11 subthemes: (1) meaning and relevance of the 'Surprise'-Question; (2) feasibility; (3) the concept of 'surprise' and (4) personal aspects of prognostication. A key function of the 'Surprise'-Question was to stimulate intuition and promote patient-centred goals of care by initiating a process of pause → reflection → change of perspective. It was easy and quick to use, but required time and communication skills to act on. Participants' training in palliative care enhanced their willingness to use the 'Surprise'-Question. CONCLUSION: Irrespective of its use in prognostication, the 'Surprise'-Question is a valuable tool to facilitate consideration of patient-centred goals and promote holistic care in haemato-oncology. However, prognostic uncertainty, lack of time and communication skills are barriers for integration into daily practice. Further research should involve haematology patients to integrate their needs and preferences.

The effects of acceptance and commitment therapy on eating behavior and diet delivered through face-to-face contact and a mobile app: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Internal motivation and good psychological capabilities are important factors in successful eating-related behavior change. Thus, we investigated whether general acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) affects reported eating behavior and diet quality and whether baseline perceived stress moderates the intervention effects. METHODS: Secondary analysis of unblinded randomized controlled trial in three Finnish cities. Working-aged adults with psychological distress and overweight or obesity in three parallel groups: (1) ACT-based Face-to-face (n = 70; six group sessions led by a psychologist), (2) ACT-based Mobile (n = 78; one group session and mobile app), and (3) Control (n = 71; only the measurements). At baseline, the participants' (n = 219, 85% females) mean body mass index was 31.3 kg/m2 (SD = 2.9), and mean age was 49.5 years (SD = 7.4). The measurements conducted before the 8-week intervention period (baseline), 10 weeks after the baseline (post-intervention), and 36 weeks after the baseline (follow-up) included clinical measurements, questionnaires of eating behavior (IES-1, TFEQ-R18, HTAS, ecSI 2.0, REBS), diet quality (IDQ), alcohol consumption (AUDIT-C), perceived stress (PSS), and 48-h dietary recall. Hierarchical linear modeling (Wald test) was used to analyze the differences in changes between groups. RESULTS: Group x time interactions showed that the subcomponent of intuitive eating (IES-1), i.e., Eating for physical rather than emotional reasons, increased in both ACT-based groups (p = .019); the subcomponent of TFEQ-R18, i.e., Uncontrolled eating, decreased in the Face-to-face group (p = .020); the subcomponent of health and taste attitudes (HTAS), i.e., Using food as a reward, decreased in the Mobile group (p = .048); and both subcomponent of eating competence (ecSI 2.0), i.e., Food acceptance (p = .048), and two subcomponents of regulation of eating behavior (REBS), i.e., Integrated and Identified regulation (p = .003, p = .023, respectively), increased in the Face-to-face group. Baseline perceived stress did not moderate effects on these particular features of eating behavior from baseline to follow-up. No statistically significant effects were found for dietary measures. CONCLUSIONS: ACT-based interventions, delivered in group sessions or by mobile app, showed beneficial effects on reported eating behavior. Beneficial effects on eating behavior were, however, not accompanied by parallel changes in diet, which suggests that ACT-based interventions should include nutritional counseling if changes in diet are targeted. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT01738256 ), registered 17 August, 2012.

A systematic review of the traits and cognitions associated with use of and belief in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is widespread despite the controversy over its effectiveness. Although previous reviews have examined the demographics and attitudes of CAM users, there is no existing review on the traits or cognitions which characterise either CAM users or those who believe in CAM effectiveness. The current systematic review set out to address these gaps in the literature by applying a narrative synthesis. A bibliographic search and manual searches were undertaken and key authors were contacted. Twenty-three papers were selected. The trait openness to experience was positively associated with CAM use but not CAM belief. Absorption and various types of coping were also positively associated with CAM use and belief. No other trait was reliably associated with CAM use or belief. Intuitive thinking and ontological confusions were positively associated with belief in CAM effectiveness; intuitive thinking was also positively associated with CAM use. Studies researching cognitions in CAM use/belief were mostly on non-clinical samples, whilst studies on traits and CAM use/belief were mostly on patients. The quality of studies varied but unrepresentative samples, untested outcome measures and simplistic statistical analyses were the most common flaws. Traits and cognition might be important correlates of CAM use and also of faith in CAM.