Virtuous violence from the war room to death row.

How likely is it that someone would approve of using a nuclear weapon to kill millions of enemy civilians in the hope of ending a ground war that threatens thousands of American troops? Ask them how they feel about prosecuting immigrants, banning abortion, supporting the death penalty, and protecting gun rights and you will know. This is the finding from two national surveys of Democrats and Republicans that measured support for punitive regulations and policies across these four seemingly unrelated issues, and a fifth, using nuclear weapons against enemy civilians (in survey 1) or approving of disproportionate killing with conventional weapons (in survey 2). Those who support these various policies that threaten harm to many people tend to believe that the victims are blameworthy and it is ethical to take actions or policies that might harm them. This lends support to the provocative notion of "virtuous violence" put forth by Fiske and Rai [A. P. Fiske, T. S. Rai, Virtuous Violence: Hurting and Killing to Create, Sustain, End, and Honor Social Relationships (2014)], who assert that people commit violence because they believe it is the morally right thing to do. The common thread of punitiveness underlying and connecting these issues needs to be recognized, understood, and confronted by any society that professes to value fundamental human rights and wishes to prevent important decisions from being affected by irrelevant and harmful sociocultural and political biases.

Affect, risk perception, and the use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes: a population study of U.S. adults.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco companies argue that the decision to smoke is made by well-informed rational adults who have considered all the risks and benefits of smoking. Yet in promoting their products, the tobacco industry frequently relies on affect, portraying their products as part of a desirable lifestyle. Research examining the roles of affect and perceived risks in smoking has been scant and non-existent for novel tobacco products, such as electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). METHODS: We examined the relationship between affect, perceived risk, and current use for cigarettes and e-cigarettes in 2015 in a nationally representative sample of 5398 U.S. adults who were aware of e-cigarettes. RESULTS: Participants held various affective associations with tobacco products, and affect towards cigarettes was more negative than affect towards e-cigarettes. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), affect towards cigarettes and e-cigarettes was associated with cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use respectively, and these associations were both direct and partially mediated by risk perceptions towards smoking and e-cigarette use. More positive affect towards cigarettes or e-cigarettes was associated with lower perceived risks, which in turn was associated with higher odds of being a current cigarette or e-cigarette user. CONCLUSIONS: In developing models explaining tobacco use behavior, or in creating public communication campaigns aimed at curbing tobacco use, it is useful to focus not only on the reason based predictors, such as perceptions of risks and benefits, but also on affective predictors. Educational efforts aimed at further smoking reductions should highlight and reinforce negative images and associations with cigarettes.

Debiasing overoptimistic beliefs about braking capacity.

We investigated, using questionnaires, different strategies for removing drivers' overoptimism (Svenson et al., 2012a) about how fast their speed could be decreased when they were speeding compared with braking at the speed limit speed. Three different learning groups and a control group made collision speed judgments. The first learning group had the distance a car travels during a driver's reaction time for each problem. The second group had this information and also feedback after each judgment (correct speed). The third group judged collision speed but also braking distance and received correct facts after each problem. The control group had no information at all about reaction time and the distance traveled during that time. The results suggested the following rank order from poor to improved performance: control, group 1, group 3 and group 2 indicating that information about distance driven during a driver's reaction time improved collision speed judgments and that adding stopping distance information did not add to this improvement.

Development and Testing of an Abbreviated Numeracy Scale: A Rasch Analysis Approach.

Research has demonstrated that individual differences in numeracy may have important consequences for decision making. In the present paper, we develop a shorter, psychometrically improved measure of numeracy-the ability to understand, manipulate, and use numerical information, including probabilities. Across two large independent samples that varied widely in age and educational level, participants completed 18 items from existing numeracy measures. In Study 1, we conducted a Rasch analysis on the item pool and created an eight-item numeracy scale that assesses a broader range of difficulty than previous scales. In Study 2, we replicated this eight-item scale in a separate Rasch analysis using data from an independent sample. We also found that the new Rasch-based numeracy scale, compared with previous measures, could predict decision-making preferences obtained in past studies, supporting its predictive validity. In Study, 3, we further established the predictive validity of the Rasch-based numeracy scale. Specifically, we examined the associations between numeracy and risk judgments, compared with previous scales. Overall, we found that the Rasch-based scale was a better linear predictor of risk judgments than prior measures. Moreover, this study is the first to present the psychometric properties of several popular numeracy measures across a diverse sample of ages and educational level. We discuss the usefulness and the advantages of the new scale, which we feel can be used in a wide range of subject populations, allowing for a more clear understanding of how numeracy is associated with decision processes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Identifying like-minded audiences for global warming public engagement campaigns: an audience segmentation analysis and tool development.

BACKGROUND: Achieving national reductions in greenhouse gas emissions will require public support for climate and energy policies and changes in population behaviors. Audience segmentation--a process of identifying coherent groups within a population--can be used to improve the effectiveness of public engagement campaigns. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In Fall 2008, we conducted a nationally representative survey of American adults (n = 2,164) to identify audience segments for global warming public engagement campaigns. By subjecting multiple measures of global warming beliefs, behaviors, policy preferences, and issue engagement to latent class analysis, we identified six distinct segments ranging in size from 7 to 33% of the population. These six segments formed a continuum, from a segment of people who were highly worried, involved and supportive of policy responses (18%), to a segment of people who were completely unconcerned and strongly opposed to policy responses (7%). Three of the segments (totaling 70%) were to varying degrees concerned about global warming and supportive of policy responses, two (totaling 18%) were unsupportive, and one was largely disengaged (12%), having paid little attention to the issue. Certain behaviors and policy preferences varied greatly across these audiences, while others did not. Using discriminant analysis, we subsequently developed 36-item and 15-item instruments that can be used to categorize respondents with 91% and 84% accuracy, respectively. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In late 2008, Americans supported a broad range of policies and personal actions to reduce global warming, although there was wide variation among the six identified audiences. To enhance the impact of campaigns, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and businesses seeking to engage the public can selectively target one or more of these audiences rather than address an undifferentiated general population. Our screening instruments are available to assist in that process.

Characterization, anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects of Costa Rican noni juice (Morinda citrifolia L.).

AIM OF THE STUDY: Noni fruit (Morinda citrifolia L.) juice has been used for more than 2000 years in Polynesia as a traditional folk medicine. The aim of the present study was to finely characterize noni juice from Costa Rica and to evaluate its anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A microfiltrated noni juice was prepared with Costarican nonis. HPLC-DAD and Electro Spray Ionization Mass Spectrometric detection (HPLC-ESI-MS) were used to identify phenolic compounds and iridoids. The anti-oxidative activity of noni juice was measured in vitro by both Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging methods. The anti-inflammatory effects of noni juice were investigated in vitro by: measuring its effect on nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2 production by activated macrophages, evaluating its inhibitory activities on cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and -2 and in vivo on a carrageenan-induced paw oedema model in rats. RESULTS: Several polyphenols belonging to the coumarin, flavonoid and phenolic acid groups, and two iridoids were identified. Noni juice demonstrated a mean range free radical scavenging capacity. Furthermore, it also reduced carrageenan-induced paw oedema, directly inhibited cyclooxygenase COX-1 and COX-2 activities and inhibited the production of nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandins E(2) (PGE(2)) in activated J774 cells, in a dose dependent manner. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that noni's biological effects include: (1) anti-oxidant properties probably associated with phenolic compounds, iridoids and ascorbic acid and (2) anti-inflammatory action through NO and PGE(2) pathways that might also be strengthened by anti-oxidant effects.

Bringing meaning to numbers: the impact of evaluative categories on decisions.

Decision makers are often quite poor at using numeric information in decisions. The results of 4 experiments demonstrate that a manipulation of evaluative meaning (i.e., the extent to which an attribute can be mapped onto a good/bad scale; this manipulation is accomplished through the addition of visual boundary lines and evaluative labels to a graphical format) has a robust influence in health judgments and choices and across diverse adult populations. The manipulation resulted in greater use of numeric quality-of-care information in judgments and less reliance on an irrelevant affective state among the less numerate. Recall results for provided quality-of-care numbers suggested that the manipulation did not influence depth of number processing with the exception of cost information that was not remembered as well. Results of a reaction-time paradigm revealed that feelings were more accessible than thoughts in the presence of the manipulation, suggesting that the effect may be due, at least in part, to an affective mechanism. Numeric information is often provided in decisions, but may not be usable by consumers without assistance from information providers. Implications for consumer decision making and the functions of affect are discussed.

The influence of classical dance training on preferred supporting leg and whole body turning bias.

A rightward turning bias has been more frequently noted during adult classical dance practice than during spontaneous rotations. Training could play a role in inducing a preferred direction. We observed the preferred direction for executing four spontaneous whole-body full turns (pirouettes), with eyes open or closed, in pre-pubertal untrained girls and classical dance students. Of untrained girls, 58% showed a leftward turning bias (LTB) and 42% a rightward turning bias (RTB), independently of vision, lateral preferences, and supporting leg. Only one dancer showed a consistent LTB while the majority showed a RTB, with a tendency to use the left leg to turn towards the right. These results suggest that the role of the vestibular and visual systems is minimal for untrained girls, and suggest a training influence for dancers. The dance students' choice of a supporting leg for turning may exploit some biomechanical properties facilitating the pirouette.

Comprehension and choice of a consumer-directed health plan: an experimental study.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the extent to which numeracy predicts consumer-directed health plan (CDHP) comprehension and health plan choice. Also, to test whether comprehension can be improved using different presentation approaches. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted an experimental laboratory study in which 303 adults viewed information about a hypothetical CDHP and a hypothetical preferred provider organization (PPO) presented in several different ways. Participants were randomized to view plan comparisons in a side-by-side or a common/unique format, and whether or not to view a framework. METHODS: Participants completed a survey that included comprehension items, numeracy and literacy assessments, and sociodemographics. Multivariate regression models were developed to examine the independent effects of numeracy and presentation approach on CDHP comprehension and choice. Interactions between numeracy and presentation approaches were tested. RESULTS: Although less numerate consumers understood less about CDHPs, they were substantially more likely to select the CDHP. Providing an overarching framework to highlight the differences between the CDHP and PPO boosted comprehension on items related to the framework message. However, it reduced comprehension on items that were not related to the framework, particularly among the less numerate. Participants reported that the common/unique presentation of comparative information was easier to understand, yet there was a trend toward less comprehension using that presentation approach. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the difficulty many consumers have in understanding comparative plan information and in making informed healthcare choices. Findings also indicate that some presentation strategies may help the less skilled understand choices better.

Less is more in presenting quality information to consumers.

Much effort has been put into improving measures of health care quality. Although early research suggested that consumers made little use of quality reports, most reports were based on nonstandardized measures and were not user friendly. Information presentation approaches, however, will have a significant influence on what information is attended and used. The present research examines whether information presentation methods differentially influence consumers who differ in numeric skills. Results of three studies support the idea that "less is more" when presenting consumers with comparative performance information to make hospital choices. Results were particularly strong for those lower in numeracy, who had higher comprehension and made better choices when the information-presentation format was designed to ease the cognitive burden and highlight the meaning of important information. These findings have important implications for the sponsors of comparative quality reports designed to inform consumer decision making in health care.

The impact and acceptability of Canadian-style cigarette warning labels among U.S. smokers and nonsmokers.

Cigarette smoking is a major source of mortality and medical costs in the United States. More graphic and salient warning labels on cigarette packs as used in Canada may help to reduce smoking initiation and increase quit attempts. However, the labels also may lead to defensive reactions among smokers. In an experimental setting, smokers and nonsmokers were exposed to Canadian or U.S. warning labels. Compared with current U.S. labels, Canadian labels produced more negative affective reactions to smoking cues and to the smoker image among both smokers and nonsmokers without signs of defensive reactions from smokers. A majority of both smokers and nonsmokers endorsed the use of Canadian labels in the United States. Canadian-style warnings should be adopted in the United States as part of the country's overall tobacco control strategy.

Numeracy and decision making.

A series of four studies explored how the ability to comprehend and transform probability numbers relates to performance on judgment and decision tasks. On the surface, the tasks in the four studies appear to be widely different; at a conceptual level, however, they all involve processing numbers and the potential to show an influence of affect. Findings were consistent with highly numerate individuals being more likely to retrieve and use appropriate numerical principles, thus making themselves less susceptible to framing effects, compared with less numerate individuals. In addition, the highly numerate tended to draw different (generally stronger or more precise) affective meaning from numbers and numerical comparisons, and their affective responses were more precise. Although generally helpful, this tendency may sometimes lead to worse decisions. The less numerate were influenced more by competing, irrelevant affective considerations. Analyses showed that the effect of numeracy was not due to general intelligence. Numerical ability appears to matter to judgments and decisions in important ways.

Task complexity and older adults' decision-making competence.

This article reports progress in an ongoing research program examining older adults' decision-making competence (DMC). Using a theoretical framework that emphasizes the person-task fit in assessing DMC, the authors report the results of a study comparing older versus younger adults' decision performance on simple and complex tasks about health, finance, and nutrition. The authors hypothesized and found that increasing age and task complexity were related to greater comprehension errors and inconsistency in decision making. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that a large amount of age-related variance in performance on the decision tasks could be accounted for by exogenous social variables, health measures, basic cognitive skills, and attitudinal measures. The discussion emphasizes several directions for future research, including the need to validate the meaning of performance on these tasks for real-life decision processes.

An emotion-based model of risk perception and stigma susceptibility: cognitive appraisals of emotion, affective reactivity, worldviews, and risk perceptions in the generation of technological stigma.

A study (N=198) was conducted to examine hypotheses derived from an emotion-based model of stigma responses to radiation sources. A model of stigma susceptibility is proposed in which affective reactions and cognitive worldviews activate predispositions to appraise and experience events in systematic ways that result in the generation of negative emotion, risk perceptions, and stigma responses. Results of structural equation modeling supported the hypotheses. Radiation sources that scored higher on a measure of stigma were included in the analyses (i.e., nuclear power plants, radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, radiation from nuclear weapons testing). Individual differences in negative reactivity and worldviews were associated with the strength of emotional appraisals that were associated, in turn, with negative emotion toward stigmatized radiation sources. As hypothesized, the model fit better with perceived risk as a function of negative emotion rather than vice versa. Finally, a measure of stigma was associated with negative emotion and, to a lesser extent, with risk perceptions. Risk communication about stigmatized objects may benefit from a more complete understanding of how affective and emotional reactions are constructed and the routes through which they affect responses and behaviors.

Discrimination, vulnerability, and justice in the face of risk.

Recent research finds that perceived risk is closely associated with race and gender. In surveys of the American public a subset of white males stand out for their uniformly low perceptions of environmental health risks, while most nonwhite and nonmale respondents reveal higher perceived risk. Such findings have been attributed to the advantageous position of white males in American social life. This article explores the linked possibility that this demographic pattern is driven not simply by the social advantages or disadvantages embodied in race or gender, but by the subjective experience of vulnerability and by sociopolitical evaluations pertaining to environmental injustice. Indices of environmental injustice and social vulnerability were developed as part of a U.S. National Risk Survey (n= 1,192) in order to examine their effect on perceived risk. It was found that those who regarded themselves as vulnerable and supported belief statements consistent with the environmental justice thesis offered higher risk ratings across a range of hazards. Multivariate analysis indicates that our measures of vulnerability and environmental injustice predict perceived risk but do not account for all of the effects of race and gender. The article closes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for further work on vulnerability and risk, risk communication, and risk management practices generally.

Risk perception for developing diabetes: comparative risk judgments of physicians.

OBJECTIVE: To assess personal risk perceptions for developing diabetes among practicing physicians. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Little is known about comparative risk perceptions concerning diabetes among medical experts. We administered the new Risk Perception Survey for Developing Diabetes to 535 nondiabetic physicians. The participants were 86% male, had a mean age of 49 years, and were 66% white and 24% Asian. Almost 37% were considered at higher risk for developing diabetes based on self-reported risk factors. Over 91% of respondents were either internal medicine or family medicine physicians. RESULTS: Of the four subscales, Comparative Disease Risk and Environmental Risk indicated moderate risk perceptions, whereas Personal Control scores indicated a robust sense of control over developing diabetes. Optimistic Bias scores showed a tendency toward participants' being optimistic that they were less likely to develop diabetes. Based on self-reported risk factor categories, a comparison of scores between physicians at higher risk (n = 196) and those at lower risk (n = 313) for developing diabetes showed greater comparative disease risk perception among the higher risk physicians (P < 0.01), as well as greater perception of diabetes risk (P < 0.001). Nearly 50% of higher risk physicians, however, reported an optimistic bias that they were less likely to develop diabetes than other people of their same age and sex. Women (n = 75) reported greater perception of environmental risks than men (P < 0.001). Asian respondents (n = 126) reported greater perception of environmental risk (P < 0.001) and greater worry about developing diabetes (P < 0.0001) than white respondents (n = 355). Regression analyses showed that scores for nondiabetes comparative disease risks (0.39) and level of optimistic bias (0.31) were predictive of diabetes risk perception (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The data gathered on physicians' perception of their personal risk for developing diabetes and other comparative risk judgments provided an expert comparison for future analyses of at-risk or lay individuals' perceptions of diabetes risk. Effective communication of diabetes risk among physicians, patients, and the general public relies on knowledge of and sensitivity to group differences in these perceptions.

Relativistic effects and two-body currents in (H)((-->)e(')p)n using out-of-plane detection.

Measurements of the (2)H((-->)e,e(')p)n reaction were performed with the out-of-plane magnetic spectrometers (OOPS) at the MIT-Bates Linear Accelerator. The longitudinal-transverse, f(LT) and f(')(LT), and the transverse-transverse, f(TT), interference responses at a missing momentum of 210 MeV/c were simultaneously extracted in the dip region at Q2 = 0.15 (GeV/c)(2). In comparison to models of deuteron electrodisintegration, the data clearly reveal strong effects of relativity and final-state interactions and the importance of two-body meson-exchange currents and isobar configurations. We demonstrate that such effects can be disentangled by extracting these responses using the novel out-of-plane technique.

Search for quadrupole strength in the electroexcitation of the delta+(1232).

High-precision 1H(e,e'p)pi(0) measurements at Q2 = 0.126 (GeV/c)2 are reported, which allow the determination of quadrupole amplitudes in the gamma*N-->Delta transition; they simultaneously test the reliability of electroproduction models. The derived quadrupole-to-dipole ( I = 3/2) amplitude ratios, R(SM) = (-6.5+/-0.2(stat+sys)+/-2.5(mod))% and R(EM) = (-2.1+/-0.2(stat+sys)+/-2.0(mod))%, are dominated by model error. Previous R(SM) and R(EM) results should be reconsidered after the model uncertainties associated with the method of their extraction are taken into account.

Public perception of the risk of blood transfusion.

BACKGROUND: Health policymakers are concerned about the proportion of people who say they are unwilling to receive a blood transfusion. This article examines how social, cultural, and political factors affect the perceived risk of transfusions. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Data were collected as part of a large national telephone survey of 1204 people conducted in the United States in 1997 and 1998. The survey elicited images associated with blood transfusions and contained questions about the perceived risk of the blood supply, sensitivity to stigma, world views, trust, and demographics. RESULTS: The results showed that a substantial proportion of people do not consider the US blood supply to be safe and say they would not accept blood if hospitalized. The images evoked most frequently by the stimulus phrase "blood transfusions" were related to AIDS or HIV. The people who tend to perceive the greatest personal and public risk from blood transfusions are female, nonwhite, and less educated, and they have not previously received a transfusion. Sensitivity to stigma, mistrust, one's perceived inability to control hazardous activities and technologies, and fatalistic and egalitarian world views tend to be associated with heightened concern about the risk of blood transfusions. CONCLUSION: Risk perceptions need to be monitored to anticipate and deal with problems of public acceptance. Risk management strategies should be tailored to the specific characteristics of individuals that are important determinants of the perceived risk of transfusions.