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There is an ongoing debate about the treatment of detainees, torture use, and torture efficacy. Missing from this debate, however, is empirical research on the psychology of torture. When and why do people justify the use of tortu...
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There is an ongoing debate about the treatment of detainees, torture use, and torture efficacy. Missing from this debate, however, is empirical research on the psychology of torture. When and why do people justify the use of torture, and what influences torture endorsement? Psychological science has a valuable opportunity to address the applied problem of torture by further investigating when and why people justify its use. Our goals are to (a) contribute to the public debate about torture with empirical arguments, and (b) inform and promote the inclusion of psychological expertise in the development of policy related to torture. With those goals in mind, this article provides an overview of the psychology research on torture to date, and discusses how this research translates to the torture debate and policy-making. Further, we highlight the need for conducting additional empirical research on torture's ineffectiveness, as well as the need for researchers to engage in the public discussion of issues related to torture.
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Several of the most respected policy scholars, including H. Simon, J. W. Kingdon, G. Peters and M. Howlett, have observed a long time ago that decision makers often form their views on policy solutions irrespectively of concrete p...
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Several of the most respected policy scholars, including H. Simon, J. W. Kingdon, G. Peters and M. Howlett, have observed a long time ago that decision makers often form their views on policy solutions irrespectively of concrete policy issues, and that their views on policy means often "chase problems." This proposition labeled in this article as "autonomy of policy instrument attitudes" (APIA) claims that individuals have stable attitudes toward policy instruments that are relatively independent of their perspectives on given policy problems and policy goals. Despite its growing popularity, the APIA literature is fragmented and lacks coherent theoretical framework and review of available empirical evidence. First, APIA is conceptualized in terms of attitudes and differentiated from similar concepts. Second, the core theoretical literature on APIA is summarized with emphasis on its possible explanations. Four distinct individual-level mechanism of APIA is then distinguished: beliefs-based, values-based, heuristics-based and affect-based. The paper concludes with an overview of available empirical evidence and with some recommendations for further research.
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Deterrence lies at the heart of the criminal justice system and policy. There is a lack of information on citizen’s perceptions regarding a critical element of the deterrence process as it manifests through the communication of s...
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Deterrence lies at the heart of the criminal justice system and policy. There is a lack of information on citizen’s perceptions regarding a critical element of the deterrence process as it manifests through the communication of sanction threats. This study uses data from over 400 adults to examine their knowledge regarding the probability of detection and the average punishments for DUI, and also assesses the contribution of demographic and theoretical variables in predicting perceptions of detection probabilities and punishment estimates. Results show that persons over-estimate the likelihood of detection and provide higher estimates for average sentence lengths, but very few variables predict deterrence perceptions. An investigation of the resetting effect shows that persons tend to lower the estimated likelihood of punishment after experiencing a punishment. Deterrence may work better if researchers and policy officials understand what influences these perceptions and how they may be modified.
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Introduction and Aims: The aims of this study were to examine young people's belief in the effectiveness of various alcohol control strategies and to identify demographic, attitudinal and behavioural correlates of perceived effect...
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Introduction and Aims: The aims of this study were to examine young people's belief in the effectiveness of various alcohol control strategies and to identify demographic, attitudinal and behavioural correlates of perceived effectiveness. Design and Methods: An online questionnaire hosted on a secure server was completed by 1418 men and women aged 16-21years living in South-East England. It assessed the perceived effectiveness of various alcohol control strategies. Key correlates included sensation seeking, impulsivity, conscientiousness, alcohol outcome expectancies, drink refusal self-efficacy, perceived peer alcohol use and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test scores. Results: The most effective strategies were perceived to be enforcing responsible service legislation, strictly monitoring late-night licensed premises and teaching alcohol refusal skills. Greater belief in the effectiveness of alcohol control strategies was expressed by older participants, those who consumed less alcohol and those who expected more negative outcomes from alcohol consumption. Discussion and Conclusions: The data suggest that in order to increase the perceived effectiveness of alcohol control strategies, we may need to address young people's beliefs about the negative outcomes of alcohol use. Strategies that young people believe are effective may be easier to implement, but this does not imply that unpopular but effective strategies should not be tried.
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Introduction and Aims Public support for restrictions on late night trading of licensed venues increased substantially between 2001 and 2013, a period with very few policy interventions in Australia. In early 2014 a set of high pr...
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Introduction and Aims Public support for restrictions on late night trading of licensed venues increased substantially between 2001 and 2013, a period with very few policy interventions in Australia. In early 2014 a set of high profile restrictions were introduced in Sydney, New South Wales. In this study, we examine whether these 2014 policy interventions affected public support for late trading restrictions. Design and Methods We use data from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey, focussing especially on the 2013 (n = 23 521) and 2016 (n = 23 425) waves. A series of regression models with interaction terms between socio-demographic variable and year were used to examine how trends in support for late trading policies varied between different population groups. Results Support for late trading restrictions fell substantially between 2013 and 2016-from 2.58 to 2.35 on a 0-4 point scale. In particular, support fell more in New South Wales than in other jurisdictions. Among New South Wales residents, support fell more for middle-aged and older respondents and more for drinkers than non-drinkers. Discussion and Conclusion Support for late trading restrictions fell sharply, especially among those affected in New South Wales. Advocates for public health-oriented alcohol policy restrictions need to pay attention to public support in the aftermath of policy 'wins'.
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People with more political knowledge tend to have more coherent ideologies (Delli Carpini & Keeter, 1996; Judd & Krosnick, 1989; Stimson, 1975; Zaller, 1992). Drawing on prominent theories of attitude structure (e.g., Dinauer & Fink, 2005; Hunter, Levine & Sayers, 1976), we propose an explanation for this relationship, testing whether people who spend time thinking about how political concepts relate to one another are more likely to exhibit ideologically coherent attitudes (Judd & Krosnick, 1989). We find that participants who are instructed to participate in an exercise that requires them to think about how political concepts are related exhibit greater correlations between social- and economic-policy attitudes than nonparticipants and find some evidence that participants’ policy attitudes are more consistent over time. Contrary to expectations, there was no evidence of greater consistency between policy attitudes and underlying values, including party identification....
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People with more political knowledge tend to have more coherent ideologies (Delli Carpini & Keeter, 1996; Judd & Krosnick, 1989; Stimson, 1975; Zaller, 1992). Drawing on prominent theories of attitude structure (e.g., Dinauer & Fink, 2005; Hunter, Levine & Sayers, 1976), we propose an explanation for this relationship, testing whether people who spend time thinking about how political concepts relate to one another are more likely to exhibit ideologically coherent attitudes (Judd & Krosnick, 1989). We find that participants who are instructed to participate in an exercise that requires them to think about how political concepts are related exhibit greater correlations between social- and economic-policy attitudes than nonparticipants and find some evidence that participants’ policy attitudes are more consistent over time. Contrary to expectations, there was no evidence of greater consistency between policy attitudes and underlying values, including party identification.
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Many studies of minority language revitalisation focus on the attitudes and perceptions of minorities, but not on those of majority group members. This paper discusses the implications of this and presents research into majority a...
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Many studies of minority language revitalisation focus on the attitudes and perceptions of minorities, but not on those of majority group members. This paper discusses the implications of this and presents research into majority and minority attitudes towards the endangered indigenous vernacular of Guernsey, Channel Islands. The research uses a multimethod approach (questionnaire and interview) to obtain attitudinal data from a representative sample of the population that includes politicians and civil servants (209 participants). The findings suggest a shift in language ideology away from the post-Second World War 'culture of modernisation' and a monolingual ideal, towards recognition of the value of a bilingual or trilingual linguistic heritage. Public rhetoric in Guernsey now seems to support the maintenance of the indigenous language, which has resulted in a degree of official support. The paper then discusses to what extent this 'attitude shift' is reflected in linguistic behaviour and in concrete language-planning measures.
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Many simulations are undertaken in hopes of forming or changing the beliefs and policies of policy makers. A simulation used for this purpose becomes a rhetorical device, a tool of social influence. The authors review some of the ...
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Many simulations are undertaken in hopes of forming or changing the beliefs and policies of policy makers. A simulation used for this purpose becomes a rhetorical device, a tool of social influence. The authors review some of the important principles of attitude change incorporated in modern rhetoric and show how they might be employed to increase the influence of simulations in policy-making processes.
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Background: How cannabis cultivation is dealt with under various examples of cannabis legalization or regulation is an important consideration in design of such schemes. This study aimed to (i) investigate support among current or...
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Background: How cannabis cultivation is dealt with under various examples of cannabis legalization or regulation is an important consideration in design of such schemes. This study aimed to (i) investigate support among current or recent cannabis growers, for various potential policy options for cannabis cultivation if prohibition were repealed, and (ii) explore the support for these options across countries, scale of growing operations, demographics, drug use and cannabis supply involvement variables.
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Research on policy support or public acceptability of climate change policies is proliferating. There is, however, a great diversity in how these evaluative responses have been defined, operationalized, and measured across studies...
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Research on policy support or public acceptability of climate change policies is proliferating. There is, however, a great diversity in how these evaluative responses have been defined, operationalized, and measured across studies. In order to shed some light on this subject, we reviewed 118 studies published over the last 15 years aiming at measurement of policy acceptability, acceptance, support, and other responses to climate change mitigation policies. We found that conceptual vagueness and weak theoretical embedding are pervasive in the field, which leads to uncertainty over what is being measured, ambiguity of policy recommendations, and difficulties in comparing empirical results. In response, we propose a construct of policy attitudes as an overarching concept comprising the diversity of measures and constructs already in use. The purpose of the construct is to serve as a common basis for operationalization and survey design. In order to inform policy makers, researchers should be clear in how they formulate surveys with a focus on questions of importance to research and policy-making. Key policy insights Acceptability, acceptance, and support are defined as distinct and possibly empirically distinguishable classes of responses evaluating a policy proposal. These responses are expressions of underlying policy attitudes. People may respond to policies in other ways as well, including lack of interest. There is no popularity threshold for a policy to be safe to implement, but instead it is a matter of identifying the conditions of policy support or other responses. Results obtained using different measures of mitigation policy attitudes vary widely with respect to the characteristics of the policy in question and the measured response. Thus, great care must be taken when designing surveys and interpreting their results.
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