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Socioecological models of bystander intervention suggest that a complex decision-making process is required for a prosocial bystander to intervene, starting with intrapersonal variables of cognition and personality. This study investigates how rape myth acceptance, personality, and just world beliefs impact the frequency of positive bystander intention. The study's sample size consisted of 139 college students. Participants completed an online survey in which they read a vignette and indicated whether they would intervene as a bystander at 25 different instances throughout the vignette. Correlational analyses showed that agreeableness and openness were positively associated with prosocial bystander behavioral intention. A multiple regression analysis found only the belief that the world was a safe and good place was predictive of prosocial bystander behavioral intention. The results suggest that bystander intervention education programs should be revised to address just world beliefs.

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BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred the growth of a global infodemic. In order to combat the COVID-19 infodemic, it is necessary to understand what kinds of misinformation are spreading. Furthermore, various local factors influence how the infodemic manifests in different countries. Therefore, understanding how and why infodemics differ between countries is a matter of interest for public health. This study aims to elucidate and compare the types of COVID-19 misinformation produced from the infodemic in the US and Japan. METHODS: COVID-19 fact-checking articles were obtained from the two largest publishers of fact-checking articles in each language. 1,743 US articles and 148 Japanese articles in their respective languages were gathered, with articles published between 23 January 2020 and 4 November 2022. Articles were analyzed using the free text mining software KH Coder. Exploration of frequently-occurring words and groups of related words was carried out. Based on agglomeration plots and prior research, eight categories of misinformation were created. Lastly, coding rules were created for these eight categories, and a chi-squared test was performed to compare the two datasets. RESULTS: Overall, the most frequent words in both languages were related to health-related terms, but the Japan dataset had more words referring to foreign countries. Among the eight categories, differences with chi-squared p ≤ 0.01 were found after Holm-Bonferroni p value adjustment for the proportions of misinformation regarding statistics (US 40.0% vs. JP 25.7%, ϕ 0.0792); origin of the virus and resultant discrimination (US 7.0% vs. JP 20.3%, ϕ 0.1311); and COVID-19 disease severity, treatment, or testing (US 32.6% vs. JP 45.9%, ϕ 0.0756). CONCLUSIONS: Local contextual factors were found that likely influenced the infodemic in both countries; representations of these factors include societal polarization in the US and the HPV vaccine scare in Japan. It is possible that Japan's relative resistance to misinformation affects the kinds of misinformation consumed, directing attention away from conspiracy theories and towards health-related issues. However, more studies need to be done to verify whether misinformation resistance affects misinformation consumption patterns this way.

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The rapid dissemination of misinformation on the internet complicates the decision-making process for individuals seeking reliable information, particularly parents researching child development topics. This misinformation can lead to adverse consequences, such as inappropriate treatment of children based on myths. While previous research has utilized text-mining techniques to predict child abuse cases, there has been a gap in the analysis of child development myths and facts. This study addresses this gap by applying text mining techniques and classification models to distinguish between myths and facts about child development, leveraging newly gathered data from publicly available websites. The research methodology involved several stages. First, text mining techniques were employed to pre-process the data, ensuring enhanced accuracy. Subsequently, the structured data was analysed using six robust Machine Learning (ML) classifiers and one Deep Learning (DL) model, with two feature extraction techniques applied to assess their performance across three different training-testing splits. To ensure the reliability of the results, cross-validation was performed using both k-fold and leave-one-out methods. Among the classification models tested, Logistic Regression (LR) demonstrated the highest accuracy, achieving a 90 % accuracy with the Bag-of-Words (BoW) feature extraction technique. LR stands out for its exceptional speed and efficiency, maintaining low testing time per statement (0.97 µs). These findings suggest that LR, when combined with BoW, is effective in accurately classifying child development information, thus providing a valuable tool for combating misinformation and assisting parents in making informed decisions.

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The relationships among pornography use, sexist ideology and false or stereotypical ideas about rape are controversial. This study specifically examines the associations of problematic pornography use (PPU) with sexism and rape myth acceptance among both male and female participants within the Italian context utilizing a cross-sectional methodology. Based on data from 815 participants collected through an online questionnaire, the study identifies significant gender-based differences, with men typically exhibiting higher scores on sexism, rape myth acceptance, and token resistance beliefs. Correlation analysis revealed that in men, there was a positive relationship between pornography cravings and sexist beliefs but not between pornography cravings and minimizing rape or accusations of lying (rape myth). Women showed significant positive correlations across all problematic pornography use dimensions with sexist ideology, although the relationship with rape myth acceptance varied. These findings underscore the critical need for acknowledging these relationships to enhance strategies for preventing gender-based violence.

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Deliberate and effortful attempts to gaze at the bodies of women is emerging as a valuable marker of sexual objectification in men. Some preliminary evidence suggests that pervasive body gaze behavior may also accompany insidious attitudes which can facilitate sexual assault. The present study aimed to further explore this potential by examining pervasive body gaze associations with explicit, implicit, and physiological sexual assault propensity measures. We presented 110 heterosexual male participants with images of fully and partially dressed women with and without injuries while measuring their skin conductance responses. We also captured implicit and explicit sexual assault measures in addition to self-reported pervasive body gaze behavior. Pervasive body gaze behavior was significantly correlated with rape myth acceptance attitudes, prior perpetration of sexual assault, a stronger implicit association between erotica and aggression, and lower physiological reactivity during exposure to partially dressed injured women. These findings suggest that body gaze towards women could be a behavioral marker for inclinations to victim blame, preferences for rough sexual conduct, and a physiological desensitization towards female victims. This study further validates a five item self-reported body gaze measure as a valuable tool for detecting deviant sexual objectification attitudes and affective states. As such, measurement and observation of body gaze behavior could be useful for developing risk assessments, estimating intervention efficacy, and enhancing public awareness.

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This contribution considers a monthly seminar, Literature and Psychoanalysis, that has been taking place at Sofia University (Sofia, Bulgaria) since 2017. Three of the seminar's founders reflect on the transferences between literature and psychoanalysis, and on the ways in which literature and psychoanalysis can meaningfully converse. The exchange also touches on the fate of Freud's textual legacy in communist and post-communist Bulgaria.

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Rape myth acceptance (RMA) is the acceptance of false beliefs, stereotypes, and statements about rape victims, perpetrators, and the act itself. RMA positively predicts shame felt by victims and negatively predicts reports of sexual victimization. Knowledge about sexual violence changes over time; accordingly, psychometric scales measuring RMA should be updated. Hahnel-Peeters and Goetz developed the Rape Excusing Attitudes and Language (REAL) scale by updating the Illinois RMA Scale-a major instrument used in the United States. However, the REAL scale is not available in Japanese. Therefore, we developed and validated a Japanese version of the REAL scale, evaluated RMA in Japanese individuals (N = 1,000), and compared the Japanese participants' RMA levels with the mean participant scores from Hahnel-Peeters and Goetz. In collaboration with one of the original authors, the Japanese version was developed through a back-translation process and administered to 1,000 men and women aged between 18 and 65; exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on the data collected. The confirmatory factor analysis showed that the Japanese version moderately fitted the 4-factor structure of the original REAL scale. However, a 2-factor form obtained in the exploratory factor analysis best fit the data. Consistent with the original version, the Japanese version showed higher RMA in men than in women. The young generation (18-29 years old) self-reported higher RMA than other generations. Japan's RMA was significantly higher than that of the U.S. sample. The Japanese version of the REAL scale can be used in future studies to assess RMA in Japanese individuals and develop suitable educational programs to reduce RMA.

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Rape myths-false but widely held beliefs that serve to deny and justify sexual aggression-present a major barrier to reporting and prevention of sexual violence in Vietnam and globally. Based on a parent study aimed at reducing sexual violence at two universities in Hanoi, we developed and assessed a contextualized measure of rape myths among young people in Vietnam. Items from previously validated rape myth acceptance (RMA) scales and data from qualitative research informed the development of 50 items, which were administered to Vietnamese 18-24-year-olds (n = 2,756 total, n = 1,798 cisgender women) via an anonymous link in February 2021. We used factor analysis to explore and test factor structure and multi-group factor analysis to assess measurement equivalence across gender. We calculated item-level discrimination and difficulty parameters and visualized information curves using item response theory analysis, informing the development of a short form. Four hypothesized subconstructs identified in the qualitative data emerged as factors: (1) "He didn't mean to"; (2) "She asked for it"; (3) "It wasn't really rape"; and (4) "Rape is a deviant event." A fifth factor, "She didn't protect herself," included four items from formative data. Confirming formative findings and prior literature, cisgender women had lower RMA than cisgender men, particularly on items related to victim-blaming. The Vietnamese Rape Myths Acceptance Scales were internally consistent and equivalent between cisgender men and women, capturing elements specific to the Vietnamese context and providing a tool for campus climate surveys and evaluations of sexual violence prevention programs.

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Understanding and acting upon risk is notably challenging, and navigating complexity with understandings developed for stable environments may inadvertently build a false sense of safety. Neglecting the potential for non-linear change or "black swan" events - highly impactful but uncommon occurrences - may lead to naive optimisation under assumed stability, exposing systems to extreme risks. For instance, loss aversion is seen as a cognitive bias in stable environments, but it can be an evolutionarily advantageous heuristic when complete destruction is possible. This paper advocates for better accounting of non-linear change in decision-making by leveraging insights from complex systems and psychological sciences, which help to identify blindspots in conventional decision-making and to develop risk mitigation plans that are interpreted contextually. In particular, we propose a framework using attractor landscapes to visualize and interpret complex system dynamics. In this context, attractors are states toward which systems naturally evolve, while tipping points - critical thresholds between attractors - can lead to profound, unexpected changes impacting a system's resilience and well-being. We present four generic attractor landscape types that provide a novel lens for viewing risks and opportunities, and serve as decision-making contexts. The main practical contribution is clarifying when to emphasize particular strategies - optimisation, risk mitigation, exploration, or stabilization - within this framework. Context-appropriate decision making should enhance system resilience and mitigate extreme risks.

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El objetivo de la investigación fue estudiar la presencia de ciber violencia contra la pareja en estudiantes universitarios de España y Latinoamérica, así como como analizar su relación con los mitos románticos y el sexismo ambivalente. La investigación tiene un diseño transversal. La muestra estaba formada por 2.798 estudiantes de siete países hispanohablantes: España, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Colombia, Chile, Argentina y México. Los resultados muestran pocas diferencias de medias entre hombres y mujeres; sin embargo, las diferencias entre países son considerables, sobre todo en la perpetración de agresiones directas y control. Las distintas formas de ciber violencia contra la pareja tienden a correlacionar, en una dirección positiva, con las actitudes sexistas y las creencias distorsionadas sobre el amor romántico. En conclusión, los programas de prevención deberían tener en cuenta las nuevas manifestaciones de la violencia que están apareciendo en los espacios virtuales.(AU)

The objective of the research was to study the presence of cyber violenceagainst partners in university students in Spain and Latin America, as well as toanalyze its relationship with romantic myths and ambivalent sexism. The researchhas a cross-sectional design. The sample was made up of 2,798 students fromseven Spanish-speaking countries: Spain, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Colombia, Chile,Argentina, and Mexico. The results show few differences in means between menand women; However, the differences between countries are considerable,especially in the perpetration of direct attacks and control. The different forms ofcyber violence against a partner tend to correlate, in a positive direction, with sexistattitudes and distorted beliefs about romantic love. In conclusion, preventionprograms should take into account the new manifestations of violence that areappearing in virtual spaces.(AU)

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Objective: Using a psychosociocultural framework, the study explored the relationship between Indian American undergraduates' internalized attitudes of the model minority myth (MMM) and their attitudes toward seeking mental health services. Participants: A total of 205 undergraduates (108 females, 96 males, 1 non-binary) who were primarily upper division students (77 lower division [first years/sophomores] and 128 upper division [juniors/seniors]) from across the U.S. participated in this study. Method: Students completed an online study of five standardized scales. Results: Hierarchical regression analysis indicated the psychological, social, and cultural constructs collectively accounted toward attitudes toward seeking mental health services. MMM internalization and environmental factors also acted as mediating variables toward different help seeking subscales. Conclusions: The study's findings deepen the understanding of Indian American attitudes toward seeking mental health services, with directives for future research and student services discussed.

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BACKGROUND: Undernutrition is a crucial cause of morbidity and mortality among children in low- or middle-income countries (LMICs). A better understanding of maternal general healthy nutrition knowledge, as well as misbeliefs, is highly essential, especially in such settings. In the current era of infodemics, it is very strenuous for mothers to select not only the right source for maternal nutrition information but the correct information as well. AIM: To assess maternal healthy nutritional knowledge and nutrition-related misbeliefs and misinformation in an LMIC, and to determine the sources of such information and their assessment methods. METHODS: This cross-sectional analytical observational study enrolled 5148 randomly selected Egyptian mothers who had one or more children less than 15 years old. The data were collected through online questionnaire forms: One was for the general nutrition knowledge assessment, and the other was for the nutritional myth score. Sources of information and ways of evaluating internet sources using the Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose test were additionally analyzed. RESULTS: The mean general nutrition knowledge score was 29 ± 9, with a percent score of 70.8% ± 12.1% (total score: 41). The median myth score was 9 (interquartile range: 6, 12; total score: 18). The primary sources of nutrition knowledge for the enrolled mothers were social media platforms (55%). Half of the mothers managed information for currency and authority, except for considering the author's contact information. More than 60% regularly checked information for accuracy and purpose. The mothers with significant nutrition knowledge checked periodically for the author's contact information (P = 0.012). The nutrition myth score was significantly lower among mothers who periodically checked the evidence of the information (P = 0.016). Mothers dependent on their healthcare providers as the primary source of their general nutritional knowledge were less likely to hold myths by 13% (P = 0.044). However, using social media increased the likelihood of having myths among mothers by approximately 1.2 (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Social media platforms were found to be the primary source of maternal nutrition information in the current era of infodemics. However, healthcare providers were the only source for decreasing the incidence of maternal myths among the surveyed mothers.

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This research examined the effect of belief in feminist conspiracy theories and sexist ideology on endorsing rape myths. Study 1 (N = 201) uncovered that the relationship between feminist conspiracy beliefs and rape myth acceptance was conditional on higher levels of hostile sexism. Study 2 (N = 552) demonstrated that for those with higher hostile sexism, exposure to feminist conspiracy theories (vs. control) increased feminist conspiracy beliefs, which were then associated with rape myths. The current research suggests that the link between feminist conspiracy beliefs and rape myths could result from such beliefs upholding a hostile sexist view of women.

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Rape-related cognitions (typically defined as encompassing any number of cognitive constructs) are thought to play a role in sexual aggression. However, rape-related cognition scales often assess these cognitive constructs as one. The purpose of this study is to explore the factor structure of these measures using a sample of 191 community men. We found that items from the Rape Myth Acceptance, RAPE, and Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance (IRMA) scales formed one factor, which was significantly related to sexual aggression. We further found that four and six IRMA subscales were significantly related to past and likelihood of sexual aggression, respectively. Additionally, one IRMA subscale was independently related to past and likelihood of sexual aggression. The results are discussed in terms of implications and direction for future research.

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BACKGROUND: Hypnotherapy continues to be a controversial practice in medicine. It is surrounded by myth and misuses that instill doubts about its legitimacy and usefulness. PURPOSE: In this paper, we will distinguish pseudoscientific claims from evidence-based uses of hypnotherapy. RESULTS: The use and acceptability of hypnotherapy has varied over history. Pseudoscientific uses, based on outdated theories that it can access the unconscious mind, have delegitimized hypnotherapy. Modern theories that hypnosis uses common social, emotional, and cognitive processes combined with evidence-based methods have re-established the use of hypnotherapy in many physical and mental health disorders and symptoms. Currently it is a widely accepted and recommended treatment for irritable bowel syndrome, with evidence building for many other applications. CONCLUSION: Hypnotherapy, as a pseudoscience, can become unethical and cause distress for the patient and their families. Hypnotherapy, as an evidence-based treatment, can be used as a powerful tool to treat physical and psychological symptoms related to medical ailments.

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Approximately one in five college women experience a sexual assault (SA), though a meaningful percentage of survivors do not acknowledge or label their experience as such. Research indicates that acknowledgment status is often influenced by how closely SA incidents align with the "real rape" script and degree of survivor rape myth acceptance (RMA). However, studies evaluating acknowledgment paired with other attitudes and health outcomes among survivors is sparse. The current study examined the relation between acknowledgment status, RMA, weight-related constructs, and psychological well-being among three groups of college women (N = 584): non-survivors, unacknowledged survivors, and acknowledged survivors. Findings indicate that, among survivors, acknowledged compared to unacknowledged SA is significantly associated with diminished body appreciation, self-esteem, and increased internalized weight bias, though no differences in psychological distress were found.

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Transmission of rape myths is expected in every culture, yet limited research exists on rape myth acceptance (RMA) within global South Asian (SA) diasporas. We examined whether gender, attitudes toward gender roles, and patriarchal beliefs contributed to RMA among young SA adults in Canada. An ethnically diverse sample of 116 (ages 17-25) students, comprising equal numbers of men and women and domestic and international students, completed an online survey. SA students were generally egalitarian with low RMA similar to the majority of North American samples. As predicted, male gender, traditional attitudes towards SA women, and patriarchal beliefs were strong predictors of RMA.

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One of the most remarkable manifestations of social cohesion in large-scale entities is the belief in a shared, distinct and ancestral past. Human communities around the world take pride in their ancestral roots, commemorate their long history of shared experiences, and celebrate the distinctiveness of their historical trajectory. Why do humans put so much effort into celebrating a long-gone past? Integrating insights from evolutionary psychology, social psychology, evolutionary anthropology, political science, cultural history and political economy, we show that the cultural success of historical myths is driven by a specific adaptive challenge for humans: the need to recruit coalitional support to engage in large scale collective action and prevail in conflicts. By showcasing a long history of cooperation and shared experiences, these myths serve as super-stimuli, activating specific features of social cognition and drawing attention to cues of fitness interdependence. In this account, historical myths can spread within a population without requiring group-level selection, as long as individuals have a vested interest in their propagation and strong psychological motivations to create them. Finally, this framework explains, not only the design-features of historical myths, but also important patterns in their cross-cultural prevalence, inter-individual distribution, and particular content.

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Introduction: Breastfeeding myths are culturally ingrained misconceptions related to breastfeeding and adversely affect the breastfeeding process. The objective of this study is to develop the Breastfeeding Myths Scale. Methods: This methodological study was conducted with a total of 413 participants. In the first phase, exploratory factor analysis was employed, followed by confirmatory factor analysis in the second phase. Furthermore, a test-retest was conducted to assess the reliability of the scale scores. Results: As a result of psychometric analyses, the single-dimensional 30-item Breastfeeding Myths Scale was deemed a valid and reliable instrument. The Cronbach's alpha value of the scale was established at 0.91, and the test-retest reliability at 0.90. According to the results of the receiver operating characteristic analysis, the optimal cutoff point was determined to be 119.50, with a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 53%. Conclusions: Breastfeeding Myths Scale was deemed significant for identifying the prevalence of breastfeeding myths. Utilization of the Breastfeeding Myths Scale is recommended for future research endeavors and individual clinical assessments.

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OBJECTIVE: Prior research has rarely focused on sexual motives (e.g., motives for having sex) when studying sexual violence perpetration prevention. The current study examined the role of sexual motives alongside other risk factors like alcohol expectancies in predicting sexual violence. METHOD: We analyzed data from 205 male college students; 36% reported sexual perpetration of some type. Participants completed a series of questionnaires in a randomized order, including: measures of prior sexual perpetration, sexual motives, rape myth acceptance, alcohol expectancies, and a measure of social desirability. Data were analyzed using a series of T-tests and logistic regressions. RESULTS: With one exception (coping motives), all sexual motives (intimacy, enhancement, self-affirmation, peer approval, and partner approval) were endorsed at higher levels by individuals who perpetrated sexual violence than those who did not (p < .05, Cohen's d = .25-.56). The partner approval motive significantly predicted sexual violence perpetration on its own. The enhancement motive, both independently and in interaction with alcohol expectancies for aggression, predicted sexual violence perpetration. Two other motives, intimacy and self-affirmation, were only significant in interaction with alcohol expectancies for aggression. CONCLUSION: All sexual motives were endorsed more frequently by those who perpetrated sexual violence than those who did not. Sexual motives had a complex interaction with alcohol expectancies in predicting sexual violence perpetration. The results suggest that intervention programs should emphasize healthy, consensual sexual relationships that do not involve alcohol.

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