Irrational Beliefs

The translation and psychometrics Persian version of irrational food belief scale

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to translate into the Irrational Food Belief Scale proposed by Osberg into the Persian language and determine the psychometric properties of in Iranian culture.

METHODS

Osberg's 57-item scale was translated into Persian by using the forward-backward method. The scale's validity was examined using face validity, content validity, and construct validity (exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis). Its reliability was assessed with Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's Omega coefficient. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis was performed by SPSS 28 (500 subjects) and also by AMOS 26 (500 subjects). The participants completed the demographic questionnaire and the Irrational Food Belief Scale (IFBS) over the Internet.

RESULTS

After translation into Persian, the validity of the scale was determined by impact score, quantitative and qualitative face validity (modification of 10 items) and qualitative content validity (modification of 8 items), and quantitative content validity (CVR, CVI and Kappa coefficient), which were greater than 0.46, 0.86, and 0.85, respectively. In exploratory factor analysis, 30 items were removed and the remaining 27 items were loaded on five factors, including behavioral and psychological aspects, nutritional attitudes, healthy eating, controlled eating, and diet, which described 30.95% of the total variance. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the 5-factor model was the best fitting model to explain the data.

CONCLUSION

Considering the need for a tool about in irrational food beliefs, this tool was unable to explain all these dimensions well. It is recommended to create a new questionnaire for the Iranian culture.

Life and Death Sometimes Coincide, and Pastoral Response is Crucial to the Brokenhearted

Perinatal loss may remain unexplained, despite current technology, modern preventive care measures, and advanced diagnostic procedures. Culturally sensitive and competent discussions should be prioritized in medicine, but religious and spiritual feelings are often marginalized. Here we highlight our reflections on the importance of the spiritual and theological responses to parents grieving stillbirth. Chaplains are critical for the wellbeing of both families and physicians.

The Relationship Between Paranormal Beliefs, Social Efficacy and Social Outcome Expectations in Muslim Society: The Case of Turkey

This study was conducted to determine the effects of religious and classical paranormal beliefs on social efficacy and social outcome expectations. The study was conducted with 340 individuals between March 1, 2021, and April 2, 2021. The data were collected using the Personal Information Form, the Paranormal Belief Scale and the Social Efficacy and Social Outcome Expectations Scale. Statistically significant positive correlations were found among traditional religious beliefs, classical paranormal beliefs, spiritualism, witchcraft, social efficacy expectations and social outcome expectations. It was concluded that traditional religious beliefs may be effective in improving the social acceptance of individuals, and believing in a common religious/cultural supreme entity unites individuals.

Rational and Irrational Beliefs in Understanding Academic Procrastination

Recently, along with the advancement of academic procrastination research, scholars have made tremendous efforts to understand different aspects of this construct, including its different forms, causes, correlated variables and consequences. Previous studies have noted that irrational beliefs were associated with procrastination, yet limited research has been conducted on this issue, particularly considering different forms of academic procrastination. The present study achieved two goals: a validation of the Rational and Irrational Beliefs on Procrastination (RIBP) scale and a test of the potential explanatory role of such beliefs in different forms of procrastination. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the validity of the two-factor RIBP scale. Hierarchical linear models were performed on each form of procrastination score in males and females separately. The two forms of procrastination exhibited different relation patterns to rational/irrational beliefs in different gender groups. Implications of the findings were discussed.

Irrational beliefs differentially predict adherence to guidelines and pseudoscientific practices during the COVID-19 pandemic

In the coronavirus "infodemic," people are exposed to official recommendations but also to potentially dangerous pseudoscientific advice claimed to protect against COVID-19. We examined whether irrational beliefs predict adherence to COVID-19 guidelines as well as susceptibility to such misinformation. Irrational beliefs were indexed by belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories, COVID-19 knowledge overestimation, type I error cognitive biases, and cognitive intuition. Participants (N = 407) reported (1) how often they followed guidelines (e.g., handwashing, physical distancing), (2) how often they engaged in pseudoscientific practices (e.g., consuming garlic, colloidal silver), and (3) their intention to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Conspiratorial beliefs predicted all three outcomes in line with our expectations. Cognitive intuition and knowledge overestimation predicted lesser adherence to guidelines, while cognitive biases predicted greater adherence, but also greater use of pseudoscientific practices. Our results suggest an important relation between irrational beliefs and health behaviors, with conspiracy theories being the most detrimental.