Psych Central News
Humans Turn to Science in Times of Stress
In fact, Oxford University psychologists researchers argue that a ‘belief in science’ may help non-religious people deal with adversity by offering comfort and reassurance – a similar benefit reported previously for religious belief.
‘We found that being in a more stressful or anxiety-inducing situation increased participants’ “belief in science,”‘ says Dr. Miguel Farias.
‘This belief in science we looked at says nothing of the legitimacy of science itself. Rather we were interested in the values individuals hold about science.”
He explains: ‘While most people accept science as a reliable source of knowledge about the world, some may hold science as a superior method for gathering knowledge, the only way to explain the world, or as having some unique and fundamental value in itself. This is a view of science that some atheists endorse.”
Researchers are quick to point out that investigating a belief in science is a separate task from proving the value of science as a method.
Study authors comment that drawing a parallel between the psychological benefits of religious faith and belief in science doesn’t necessarily mean that scientific practice and religion are also similar in their basis.
Instead, the researchers suggest that their findings may highlight a basic human motivation to believe.
‘It’s not just believing in God that is important for gaining these psychological benefits, it is belief in general,’ said Farias. ‘It may be that we as humans are just prone to have belief, and even atheists will hold non-supernatural beliefs that are reassuring and comforting.’
Study findings are reported in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
Experts note that previous studies have suggested that a religious belief helps individuals cope with stress and anxiety. The Oxford University group wondered if this was specific to religious belief, or was a more general function of holding belief.
The researchers developed a scale measuring a ‘belief in science’ in which people are asked how much they agree or disagree with a series of 10 statements, including:
- “Science tells us everything there is to know about what reality consists of.”
- “All the tasks human beings face are soluble by science.”
- “The scientific method is the only reliable path to knowledge.”
This scale was used first with a group of 100 rowers, of whom 52 were about to compete in a rowing regatta and the other 48 were about to do a normal training session. Those about to row in competition would be expected to be at a higher stress level.
Those who were competing in the regatta returned scores showing greater belief in science than those in the training group. The difference was statistically significant.
Both groups of rowers reported a low degree of commitment to religion and as expected, those rowers about to compete did say they were experiencing more stress.
In a second experiment, a different set of 60 people were randomly assigned to two groups. One group was asked to write about the feelings aroused by thinking about their own death, while the other was asked to write about dental pain. A number of studies have used an exercise on thinking about your own death to induce a certain amount of ‘existential anxiety.”
The participants who had been asked to think about their own death scored higher in the belief in science scale.
Study authors say their findings are consistent with the idea that belief in science increases when secular individuals are placed in threatening situations. They go on to suggest that a belief in science may help non-religious people deal with adverse conditions.
Farias acknowledged, however, that they have only shown this in one direction – that stress or anxiety increases belief in science.
Researchers believe additional studies are indicated to examine whether affirming a belief in science might then reduce subsequent experience of stress or anxiety.
Source: University of Oxford
Abstract of science photo by shutterstock.
Facebook Helps First-Generation College Students
Researchers from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University discovered the powerful benefit of Facebook as applied to first-generation college students.
“We are very excited by these findings, because they suggest that the kinds of interactions supported by Facebook and other social media can play a role in helping young people, especially those who are traditionally less likely to go to college, feel more confident about their ability to get into college and to succeed there,” said Nicole Ellison, Ph.D., associate professor at the U-M School of Information.
Ellison says the social network helps first-generation applicants because they might not come into daily contact with people who support their interest in college or who can answer questions about it.
“Our message to high school students is that even if they are disadvantaged in terms of financial resources or parental support, social media can help them access resources they may already have in their extended social networks,” said D. Yvette Wohn.
In the study, researchers surveyed more than 500 high school students in lower-income Muskegon County, Mich.
They used statistical models to examine how various factors were correlated with the students’ confidence in their ability to apply to college and their expectations of success there.
The factors they examined include demographics, family history of college attendance, parents’ community involvement, and both informational and emotional support by parents, friends and Facebook connections.
Next, the survey gauged how well the students understood the college application process.
To do this, the survey asked participants about social media use and to rate how strongly they agreed or disagreed with four statements such as: “I know how to apply for financial aid” and “I know what I need to include in a college application.” Of the sample, 12 percent had used social media to get information about how to apply to school.
The researchers found that after controlling for all other factors, first-generation students who “strongly agreed” that they used social media in this way felt 1.8 times more confident about their understanding of the application process, compared with students who did not use social media for this type of information.
This correlation didn’t hold true for students whose parents had graduated from college.
To see how well the participants expected to do in school, the researchers had them rate on a scale from 1 for “strongly disagree” to 5 for “strongly agree,” statements such as “I am confident that I will fit in socially in college” and “I am confident that I am able to successfully graduate from college.”
Overall, first-generation students reported much lower expectations, with a mean score of 2.84, compared with 4.01 for the others.
Seventy percent of all students had a Facebook friend who either was in college or had gone and could answer questions about it.
The researchers found that all else being equal, first-generation students who strongly agreed that they had this type of Facebook connection were 2.3 times more confident in their ability to succeed in school, compared with their peers who had no Facebook friend they could talk about college with.
Researchers say more study is needed to figure out why these correlations exist – but they have some initial ideas.
“We think social media may demystify the college experience, because kids are able to see how others like them experience the process,” Ellison said. “Also, sites like Facebook make it easier to ask questions of one’s network.”
The researchers urge guidance counselors and administrators to explore new ways to help juniors and seniors navigate their next steps through social media. Perhaps they could offer application help through Facebook.
Ellison and colleagues from the University of Oxford and MSU are developing a Facebook app designed to help students identify people in their networks who might be good sources of information and support about college. They plan to launch it later this summer.
In this study, the team only examined students’ perceptions. The researchers are currently studying how students use social media to seek information about college as well as factors related to actual enrollment.
The study recently was published in the journal Computers and Education.
Source: University of Michigan
Facebook on computer photo by shutterstock.
Food Advertising on TV Linked to Junk Food
University of Michigan researchers compared households watching commercial-free digital TV or other media without food advertising, to those that watched television with commercials.
For the study, Kristen Harrison and Mericarmen Peralta interviewed over 100 parents about a wide variety of home and family characteristics, including child and parent media exposure and child dietary intake.
They conducted separate interviews with children in preschools to get a sense of what children thought made up a healthy meal.
The goal was to see how family characteristics were associated with children’s dietary intake and perceptions of healthy meals.
Using food security as a marker, Harrison found that the media-junk food link is very strong among food-secure people, and almost zero among food-insecure people.
Since food insecurity is associated with limited income, it sets limits on how much people can spend on junk food.
Food-secure people, on the other hand, can afford to give in to cravings when watching food advertising. People in this category were more likely to consume junk food, and their children had distorted views on what constitutes a healthy meal.
Prior research has shown an association between childhood TV and obesity. However, research is limited on the influence of television on preschool diets and healthy meals.
Until now, researchers have combined commercial TV with digitally recorded TV, prohibiting comparisons of media influence on diet. Harrison and Peralta’s research aimed to address these less-studied topics to get a better sense of what children are learning about eating before they begin to make their own food choices.
“Even though parents and other caregivers are the primary gatekeepers regarding young children’s food intake, children are still learning about food as it relates to health from family, media, and other sources, and may use this knowledge later on to inform their decisions when parents or other adults aren’t there to supervise them,” Harrison said.
“The preschool years are especially important, because the adiposity rebound in kids who grow up to be normal weight tends to be around age 5 or 6, whereas for kids to grow up to be obese, it happens closer to 3.
“We need to know as much as we can about the factors that encourage obesogenic eating during the preschool years, even if that eating doesn’t manifest as obesity until the child is older.”
Source: International Communication Association
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