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The Cynical Genius Illusion: Exploring and Debunking Lay Beliefs About Cynicism and Competence.

ABSTRACT: Cynicism refers to a negative appraisal of human nature-a belief that self-interest is the ultimate motive guiding human behavior. We explored laypersons' beliefs about cynicism and competence and to what extent these beliefs correspond to reality. Four studies showed that laypeople tend to believe in cynical individuals' cognitive superiority. A further three studies based on the data of about 200,000 individuals from 30 countries debunked these lay beliefs as illusionary by revealing that cynical (vs. less cynical) individuals generally do worse on cognitive ability and academic competency tasks. Cross-cultural analyses showed that competent individuals held contingent attitudes and endorsed cynicism only if it was warranted in a given sociocultural environment. Less competent individuals embraced cynicism unconditionally, suggesting that-at low levels of competence-holding a cynical worldview might represent an adaptive default strategy to avoid the potential costs of falling prey to others' cunning.

SUBMITTER: Stavrova O

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6328999 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The Cynical Genius Illusion: Exploring and Debunking Lay Beliefs About Cynicism and Competence.

Stavrova Olga O Ehlebracht Daniel D

Personality & social psychology bulletin 20180711 2

Cynicism refers to a negative appraisal of human nature-a belief that self-interest is the ultimate motive guiding human behavior. We explored laypersons' beliefs about cynicism and competence and to what extent these beliefs correspond to reality. Four studies showed that laypeople tend to believe in cynical individuals' cognitive superiority. A further three studies based on the data of about 200,000 individuals from 30 countries debunked these lay beliefs as illusionary by revealing that cyni ...[more]

PMID: 29993325

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Project description:BackgroundHypertension is a major health risk factor for mortality globally, resulting in about 13% of deaths worldwide. In Nigeria, the high burden of hypertension remains an issue for urgent attention. The control of hypertension, among other factors, is strongly determined by personal beliefs about the illness and recommended treatment.ObjectiveThe aim of this review is to systematically synthesize available data from all types of studies on beliefs of the Nigerian populace about hypertension.MethodsWe searched the following electronic databases; Medline, EMBase, PsycInfo, AMED from their inception till date for all relevant articles. A modified Kleinman's explanatory model for hypertension was used as a framework for extraction of data on beliefs about hypertension.ResultsThe search yielded a total of 3,794 hits from which 16 relevant studies (2 qualitative, 11 quantitative and 3 mixed methods studies) met the inclusion criteria for the review. Overall, most health care providers (HCPs) believe that stress is a major cause of hypertension. Furthermore, reported cut-off point for uncomplicated hypertension differed widely among HCPs. Lay Health Care Providers such as Patent Medicine Vendors' beliefs about hypertension seem to be relatively similar to health care professionals in areas of risk factors for hypertension, course of hypertension and methods of treatment. Among Lay persons, misconception about hypertension was quite high. Although some Nigerians believed that life style habits such as alcohol intake, exercise levels, cigarette smoking were risk factors for developing hypertension, there was discordance between belief and practice of control of risk factors. However, beliefs across numerous ethnic groups and settings (urban/rural) in Nigeria have not been explored.ConclusionIn order to achieve control of hypertension in Nigeria, interventions should be informed, among other factors, by adequate knowledge of beliefs regarding hypertension across the numerous ethnic groups in Nigeria, settings (rural/urban), age and sex.

Dataset Information

The Cynical Genius Illusion: Exploring and Debunking Lay Beliefs About Cynicism and Competence.

Publications

The Cynical Genius Illusion: Exploring and Debunking Lay Beliefs About Cynicism and Competence.

Similar Datasets

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