In this paper we claim the importance of a cognitive view of trust (its articulate, analytic and founded view), in contrast with a mere quantitative and opaque view of trust supported by Economics and Game Theory. We argue in favour of a cognitive view of trust as a complex structure of beliefs and goals, implying that the trustor must have a “theory of the mind” of the trustee. Such a structur...

Magical ideation and belief in the paranormal is considered to represent a trait-like character; people either believe in it or not. Yet, anecdotes indicate that exposure to an anomalous event can turn skeptics into believers. This transformation is likely to be accompanied by altered cognitive functioning such as impaired judgments of event likelihood. Here, we investigated whether the exposur...

Researchers have given significant attention to abstinence among adolescents, but far less is known about purposeful avoidance of sexual activity (and relationship involvement). Typically, it is assumed that, once adolescents have initiated sexual activity, they will thereafter engage in sexual activity if given the opportunity. However, it is unclear whether that is true as some research indic...

We examined the effects of training to approach or avoid novel animals on fear-related responses in children. Ninety-five primary school children (9-13 years old) were instructed to repeatedly push away or pull closer pictures of novel animals. We tested whether this manipulation would lead to changes in self-reported attitudes, implicit attitudes, fear beliefs, and avoidance behaviors towards ...

Although comorbid depression is a predictor of poor treatment response in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), there is limited understanding of factors that contribute to depression severity in OCD. The current study examines the influence of OCD-related factors (autogenous obsessions and obsessional beliefs) and non-specific factors (avoidance and anxiety) on depression severity in a sample o...

PURPOSE Fatigue is commonly experienced in end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) and is associated with poor outcomes. Currently, little research has examined the psychosocial correlates of fatigue severity and its impact on renal disease patients. We predicted that psychological factors (distress, cognitions and behaviours) would be associated with fatigue severity and impairment in ESKD patients ev...

Objectives: Past research has shown that traditional Chinese death beliefs are related to death anxiety. Many of them are considered as superstitious thoughts. However, other studies have shown that superstitions may help people cope with uncertainty and reduce uncertainty-induced anxiety. The role of superstitions, whether related to higher death anxiety, or help reduce death anxiety is unclea...

Depression is common in people with schizophrenia, but how it might directly contribute to the persistence of psychotic symptoms has rarely been tested. The key aim of the present study was to test whether depression and associated cognitive processes predict the maintenance of persecutory delusions. Three groups of participants were tested at baseline: 60 patients with persecutory delusions in...

BACKGROUND The Hip & Knee Book: Helping you cope with osteoarthritis was developed to change disadvantageous beliefs and encourage physical activity in people with hip or knee osteoarthritis. AIM To assess the feasibility of conducting a definitive randomised controlled trial (RCT) of this evidence-based booklet in people with hip or knee osteoarthritis. DESIGN Phase II feasibility randomis...

This cross-sectional study sought to identify dimensions underlying measures of impairment, disability, personal factors, and health status in patients with cervical radiculopathy. One hundred twenty-four patients with magnetic resonance imaging-verified cervical radiculopathy, attending a neurosurgery clinic in Sweden, participated. Data from clinical tests and questionnaires on disability, pe...