ABSTRACT
The authors investigated the extent to which racial factors, cultural factors, or both influence a person's beliefs about physical time, personal time, and experienced and remembered duration. A total of 750 Black American, Black African, and White American students responded to a questionnaire on these beliefs about time. Factor analysis was used to compare belief structures. Pairwise comparisons, performed separately for each statement, tested the direction and strength of the reported beliefs. The groups showed many similarities, but they also showed some differences. All 3 groups differed in beliefs about physical and personal time, but they did not differ in beliefs about duration experiences. This evidence does not support simplistic views of racial or cultural influences. Culture may differentially influence beliefs about physical time and personal time. Beliefs about duration experiences may represent an ethnic factor that transcends cultures.
Subject(s)
Black or African American/psychology , Cultural Characteristics , Time Perception , White People/psychology , Adolescent , Adult , Black People , Cross-Cultural Comparison , Culture , Factor Analysis, Statistical , Female , Humans , Malawi/ethnology , Male , Surveys and Questionnaires , United StatesABSTRACT
In an experimental study on the placebo effect in Malawi, an independent East African nation, 21 Malawian college students were tested individually in two 1-hour sessions on successive afternoons, using a one-group, two-condition before-after counterbalanced experimental design. Subjects were falsely told that a physiologically neutral substance they consumed would arouse the body, affecting oral temperature and pulse. Before-after measurements were taken during each day's session. On one of the days, the placebo resembled a traditional African herbal concoction, whereas on the other day, the placebo appeared to be a commercial Western-style medicine. The placebo effect was evaluated for each medication by comparing pre- and posttreatment scores. After the session, the subjects completed a questionnaire on their beliefs in the power of each style of medication. The placebo response was demonstrated in both medication conditions for oral temperature, but the strength of the placebo effect did not vary between medication styles. No significant relationship was found between the placebo effects and self-reported attitudes toward the two types of medication.
