••• consumer psychology
What’s the recipe for witchcraft belief?
Analysis of a new dataset in combination with country-level data shows that witchcraft beliefs differ between countries according to various cultural, institutional, psychological and socioeconomic factors. For instance, witchcraft beliefs are linked to weak institutions, low levels of social trust and low innovation, as well as conformist culture and higher levels of in-group bias – the tendency for people to favor others who are similar to them.
As compiled by Boris Gershman of American University in Washington, D.C., and presented in the open-access journal PLOS ONE in November 2022, this analysis suggests that, while beliefs cut across socio-demographic groups, people with higher levels of education and economic security are less likely to believe in witchcraft.
The new dataset captures beliefs among more than 140,000 people from 95 countries and territories, drawing from face-to-face and telephone surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center and professional survey organizations between 2008 and 2017 which included questions about religious beliefs and belief in witchcraft.
Understanding people’s witchcraft beliefs can be important for policymaking and other community engagement efforts. According to the dataset, over 40% of survey participants said they believe that “certain people can cast curses or spells that cause bad things to happen to someone.” Witchcraft beliefs appear to exist around the world but vary substantially between countries and within world regions. For instance, 9% of participants in Sweden reported belief in witchcraft, compared to 90% in Tunisia.
••• financial services research
Inflation impacting both sides of money transfers
Whether sender or receiver, users of money transfer services say their respective economic situations will fuel more use of the systems, according to a Western Union study. Seventy-seven percent of senders said cost-of-living increases in the country they send to have driven up the amounts they transfer. At the same time, 72% said that rising costs in the country they live in are straining their ability to transfer back home.
More than 2,000 consumers across the Philippines who send and receive money internationally were surveyed (World Bank data shows that the Philippines is the fourth-largest receiver market in the world, bringing in $37 billion in 2021). Forty-four percent of senders state that family support is the primary driver of how much and how frequently they transfer money. In line with this, 83% of the country’s receivers agree they need to receive more money to support loved ones and family.
Trust ranks as a top barrier for using digital money transfer services among senders (31%) and receivers (23%). Approximately 30% of senders and 14% of receivers do not transfer money online for reasons such as lack of connectivity, limited knowledge of digital services, no online banking history or because they are generally unbanked.