Determinants Of Individual Behavior Research Articles

Examining The Moderating Role of Financial Literacy Between Determinants of Individual Behaviour and Investment Decision-Making for Iraqi Investors

Examining The Moderating Role of Financial Literacy Between Determinants of Individual Behaviour and Investment Decision-Making for Iraqi Investors

SEMANTIC ATTACK PREVENTION: GENERAL DECISION MODEL AND PREVENTION STRATEGIES

This publication analyses the vulnerability of entities to socio-technical threats, primarily focusingon semantic attacks. In the present information sphere, which is prominently manifested in theform of social networks, it garners the attention of the majority of individuals. This makes userssusceptible to attacks aimed at extracting key information. The article consists of three parts. Thefirst part introduces the reader to the general issues of semantic threats. Subsequently, using theproposed model, the author analyses the dissymmetry arising from two types of reactions. Thismodel is based on distinguishing between System I, where the subject acts intuitively, and System II,which involves reflection and analysis before decisions are made. The final part of the article presentsvarious preventive measures against semantic attacks. The work is focused on demonstrating variousstrategies for dealing with such attacks. The goal of the publication is to emphasize the importanceof psychological determinants of individual behaviour in the context of functioning in the virtualenvironment and to present prospective preventive approaches intended to minimise semanticthreats. In the development of this article, research methods such as analysis, synthesis, and literaturereview were employed. The results of the conducted research on individuals’ vulnerability tosemantic threats indicate a significant influence of intuitive behaviour on increasing the risk of fallingvictim to such attacks. To reduce this vulnerability, reliance cannot solely be placed on specializedsoftware or tools, as their effectiveness largely depends on human behaviour. Therefore, continuousknowledge expansion as regards those threats through participation in training and the developmentof appropriate habits that promote a more detailed analysis of received content is crucial.

The concept of social determinants of health in health promotion policies in Thailand, Sweden, England, USA, and Japan: A narrative review

Objectives The Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that national and municipal governments take adequate steps to "improve daily living conditions," "(create governance to) tackle the inequitable distribution of power, money, and resources," and "measure and understand the problem and assess the impact of" government actions. This study provides an analysis of the health promotion policies of Japan and other countries and examines their conformance to these recommendations, and offers suggestions for developing a conducive social environment for Japan's health promotion policies.Methods We reviewed grey literature on health promotion policies in Japan, the USA, England, Sweden, and Thailand, extracting the definitions of health inequalities and their characterization in each policy, and analyzing each document vis-á-vis the CSDH's three recommendations and "comprehensive national health equity surveillance framework."Results The health promotion policies of Japan, England, Sweden, and the USA had similar definitions of health inequality, emphasizing fairness and prioritizing the reduction of health inequality as the key strategy for health promotion. However, their primary approaches to improve daily living conditions varied: In Japan, the primary approach is to create opportunities for participation and ensure access to social resources. Meanwhile, the USA relies largely on objective assessments and scientific evidence-based actions. England focused on enhancing support for socially disadvantaged individuals and areas. In Sweden, a universal intervention based on life-course perspectives was stressed, while Thailand attached much value to a multi-sectoral collaboration. All these countries, however, had a health policy implementation plan in quest of the elimination of unfair distributions of power, money, and resources. The USA planned to monitor a total of 187 social factors, the largest number among the 6 subject countries. It also had a wide range of perspectives on health inequalities, including income and disability, as well as conducting assessments using information from outside the health sector, with items assessed at various levels, including individual, regional, and national policies.Conclusion With reference to these approaches in other countries, for Japan's health promotion policies, we recommend: (1) grasping of health inequalities from more diversified perspectives and adopting measures to address them, (2) setting targets based on multi-level social determinants of individual behavior and health status, including individual socioeconomic status, and (3) promoting collaborative initiatives and use of indicators with entities outside the health sector.

Personality traits as an engine of knowledge: a quantile regression analysis

PurposeWe use disaggregated survey data set to investigate the impact of personality traits on the level of education in the USA. We attempt to shed light on the contribution of each of the Big Five personality traits on the education decision made by the individuals.Design/methodology/approachWe use the quantile regression analysis in order to investigate to what extent certain aspects of personality may help an individual to invest in education.FindingsOur findings uncover a significant effect of noncognitive skills on the level of education. It is shown that people with high emotional stability and agreeableness invest in human capital, especially when we move to the higher quantiles of the conditional distribution function. Moreover, we argue that the estimated signs of the traits remain stable across the quantiles, while the relevant curvatures indicate for the first time in the empirical literature, the presence of nonlinear effects. Last, our model survived robustness checks under the inclusion of two aggregated higher-order factors, namely “Alpha” and “Beta.”Research limitations/implicationsAlthough we used several control variables (e.g. Gender, Age) to address the impact of noncognitive skills on education, special attention should be given to the use of additional socioeconomic indicators such as the skin color of participants, the urbanization rate, the level of unemployment, the level of income, parental education among others. These measures affect the causality driven by the inclusion of certain economic and demographic characteristics and minimize the endogeneity bias drawn from the inclusion of the sample variables. One additional limitation is that the survey-based data refer only to people with higher education (>13 years of study). Therefore, our empirical findings must be tested on a richer sample to capture the effect of personality traits on a broad spectrum of educational stages (e.g. early learning years, primary education, secondary education, etc.).Originality/valueOur empirical findings add enough new insights to the existing literature. First, we attempt to assess the role of noncognitive skills proxied by the Big Five Inventory (hereafter “BFI”) on the education decision made by the individuals. Second, we provide fresh evidence of nonlinear effects between personality traits and education totally ignored by the existing literature. Our third contribution is to analyze the role of personality in enhancing the importance of investment in higher education as a determinant of individual behavior. In this way, we contribute to the growing field of behavioral economics since the study of noncognitive skills offers a range of new ideas and expanding research opportunities for social scientists (economists, psychologists, sociologists, etc.).

States of nature and states of mind: a generalized theory of decision-making

Canonical economic agents act so as to maximize a single, representative, utility function. However, there is accumulating evidence that heterogeneity in thought processes may be an important determinant of individual behavior. This paper investigates the implications of a vector-valued generalization of the Expected Utility paradigm, which permits agents either to deliberate as per Homo economics, or to act impulsively. This generalized decision theory is applied to explain the crowding-out effect, irrational educational investment decisions, persistent social inequalities, the pervasive influence of non-cognitive ability on socio-economic outcomes, and the dynamic relationships between non-cognitive ability, cognitive ability, and behavioral biases. These results suggest that the generalized decision theory warrants further investigation.

Exploring waste prevention behaviour through empirical research

Waste prevention is currently a critical issue, and our research aims to provide a more nuanced view by examining the determinants of individual behaviour when deciding to either purchase a certain item or to extend the life of an owned item through repair or reuse activities. Our research has two main aims: (1) to examine the importance that being aware of consequences and personal norms have in shaping positive attitudes towards waste prevention behaviour; and (2) to explore the relationship between attitudes and perceived behavioural control on waste prevention by testing the mediation effects of perceived behavioural control and waste prevention behaviour. The research is based on 375 questionnaires collected in Pietra Ligure, a municipality located in Northwest Italy. Data were modelled using a structural equation model to test the hypotheses. The findings show that awareness of the consequences is a fundamental driver of waste prevention attitudes while personal norms are not. The findings also confirm a positive relationship between attitudes and perceived behavioural control. Finally, a positive significant relationship was found between perceived behavioural control and waste prevention behaviour, and between social norms and waste prevention behaviour. The results of our investigation are contextualised in theoretical, political and managerial frameworks and suggest several avenues for further research.

Changes in physical activity during the retirement transition: a series of novel n-of-1 natural experiments

BackgroundExisting evidence about the impact of retirement on physical activity (PA) has primarily focused on the average change in PA level after retirement in group-based studies. It is unclear whether findings regarding the direction of PA change after retirement from group-based studies apply to individuals. This study aimed to explore changes in PA, PA determinants and their inter-relationships during the retirement transition at the individual level.MethodsA series of n-of-1 natural experiments were conducted with seven individuals who were aged 55–76 years and approaching retirement. PA was measured by tri-axial accelerometry. Twice-daily self-report and ecological momentary assessments of evidence- and theory-based determinants of PA (e.g. sleep length/quality, happiness, tiredness, stress, time pressure, pain, intention, perceived behavioural control, priority, goal conflict and goal facilitation) were collected via a questionnaire for a period of between 3 and 7 months, which included time before and after the participant’s retirement date. A personalised PA determinant was also identified by each participant and measured daily for the duration of the study. Dynamic regression models for discrete time binary data were used to analyse data for each individual participant.ResultsTwo participants showed a statistically significant increase in the probability of engaging in PA bouts after retirement and two participants showed a significant time trend for a decrease and increase in PA bouts over time during the pre- to post-retirement period, respectively. There was no statistically significant change in PA after retirement for the remaining participants. Most of the daily questionnaire variables were significantly associated with PA for one or more participants but there were no consistent pattern of PA predictors across participants. For some participants, the relationship between questionnaire variables and PA changed from pre- to post-retirement.ConclusionsThe findings from this study demonstrate the impact of retirement on individual PA trajectories. Using n-of-1 methods can provide information about unique patterns and determinants of individual behaviour over time, which has been obscured in previous research. N-of-1 methods can be used as a tool to inform personalised PA interventions for individuals within the retirement transition.

Me and My Brand – A Study on Employee Perspective

An individual is known by his/her personality. Personality, an area studied for almost a century by theorists, psychologists, and researchers, is one of the important determinants of individual behaviour. But the question of 'how it affects the work action' is yet to be properly answered. The studies on understanding the role of personality in different aspects of work behavior are still an area of interest for many inquisitive researchers. This study on similar grounds tried to examine the role of personality factors on employee brand identification in internal brand management. A survey was conducted administering a structured questionnaire on a sample of 232 employees of select IT & ITES companies in Hyderabad. The results indicated that an individual's personality factors affect employee brand identification, and therefore, highlight the importance of having an appropriate person with appropriate personality at work for achieving great results. Therefore, it was implied that, it is important for both branding and HR personnel of the organizations to work in harmony with each other to identify and create a perfect blend of human resources by considering and evaluating the prospect's personality fit along with the technical skills and competencies. Such human resources would then reflect the organization's brand identity as their own identity, thus achieving maximum employee and customer experience.

A COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF SAFETY CLIMATE AMONG PETROLEUM COMPANIES

Introduction: Occupational health and safety is an important component of national development. Occupational health and safety is relevant to all branches of industry, business and commerce including traditional industries, information technology companies. Safety climate can be regarded as the surface features or indicator of safety culture emerged from workforce’s attitudes and perceptions. Organizational climate is conceived to be a critical determinant of individual behavior in organizations. Aim of work: The current study was designed to perform a multi-level comparative analysis on employee’s perception for safety climate dimensions in petroleum and petrochemical of three industrial sectors; multinational, investment and public, in Egypt. Materials and methods: Data were collected utilizing a modified-NOSACQ-50 questionnaire for the seven safety domains including 66 questions, constructing safety climate dimensions which are; management commitment, safety training, workers’ involvement, safety communication and feedback, safety rules and procedures, and safety promotion policies, as well as self-reported safety behavior of employees. The questionnaire was distributed to 6 petroleum companies (two companies of each sector) targeting all employees. Results: Analysis of data revealed significant differences in employee’s perception on safety management practices among the three petroleum sectors especially in worker involvement domain and safety rules and procedures applied in those companies. Conclusion: Workers’ involvement was the main extracted factor for proper safety climate establishment within an organization and should be taken into consideration for decision making in safety matters. The research provides useful information for project managers and safety practitioners who desire to improve safety performance within an organization.

Thinking styles and performance.

Cognitive style is widely recognized as an important determinant of individual behavior in the psychology literature and has been conceptualized as a "high-order heuristic that individuals employ when they approach, frame, and solve problems". However, there is conflicting evidence in the literature as to the ways in which cognitive styles facilitates or inhibit performance. This review assesses what we know about the predictive role of cognitive style on performance and suggests avenues for future research.

Thinking styles and performance.

Cognitive style is widely recognized as an important determinant of individual behavior in the psychology literature and has been conceptualized as a high-order heuristic that individuals employ when they approach, frame, and solve problems. However, there is conflicting evidence in the literature as to the ways in which cognitive styles facilitates or inhibit performance. This review assesses what we know about the predictive role of cognitive style on performance and suggests avenues for future research.

Thinking styles and performance.

Cognitive style is widely recognized as an important determinant of individual behavior in the psychology literature and has been conceptualized as a "high-order heuristic that individuals employ when they approach, frame, and solve problems". However, there is conflicting evidence in the literature as to the ways in which cognitive styles facilitates or inhibit performance. This review assesses what we know about the predictive role of cognitive style on performance and suggests avenues for future research.

Mixed Reactions

This article hypothesizes that religious motivation can explain varied responses to the political use of religious rhetoric. Religious motivation—religion’s place in an individual’s life—is an important determinant of individual behavior and attitude formation, and variation in religious motivation can explain why some religious citizens are attracted to candidates using religious appeals while others are clearly not. Using a survey experiment, this article tests the effect of Judeo-Christian religious language and attempts to isolate differences among the religious in how they respond to religious rhetoric in the American political environment. The goal of this article then becomes twofold. First, it introduces a measure of religious motivation and demonstrates that it is a unique measure of individual difference with independent effects beyond traditional measures of religiosity, personality, and conservatism. The second goal is to demonstrate that religious motivation can explain variance in reactions to religious rhetoric within a campaign environment. Religious individuals respond differently to religious appeals, with some evaluating candidates higher when religious words were used while others rated candidates lower. The types of religious motivation (extrinsic, intrinsic, and quest) are shown to be much better predictors of responses to religious rhetoric than traditional measures of religiosity.

Building social capital: Conditional cash transfers and cooperation

Many conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs have important social components and, therefore, can have an effect on social capital. In 2007, we conducted a field experiment with 1451 subjects in Cartagena, Colombia. We interpret the behavior in the game as a measure of what in the literature has been called social capital. We played the game in two similar and adjacent neighborhoods. The ‘treatment’ neighborhood, Pozón, had been targeted for over 2 years by a CCT program, Familias en Acción; the ‘control’ neighborhood, Ciénaga, had not. In 2008, with the program being implemented in both neighborhoods, we played the same public goods game, and were therefore able to implement a difference in differences strategy to estimate the impact of the CCT on our measure of social capital.In 2007, the level of cooperation we observed in the treatment neighborhood was considerably higher than that in the control one. Although similar in many dimensions, the two groups turned out to be significantly different in some observable variables; the positive result was robust to controls for these differences. In 2008, we found that the level of cooperation was statistically identical across the two neighborhoods, and similar to the levels observed in 2007 in the treatment one. We conclude that the CCT program did improve cooperation.In analyzing the effect of the CCT on cooperation we also look at other (individual and group) determinants of individual behavior in the game, and we compare our measure based on behavior in the game to more traditional measures of social capital used in the literature that we collected in a context-specific survey.

Determinants of individual Muslim behaviour in accomplishing Zakah, Infaq, Shadaqah and WAqf through amil institution

In Muslim-dominated regions, Zakah, Infaq, Shadaqah and WAqf (ZISWA) are philanthropic instruments to help alleviating poverty when they are managed properly. ZISWA payer pays through an institution called amil which then collect, manage and distribute ZISWA funds to the needy. Since most Muslims pay their ZISWA directly to the needy, ZISWA instruments are not powerful enough to alleviate poverty. This paper presents determinants of individual behaviour in accomplishing ZISWA through amil institution in Bangkalan District, Madura, East Java, Indonesia. Data was collected through two stages of quantitative surveys toward 117 Muslims and analysed using structural equation model with partial least square analysis. Research found that the main determinants of Muslim behaviour in accomplishing ZISWA are external factors which are related to Muslim’s beliefs in and trust on amil institution. The implication is amil should provide positive stimulus to convince Muslims to use amil services as intermediary institution for ZISWA accomplishment.

Effects of cognitive and social factors on system utilization and performance outcomes

This study examines the effects of cognitive and social factors on system utilization and performance outcomes. The literature has paid considerable attention to social influence as a determinant of individual behavior. We combine the concept of task-technology fit with concepts from adaptive structuration theory to elucidate social influence. In our model, we propose that support from a proper social construction in addition to task-technology fit leads in performance improvement in individuals. Empirical data from 317 individuals across 43 teams in ten companies are used to assess the theoretical model. Our theoretical model is supported by the data.

Identification of Social Interactions

While interest in social determinants of individual behavior has led to a rich theoretical literature and many efforts to measure these influences, a mature “social econometrics” has yet to emerge. This chapter provides a critical overview of the identification of social interactions. We consider linear and discrete choice models as well as social networks structures. We also consider experimental and quasi-experimental methods. In addition to describing the state of the identification literature, we indicate areas where additional research is especially needed and suggest some directions that appear to be especially promising.

Low-Quality Employment Concentration and Crime: An Examination of Metropolitan Labor Markets

Over the past two decades, numerous studies have investigated the effects of employment quality on crime. Many of these studies have investigated employment quality with regard to its effect on individual criminality. However, the quality of employment available in a labor market also affects crime at an aggregate level of analysis. Consequently, while the determinants of individual behavior are important, this article seeks to place these behaviors into a larger structural framework. This study contributes to the growing research on the work–crime link by relating differences in the quality of employment, on an aggregate level, to crime rates in metropolitan areas. Metropolitan areas with few quality jobs for less-educated workers have significantly higher rates of both violent and property crime.

"All Decisions Are Top-Down:" Engendering Public Expenditure in Vietnam

Between October 1999 and June 2000 a joint government-donor working group undertook a public expenditure review in Vietnam that was supposed to use "gender issues" as a cross-cutting theme. The article discusses ways in which a gender analysis could have been incorporated into a review of public expenditure, and examines why this did not happen in the end. Flaws in the process reduced the scope of gender analysis. Institutional constraints on the part of both the government and the World Bank weakened the commitment to a gender analysis. More fundamentally, however, it is argued that the methodological approach of the World Bank rendered it incapable of investigating possibly unquantifiable macrostructural and mesoinstitutional determinants of individual behavior. It is further argued that the conceptualization of social institutions offered by the World Bank with regard to gender relations fails to adequately express the extent to which social institutions are gendered.

Educational Psychology and its Failings: a reply to Olssen

Olssen has recently claimed that educational psychology, being a derivative of mainstream psychology, is a sham, a pseudo‐science based upon outdated positivist philosophy of science and an inappropriate understanding of the social determinants of individual behaviour and of mind. This article argues, firstly, that educational psychology has a certain independence of psychology in general; secondly, that most modem psychology does not rely on positivism; and, thirdly, that whatever the ultimate roots of behaviours and mental phenomena, it is perfectly logical—indeed it is a necessary part of the discipline—for psychologists to concentrate upon studying and working with individuals.