Individual Propensity Research Articles

COVID-19 vaccine fatigue in Scotland: how do the trends in attrition rates for the second and third doses differ by age, sex, and council area?

Abstract Vaccine fatigue is the propensity for individuals to start but not finish a vaccination program with several doses, which means they are less protected. Our study examines vaccine fatigue in the COVID-19 vaccination programme in Scotland. We model the attrition rates across multiple doses with a hierarchical binomial logistic regression model with correlated age- and area-specific random effects with conditional autoregressive priors, where inference uses integrated nested Laplace approximations. We find attrition rates smoothly decrease with increasing age, are much higher for the third dose than the second, and are generally higher for males than females.

Study on Consumers’ Perceived Benefits and Risks of Smart Energy System

This study explores consumer perceptions of smart energy systems, delving into both the perceived benefits and risks associated with their adoption and usage. This study addresses a crucial gap in understanding the consumer side of smart energy system implementation. Through ordinal logistic regression analysis, the study examines the relationship between various independent variables and an ordinal dependent variable represented on a Likert scale. The findings highlight a significant consumer emphasis on 'Safe Energy System Construction' and 'Economic Benefits,' including 'Home Energy Saving' and 'New Profit Creation.' However, the perceived benefits and risks are influenced by these factors and individual propensities, such as sensitivity to environmental destruction and acceptance of new technology. The study uncovers new areas of concern, exceptionally high energy consumption and the 'Uncertainty of Electricity Rates,' which have not been extensively addressed in previous research. The conclusions drawn from this study suggest a need for balanced policy-making that fosters technological advancement while addressing consumer apprehensions about energy consumption, rate volatility, and privacy. This study contributes to the broader discourse on technology acceptance and the sustainable implementation of smart energy solutions by providing a nuanced understanding of consumer perceptions in the evolving landscape of smart energy systems.

Memory retrieval effects as a function of differences in phenomenal experience.

Conscious experience and perception are restricted to a single perspective. Although evidence to suggest differences in phenomenal experience can produce observable differences in behavior, it is not well understood how these differences might influence memory. We used fMRI to scan n = 49 participants while they encoded and performed a recognition memory test for faces and words. We calculated a cognitive bias score reflecting individual participants' propensity toward either Visual Imagery or Internal Verbalization based on their responses to the Internal Representations Questionnaire (IRQ). Neither visual imagery nor internal verbalization scores were significantly correlated with memory performance. In the fMRI data, there were typical patterns of activation differences between words and faces during both encoding and retrieval. There was no effect of internal representation bias on fMRI activation during encoding. At retrieval, however, a bias toward visualization was positively correlated with memory-related activation for both words and faces in inferior occipital gyri. Further, there was a crossover interaction in a network of brain regions such that visualization bias was associated with greater activation for words and verbalization bias was associated with greater activation for faces, consistent with increased effort for non-preferred stimulus retrieval. These findings suggest that individual differences in cognitive representations affect neural activation across different types of stimuli, potentially affecting memory retrieval performance.

Dispersal and connectivity in increasingly extreme climatic conditions.

While climate change has been shown to impact several life-history traits of wild-living animal populations, little is known about its effects on dispersal and connectivity. Here, we capitalize on the highly variable flooding regime of the Okavango Delta to investigate the impacts of changing environmental conditions on the dispersal and connectivity of the endangered African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). Based on remote sensed flood extents observed over 20 years, we derive two extreme flood scenarios: a minimum and a maximum flood extent, representative of very dry and very wet environmental periods. These conditions are akin to those anticipated under increased climatic variability, as it is expected under climate change. Using a movement model parameterized with GPS data from dispersing individuals, we simulate 12,000 individual dispersal trajectories across the ecosystem under both scenarios and investigate patterns of connectivity. Across the entire ecosystem, surface water coverage during maximum flood extent reduces dispersal success (i.e., the propensity of individuals to disperse between adjacent subpopulations) by 12% and increases dispersal durations by 17%. Locally, however, dispersal success diminishes by as much as 78%. Depending on the flood extent, alternative dispersal corridors emerge, some of which in the immediate vicinity of human-dominated landscapes. Notably, under maximum flood extent, the number of dispersing trajectories moving into human-dominated landscapes decreases by 41% at the Okavango Delta's inflow, but increases by 126% at the Delta's distal end. This may drive the amplification of human-wildlife conflict. While predicting the impacts of climate change on environmental conditions on the ground remains challenging, our results highlight that environmental change may have significant consequences for dispersal patterns and connectivity, and ultimately, population viability. Acknowledging and anticipating such impacts will be key to effective conservation strategies and to preserve vital dispersal corridors in light of climate change and other human-related landscape alterations.

Assessing Consumer Behavior in Sustainable Product Markets: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach with Partial Least Squares Analysis

The present research investigates the determinants that impact the decision-making process about sustainable purchasing. The study’s conceptual framework encompasses customer attitudes, values, beliefs, environmental awareness, perceived environmental impact, price and value, and product attributes. The study aims to comprehend the inclination toward environmentally friendly purchases and the elements that promote their behavior. The study employs quantitative techniques using SEM-PLS, a robust approach for formulating hypotheses and performing mediation and moderation analysis, to comprehend the dynamics of green purchase behavior. The web survey conducted from 30 October 2023 to 16 December 2023 forms the basis of the data analysis. Throughout this period, 744 responses were collected in total. The study’s findings establish correlations between characteristics and the propensity of individuals to buy environmentally friendly products. Personal attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control are factors that are associated with variables that impact the relationship between customer attitudes and the intention to buy environmentally friendly products. The study significantly contributes to domain marketing by establishing a new concept called “sustainable product evaluation”. This concept includes factors such as perceived environmental values and beliefs, perceived environmental impact, and product features. Incorporating a new variable improves the comprehension of the factors that influence environmentally conscious decision-making among Saudi Arabian consumers. While the majority of our sample was university students, we want to understand sustainable consumption behavior. The results may not reflect the general population. Due to this constraint, we advise diligence when interpreting the results in light of public attitudes and experiences.

The effectiveness of savouring interventions on well-being in adult clinical populations: A protocol for a systematic review.

Savouring interventions aim to amplify the intensity and duration of positive feelings and positive affect. Research has shown that the potential benefits of savouring include the promotion of psychological well-being and diminution of negative affective states. Savouring strategies may be particularly useful amongst clinical populations in changing biobehavioural processes which can strengthen an individual's propensity to exert control over how to develop, intensify and promote psychological well-being, while simultaneously mitigating negative affective states. This paper outlines a protocol for a systematic review that will be used to identify, critically appraise and synthesise findings of studies examining the effectiveness of savouring interventions in adult clinical populations. Savouring interventions will be defined broadly, operationalised as any savouring strategy focusing on past, present or future events or experiences whereby participants are instructed to attend to and amplify positive affect relating to same. The goal of our review is to include the extent of the literature on this topic and contribute to the overall evidence to support savouring interventions. This protocol is carried out in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Protocols Guidelines. The protocol has been registered with PROSPERO (CRD42023404857). The databases PsycINFO, PubMed, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), and Scopus will be searched alongside a search of grey literature. An examination of the first 200 papers on Google Scholar will also be done to identify relevant papers. Studies describing randomised controlled trials evaluating the effects of savouring interventions as described within this article on adult clinical populations will be included in the review. Outcomes will include well-being, quality of life, depression, anxiety or stress. Study selection and data extraction will be completed by three independent reviewers to reduce risk of bias. Interrater percentage agreement and interrater reliability will be reported on same. The quality of studies will be assessed using criteria based on the Cochrane Collaboration's tool for assessing risk of bias and the Jadad scale. A narrative synthesis with tables of study characteristics will be provided. Separate considerations of the three time perspectives of savouring interventions (past-focused, present-focused, and future-focused) will also be described. This systematic review will provide important clinical insights into the potential efficacy of savouring interventions when working with adult clinical samples.

On variance estimation of the inverse probability-of-treatment weighting estimator: A tutorial for different types of propensity score weights.

Propensity score methods, such as inverse probability-of-treatment weighting (IPTW), have been increasingly used for covariate balancing in both observational studies and randomized trials, allowing the control of both systematic and chance imbalances. Approaches using IPTW are based on two steps: (i) estimation of the individual propensity scores (PS), and (ii) estimation of the treatment effect by applying PS weights. Thus, a variance estimator that accounts for both steps is crucial for correct inference. Using a variance estimator which ignores the first step leads to overestimated variance when the estimand is the average treatment effect (ATE), and to under or overestimated estimates when targeting the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT). In this article, we emphasize the importance of using an IPTW variance estimator that correctly considers the uncertainty in PS estimation. We present a comprehensive tutorial to obtain unbiased variance estimates, by proposing and applying a unifying formula for different types of PS weights (ATE, ATT, matching and overlap weights). This can be derived either via the linearization approach or M-estimation. Extensive R code is provided along with the corresponding large-sample theory. We perform simulation studies to illustrate the behavior of the estimators under different treatment and outcome prevalences and demonstrate appropriate behavior of the analytical variance estimator. We also use a reproducible analysis of observational lung cancer data as an illustrative example, estimating the effect of receiving a PET-CT scan on the receipt of surgery.

Using human mobility data to detect evacuation patterns in hurricane Ian

ABSTRACT Hurricane Ian in 2022 was a destructive category 4 Atlantic hurricane striking the state of Florida, which caused hundreds of deaths and injuries, catastrophic property damage, and an economic loss of more than $112 billion. Before the landfall of Ian in Florida, the state government issued evacuation orders in high-risk zones to reduce casualties and injuries. However, there is limited data available to monitor the actual evacuation patterns and compliance with the evacuation orders at a large geographic scale. This study utilizes human mobility data (i.e. SafeGraph Weekly Pattern) to analyse the spatial patterns of evacuation during Hurricane Ian in 2022. The objectives of the study include three key aspects: 1) proposing an analytical workflow that utilizes human mobility data to detect mobility patterns in disasters and other emergency events; 2) identifying significant evacuation patterns, and 3) revealing the spatial variations in the compliance with evacuation orders in the affected areas. Using data science and spatial analysis techniques, this study detected notable changes in population movements, both within Florida and nationwide, which are potentially linked to the hurricane-induced population evacuation. The distance decay pattern of population flows from Florida demonstrates a propensity for individuals to relocate to nearby areas during the hurricane. Furthermore, the increase in population outflows from the impacted areas suggests the effectiveness of mandatory evacuation orders. A more pronounced increase in outflows from designated mandatory evacuation areas points to the public awareness of the evacuation zone designation. This study provides large-scale, fine-resolution analysis of evacuation behaviours in natural disasters which cannot be easily detected in traditional data sources. The analytical workflows provide actionable tools for government agencies and policymakers to evaluate the effectiveness of evacuation orders and improve evacuation plans in future disasters.

Factors associated with the use of cannabis for self-medication by adults: data from the French TEMPO cohort study.

Medical cannabis, legalized in many countries, remains illegal in France. Despite an experiment in the medical use of cannabis that began in March 2021 in France, little is known about the factors associated with the use of cannabis for self-medication among adults. Data came from the French TEMPO cohort and were collected between December 2020 and May 2021. Overall, 345 participants aged 27-47 were included. Cannabis for self-medication was defined using the following questions: 'Why do you use cannabis?' and 'In what form do you use cannabis?'. The penalized regression method "Elastic net" was used to determine factors associated with the use of cannabis for self-medication, with the hypothesis that it is mainly used for pain in individuals who have already used cannabis. More than half of the participants reported having ever used cannabis (58%). Only 10% used it for self-declared medical reasons (n = 36). All self-medication cannabis users, except one, were also using cannabis for recreational purposes. The main factors associated with cannabis use for self-medication vs. other reasons included cannabis use trajectories, the presence of musculoskeletal disorders, tobacco smoking, and parental divorce. Engaging in cannabis use during adolescence or early adulthood may increase the likelihood of resorting to self-medication in adulthood. Due to the propensity of individuals with cannabis use during adolescence to resort to uncontrolled products for self-medication, this population should be more systematically targeted and screened for symptoms and comorbidities that may be associated with cannabis use.

Public support for the cordon sanitaire: Descriptive evidence from Spain

Reactions to the rise of far-right parties that advocate democratic backsliding, and the dilution of socially liberal democratic norms present a dilemma for existing political parties. How should existing political parties respond to this challenge? A commonly adopted strategy is to apply a cordon sanitaire which excludes radical right-wing challengers from the government-forming process. Do voters support this policy? Leveraging data from Spain – where the mainstream right has accommodated the radical right-wing party, VOX, via numerous governing coalitions – I rely on individual citizens’ views on how parties should respond to rise of the far-right party, to answer this question. Empirically, the results show very low-level support for the cordon sanitaire in Spain. Indeed, the modal position of the electorate, regardless of their ideological position, is to treat the party just like any other. These results are not conditioned by the propensity of individuals to identify VOX as indeed being a “radical right” party. These descriptive findings suggest that whilst radical right-wing parties may present an inimical threat to democratic norms, citizens do not necessarily view the means of squashing this threat to be one of strategic exclusion. This likely explains why the mainstream right has been able to institutionalise VOX as a political ally: where strategic exclusion is not expected, the mainstream right need not fear violating an expectation that does not exist.

Red light game identifies ineffective criminal deterrence

AbstractThe proceeding investigates the ineffectiveness of law enforcement placement in specific circumstances from the penological framework of rational choice theory. This work employs game theory modeling to determine an individual's propensity to commit a crime. The succeeding illustrates how it is counterproductive to nudge potential criminals where socially preferable behavior corresponds to a pure strategy Nash equilibrium in a simultaneous two‐player game. The result of this analysis demonstrates an addendum to contemporary rational choice theory in criminology. The solutions of these stage games show that increasing the placement of criminal deterrents, like surveillance or fines intended to reduce the number of opportunities to commit deviant behavior, is dysfunctional under particular circumstances. This suggests that law enforcement resources should not be directed to enforcing certain crimes. The implications of this work could help optimize department assets and personnel hours.

Medical marijuana laws and mental health in the United States.

The consequences of legal access to medical marijuana for individuals' well-being are controversially assessed. We contribute to the discussion by evaluating the impact of the introduction of medical marijuana laws across US states on self-reported mental health considering different motives for cannabis consumption. Our analysis is based on BRFSS survey data from close to eight million respondents between 1993 and 2018 that we combine with information from the NSDUH to estimate individual consumption propensities. We find that eased access to marijuana through medical marijuana laws reduce the reported number of days with poor mental health for individuals with a high propensity to consume marijuana for medical purposes and for those individuals who likely suffer from frequent pain.

Cardiovascular autonomic evaluation and body fat analysis in COVID-19-recovered patients in Dakshina Kannada, India.

The pandemic, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to a heavy toll on the human health. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of body fat distribution, evolving long-term effect on autonomic function, and its correlation with Chalder Fatigue Severity Score in post-COVID-19-recovered individuals of Indian ethnicity. A case-control study was conducted in the Department of Physiology on 31 cases and 29 age- and gender-matched controls. Cardiovascular evaluation including heart rate variability (HRV), galvanic skin response (GSR), body fat analysis, and Chalder Fatigue Severity Score was performed on the study participants. The continuous variables of basal anthropometric parameters, GSR values, HRV indices, and body fat parameters are expressed as mean and standard deviation (SD). Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was significantly increased among cases (P = 0.04). GSR (average) for cases is higher when compared to controls and was borderline significant (P = 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the HRV parameters. Cases showed significantly higher body fat distribution as compared to the control group indicating increased susceptibility of the obese population to COVID-19. Chalder's post-COVID-19 Fatigue Severity Score of cases showed a negative correlation with LF:HF and RMSSD but it was not statistically significant. In our study, we conclude that there was a significant increase in DBP and GSR (average) with significantly higher visceral fat percentage, body fat percentage, subcutaneous fat percentage, skeletal muscle percentage, and trunk fat percentage in cases as compared to the control group suggestive of higher propensity of obese individuals suffering from COVID-19 and resulting in dysautonomia as compared to the controls.

Increased sensitivity for negative emotional images in individuals with problematic pornography use.

Despite the frequent comorbidity of affective and addictive disorders, the significance of affective dysregulation in problematic pornography use (PPU) is commonly disregarded. The objective of this study is to investigate whether individuals with PPU demonstrate increased sensitivity to negative emotional stimuli in comparison to healthy controls (HCs). Electrophysiological responses were captured via event-related potentials (ERPs) from 27 individuals with PPU and 29 HCs. They completed an oddball task involving the presentation of deviant stimuli in the form of highly negative (HN), moderately negative (MN), and neutral images, with a standard stimulus being a neutral kettle image. To evaluate participants' subjective feelings of valence and arousal, the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) was employed. Regarding subjective evaluations, individuals with PPU indicated diminished valence ratings for HN images as opposed to HCs. Concerning electrophysiological assessments, those with PPU manifested elevated N2 amplitudes in response to both HN and MN images when contrasted against neutral images. Additionally, PPU participants displayed an intensified P3 response to HN images in contrast to MN images, a distinction not evident within the HCs. These outcomes suggest that individuals with PPU exhibited heightened reactivity toward negative stimuli. This increased sensitivity to negative cues could potentially play a role in the propensity of PPU individuals to resort to pornography as a coping mechanism for managing stress regulation.

Does inclusive leadership influence employee innovation? A multilevel investigation

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to investigate the cross-level effects and mechanisms of inclusive leadership on employee innovation in team contexts, and further explore the boundary conditions of inclusive leadership.Design/methodology/approachThis study collected data from 237 leader-member dyads in 60 teams of Chinese firms. The research utilized multilevel linear models and multilevel structural equation models in the R language to test the hypothesized model.FindingsThe findings suggest that inclusive leadership has a positive impact on both employee incremental and radical innovation. Team psychological safety and employee role breadth self-efficacy mediate the effects. Employee risk avoidance propensity negatively moderates the mediating role of role breadth self-efficacy in the relationship between inclusive leadership and incremental innovation.Practical implicationsLeaders should pay attention to team psychological safety, employee role breadth self-efficacy and employee individual risk avoidance propensity that influence employee innovation to maximize the effectiveness of inclusive leadership.Originality/valueThis research expanded the level of analysis from individual to team, exploring cross-level effects and mechanisms of inclusive leadership on employee innovation in team contexts, and clarified the effectiveness conditions of inclusive leadership.

How Managers Respond to Fraud, Waste and Mismanagement: Ethics Management Survey in Uganda and Kenya

Ethics management remains a grey area, especially in how developing countries organise and manage their public finances and administrative activities. This paper draws on a descriptive statistical analysis to explore managers’ perceptions of whether appropriate procedures and sanctions exist against fraud or wrongdoing and whether organisational mechanisms and management of human resources promote ethical conduct in Uganda and Kenya. It explores the central tendencies of Ugandan (N = 122) and Kenyan (N = 104) managers’ perceptions of ethics management in their own organisations. The findings show that despite critical challenges, there is progress towards improving ethics management conditions through the drafting of specific anti-fraud policies and guidelines, the promotion of ethical conduct, and the higher individual propensities to report observed fraud by managers.

Do unions increase participation in further education?

AbstractThe race between education and technology is a key issue for trade unions. Unions often include skill upgrading and training in collective bargains, which might be an important tool to facilitate lifelong learning. In this article, I investigate how trade unions influence workers’ participation in further education using Norwegian‐matched employer–employee panel data on full‐time workers and a fixed‐effects framework. In contrast to most existing studies, which rely on more or less representative surveys, our data comprise the entire working population over a period of 16 years, allowing us to control for unobserved individual heterogeneity. An increase in the workplace union density is estimated to raise the individual propensity to participate in tertiary vocational education. I also find that workers in unionized establishments enjoy higher salaries during further education but at the expense of lower post‐training wage premiums. In addition, unions are found to lower employee turnover. Together, these findings give empirical support to the theoretical prediction of Acemoglu and Pischke (1999), where firms may optimally choose to sponsor investments in workers’ skills in the absence of perfect competition in the labour market.

An Empirical Analysis of The Factors Influencing China's Personal Insurance Premium Income

This paper presents an in-depth empirical investigation into the determinants of personal insurance premium income in China, scrutinizing the period from 2016 to 2021. Through the application of quantitative analysis methods, the study explores the influence of socio-economic factors such as GDP growth, urbanization rate, social welfare expenditure, per capita disposable income, the aging population, and education levels on the propensity of individuals to purchase personal insurance. Key findings reveal that while economic prosperity and increased social welfare expenditures positively influence personal insurance uptake, demographic shifts towards an aging population and higher educational attainment among the populace exhibit a deterrent effect on insurance consumption. The research contributes to the insurance literature by highlighting the nuanced interplay between economic development, demographic trends, and insurance market dynamics in China. It suggests policy implications for insurance companies and regulators to foster market growth, including the development of innovative insurance products that cater to the evolving needs of a diverse population and the implementation of educational initiatives to raise insurance awareness.

A Study on the Impact of Social Media Platforms and Financial Advertisements on Youth and Their Lifestyle in Mumbai

An extensive research endeavour spanning an entire year investigates the complex interplay among financial advertisements, social media platforms, and the lifestyles of the youth residing in Mumbai. Commencing with the formation of a riding school, the research investigates a range of operational facets, including financial resources, equine grooming operations, and strategic partnerships with Mahalaxmi Racecourse. By employing SPSS software for comprehensive statistical analyses, this study reveals significant findings regarding the impact of social media on young individuals' body image, lifestyle preferences, and financial decision-making. Fundamentally, the results demonstrate a noteworthy positive association between the utilization of visual social media platforms and apprehensions regarding body image, thereby emphasizing the psychological ramifications of online exposure. Furthermore, the study demonstrates a significant correlation between heightened social media utilization and a deterioration in both physical and mental health, underscoring the importance of developing a more nuanced comprehension of digital participation. Regression analyses illuminate the influential effect that financial advertisements have on the investment propensity and consumer decisions of young individuals. The research additionally underscores the significant impact that social media has on the way of life of the youth in Mumbai, acknowledging both favourable and unfavourable aspects. It is worth noting that age and educational background are not considered substantial factors in determining social media influence. This emphasizes the need to acknowledge and account for individual variations in digital engagement. Moving forward, it is suggested that further investigation be conducted into particular categories of content found on social media platforms that have a substantial influence on body image concerns and lifestyle choices. It is recommended to conduct long-term analyses of the relationship between social media usage and well-being in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of causality and durable effects. Furthermore, the study promotes the investigation of cultural subtleties that impact social media, the ethical implications of financial advertising, and the influence of peer relationships on social media on the decisions and behaviours of young people. In summary, this study reveals a complex and multifaceted account of the dynamic relationship among financial advertisements, social media, and the way of life of young individuals residing in Mumbai. Academics, policymakers, and practitioners will benefit from the findings, which urge a comprehensive comprehension of the digital influence on the younger generation. The study not only investigates immediate conjectures but also establishes a groundwork for subsequent inquiries into the continuously developing domain of the influence of social media on the conduct and welfare of young individuals.

Predicting cheating among married individuals based on sexual satisfaction and personality traits: A review

This article discusses the prediction of cheating among married individuals based on two significant factors: sexual satisfaction and personality traits. Sexual satisfaction is an essential component of a healthy and fulfilling relationship, and individuals who experience a lack of fulfillment in their sexual lives may seek satisfaction outside their marriage. Personality traits play a crucial role in determining an individual's propensity for cheating, with several traits commonly associated with a higher likelihood of engaging in infidelity, including low levels of conscientiousness, high levels of impulsivity, narcissism, and a desire for novelty and excitement. While sexual satisfaction and personality traits each contribute to the prediction of cheating, their interaction can further enhance our understanding. Developing reliable predictive models for cheating based on sexual satisfaction and personality traits is a complex task, with researchers using various methods to discern patterns and make accurate predictions. Data analysis techniques, such as logistic regression and machine learning algorithms, have been applied to collected data on married individuals and their tendencies to cheat, achieving moderate success in predictive accuracy. However, it is essential to acknowledge the limitations of these predictions, such as individual circumstances, relationship dynamics, and other external variables that are not accounted for in these models. Privacy concerns and ethical considerations surrounding the monitoring of individuals' personal lives must also be taken into account. These predictive models should be used with caution and in conjunction with comprehensive counseling and support systems to maintain the integrity of relationships.