Influence In Decision Research Articles

Increasing public participation and influence in local decision-making to address social determinants of health: a systematic review examining initiatives and theories

ABSTRACT Creating conditions to empower local people is an important determinant of health, and crucial in addressing health inequity. Yet, experimentation with initiatives to support public participation at a local level is threatened by enduring global economic instability. A better understanding of how different participatory approaches might address the social determinants of health would support future prioritisation of actions and investment.We reviewed recent literature and theories on initiatives to increase peoples’ influence in local decision-making and on social determinants of health. Our synthesis found little detail about the form and function of initiatives, but diverse factors deemed influential in achieving outcomes. Studies highlighted that pressure on resources undermines individual and community capacities to participate, and requires organisational leaders to think/act differently.Suggested priorities for local governance are: supporting capabilities and relationships between organisations and communities; creating safe and equitable spaces for interaction and knowledge-sharing; and changing institutional culture.

CUSTOS ECONÔMICOS, É POSSÍVEL INCLUI-LOS NO PROCESSO DE PLANEJAMENTO DA CONSERVAÇÃO AMBIENTAL?

Society has been increasingly demanding of better environmental conservation practices as a solution to the ongoing crisis causing extreme weather events and biodiversity loss. Yet, a key issue for the definition of priority locations for protected areas that meet the intended conservation goals remains: how to factor and spatialize monetary costs in the goal-function of the planning for areas that better reflect the decision-making influences in the territory. We presented, in this study, the monetary acquisition costs for land purchasing and the opportunity costs for the Piracicaba, Capivari and Jundiaí watersheds. We adopt an approach derived from spatial analysis and remote sensing methodological processes to compile and link information tabulated from farmer assistance institutions with information on natural elements obtained through land use and land cover mapping. Subsequently, we merged data from the geospatial monetary matrix with exact-objects data obtained from the Operation Land Imager (OLI) multispectral sensor attached to the Landsat 8 satellite. Finally, we identified that the monetary costs for conservation actions in the study area have inverse values and that including them in the planning goal-function can help prioritize protected areas that will be less prone to conflict over land-use due to clashes with the economic activity of a territory. Keywords: Opportunity Costs, Acquisition Costs, Protected Areas.

Risky Decision-Making in Schizophrenia: Examination of association between smoking, substance use and performance on the Iowa Gambling test: Pilot Study

IntroductionThere are two common hypotheses to explain such high comorbidity between nicotine dependence and schizophrenia (SZ): self-medication for decreasing psychiatric symptoms or common environmental risk factors can predispose to both nicotine dependence and other risky behaviors in SZObjectivesLittle is known about the influence of cigarette smoking comorbidities such substance use disorder (SUD), criminal history, or risky decision among patients with SZ.MethodsThe Iowa Gambling test (IGT) was administered to thirty-nine patients with SZ of whom 69% reporting cigarette smoking. Both groups were evaluated using a socio-demographic questionnaire and clinical assessment using PANSS and self-report questionnaire the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11). To evaluate decision making was evaluated with the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT).ResultsThe full SZ sample performed worse on the IGT then normal population. Smokers with SZ performed significantly worse than nonsmokers on the IGT primarily because they preferred “disadvantageous” decks to a greater degree. The PANSS and impulsivity tendencies (BIS-11) did not predict overall performance on the IGT. Smokers with SZ had impaired affective decision-making. Behavior suggested preferential attention to the frequency amount of gain and inattention to amount of loss suggesting impairments in risk/reward decision-makingConclusionsThis study is the first to compare IGT in smokers and nonsmokers with SZ with adjustment of SUD, criminal history, and existing tattoo to further examine IGT performance. These results support the hypothesis that comorbidities between nicotine dependence and SZ can be linked to other common factor that is associated with other externalizing behaviors in SZ.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Retailers Behavior towards Salience of Mature Product Brands – An Empirical Study on a Major Cola Brand in a Developing Economy

The effectiveness of displays is proven beyond doubt in impulse buying, however, the quantification of the effect has some differences of opinion. Role of retailers to enhance the salience of brands is a major influence in purchase decisions of mature product categories. Many researchers have emphasized the importance of POP (Point of Purchase) displays to stretch the salience high especially in low involvement products like soft drinks. Cola giants like Pepsi and Coca Cola have long been drawn in the war of displays in nearby local mom and pop stores called kirana shops in India. Many of these companies give POP materials free of cost to retailers and try to have shops selling only their products exclusively. However, a large number of shops still sell competing brands of colas. Cola companies have also given many visi - coolers (the transparent refrigerators in which the inside contents are visible to the consumers from a distance) to the shop keepers, free of cost. It’s expected that it will increase the sales of their brand and the shopkeeper is expected to keep only the company’s product for cooling/display and not that of competitors. This study is aimed at finding the behavior of retailers toward providing salience of a major cola brand through the display of its brands by visi coolers.

Legal and Judicial System Transformation in Transition Economy: The Macedonian Case

Economic growth and poverty reduction are highly dependent on the well-functioning legal and judicial institutions. Experience in transition countries suggests that the legal transition and economic performance go hand in hand in advancing results. The transition from socialism to capitalism in the Republic of North Macedonia has required fundamental reforms of legal and judicial institutions. The paper analyses the experience of the country in the legal and judicial institutions transformation, a long-term process that still has active and ongoing reforms. Despite the adoption of the structural preconditions for judicial independence (legal framework, judicial councils, and academies), political intervention, corruption and influence in judicial decisions are common and legal uncertainty remains. The authors explore the effects that the legal and judicial institutions’ transformation has on Macedonian economic development by drawing data from official sources/reports. The conclusions suggest that creating a well-defined judiciary system with enforcement ability should be a priority for the executive branch of the Macedonian government to achieve improved economic performance and functional market economy.

Primary motivations for and experiences with paediatric minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS) participation in Malawi: a qualitative study

ObjectiveTo understand family member consent decision-making influences and experiences in Malawi in order to inform future minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS) studies.DesignQualitative study.SettingQueen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre, Malawi,...

Relationship Between Big-Five Personality Traits, Financial Literacy and Risk Propensity: Evidence from India

The purpose of the present study is to empirically examine the effect of Big-Five personality traits on financial literacy and risk propensity. Data were collected from 285 respondents from four cosmopolitan cities in the southern part of India (Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli and Madurai) using a structured instrument. The structural equation modelling results reveal that the following: (a) Big-Five personality traits have a significant and positive influence on financial literacy financial attitude, financial behaviour, financial knowledge and financial decision influences; (b) financial attitude is positively related to risk propensity; and (c) financial decision influences are positively related to risk propensity. The implications for behavioural finance and practicing managers are discussed.

Can participation promote psychological ownership of a shared resource? An intervention study of community-based safe water infrastructure

Previous research suggests that community-based participation, a process through which beneficiaries can actively influence and define the direction and execution of development programs, can promote long-term uptake, use, and management of shared resources, such as community-based safe water infrastructure. However, results are heterogeneous. Psychological ownership theory and initial evidence suggests that participation promotes positive outcomes for shared resources by fostering sense of ownership through three routes: having control, intimate knowledge, and investing the self. This study used community-based safe water infrastructure as an example to investigate how various forms of participation affect acceptance, use, and functionality of a shared resource and whether this effect is mediated by psychological ownership. We conducted a nonrandomized cluster-based controlled trial with pre–post intervention assessment (N = 369) in 33 villages in rural Nepal, where safe water infrastructure is shared. Participatory intervention activities (e.g., influence in decision-making, contributing materials and labour) favourably affected self-reported outcomes and use of the water supply infrastructure but not observed functionality or drinking water quality. In conclusion, this study supports the assumption that participation can foster psychological ownership, which in turn can support successful management of a shared resource.

Perceptual decision-making ‘in the wild’: How risk propensity and injury exposure experience influence the neural signatures of occupational hazard recognition

While previous studies have extensively explored the neural mechanisms of perceptual decision-making, most of them used paradigms with limited real-life consequences and largely neglected participants' individual differences. In this study, to resemble a perceptual decision-making scenario with real-life consequences, construction workers were recruited for an occupational hazard recognition task by categorizing construction site images as hazardous or safe with their EEG recorded. Event-related potential (ERP) analysis revealed distinct influences of perceptual decision-making by two dispositional factors of risk propensity and injury exposure experience. Risk propensity was positively correlated with the stimulus-locked difference waveforms (hazardous minus safe) at approximately 200 ms post-stimuli-onset over right-lateralized parietal–occipital areas. The difference waveforms showed reversed polarity between groups with high and low-risk propensity. Injury exposure experience was negatively correlated with the response-locked difference waveforms approximately 450 ms before motor response over right-lateralized parietal-occipital regions. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to report how individuals' injury exposure experience influenced the neural signatures of one's perceptual decision-making. These results extended previous findings for perceptual decision-making by setting up a scenario with high ecological validity and suggested possibly substantial different mechanisms for individual workers by the intrinsic factor of risk propensity and the extrinsic factor of injury exposure experience.

Prefrontal control of social influence in risk decision making

To optimize our decisions, we may change our mind by utilizing social information. Here, we examined how changes of mind were modulated by Social Misalignment Sensitivity (SMS), egocentric tendency, and decision preferences in a decision-making paradigm including both risk and social information. Combining functional magnetic resonance imaging with computational modeling, we showed that both SMS and egocentric tendency modulated changes of mind under the influence of social information. While SMS was represented in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and superior parietal gyrus (SPG) in the socially aligned situation, a distributed brain network was activated in the misaligned condition, including not only the dACC and SPG but also superior frontal gyrus and precuneus. These results suggest that SMS is related to a monitoring brain system, the scope of which varies according to the level of misalignment with social majority. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex selectively interacted with SMS among the participants with a low switching threshold, indicating that its regulation on SMS may be sensitive to inter-individual variation. Our findings highlight the predominant roles of SMS and the prefrontal control system towards changes of mind under social influence.

Software Market in Nigeria: A Case Study of Its Buying Behaviour Heterogeneity

The impact of the software buying decisions has a rising relevance in social and economic terms This research focused on the organizations buying decisions of Operating Systems and Office Suites for personal computers and the impact on the competition between incumbent and alternative players in the market in these software categories. Questionairing method of data collection was used using 5-point likert scale mode, some hypothesis testing were carried out on the most relevant factor of the subject matter at 5% level of significance. It was concluded that in this market beside brand image, product features or price, other factors could have influence in the buying choices. Network effect, switching costs, local network effect, lock-in or consumer heterogeneity all have influence in the buying decision. The results showed that the free licensing with the perception that Open Source Software global cost is lower than the local network effect. The influence of market factors like network effects, lock-in, consumer heterogeneity or switching costs also favors the incumbent Proprietary Software. Keywords: Consumer Behaviour, Software Market, Lock-in, Network Effect, Switching Cost, Software Buying Decision. DOI: 10.7176/NCS/13-02 Publication date: May 31 st 2022

The influence of decision making of farmers choosing rice varieties on rice productivity levels in Central Lampung Regency

This study aims to determine the influence of decision making of farmers choosing rice varieties on rice productivity levels. The data analysis method used in this study is descriptive and quantitative analysis. This research was conducted in Bangun Rejo Subdistrict, Central Lampung Regency. The number of respondents in this study was 73 samples. The data used is primary and secondary data. The data analysis in this study was conducted with multiple linear regression tests. The results showed that the decision-making process of choosing rice varieties by farmers is done by considering several things, namely the suitability of varieties to the needs of farmers, the suitability of varieties with the experience of farmers, the level of complexity in the application of varieties, as well as the relative advantages of varieties. The decision-making of farmers choosing rice varieties positively affects 90.4 percent of rice productivity. The more appropriate farmers choose rice varieties that suit the needs, conditions of the land, type and intensity of pest attacks in the area, it will support the acquisition of high productivity.

Can Food and Beverage Advertising Questionnaire Predict Overweight and Obesity in Children and Adolescents from Low- and Middle-Income Countries?

Background: Information about the reliability and validity of questionnaires in low- and middle-income countries remains scarce. Objective: To test the reliability and predictive validity of a food and beverage marketing/advertising questionnaire for South American children and adolescents. Methods: A sample of 330 children (3-10 years old) and 215 adolescents (11-18 years old) was included from seven South American cities: Buenos Aires, Lima, Medellín, Montevideo, Santiago, Sao Paulo, and Teresina. The questionnaire consisted of seven questions about food and beverage marketing/advertising and decision influence. We assessed the reliability using temporal stability (2-week interval) and internal consistency. We assessed the predictive validity based on the risk of excess weight. Results: In children, reliability agreement from κ coefficients ranged from 63.7% to 86.3%, and Cronbach's α (internal consistency estimate) ranged from 0.14 to 0.75. In adolescents, the reliability agreement ranged from 78.9% to 85.7%, and Cronbach's α ranged from 0.14 to 0.76. Exploratory factor analysis revealed two factors for both age groups. The predictive probabilities for excess weight ranged from 22.3% to 61.1% in children and from 24.9% to 64.1% in adolescents. Conclusions: The screen/marketing media questionnaire is a reliable and valid measure for the pediatric population from low- and middle-income countries. This subjective tool provides a feasible screening measure for the influence of advertising on children and adolescents at risk of overweight and obesity.

The Public Investment Fund and Salman’s state: the political drivers of sovereign wealth management in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has grown from marginal player to the most important economic actor in the Kingdom since 2015. Nevertheless, we know surprisingly little about the political economy of the PIF revamp. Against an unfavorable macroeconomic backdrop, I argue that shifts in PIF organization and orientation are fundamentally driven by the centralization of power within the circles of the Saudi ruling family since the rise of Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). The fund's governance framework and network of insiders forming the board of directors mirror the concentration of authority around MBS. In turn, PIF domestic activities shifted from scattered investment patterns associated with the competing influence of senior decision-makers to a highly authoritative and personalized strategy. Moreover, the PIF's response to COVID-19 further exemplifies the turn from a conservative strategy toward a short-term oriented approach to sovereign wealth management. Going beyond macro-level economic and institutional dynamics, the article introduces the role of political agency in SWF choices by stressing how political actors and the distribution of power within ruling elites shape SWFs. The article thus adds to the scholarship on domestic drivers of SWFs and contributes to debates surrounding the interplay between states and markets under processes of financialization.

Adoption intention of photovoltaic solar systems

Purpose – The research objective is to analyze the influence of key factors contributing to consumers’ purchase intention grid-connected photovoltaic systems among residential energy consumers. Design/methodology/approach – A survey based on Korcaj et al. (2014) was conducted in a major Brazilian city; 209 valid responses were obtained directly. Data was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings – Among significant decision influences are environmental, financial, and autarchy benefits onto perceived global benefit and perceived behavioral control construct onto purchase intention; perceived social benefits, however, were not a relevant influence as opposed to previous studies. Research limitations/implications - Weakness of the model's reliability leading to the exclusion of the perceived total cost construct, which in turn could reduce sample bias and increase the reliability of the model and regarding clarity regarding the product “solar photovoltaic energy system”, as no text was used; this could have left questions unanswered due to the lack of knowledge of respondents about solar technology. Practical implications - The high purchasing power and high education level, along with favorable weather and geography, may contribute to promising perspectives for the product. Furthermore, to promote adhesion of the technology in the city there is a need to increase benefits, to reduce perceived technology costs, and to value the importance of solar energy generation among reference groups. Social implications - The analysis of factors influencing the city’s residents’ intentions of to adopt photovoltaic systems favors further promotion of the technology in the city. Originality/value - It contributes to the development of consumer behavior studies regarding the adoption intention of ecologically sustainable technologies, i.e., GCPSs, thus, filling a gap in the literature on consumer behavior for this product.

Influence of Collective Decision Making in Participative Leadership Style on Improving the Quality of Education in Public Secondary Schools in Arusha Region, Tanzania

This study addressed the influence of collective decision-making in participative leadership style on improving the quality of education in public secondary schools in Arusha region, Tanzania. The study was guided by participative system theory. The correlation survey design was adopted to establish the influence of collective decision-making on improving the quality of education. To this end, two hundred and ninety-one (291) respondents from 18 public secondary schools were selected in the mix of stratified and random sampling techniques from three (03) district councils in Arusha region. The study involved three (03) district education officers, eighteen (18) heads of schools, eighteen (18) academic masters/mistresses, one hundred and eighty (180) teachers, and seventy-two (72) students. The study collected data by using multiple instruments such as questionnaires for teachers, students, and academic masters/mistresses, interview schedules for district education officers and headmasters/mistresses, and document analysis schedules. Descriptive statistics such as mean scores, standard deviations, frequencies, and percentages summarized data collected. Multiple Regression Analysis technique was used to analyze inferential statistics by testing hypotheses. The study findings revealed that collective decision-making is the crucial strategy of involving teachers and students in participative leadership by making them be part of the solution to the education challenges confronting the education sector. The academic masters/mistresses appeared to be more involved in collective decision-making than teachers and students. The study concluded that there is an existence of contradiction of application of collective decision making due to the manifestation of a top-down leadership system based on directive decisions from the highest authority. Based on the research findings and conclusions, the study recommended the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology to develop a clear policy that will guide headmasters/mistresses towards implementing the collective decision making by involving teachers and students for improving the quality of education in public secondary schools.

Behavioural science applied to risk-based decision processes: a case study for earthquake prone buildings in New Zealand

ABSTRACT Policy and technical guidance are only as good as their implementation. Often well-meaning legislation has unintended consequences, as individuals and organisations overlay their own risk perceptions and understanding to an issue. This paper illustrates how behavioural science can be applied to risk-based engineering decisions to improve decision outcomes. It is framed around an analysis of the management of earthquake prone public buildings in New Zealand. It demonstrates how the individual, social and cultural contexts can influence how risks and impacts are perceived, evaluated, and communicated. The framing of the decision, unconscious biases, cognitive limitations, trust, and other social influences are all critical factors in translation of technical policy to effective outcomes.

To Inform, Recommend, and Sometimes Persuade: The Ethics of Physician Influence in Shared Decision Making

To Inform, Recommend, and Sometimes Persuade: The Ethics of Physician Influence in Shared Decision Making

Clinical decision-making of bachelor and clinical internship (professional) nursing students in Indonesia.

Background: Clinical decision-making is an essential element of every professional nursing career. A nurse’s aptitude for clinical decision-making influences the quality of the healthcare they provide. This research aims to describe the clinical decision-making among nursing students at Universitas Indonesia.Design and Methods: This research employed a cross-sectional design by sampling 216 students across several types and level of students’ programs in the University. The samples were selected using a stratified random sampling technique and met the inclusion criteria. The instrument of this research was the 2014 Nursing Decision Making Instrument. The survey instrument was translated from English into Indonesian, and its validity and reliability were tested (α Cronbach value = 0.816).Results: The results of the univariate analysis revealed that students’ clinical decision-making abilities vary; 59.2% in the analysis category, 40.3% in the quasi-rational category, and 0.5% in the intuitive category.Conclusion: This research concludes that the clinical decisionmaking ability of bachelor and professional nursing students’ program is in the analysis category that indicate that students’ clinical decision-making abilities involve their explicit-theoretical knowledge and are supported by evidence-based practices. Therefore, their clinical decision-making can be logically defended, though it requires a longer duration of time to strengthen those abilities. The students’ clinical decision-making must continuously be improved to enable them to create precise decisions based on various situations and clinical conditions. Significance for public health Health education institutions have a responsibility to provide quality health workers for the community. This research provides reflection data for educational institutions in developing learning strategies that support the improvement of clinical decision-making competencies.

Towards Sustainable ICTD in Bangladesh: Understanding the Program and Policy Landscape and Its Implications for CSCW and HCI

Historically, Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) and Human-Computer Interaction for Development (HCI4D) researchers in the Global South have advocated for a community-based approach to technology design and development. However, even with this "bottom-up" emphasis, the sustainability and scalability of the resulting innovations remain major challenges, and are poorly understood. To address this gap, we take the case of Bangladesh as a typical Global South context in which development work is carried out by a complex intertwined network of stakeholders across governments, NGOs, donors, and industries. To better understand the current development landscape and its priorities for digital technologies, we conducted interviews with 14 influential decision-makers in Bangladesh who play significant roles in the development of nutrition strategies. Our findings highlight a disconnect between the Bangladesh government's "digital mandate" and the reality of digital innovation practice within the nutrition development sector. Our paper contributes to the debate on factors that affect decision-making processes. We explore the dynamics of diverse actors and institutions who are intended to participate in, but can act as obstacles to sustained bottom-up innovations. Our findings expand understanding of institutional priorities, the dynamics of intermediaries, techno-solutionism, postcolonialism, bureaucracy, competition, and other important topics in CSCW scholarship. We suggest understanding the factors that guide the decision-making process of digital innovation practices in terms of four dimensions: internal, external, vertical, and horizontal. Consequently, we recommend CSCW and HCI researchers become mediators to connect decision-makers and communities and bring their voices in ICT innovations for global development. Finally, we offer recommendations for proactive engagement with decision-making stakeholders, enabling researchers to design community-centered sustainable digital innovations for development.