Exploratory Factor Analysis Modeling Research Articles

Deepening Our Understanding of COVID-19 Vaccine Decision-Making amongst Healthcare Workers in Southwest Virginia, USA Using Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Vaccine hesitancy amongst healthcare workers (HCWs) has been a major challenge throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. While many studies have identified HCW characteristics and specific attitudes associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, researchers are still working towards developing a holistic understanding of the psychological constructs that influence COVID-19 vaccine decision-making in this population. Between 15 March and 29 March 2021, we distributed an online survey assessing individual characteristics and vaccine-related perceptions to employees of a not-for-profit healthcare system in Southwest Virginia (N = 2459). We then performed exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to describe patterns of vaccine-related thought amongst HCWs and identify latent psychometric constructs involved in vaccine decision-making. The goodness of model fit was assessed using the Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI), the Comparative Fit Index (CFI), and the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA). Internal consistency and reliability of each factor were assessed using Cronbach's alpha. EFA identified four latent psychometric constructs: Lack of trust in the COVID-19 vaccine; Anti-science sentiment; Adverse side-effects; and Situational risk assessment. The goodness of EFA model fit was adequate (TLI > 0.90, RMSEA ≤ 0.08) with acceptable internal consistency and reliability for three of four factors (Cronbach's alpha > 0.70). The CFA model also had adequate goodness of fit (CFI > 0.90, RMSEA ≤ 0.08). We believe the psychometric constructs identified in this study can provide a useful framework for interventions to improve vaccine uptake amongst this critical population.

한국판 청소년용 자기자비척도(K-SCS-Y)의 요인구조 재탐색

Objectives This study re-examined the factor structure of the K-SCS-Y(Park & Ahn, 2022), which validated the Self-Compassion Scale-Youth(SCS-Y)(Neff et al., 2020) for Korean adolescents.
 Methods To this end, a questionnaire targeting 248 middle school students in the Busan area was analyzed through traditional exploratory factor analysis and factor analysis with rotation to a partially specified target to search for the optimal factor model. Factor Analysis with Rotation to a Partially Specified Target was based on the factor structure of the Self-Compassion Scale: SCS-Y(Neff et al., 2020); items that were index variables for each factor were estimated as free parameters, and other items were restricted to numbers close to 0.
 Results First, as a result of the traditional exploratory factor analysis, both the 5-factor and 6-factor models of K-SCS-Y were found to be inappropriate. Second, as a result of factor analysis with rotation to a partially specified target based on the factor structure of SCS-Y(Neff et al., 2020), the indicator variable items for each factor were almost identical to those of SCS-Y.
 Conclusions As the factor structure of K-SCS-Y, the same 6-factor structure as Neff's(2003) concept of self-compassion was confirmed. This result is expected to lead to the activation of self-compassion research targeting adolescents.

Assessing Factors Affecting Construction Equipment Productivity Using Structural Equation Modeling

The performance of the construction industry can be improved by understanding the factors that affect the productivity of its equipment. A hypothetical framework was used to analyze six vital construction equipment parameters to understand how they affect productivity in construction projects. Data collected through a survey of 110 respondents in the construction industry were analyzed using an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). The final model obtained using SEM consisted of 31 attributes from six construction equipment productivity factors, namely management (MG), materials (MT), human (HM), technical (TN), environmental (EM), and other factors (OT). Construction equipment productivity was found to be significantly influenced by MT and OT in construction projects. This was mainly because of their corresponding subfactors, such as operating life and equipment age, and the occurrence of accidents during construction. Consequently, based on survey feedback from various construction professionals, present gaps in construction equipment productivity were analyzed, and recommendations were made to overcome the main limiting factors under MT and OT. This study identified and quantified the interrelationships between various construction equipment productivity constraints. Therefore, the results can help experts and specialists better comprehend how to overcome delays due to idle time and improve construction equipment productivity.

Can severity of a humanitarian crisis be quantified? Assessment of the INFORM severity index

BackgroundThose responding to humanitarian crises have an ethical imperative to respond most where the need is greatest. Metrics are used to estimate the severity of a given crisis. The INFORM Severity Index, one such metric, has become widely used to guide policy makers in humanitarian response decision making. The index, however, has not undergone critical statistical review. If imprecise or incorrect, the quality of decision making for humanitarian response will be affected. This analysis asks, how precise and how well does this index reflect the severity of conditions for people affected by disaster or war?ResultsThe INFORM Severity Index is calculated from 35 publicly available indicators, which conceptually reflect the severity of each crisis. We used 172 unique global crises from the INFORM Severity Index database that occurred January 1 to November 30, 2019 or were ongoing by this date. We applied exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to determine common factors within the dataset. We then applied a second-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to predict crisis severity as a latent construct. Model fit was assessed via chi-square goodness-of-fit statistic, Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI), and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA). The EFA models suggested a 3- or 4- factor solution, with 46 and 53% variance explained in each model, respectively. The final CFA was parsimonious, containing three factors comprised of 11 indicators, with reasonable model fit (Chi-squared = 107, with 40 degrees of freedom, CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.92, RMSEA = 0.10). In the second-order CFA, the magnitude of standardized factor-loading on the ‘societal governance’ latent construct had the strongest association with the latent construct of ‘crisis severity’ (0.73), followed by the ‘humanitarian access/safety’ construct (0.56).ConclusionsA metric of crisis-severity is a critical step towards improving humanitarian response, but only when it reflects real life conditions. Our work is a first step in refining an existing framework to better quantify crisis severity.

Dietary Patterns, Occupational Stressors and Body Composition of Hospital Workers: A Longitudinal Study Comparing before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This longitudinal study aimed to evaluate the association between dietary patterns and the body composition of hospital workers subjected to occupational stressors before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data on sociodemographic, occupational, lifestyle, anthropometric, food consumption and occupational stress were collected before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 218 workers from a private hospital in Santo Antônio de Jesus, Bahia, Brazil were included in the study. After evaluating the normality of the data, parametric or non-parametric tests were used to characterize the sample. Dietary pattern was defined with Exploratory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the desired association. During the pandemic, work per shift increased by 8.2% (p = 0.004) and working hours > 40 h/week increased by 9.2% (p = 0.006). Despite the higher prevalence of low occupational stress (85.8% vs. 72.1%), high stress increased by 13.7% from 2019 to 2020 (p < 0.001) and 30.3% reported a positive mediating effect on the variables of body composition, body mass index (b = 0.478; p < 0.001), waist circumference (b = 0.395; p = 0.001), fat-free mass (b = 0.440; p = 0.001) and fat mass (b = -0.104; p = 0.292). Therefore, a dietary pattern containing high-calorie foods was associated with changes in the body composition of hospital workers, including occupational stressors as mediators of this relationship.

Is this real life? Is it just fantasy? The development and validation of a media-evoked fantasy scale

PurposePrior research has indicated that narratives may lead to fantasy which may evoke narrative transportation. Researchers have also established that narrative transportation affects persuasion, changes in attitudes and brand evaluations. To this end, several studies have focused on narrative consumption (i.e. being hooked into a narrative) and the aforementioned consequences of narrative transportation. However, research investigating the role that fantasy plays in consumers’ journey from narrative consumption to narrative transportation is scant. The purpose of this paper is to develop a multidimensional scale for measuring narrative-driven fantasy in order to detail which dimensions of fantasy facilitate narrative transportation. Further, this paper posits that prior research has overlooked the mediating role that fantasy plays within the narrative consumption and narrative transportation process. As the exploration of overlooked mediators is important for theory development, this paper uses the scale developed here to test for fantasy as a mediator.Design/methodology/approachThis research involves four studies, taking a multi-methodology approach including one-on-one interviews and questionnaires. Exploratory factor analysis and sequential equation modeling are used to develop a valid scale for fantasy.FindingsThis work results in the development of an eight-item scale of narrative-driven fantasy, highlighting two dimensions of fantasy: identification and passport. Further, this work finds that both dimensions of fantasy mediate the relationship between the level of narrative consumption (being hooked into the narrative) and narrative transportation.Research limitations/implicationsThe studies were conducted with respondents only from the USA, potentially limiting its generalizability to other countries and cultures. This research has several implications. This paper introduces a model that highlights fantasy’s role within the narrative consumption and narrative transportation fields of study. It also delineates a scale that measures the different dimensions of fantasy. This scale can be used to gain further understanding of the strength and type of fantasy that narratives consumed via various mediums (music, movies, commercials) evoke, the relationship between these measures and narrative transportation, and the subsequent changes in intentions and attitudes. Further, the identification of fantasy as a mediator in the relationship between narrative consumption and narrative transportation allows for further theory development and exploration.Practical implicationsThe fantasy scale that is detailed in this paper may be used to indicate which celebrities, music, images, movies, commercials, products, brands and other stimuli best evoke narrative-based fantasy. The scale should apply to all types of fantasizing, enhancing the understanding of what increases levels of fantasy and the effects of such fantasy on persuasion.Originality/valueThis research extends the literature on consumer engagement in narrative consumption and transportation by providing novel and valid scale measures for narrative-based fantasy. The fantasy scale provided is internally consistent and proves accurate across many samples and stimuli. The scale is also short (only eight items) and easy to administer. Additionally, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work is the first to generate insights into the mediating role that fantasy plays within the narrative consumption and narrative transportation framework.

The Effect of Gender Inequality on Job Satisfaction, Productivity, and Career Progression of Female IT and Software Professionals

With technological advancement and the sudden shift in the need for a consistent online presence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IT and Software industry continues to grow as a valuable and competitive profession. Albeit this industry’s significant contribution to the country’s development, it continues to be dominated by men. Hence, a study involving a total of 204 female IT and software professionals in the Philippines aged 18-65 was conducted to examine the effects of gender inequality on their job satisfaction, productivity, and career progression. By using exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM), results show that the perception or experience of gender inequality leads to less satisfied and less productive employees, which further translates to the determination to grab the opportunity to progress in their careers. Notably, gender inequality creates a positive effect on one’s motivation for career progression. Despite this study’s limitations, its findings will provide significant insights for Human Resource practitioners on how to properly manage a growing workforce in a male-dominated industry and ensure that they are satisfied with their jobs, productive, and can pave the way for advancement in their careers. Keywords: Gender Inequality, Job Satisfaction, Employee Productivity, Career Progression, IT and Software, Female Professionals, Minority, Social Exchange Theory

The impact of brand image on public university links in the context of autonomy: A case study in Vietnam

This study aims to examine the impact of brand image on public university links in the context of autonomy in Vietnam. Using quantitative research methods through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the survey data included 631 samples of managers, experts, and scientists at public universities divided by different disciplines. The results of the study showed that the brand image has both a direct and indirect impact on public university links in the context of autonomy through intermediate elements of trust and commitment in the relationship between universities. In addition, trust has also been shown to have a direct impact on commitment in the relationship between public universities in Vietnam in the context of autonomy. In the context of research in Vietnam, the findings of this study have shown both theoretical and practical contributions and will be an important basis for further research.

Turismo e covid-19: a intenção de viagem do consumidor de turismo para o ano de 2021 e 2022

The article aims to analyse the factors that affect the travel intention of the tourism consumer during the Covid‑19 pandemic for the year 2021 and 2022. The research is quantitative, with a conceptual scope built from research of the literature. The data collection instrument was a questionnaire based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. The survey was organised using Google Forms in January 2021. The type of sampling was non‑probabilistic, with 174 valid questionnaires. The analysis techniques were: Exploratory Factor Analysis (AFE) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The structural model resulting from the cross‑referencing of the data was shown to be adequate for the explanation and adjustment of the sample, since an R2 of 0.75 was obtained. The hypotheses raised were confirmed, giving positive travel intentions for the year 2021 and 2022, and signalling resistant behavior in tourists

Enhancing access to clean water in Bu Dop district – Binh Phuoc province

Safely access to clean water is the goal 6 of the millennium development goals (MDGs). Nowadays, 25% of the world's population does not have safe access to clean water. This situation is more serious in low-income countries. Being lack of the access to clean water affects not only the livelihoods but also the basic demands of the human being. Because of the high demand on researching about this topic, the article focuses on the status of using cleaning water in Bu Dop, a poor district of Binh Phuoc province during the period 2017 – 2021. The data were collected by surveying a sample of 160 households of four communes in the area that did not use clean water. Based on the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and logit regression model, the results of the analysis indicate that there are five variables impact people's intention to use fresh water are ethnicity; income; the awareness of the usefulness of clean water; the satisfaction with the price, and the availabilities of other water resources. Accordingly, the research proposes some solutions to enhance the possibilities to access the clean water in the Bu Dop district. These approaches are promulgating some policies to support and encourage local people in this area to use clean water and the specific policies for ethnic minorities; providing more information for improving the people's awareness and responsibility in using clean water; enhancing the management and operation of centralized water treatment system; attracting the ODA (Official Development Assistance) projects providing clean water for poor communes and encouraging the private sectors to participate in this issue.

Taxpayers’ Perceptions Towards Income Tax Administration: A Study from Indian Perspectives

Tax procedures more particularly income tax laws are considered to be more complex and cumbersome by the individual taxpayers. Direct tax constitutes 46.84% of total tax revenue and personal income tax contributes 51.48% of total direct tax in India. Similarly individual taxpayers constitute around 95% of the total taxpayers in India. But individual assesses faces most about compliance challenges and administrative burdens. Governments often introduce new amendments to address these issues and promote economic efficiency. This paper primarily investigates factors influencing tax administration and taxpayer perceptions, particularly in the context of Indian income tax. This analytical study utilizes primary data and focuses exclusively on income taxpayers in Odisha, an Indian state. Despite uniform national tax laws, the study assumes consistency in typical taxpayer behavior across states. To address data collection limitations, nine districts in Odisha with a 2011 census literacy rate above 80% were selected. A structured questionnaire with five-point Likert scale were used to collect responses through random sampling techniques. From the total sample of 1300 respondents, only 1068 provided complete answers. The study’s findings are based on this sample. The research employs Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to identify significant aspects of tax administration. Three factors emerge: tax procedure, tax services, and tax penalty from factor analysis. Notably, all observed variables have positive impacts on these factors, corroborating the hypotheses, except for one. Tax procedure negatively correlates with tax penalty and services, while services positively correlate with the penalty, resulting in a hypothesis rejection. This study confirms that more the simplification of tax procedures, lesser will be the chance of problems in tax services and chances of imposing penalty.

We are cyborgs: The role of narcissism and self-esteem to become social media and tourism addicts

It is argued that excessive social media use can lead to an addiction. This study compares two proposed research models. The first model examines how social media addiction, narcissism, and self-esteem affect tourism addiction. Whilst the second model studies the impact of narcissism and self-esteem on social media and tourist addiction. There were also two research models proposed here. Data collection was obtained in Jakarta, with 214 participants chosen by using the convenient sampling method. Exploratory factor analysis and structural equation models were used to process the data. Social media addiction and narcissism affect self-esteem, while social media addiction and tourist addiction affect self-esteem. This research combines the study of addiction, modern media, and cyber marketing.

Impact of Organizational Commitment Factors on Business Performance of Enterprises in the Context of Digital Transformation: A Case Study of Private Enterprises in Vinh City, Nghe An Province, Vietnam

The study aims to test the impact of organizational commitment factors on the business performance of self-employed enterprises in the context of digital transformation in Vinh city, Nghe An province, Vietnam. Using quantitative research methods through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and multiple regression model analysis, the research results show that all three components of employee commitment to the organization are have a positive impact on business performance. In which, the order of impact is determined as: norm-based commitment, emotional commitment and finally calculation-based commitment. From there, the study proposes a number of solutions to strengthen employees’ commitment to the organization in order to improve business performance in enterprises.

Acute suicidal affective disturbance and borderline personality disorder symptoms: Distinct yet correlated constructs

ObjectiveAcute Suicidal Affective Disturbance (ASAD) has been proposed to address the need for a suicide-specific diagnostic entity that better accounts for the psychological symptoms that may emerge during an acute suicidal crisis and that may precede imminent suicidal behaviors. However, additional research is needed to establish ASAD's delimitation from preexisting psychological disorders, especially disorders that include suicidal thoughts and behaviors in their diagnostic criteria such as borderline personality disorder (BPD). MethodsWe estimated two Gaussian graphical models (GGMs), exploratory factor analysis (EFA) models, and confirmatory factor analysis models in a sample of psychiatric outpatients (N = 460) to examine the structure of ASAD and BPD symptoms. ResultsOur estimated models showed while most ASAD and BPD symptoms largely shared associations with other symptoms belonging to their respective disorder construct, strong associations connected some ASAD symptoms with BPD symptoms, which, in a network model, emerged in the form of nonzero edges among those symptoms, and in EFA models, as factors that featured both ASAD and BPD symptoms as indicators. ConclusionsOur findings suggest the network structure of the proposed criteria of ASAD features symptoms that are largely distinct to ASAD but do include symptoms that share meaningful correlations with BPD symptoms that suggest ASAD and BPD are correlated constructs.

Impacts of Social Capital on Community-Based Tourism Development: A Case Study in Binh Dinh Province, Vietnam

The study analyzes the effects of social capital on community-based tourism development in Binh Dinh province. A survey of 302 locals living in community tourism destinations was conducted. The study used exploratory factor analysis and multivariate regression model. The results show that four variables, including trust, reciprocity, norms, and cooperation, have a positive effect on community-based tourism development. Networking negatively affects community-based tourism development in Binh Dinh province. Additionally, trust is the factor that has the greatest impact on the growth of community-based tourism.

Validating the Well-Being of Older People (WOOP) Instrument in China.

Generic health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measures have been used for estimating utility value, which is then used for calculating quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). HRQoL measures may not capture many of the relevant and important non-health aspects of quality of life. The well-being of older people (WOOP) instrument was first developed in the Netherlands. This study aimed to validate this new instrument among older people in China. WOOP was first translated into simplified Chinese (for use in Mainland China) by two experienced translators. From July to August 2022, a cross-sectional study was conducted on a convenience sample of 500 older people in Southwestern China. Older people who provided consent reported their demographic information and completed the simplified Chinese version of the WOOP instrument using a pencil and paper. The feasibility of WOOP was determined by the percentage of missing responses. Then, using the data without any missing responses, we examined the item response distributions, pairwise Spearman correlations, underlying factors, and known-group validity of WOOP. Among the nine items of WOOP, three had more than 10% missing responses. The response distributions of the nine items were overall good without signs of ceiling and floor effects. The correlations among the WOOP items were low. A two-factor exploratory factor analysis model suggested that the WOOP items can be categorized into either internal or external well-being items. Good known-group validity results were found. Some WOOP items may not be easily understood by a small proportion of rural residents. However, other results have suggested WOOP to be a valid instrument for measuring the well-being of the elderly in China. The availability of WOOP enables the measurement of well-being-related utility.

Smart Building Management System (SBMS) for Commercial Buildings—Key Attributes and Usage Intentions from Building Professionals’ Perspective

Smart buildings conserve energy and create a responsive, comfortable, and productive indoor environment for users and occupants. As a crucial component of smart buildings, smart building management system (SBMS) should provide a wide range of functions and bring about the intended benefits upon successful deployment. This paper identifies salient SBMS attributes and explores key factors influencing building professionals’ intention to use the system in commercial buildings. Responses were collected from 327 Hong Kong building professionals. Data were analyzed by exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling based on the refined Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Exploratory factor analysis shows that intelligent building operations and safety and recovery readiness are two dimensions of SBMS emerged. Specifically, intelligent building operations include intelligent and optimal scheduling of building systems, monitor and control of building facilities, having an intelligent and interactive interface, and enabling alarm settings and automatic notifications, showing the importance on the application of electrical engineering in smart building management. Structural equation model (SEM) results indicate that facilitating conditions affect habit, hedonic motivation, social influence, performance expectancy and effort expectancy. Additionally, habit, hedonic motivation and effort expectancy significantly affect building professionals’ intention to use SBMS. Practical implications of SBMS attributes for energy management and the ways in which SBMS is encouraged to be used by building professionals are given.

Critical Risk Features of Digital Buying: A Quantitative Assessment

Objective: The purpose of this study is to analyse Critical Risk Features via Digital Buying and to quantify the Risk Factor Score (RFS) during COVID 19 Pandemic. Methods: Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), Perceived Risk Theory (PRT) and Theory of Acceptance Model (TAM) were considered as a base models for selection the of variables. The survey instrument used in the present study was designed and validated using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Three hundred and twenty-two sample responses from Mysore city, Karnataka, India, were obtained through e-mail survey from digital buyers during May 2021–July 2021. The EFA, CFA and Linear regression models were adopted for quantitative assessment of risk features associated with digital buying. Findings: The critical risk features associated with digital buying were identified as; Contractual Risk (CR), Financial Risk (FR), Psychological Risk (PR), Perceived Quality Risk (PQR) and Social Risk (SR). The Risk Factor Score (RFS) for male and female digital buyers were noted as 3.7056 and 3.663 respectively. Thus, risk taking via digital buying by male is higher comparatively. The RFS for the group 31-45 years is 3.697, lesser than age group 15-30 (3.699), while the age group 46-60 RFS is noted as 3.827 which is higher comparatively. Novelty: The attempts were made to identify the risks features associated with digital buying during the pandemic. The present study outcome helps digital shopkeepers to respond positively to the needs of digital buyers during pandemic. Keywords: Digital consumers; Digital Buyers; Risk factors; Consumer behaviour

Addressing of Value Management Implementation Barriers within the Indian Construction Industry: A PLS-SEM Approach

This study aims to evaluate the value management (VM) implementation barriers in construction projects. Consequently, information from 126 experts in the building industry was gathered via a questionnaire survey. Subsequently, the data were analyzed by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and partial least square structural modeling (PLS-SEM). The results of EFA revealed that the VM barriers were grouped into six new constructs: client, knowledge, information, culture, resources, team members, and workshop. The barriers prioritization model was developed using PLS-SEM, and it indicated that team members are critical barriers to VM adoption. Although this study was limited to India’s VM context, its findings can be applied to other developing countries yet to implement VM in their construction industries. The study enhances stakeholder awareness and an understanding of the barriers affecting the implementation of VM, including building professionals, in India. It suggests strategies and activities overcome these barriers and facilitate a higher building quality, while maintaining a reasonable price.

The Effect of Border Tourism Destination Attributes on Tourist Satisfaction and Revisit Intention: The Case of Province of Van

ABSTRACT This study aims to reveal the importance of border tourism and border tourism destination attributes that create revisit intention of tourists in Van that attracts considerable number of tourists every year from Iran. The study was empirically structured, and primary data was collected through a questionnaire derived from the literature. The survey was implemented on tourists at hotels, airports, and customs. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews between March and November 2017–2018. Out of distributed 400 questionnaires’ 370 of them returned and the response rate is 92.5% and 309 of them were found statistically usable. A combination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, correlation, and multiple regression modeling were tested with the usage of version 20 of SPSS. Destination attributes (as seven dimensions were considered as independent variables while satisfaction and revisits intention as dependent. Some significant results were reached while some were insignificant. As findings in this study, 3 considerable and conspicuous implications that; (1) there had been positive and strong relationships between the characteristics of the border tourism destination and satisfaction and revisit intentions of the tourists, (2) five of the destination features had been influential on to revisits intention, (four of them are positive), and (3) the “cultural affinity” that it is the most influential factor on to revisits intention in a border tourism destination have been found. The originality of this study that it is being one of the first study in Turkey that few studies are available in border tourism context. The findings, also, offer important implications for managers of a border tourism destination to consider.