People's Behavioral Intentions Research Articles

Outdoor recreation in a Taiwanese national park: A Hakka ethnic group study

The purpose of this study was to explore factors of values, perceptions of crowding and service quality affecting Hakka people's behavioral intentions in the Toroko National Park in Taiwan. The Hakka ethnic group is a cultural group in Taiwan, composed of 14% of Taiwan population. In 2007–2008, the visitors to Taroko National Park, one of the most visited national parks on the eastern coast of Taiwan, were surveyed on-site. Overall, 315 usable questionnaires were obtained from the Taiwanese Hakka informants. The results showed that combined effects of values, crowding and service quality predicted behavioral intentions, and the model R-squares reached 0.73. In particular, the results revealed values were more important than crowding and service quality in predicting Taiwanese Hakka visitors’ behavioral intentions. The results indicated that values are an appropriate approach for modeling outdoor recreation and tourism behavior. The finding implications for outdoor recreation and tourism management were also provided. Management implicationsThe study provides findings for management of outdoor recreation and tourism in national parks:•Employing more Hakka language spoken staff in the national park for Hakka visitors to make comments and feedbacks, would improve Hakkas’ management service quality.•Providing a sense of “solitude” recreation opportunity such as using total visitation capacity control is critical to Hakka people's national park outdoor recreation experience.•Park managers not only need to understand visitors’ perception of service quality and crowding, but also need to know visitors’ values such as Taiwanese Hakka group's values.•The achievement values such as self-fulfillment, sense of accomplishment positively affect Hakka visitors’ behavioral intentions to national park.•Building cheerful, joyful or challenging atmosphere is important on Hakka visitors’ positive behavioral intentions to national park.

How Upward Moral Comparison Influences Prosocial Behavioral Intention: Examining the Mediating Role of Guilt and the Moderating Role of Moral Identity.

Although it has been shown that exceptional good deeds exert influences on people's prosocial behavior and intention, we have known little about how common moral actions in our daily life. The present study aimed to examine how upward moral comparison influenced prosocial behavioral intention as well as to explore the mediating role of guilt and the moderating role of moral identity in the focal relationship. An experimental study was conducted with 162 Chinese undergraduates (103 women, 59 men) randomly assigned to an upward moral comparison condition, an upward competence comparison condition or a control condition. Results indicated that participants in the upward moral comparison condition experienced higher levels of guilt and exhibited stronger motivation to act prosocially, relative to participants in the other two conditions. That is to say, upward moral comparison induces guilty experience, and then increases people's prosocial behavioral intention. Moreover, we have found that moral identity internalization moderates the upward moral comparison-guilt relationship, and the indirect effect of upward moral comparison on prosocial behavioral intention via guilt. The implications of these findings were discussed.

Treatment choices for depression: Young people's response to a traditional e-health versus a Health 2.0 website.

ObjectiveThis exploratory experimental study compared young people’s credibility appraisals and behavioural intentions following exposure to depression treatment information on a Health 2.0 website versus a traditional website. The traditional website listed evidence-based treatment recommendations for depression as judged by field experts. The Health 2.0 website contained information about how helpful each treatment was, as aggregated from feedback from young people with lived experience of depression.MethodParticipants (n = 279) were provided with a vignette asking them to imagine that they had just received a diagnosis of depression and they had gone online to find information to guide their treatment choices. They were randomly allocated to view either the traditional or the Health 2.0 website, and were asked to rate the credibility of the depression treatment information provided. They were also asked to indicate the extent to which they would be likely to act on the advice of the website.ResultsParticipants in the traditional website condition rated their website as significantly more influential than did participants presented with the Health 2.0 website. This difference in treatment influence was fully accounted for the participants’ perception of credibility of the information provided by the websites.ConclusionThe traditional website was rated as significantly more credible and influential than the Health 2.0 website. Treatment decisions appeared to be based on the extent to which online information appears credible. In conclusion, health-related content was perceived by users as more credible when endorsed by experts than by other users, and perceived message credibility appears to be a powerful determinant of behavioural intentions within the e-health setting.

The Complexity of Neuroenhancement and the Adoption of a Social Cognitive Perspective.

This contribution attempts to provide a broad perspective to the psychological study of neuroenhancement (NE). It departs from the assumption that, as the use of performance enhancing substances in sport, the use of substances with the aim of improving one’s cognitive, motivational and affective functioning in academic domains is a goal-directed behavior. As such, its scientific study may very well benefit from an analysis taking into account the psychological processes regulating people’s behavioral intentions and decisions. Within this broad framework, this contribution addresses several issues that currently seem to characterize the debate in the literature on neuroenhancement substances (NES) use. The first conceptual issue seeks to determine and define the “boundaries” of the phenomenon. The second issue concerns the empirical evidence on the prevalence of using certain substances for the purpose of NE. Finally, there is a debate around the ethical and moral implications of NE. Along these lines, the existing psychological research on NE has adopted mainly sociological and economic decision-making perspectives, greatly contributing to the psychological discourse about the phenomenon of NE. However, we argue that the existing psychological literature does not offer a common, explicit and integrated theoretical framework. Borrowing from the framework of doping research, we recommend the adoption of a social cognitive model for pursuing a systematic analysis of the psychological processes that dynamically regulate students’ use of NES over time.

Anti-nuclear behavioral intentions: The role of perceived knowledge, information processing, and risk perception

This study explored the key factors underlying people's anti-nuclear behavioral intentions. The protective action decision model and the heuristic–systematic model were integrated and adapted from a risk information perspective to construct a hypothetical model. A questionnaire study was conducted on a sample of residents near the Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant, which is under construction in Shandong Province, China (N=487). Results show that, as expected, perceived knowledge is vital in predicting people's information insufficiency, information seeking, systematic processing, and risk perception. Moreover, the inverted U relationship between perceived knowledge and anti-nuclear behavioral intentions is indicated in the study. Information insufficiency and information seeking also significantly predict systematic processing. Furthermore, people's behavioral intentions are motivated by risk perception but fail to be stimulated by systematic processing. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Acceptance and use predictors of open data technologies: Drawing upon the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology

Policy-makers expect that open data will be accepted and used more and more, resulting in a range of benefits including transparency, participation and innovation. The ability to use open data partly depends on the availability of open data technologies. However, the actual use of open data technologies has shown mixed results, and there is a paucity of research on the predictors affecting the acceptance and use of open data technologies. A better understanding of these predictors can help policy-makers to determine which policy instruments they can use to increase the acceptance and use of open data technologies. A modified model based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) is used to empirically determine predictors influencing the acceptance and use of open data technologies. The results show that the predictors performanceexpectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions and voluntariness of use together account for 45% of the variability in people's behavioral intention to use open data technologies. Except for facilitating conditions, all these predictors significantly influence behavioral intention. Our analysis of the predictors that influence the acceptance and use of open data technologies can be used to stimulate the use of open data technologies. The findings suggest that policy-makers should increase the acceptance and use of open data technologies by showing the benefits of open data use, by creating awareness of users that they already use open data, by developing social strategies to encourage people to stimulate each other to use open data, by integrating open data use in daily activities, and by decreasing the effort necessary to use open data technologies.

Factors Influencing the Acceptability of Travel Demand Management Measures in Lahore: Application of Behavioral Theories

This paper aims to identify the underlying factors in the acceptability of public transport improvement, office-based transport service, and fiscal policy measures using a framework of behavioral theories. The findings are based on results of a questionnaire survey, factor analyses, and structural equation modeling. This paper develops a joint-structural model of the theory of planned behavior and the norm-activation model, and explains the significance of behavioral theories in predicting people’s behavioral intentions and response to travel demand management (TDM) measures. The findings reveal that attitudes toward public transport, perceived behavioral control over public transport, and social and personal norms are significant determinants of people's behavioral intentions regarding TDM measures. Other factors include social status traits, flexibility and freedom, income and traveling mode. Some intervention packages have been suggested to activate different attitudes and norms for effective behavioral change. This study should provide a deep understanding of significant factors that need to be considered in implementing TDM measures in developing countries.

Identity appropriateness and the structure of the theory of planned behaviour.

In contrast to the cost-benefit, utility-based approach to decision-making implicit in models such as the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), the logic of appropriateness (March, 1994. A Primer on Decision Making: How decisions happen. New York, NY: The Free Press) describes decision-making in terms of heuristic decision rules that involve matching identities to situations. This research is the first to apply the logic of appropriateness in conjunction with the theoretical structure of the TPB and assessed whether a measure of identity appropriateness might independently predict adults' intentions to engage in binge drinking. In Study 1, participants (N = 197) completed questionnaires assessing attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, past behaviour, and identity appropriateness in relation to binge drinking. Path analysis revealed an independent predictive effect of identity appropriateness on intentions in addition to an indirect effect via attitudes. In Study 2 (N = 179), a prospective measure of behaviour was included in a similar study: Identity appropriateness again predicted intentions independently of the extended TPB predictors. It was again also found to be a strong predictor of attitudes. We suggest that the notion of identity appropriateness may assist in explaining the capacity of measures of self-identity to predict people's behavioural intentions.

People's behavioral intentions towards public transport in Lahore: Role of situational constraints, mobility restrictions and incentives

This paper aims to identify the relationships between people's attitudes on service quality attributes of private car and public transport, and intentions to use public transport under situational constraints, mobility restrictions on car use, public transport incentives and moral obligation. A questionnaire survey was conducted in Lahore and 354 usable samples obtained. Results revealed that people's intentions to use public transport vary under different situations and mobility restrictions. The fiscal restrictions and policy of car entry restriction have significant influence on changing people's intentions. Modeling results revealed that social/aesthetic, personal and instrumental attitudinal aspects of private car and public transport are underlying factors in determining the people's intentions towards public transport under stated conditions. It is argued that social/aesthetic and personal dimensions of public transport should have equal importance in making improvements along with instrumental dimensions. This study implicates that improvement in service quality of public transport need to integrate with mobility restrictions on car use for effective change of travel behavior. The findings of this study would be helpful for concerned authorities in considering the appropriate attributes of public transport for improvement, and other related policy measures to make significant promotion from car to public transport.

Expectations are more predictive of behavior than behavioral intentions: evidence from two prospective studies.

Understanding the gap between people's behavioral intentions and their subsequent behavior is a key problem for behavioral scientists, but little attention has been paid to how behavioral intentions are operationalized. Test the distinction between asking people what they intend to do, as opposed to what they expect they will do. Two studies were conducted in the domains of alcohol consumption (N = 152) and weight loss (N = 141). Participants completed questionnaires assessing their behavioral intentions, expectations, and self-efficacy at baseline; alcohol consumption/weight were assessed at both baseline and follow-up. In study 1, expectations were more predictive of alcohol consumption than behavioral intentions, controlling for baseline alcohol consumption and self-efficacy. In study 2, changes in expectations were more predictive of weight loss than changes in behavioral intentions, controlling for baseline weight and self-efficacy. The findings support a potentially important distinction between behavioral intentions and expectations.

The multidimensional nature of perceived barriers: global versus practical barriers to HPV vaccination.

Perceived barriers are one of the strongest determinants of health behavior. The current study presents a novel conceptualization of perceived barriers by testing the following hypotheses: (a) perceived barriers are multidimensional and thus should cluster into distinct factors; (b) practical barriers should be salient for individuals intending to engage in a particular health behavior, whereas global barriers should be salient for individuals not intending to enact the behavior; and (c) whereas global barriers should be negatively associated with behavioral intentions, practical barriers should be positively related to intentions. The context for this investigation was young adult women's perceived barriers to human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. Two months after viewing an educational video about HPV vaccination, women (aged 18-26) who had not received any doses of the HPV vaccine (n = 703) reported their perceived barriers to HPV vaccination and intentions to receive the vaccine. Relative to the conventional single-factor approach, a five-factor model provided a better fit to the data and accounted for a larger proportion of variance in vaccination intentions. The relative salience of different perceived barriers varied as a function of women's intentions. Participants who were not intending to get vaccinated cited global concerns about vaccine safety and low perceived need for the vaccine. In contrast, participants intending to get vaccinated cited practical concerns (cost, logistical barriers) related to carrying out their intentions. Moreover, whereas global perceived barriers were associated with lower intentions, practical barriers were associated with higher intentions. Perceived barriers are multidimensional and vary systematically as a function of people's behavioral intentions.

Pitfall Intention Explanation Task with Clue Questions (Pitfall task): assessment of comprehending other people's behavioral intentions in Alzheimer's disease

In Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, deficits in contextual understanding and intentions/beliefs of other people (theory of mind; ToM) cause communication problems between patients and caregivers. To evaluate deficits of contextual understanding/ToM, we developed the Pitfall Intention Explanation Task with Clue Questions (Pitfall task). We recruited 26 healthy older adults in clinical dementia rating (CDR) 0, and 62 outpatients: 12 with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) in CDR 0.5; 36 mild AD in CDR 1; and 14 moderate AD in CDR 2. The Pitfall task consists of a single-frame cartoon that shows a character's intention and seven serial questions that provide clues for contextual understanding/ToM. The total score (0-7) was decreased with progression of AD (CDR 0, 5.4 ± 2.6; CDR 0.5, 3.7 ± 2.7; CDR 1, 1.9 ± 3.1; CDR 2, 0.0 ± 0.0; respectively). In CDR 0, two-third of the participants responded correctly without clue questions. In CDR 0.5, one-third of the participants responded correctly without clue questions, and half of them understood with the help of the clue questions. In CDR 1, one-fourth of the participants responded correctly without clue questions, and the clue questions did not increase the correct response. In CDR 2, none responded correctly. Additionally, the Pitfall task provided the chance for patients' families to observe patients' responses. Contextual understanding/ToM, a kind of social cognition, was impaired with progression of AD. The Pitfall task evaluates the function quickly with low burden for memory function, and may provide helpful clues for caregivers to achieve good communication with AD patients.

The U.S. brand personality: A Sino perspective

This research applies the personality metaphor to examine the U.S. brand personality in China. Results indicate that the U.S. brand personality is a multidimensional construct composed of three main dimensions: amicableness, resourcefulness, and self-centeredness. An overall view indicates that Chinese perceptions of the U.S. brand personality encompass a bipolar personality type where amicable and resourceful traits seemingly battle with self-centered personality traits. The emergent Brand Personality Scale is a significant predictor of Chinese people's behavioral intentions toward the U.S. Several implications are discussed and guidelines for further research are provided.

Contact, Anxiety, and Young People's Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions Towards the Elderly

The populations of many nations are aging rapidly. This trend is happening against a background of research indicating that ageism is the most commonly experienced form of prejudice. The present research used intergroup contact theory as a framework to explore young people's attitudes and behavioral intentions towards the elderly. Regression analyses confirmed that quality but not frequency of intergenerational contact was positively associated with young people's attitudes and behavioral intentions towards the elderly. These associations were mediated by intergroup anxiety, whereas aging anxiety did not have a mediational role. Discussion focuses on the importance of the findings for strategies aimed at tackling ageism.

Social cognition and the brain: A meta‐analysis

This meta-analysis explores the location and function of brain areas involved in social cognition, or the capacity to understand people's behavioral intentions, social beliefs, and personality traits. On the basis of over 200 fMRI studies, it tests alternative theoretical proposals that attempt to explain how several brain areas process information relevant for social cognition. The results suggest that inferring temporary states such as goals, intentions, and desires of other people-even when they are false and unjust from our own perspective--strongly engages the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ). Inferring more enduring dispositions of others and the self, or interpersonal norms and scripts, engages the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), although temporal states can also activate the mPFC. Other candidate tasks reflecting general-purpose brain processes that may potentially subserve social cognition are briefly reviewed, such as sequence learning, causality detection, emotion processing, and executive functioning (action monitoring, attention, dual task monitoring, episodic memory retrieval), but none of them overlaps uniquely with the regions activated during social cognition. Hence, it appears that social cognition particularly engages the TPJ and mPFC regions. The available evidence is consistent with the role of a TPJ-related mirror system for inferring temporary goals and intentions at a relatively perceptual level of representation, and the mPFC as a module that integrates social information across time and allows reflection and representation of traits and norms, and presumably also of intentionality, at a more abstract cognitive level.