Positive Personal Attitude Research Articles

Entrepreneurial Intention Among Management Students of Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the factors influencing entrepreneurial intention among management students in Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City, and explore key determinants such as personal attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and leadership capacity. Methods: Data were collected through surveys from 388 respondents out of 13093 management students analyzing their perceptions and intentions toward entrepreneurship through questionnaire methods using a five-point Likert scale method. The study used the Theory of Planned Behavior as a theoretical framework. Results: The study reveals that positive personal attitudes and strong perceived behavioral control significantly enhance entrepreneurial intention while subjective norms and leadership capacity also play crucial roles. The study explores the importance of entrepreneurial education in shaping future entrepreneurs despite numerous challenges, including high interest rates and limited market opportunities. Conclusion: The study emphasizes the need for understanding how management students in a Nepalese context perceive and intend to engage in entrepreneurial activities to cultivate entrepreneurial mindsets in emerging economies. The study highlights the need for the implementation of targeted policies and educational programs effectively to pave the way for creating conducive environment for entrepreneurship among students.

Whole Life Critical Factors Influencing Construction Project Performance for Different Objectives: Evidence from Thailand

This study aimed to identify the critical factors (CFs) influencing project performance and analyze their relative importance across multidimensional criteria throughout the project life cycle. Based on a literature review, 179 individual factors were categorized into nine performance criteria. A questionnaire survey was conducted with client representatives, consultants, and contractors in Thailand. The statistical analysis of 93 subjects showed that the significance levels of the performance criteria and CFs changed depending on the considered phase in the project’s life cycle. The analysis identified the three criteria (client satisfaction, quality, time) that were most frequently used to measure the success of a project. Furthermore, the findings revealed the top 10 CFs for each performance category throughout the life cycle. Notably, these findings provide compelling evidence of the following most important CFs across the performance measures: competence of project participants, adequate experience of project participants, the availability of competent staff, positive personal attitudes among project participants, participation in environmental initiatives by management, competent supervisors, effective project planning and control, the need for collaboration, and the professionalism of the project team’s services. This research provides insights into the factors that influence project success and have managerial implications for project stakeholders, facilitating informed decision making throughout the life cycle. Through establishing novel perspectives, this study enhances the knowledge base in the construction management domain.

Implementing integrative therapies in adult critical care: Barriers and strategies

BackgroundCritically ill patients experience intense physical and psychological stressors in the intensive care unit (ICU). More than half of ICU survivors report overwhelming mental health symptoms after ICU discharge, such as post-traumatic stress symptoms, anxiety, and depression. Relaxation-inducing integrative therapies such as guided imagery, massage, therapeutic touch, music therapy, and spirituality-based healing practices have the potential to promote comfort and relaxation and improve patient outcomes. ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to explore the attitudes of healthcare professionals towards the implementation of relaxation-inducing integrative therapies in critical care, barriers to implementation, and potential strategies to overcome them. MethodsWe conducted seven focus group interviews with 23 critical care clinicians (70% nurses, 17% allied health professionals, 13% physicians). Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Data were thematically analysed using an inductive content analysis approach. FindingsResults reveal a constant interplay between mostly positive personal attitudes towards implementation of integrative therapies and the perceived culture and priorities of the unit. The main benefits for critically ill patients as perceived by participants were promotion of comfort, sleep, and coping, increase of trust, and decrease of pain and stress. As for barriers, dominant themes were a perceived lack of evidence, cost, and time constraints and the fear of loss of professional credibility. Participants related nurses’ education and training, family involvement, and leadership were seen as main strategies for implementation. ConclusionsThe dominant ICU culture needs to be considered when implementing integrative therapies. Education, access to evidence, and role modelling are proposed as means to shift the ICU culture towards utilisation of integrative therapies in critical care.

The Influence of Intrinsic Factors on Personal Attitude to Start a Farming Business: The Moderating Role of Gender

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the influence of intrinsic factors (proactiveness, motivation, creativity) on the personal attitude of agricultural students to start a farming business in South Africa. This relationship was looked at from gender perspective. Research Design & Methods: An estimated 3,486 students were enrolled for various agriculture-related qualifications in various 27 institutions of higher learning in South Africa when this cross-sectional, quantitative study was carried out. Data from 421 agricultural students were collected through a Prospective Farmers Profile Questionnaire at six institutions of higher learning in South Africa. Findings: The study finds no significant gender influence on all intrinsic factors and also on the personal attitude of agricultural students to start a farming business. The results further revealed that personal attitude to start a business is predicted by intrinsic factors, motivation, and creativity, but not proactiveness. Implications and Recommendations: Entrepreneurial syllabi should aim to equip students with intrinsic factors as these shape the personal attitude to start a business. It is a positive personal attitude that will likely result in a start-up. Farming entrepreneurship, especially among the youth will assist in employment creation as well as food security, two problems that many countries are currently facing. Contribution & Value Added: Proactiveness is one of the most important dimensions of entrepreneurship but agricultural students do not consider it significant in their personal attitude to start a business. Proactiveness should be built into the syllabi for students to be better acquainted with this critical business start-up element.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 2: EXPLORING BANDURA’S TRIADIC MODEL FOR BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE AMONG URBAN PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS.

The average Malaysian disposes of 15,000 tonnes of food waste per day, out of which 6,000 tonnes is avoidable waste that could feed the poor. This study aims to address food security issues (SDG 2) in Malaysia by using Bandura’s Triadic Model of Reciprocal Determination to examine food wastage behaviours among urban post-millennials. Food waste, which comprises spoilage, preparation waste, and plate waste, is common in schools; as such, qualitative interviews were conducted with 25 urban primary school students in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The findings revealed the interplay between students' personal factors, physical environment factors, and social environment factors in influencing their food wastage behaviours and perspectives. Additionally, it was observed that behavioural changes towards zero-food waste within the school community require environmental interventions, as urban school-goers lack knowledge of food storage alternatives, while their surrounding environment does not support broader food security concerns. Based on the findings, this study proposed a modified triadic model which incorporates permaculture as a sustainable practice in urban schools in Malaysia. Permaculture can act as an environmental stimulus that cultivates students’ positive personal attitudes and feelings towards reducing food waste. Subsequently, there would be a reduction in food waste behaviour within the students' existing ecosystem. This study promotes the reduction of food waste in urban schools and contributes towards formulating a framework for food security in schools.

Quality of life from the patient perspective at the end of the first rehabilitation after the onset of spinal cord injury/disorder – A qualitative interview-based study

Context At present, there is a lack of information concerning patients’ perspectives on their quality of life (QoL) after a recently acquired spinal cord injury/disorder (SCI/D). Objective To explore patients’ perspectives on their QoL during their first inpatient rehabilitation after the onset of SCI/D. Methods Qualitative study. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 20 participants aged 18 years or older at least three months after the onset of SCI/D and two weeks before they were discharged from their first rehabilitation. Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed according to the thematic content analysis. Interviewees rated their QoL with the SCI QoL data set. Results The interviewees judged their satisfaction with life as a whole, their physical and mental health, as relatively high with values between six and eight (with 10 meaning complete satisfaction). They highlighted social aspects, health topics, and the experience of autonomy as relevant to their concept of QoL. The aspects that positively influenced QoL included the level of well-being in the current social and institutional environment, the increased level of energy, strength, and autonomy in daily life, and an improved mental state derived from general positive personal attitudes. In contrast, the social restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, physical issues including pain, a lack of progress associated with psychological dissatisfaction, and limitations in personal independence decreased patients’ QoL. Conclusion Since the interviewees described different aspects from the areas of social, health and autonomy as important for their QoL, exploring and addressing these areas should be used to achieve an individualized first rehabilitation.

Self-compassion is associated with the superior longitudinal fasciculus in the mirroring network in healthy individuals

Self-compassion (SC) involves taking an emotionally positive attitude towards oneself when suffering. Although SC has positive effects on mental well-being as well as a protective role in preventing symptoms in healthy individuals, few studies on white matter (WM) microstructures in neuroimaging studies of SC has been studied. Brain imaging data were acquired from 71 healthy participants. WM regions of mirroring network were analyzed using tract-based spatial statistics. After the WM regions associated with SC were extracted, exploratory correlation analysis with the self-forgiveness scale, the coping scale, and the world health organization quality of life scale abbreviated version was performed. We found that self-compassion scale total scores were negatively correlated with the fractional anisotropy (FA) values of the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) in healthy individuals. The self-kindness and mindfulness subscale scores were also negatively correlated with FA values of the same regions. These FA values were negatively correlated with the total scores of self-forgiveness scale, and self-control coping strategy and confrontation coping strategy. Our findings suggest levels of SC may be associated with WM microstructural changes of SLF in healthy individuals. These lower WM microstructures may be associated with positive personal attitudes, such as self-forgiveness, self-control and active confrontational strategies.

Humans versus AI: whether and why we prefer human-created compared to AI-created artwork

With the recent proliferation of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models capable of mimicking human artworks, AI creations might soon replace products of human creativity, although skeptics argue that this outcome is unlikely. One possible reason this may be unlikely is that, independent of the physical properties of art, we place great value on the imbuement of the human experience in art. An interesting question, then, is whether and why people might prefer human-compared to AI-created artworks. To explore these questions, we manipulated the purported creator of pieces of art by randomly assigning a “Human-created” or “AI-created” label to paintings actually created by AI, and then assessed participants’ judgements of the artworks across four rating criteria (Liking, Beauty, Profundity, and Worth). Study 1 found increased positive judgements for human- compared to AI-labelled art across all criteria. Study 2 aimed to replicate and extend Study 1 with additional ratings (Emotion, Story, Meaningful, Effort, and Time to create) intended to elucidate why people more-positively appraise Human-labelled artworks. The main findings from Study 1 were replicated, with narrativity (Story) and perceived effort behind artworks (Effort) moderating the label effects (“Human-created” vs. “AI-created”), but only for the sensory-level judgements (Liking, Beauty). Positive personal attitudes toward AI moderated label effects for more-communicative judgements (Profundity, Worth). These studies demonstrate that people tend to be negatively biased against AI-created artworks relative to purportedly human-created artwork, and suggest that knowledge of human engagement in the artistic process contributes positively to appraisals of art.

Reducing stigma towards people living with HIV and people who inject drugs using social norms theory: An online study with Australian health care workers

BackgroundDespite extensive evidence regarding the negative effects of stigma experienced by people living with HIV (PLHIV) and people who inject drugs within health care settings, comparatively little evidence exists regarding the effectiveness of initiatives to reduce this stigma. MethodThis study developed and assessed brief online interventions based on social norms theory with a sample of Australian health care workers (n=653). Participants were randomly allocated to either 1) HIV intervention group, or 2) injecting drug use intervention group. They completed baseline measures of their attitudes towards either PLHIV or people who inject drugs, matching measures of their perceptions of their colleagues’ attitudes, plus a series of items reflecting behavioural intentions and agreement with stigmatising behaviour towards PLHIV or people who inject drugs. Participants were presented with a social norms video before completing the measures again. ResultsAt baseline, participants’ agreement with stigmatising behaviour was correlated with their perceptions of how many of their colleagues would agree. After watching the video, participants reported more positive perceptions of their colleagues’ attitudes towards PLHIV and people who inject drugs, as well as more positive personal attitudes towards people who inject drugs. Changes in perceptions of colleagues’ support for stigmatising behaviour independently predicted changes in participants’ personal agreement with that behaviour. ConclusionFindings suggest that interventions based on social norms theory that address health care workers’ perceptions of their colleagues’ attitudes can play an important role in contributing to broader initiatives to reduce stigma in health care settings.

Working memory-related brain activity in cannabis use disorder: The role of cross-cultural differences in cannabis attitudes.

Cannabis legislation and attitudes towards use are changing. Given that evidence from cultural neuroscience research suggests that culture influences the neurobiological mechanisms underlying behaviour, it is of great importance to understand how cannabis legislation and attitudes might affect the brain processes underlying cannabis use disorder. Brain activity of 100 dependent cannabis users and 84 controls was recorded during an N-back working memory (WM) task in participants from the Netherlands (NL; users = 60, controls = 52) and Texas, USA (TX; users = 40, controls = 32). Participants completed a cannabis culture questionnaire as a measure of perceived benefits (positive) and perceived harms (negative) of cannabis from their personal, friends-family's and country-state's perspectives. Amount of cannabis use (grams/week), DSM-5 CUD symptoms and cannabis use-related problems were assessed. Cannabis users self-reported more positive and less negative (personal and friends-family) cannabis attitudes than controls, with this effect being significantly larger in the TX cannabis users. No site difference in country-state attitudes was observed. TX cannabis users, compared with NL cannabis users, and those cannabis users perceiving more positive country-state attitudes showed a more positive association between grams/week and WM-related activity in the superior parietal lobe. NL cannabis users, compared with TX cannabis users, and those cannabis users with less positive personal attitudes showed a more positive association between grams/week and WM-load-related activity in the temporal pole. Both site and cultural attitudes moderated the association of quantity of cannabis use with WM- and WM-load-related activity. Importantly, differences in legislation did not align with perceived cannabis attitudes and appear to be differentially associated with cannabis use-related brain activity.

THE WORD GLASS IN UZBEK IS A SPEECH GENRE SOCIOLINGUISTIC AND NATIONAL-CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS

In social and official events popularized in foreign countries, there are social normative requirements specific to Europeans in the toasting ceremony. In this process, formal respect of people towards each other, friendship, cheerfulness, positive outlook on life, critical thinking, enjoyment of the time, giving people motivation for the future. , to speak nicely, to appreciate, to praise, to joke, to advise, to recommend, to have a good day, to remember the deceased, to remember, to wish good wishes, to form a positive personal attitude, to form a culture of beautiful and pleasant speech with the help of quotes, jokes, words of wisdom, philosophical thinking, it is understood and still exists in the sense of following the philosophical thoughts of famous people, philosophical approach to events and events, recognizing the good, showing the truth, giving spiritual comfort in bad situations, honoring the dead, singing freedom, striving for idealism, benevolence, glorifying beauty, recognizing achievements .

Beyond the ivory tower: Measuring and explaining academic engagement with journalists, politicians and industry representatives among Swiss professorss.

Scholars from different theoretical schools have posited that in recent decades, science and society have moved closer together, and the concept of academic engagement has been proposed to capture one part of this approximation empirically. This study analyzes the academic engagement of individual scholars towards politicians, industry representatives and journalists. It uses comprehensive survey data on Swiss professors from all disciplines, all the country’s universities and from associated research institutes. It assesses, firstly, the degree to which these professors have professional contacts to journalists, politicians and industry representatives. Secondly, it explains the extent of these contacts, using multi-level modelling that incorporates individual factors as well as organizational and institutional contexts. Our study shows that academic engagement is quite common with strong differences between disciplines. Furthermore, professors with higher academic productivity, positive personal attitude towards communication activities as well as a leadership position have more outside contacts. The gender and nationality of the professors, however, only play a role for some of the contacts with non-scientific actors.

Sexuality Education in Early Childhood Through Animation

Many animations are used as learning media. They have interesting colors, moving and alive objects, instilled sounds, and meaningful stories. They make animations that are easy to be understood by early childhood children. Sexuality is a rare developmental aspect to be concerned about, especially in terms of child development. Then, it eventually becomes a risk factor for sexual abuse against children. Therefore, sexuality education for early childhood children is needed to allow children to have appropriate knowledge, positive personal attitudes and sexuality developments, and personal protective skills. The use of animation media for early childhood children needs teachers and parents involvement. Children have cognitive limitations and limited consideration in comprehending information that conforms with the family's developing values. This research describes the conformities between information in an educational animation material about early childhood sexuality education and what children understand. The respondents of the limited group test consisted of 28 learners of B grade Kindergarten in Semarang. The data were taken by utilizing Google Form. The respond submitted by correspondents were analyzed qualitatively. The parents did it with six-time frequencies after the learners watched the video. The data analysis applied data reduction, display, and conclusion. The findings showed that children caught the appropriate information to the purpose of the message in the animation about early childhood sexuality education.

The Moderating Role of Individualism/Collectivism and Materialism: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in Halal Food Purchasing

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of halal meat consumption within Chinese and German Muslims population using the Theory of Planned Behavior as a conceptual framework. The role of the cultural dimension of individualism/collectivism and materialism is explored. A quantitative research methodology using an online questionnaire survey was used. Data were collected from 650 consumers mainly originating from Turkey and currently living in China and Germany. A positive personal attitude toward the consumption of halal meat, motivation to comply with others, the perceived control over consuming halal meat, and the availability of halal meat predicts the intention to eat halal meat among Muslims’ consumers. This article extends the rare literature analyzing Chinese and German consumers’ inclination to buy halal food. It also extends the understanding of the role of individualism/collectivism and materialism as moderators of antecedents of consumers’ purchasing intentions for halal meat.

The Role of Personal Motivation in Sustainable Purchasing Practices

There is growing interest in identifying the drivers of and barriers to green purchasing, and many publications focus on motivational factors. However, the effects of these factors on the activities and means applied to sustainable purchasing are seldom investigated. This paper addresses this research gap and examines the impact of the motivational factors on green purchasing practices of the companies’. This paper also emphasises the role and motivational background of personal attitudes and reveals that there are differences among them. Based on the literature, a questionnaire was developed and a survey was completed in Hungary. The answers indicate that positive and compliant personal attitudes of purchasing managers’ have different drivers and barriers, while differences are also present in sustainable purchasing practices. Purchasing managers with a positive personal attitude have better green purchasing practices but mainly concerning product performance level activities, which do not require in-depth green management information.

Determinants of halal meat consumption in Germany

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of halal meat consumption within a Turkish Muslim migration population in Germany using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as a conceptual framework. The role of self-identity as a Muslim, dietary acculturation in the host culture, moral obligation to purchase halal food and trust on the authenticity of available halal food are explored. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative cross-sectional survey design for the current study was adopted. Purposive sampling through self-administered questionnaires was used to collect data from 517 Muslim consumers originated from Turkey and currently living in Germany. The analysis includes exploratory factor analysis, means scores, linear correlation and multiple regressions to examine the determinants of halal meat consumption. Findings A positive personal attitude towards the consumption of halal meat, motivation to comply with the opinion of important persons and institutions and the perceived control over consuming halal meat predict the intention to eat halal meat among Muslims. Research limitations/implications This study used self-identity, dietary acculturation, trust and moral obligation as moderator variables. Future research should also examine the moderating effects of values such as individualism/collectivism and materialism and demographic factors such as age, country of origin, education level and income level to increase the predictive power of the current TPB model. Practical implications Practical implications can be extended to those policymakers, marketing managers and advertising agencies dealing with food-related products. They can pursue strategies based on religious self-identity, dietary acculturation, trustworthiness and moral obligation factors in their distribution and communication efforts targeted at the growing local and international market of halal food. Originality/value This is one of the few studies investigating the determinants of halal meat consumption in a Muslim population in Germany using the TPB within a food, religion and migration context.

The Image of Region in Ordinary Language Consciousness of its Residents (on an Example of an Image of Kuzbass)

The article solves a topical problem, i.e. it develops the idea about the relevance of the psycholinguistic techniques’ usage in the image-building and branding of the regions. In particular it develops the thesis that an initial point of the region successful image’s formation is the studying of its image existing in the ordinary language consciousness of its residents and then and in the consciousness of other regions’ residents.
 Such psycholinguistic researches will give an opportunity to define strong and weak points of the regions in the consciousness of a mass audience. In other words they will let reveal and neutralize risk factors which can negatively affect the region’s image and define characteristics which will become a basis for successful region’s self-presentation.
 In order to demonstrate the efficiency of psycholinguistic techniques’ application in the studying of the territory’s representation the image of Kuzbass is described. Kuzbass is one of the strategically significant regions of Russia. In the course of the research an experimental psycholinguistic technique was used, including three complementary procedures: 1) а method of subjective definitions; 2) the directed associative experiment; 3) a method of non-complete sentences.
 The analysis has shown that the kernel of Kuzbass’s image is formed by three semantic groups: «Homeland», «Territory» and «Coal». The named groups are reflected both in the knowledge about the region and in the differently ranked concepts and evaluations which proves their fundamental character. It is also necessary to note that positive evaluations prevail which shows that the doubtless positive attitude of the residents to native region dominates.
 The developed coal industry and the positive personal attitude to the region can become meaningful points for an effective Kuzbass brand development. Nevertheless, negative issues are also reflected in the reactions, such as problems in social and recreational areas which should be paid attention to while working on the positive image of Kuzbass.

Determinants of muslim consumers’ Halal meat consumption: applying and extending the theory of planned behavior

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of Halal meat consumption within Turkish Muslim immigrants in Germany using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a conceptual framework. The role of self-identity as a Muslim, dietary acculturation in the host culture, moral obligation to purchase Halal meat, and trust on the authenticity of Halal meat is explored. A quantitative research methodology using an online questionnaire survey was used. Cross-sectional data were collected through a survey of 464 Muslims originating from Turkey and currently living in Germany. A positive personal attitude toward the consumption of Halal meat, motivation to comply others, the perceived control over consuming Halal meat, and the availability of Halal meat predict the intention to eat Halal meat among Muslims. This study is one of the few studies investigating the determinants of Halal meat consumption in a Muslim population in Germany using the TPB within a food, religion, and migration context.

Expanding the theory of planned behaviour to predict Chinese Muslims halal meat purchase intention

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of halal meat consumption within the population of Chinese Muslims in China using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as a conceptual framework. The role of self-identity as a Muslim, dietary acculturation in the host culture, moral obligation to purchase halal meat and trust on the authenticity of halal meat are explored.Design/methodology/approachCross-sectional data were collected through a survey with 378 Chinese Muslims, currently living in Beijing and Xian cities. Data were analysed by means of correlations and stepwise multiple regressions to test the model and the moderating effects of self-identity, dietary acculturation, moral obligation and trust on behavioural intention.FindingsA positive personal attitude towards the consumption of halal meat, personal conviction, motivation to comply, perceived control over consuming halal meat and perceived availability of halal meat predict the intention to eat halal meat among Chinese Muslims.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations include the focus on only four individual characteristics related to religious food consumption, namely, self-identity, dietary acculturation, moral obligation and trust. Additional individual characteristics such as individualism-collectivism and involvement or values could improve the predictive power of the model.Practical implicationsPractical implications extend to food marketers and food policy decision-makers who might pursue identity, acculturation, trustworthiness and moral obligation-related strategies in their distribution and communication efforts targeted at the growing halal food market segments across China and worldwide.Originality/valueThe current study addresses the important limitation of previous studies regarding the inclusion of additional possible individual characteristics such as moral obligation and trust in the TPB model to investigate the determinants of halal meat consumption within a food-religion context.

Challenges of fresh nursing graduates during their transition period

Objective: The shortage of nurses is an overwhelming problem worldwide. Numerous studies indicate that fresh nursing graduates encounter many challenges in their first year after graduation. These difficulties affect their psychological health and influence their perseverance which results in a high resignation rate. Hong Kong is not an exceptional case; therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the challenges encountered by fresh nursing graduates during the transition period in order to provide insights to academics and clinical administrators in order to facilitate the transition and alleviate the negative impacts, thus increasing the retention rate.Methods: This was a qualitative study and eight new nursing graduates (M = 4; F = 4) from the same local higher education institute were interviewed individually. Thematic coding was used to analyse the data.Results: Finally, nine themes were identified including eight areas of challenges and one common attribute. Workload, lack of knowledge, communication, expectation, change of role, working atmosphere, support and a blame/complaint culture are the common areas of challenges that they encounter in the transitional period. Furthermore, this study also found that new nursing graduates possess a common attribute, i.e. positive personal attitude which seems able to enhance their perseverance in this period.Conclusions: The identified themes are interrelated and all the stakeholders should join together and form a cycle of continuous improvement in order to improve the nursing programme and clinical supports to the fresh nursing graduates.