Dairy farmers’ attitudes and intentions towards improving dairy cow foot health

Dairy cow foot health is a subject of concern because it is considered to be the most important welfare problem in dairy farming and causes economic losses for the farmer. In order to improve dairy cow foot health it is important to take into account the attitude and intention of dairy farmers. In our study the objective was to gain insight into the attitude and intention of dairy farmers to take action to improve dairy cow foot health and determine drivers and barriers to take action, using the Theory of Planned Behavior. Five hundred Dutch dairy farmers were selected randomly and were invited by email to fill in an online questionnaire. The questionnaire included questions about respondents’ intentions, attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control and was extended with questions about personal normative beliefs. With information from such a framework, solution strategies for the improvement of dairy cow foot health can be proposed. The results showed that almost 70% of the dairy farmers had an intention to take action to improve dairy cow foot health. Most important drivers seem to be the achievement of better foot health with cost-effective measures. Possible barriers to taking action were labor efficiency and a long interval between taking action and seeing an improvement in dairy cow foot health. The feed advisor and foot trimmer seemed to have most influence on intentions to take action to improve dairy cow foot health. Most farmers seemed to be satisfied with the foot health status at their farm, which probably weakens the intention for foot health improvement, especially compared to other issues which farmers experience as more urgent. Subclinical foot disorders (where cows are not visibly lame) were not valued as important with respect to animal welfare. Furthermore, 25% of the respondents did not believe cows could suffer pain. Animal welfare, especially the provision of good care for the cows, was valued as important but was not related to intention to improve dairy cow foot health. The cost-effectiveness of measures seemed to be more important. Providing more information on the effects of taking intervention measures might stimulate farmers to take action to achieve improvement in dairy cow foot health.

Identifying behavioural predictors of small power electricity consumption in office buildings

It is widely accepted that there is a gap between design energy and real world operational energy consumption. The behaviour of occupants is often cited as an important factor influencing building energy performance. However, its consideration, both during design and operation, is overly simplistic, often assuming a direct link between attitudes and behaviour. Alternative models of decision making from psychology highlight a range of additional influential factors and emphasise that occupants do not always act in a rational manner. Developing a better understanding of occupant decision making could help inform office energy conservation campaigns as well as models of behaviour employed during the design process. This paper assesses the contribution of various behavioural constructs on small power consumption in offices. The method is based upon the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) which assumes that intention is driven by three factors: attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control, but we also consider a fourth construct: habit measured through the Self- Report Habit Index (SRHI). A questionnaire was issued to 81 participants in two UK offices. Questionnaire results for each behavioural construct were correlated against each participant’s individual workstation electricity consumption. The intentional processes proposed by TPB could not account for the observed differences in occupants’ interactions with small power appliances. Instead, occupants were interacting with small power “automatically”, with habit accounting for 11% of the variation in workstation energy consumption. The implications for occupant behaviour models and employee engagement campaigns are discussed.

Fatores-chave na qualidade de sistemas de home broker : uma análise teórico-empírica

This work has as main objective the development of a key factors¿ model for the quality of Home Broker systems. An explanatory research was performed, based on a quantitative approach. To achieve this goal, some theoretical models of technology acceptance (TAM, TRA, TPB and IDT), reliability and quality of service were reviewed. It was proposed an extended key factors¿ model and developed a questionnaire, which was the research instrument used in this study. The questionnaire was applied over the Internet, from which was obtained a participation of 113 valid respondents, all of them users of Home Broker system. Once performed the data collection, statistical tests were used for the Factorial Analysis in order to achieve a definitive model. The key factors found were Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, Subjective Norms, Compatibility, Reliability and Relative Advantage. Some hypotheses from the model were also tested to investigate the relationship between the importance given to the factors and the resulting degree of satisfaction about quality of service. As a result of the study, a key factors¿ model for the quality of Home Broker systems was established, and identified that the factor Compatibility" has more explanatory power than the others."

Crenças normativas e comportamentais e suas influências na intenção de adoção de um sistema de informação: um estudo na área de compras da UFPA

The study aims to identify the factors that influence the behavior intention to adopt an academic Information System (SIE), in an environment of mandatory use, applied in the procurement process at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA). For this, it was used a model of innovation adoption and technology acceptance (TAM), focused in attitudes and intentions regarding the behavior intention. The research was conducted a quantitative survey, through survey in a sample of 96 administrative staff of the researched institution. For data analysis, it was used structural equation modeling (SEM), using the partial least squares method (Partial Least Square PLS-PM). As to results, the constructs attitude and subjective norms were confirmed as strong predictors of behavioral intention in a pre-adoption stage. Despite the use of SIE is required, the perceived voluntariness also predicts the behavior intention. Regarding attitude, classical variables of TAM, like as ease of use and perceived usefulness, appear as the main influence of attitude towards the system. It is hoped that the results of this study may provide subsidies for more efficient management of the process of implementing systems and information technologies, particularly in public universities

Service Utilization Patterns of Homeless Youth

Few studies exist on the types of characteristics associated with service utilization (e.g., shelters, food programs) among homeless youth in the U.S. Services are important, however, because without food and shelter, numerous homeless youth resort to trading sex in order to meet their daily survival needs. Access to physical and mental health services gives homeless youth more of an opportunity to integrate into mainstream society than they would otherwise have. To address this gap in our understanding, my study examines what traits (e.g. age, race, abuse history) correlate with the use of shelters, food programs, street outreach, counseling, STD/STI testing, and HIV testing among homeless youth. The Theory of Reasoned Action is used as an ideological framework in conjunction with theoretical constructs of risk, need, and prior service exposure. Data were obtained from the Social Network and Homeless Youth Project (SNHYP), a sample of 249 Midwestern homeless youth ages 14 to 21, which used trained interviewers to conduct structured interviews with youth. Respondents were interviewed in both shelters and on the street over a period of approximately one year. My findings revealed that homeless youth’s service usage varied across gender, sexual orientation, age, having recently held a job, and having ever been physically or sexually abused, in addition to other characteristics. Conversely, service use was not associated with social network size or subjective norms (i.e. attitudes of peers, such as acceptance of condom use) of youths’ social networks. By examining these areas, my study builds on previous research on homeless youth and lays the framework for future research on service utilization by homeless youth.

The role of self-efficacy in predicting rule-following behaviors in shelters for homeless youth: A test of the theory of planned behavior

Through a prospective study of 70 youths staying at homeless-youth shelters, the authors tested the utility of I. Ajzen's (1991) theory of planned behavior (TPB), by comparing the constructs of self-efficacy with perceived behavioral control (PBC), in predicting people's rule-following behavior during shelter stays. They performed the 1st wave of data collection through a questionnaire assessing the standard TPB components of attitudes, subjective norms, PBC, and behavioral intentions in relation to following the set rules at youth shelters. Further, they distinguished between items assessing PBC (or perceived control) and those reflecting self-efficacy (or perceived difficulty). At the completion of each youth's stay at the shelter, shelter staff rated the rule adherence for that participant. Regression analyses revealed some support for the TPB in that subjective norm was a significant predictor of intentions. However, self-efficacy emerged as the strongest predictor of intentions and was the only significant predictor of rule-following behavior. Thus, the results of the present study indicate the possibility that self-efficacy is integral to predicting rule adherence within this context and reaffirm the importance of incorporating notions of people's perceived ease or difficulty in performing actions in models of attitude-behavior prediction.

A survey on the adoption and usage of broadband internet

In spite of the increasing significance of broadband Internet, there are not many research papers explicitly addressing issues pertaining to its adoption and postadoption. Previous research on broadband has mainly focused on the supply side aspect at the national level, ignoring the importance of the demand side which may involve looking more deeply into the use, as well as factors impacting organizational and individual uptake. In an attempt to fill this gap, the current study empirically verifies an integrated theoretical model comprising the theory of planned behavior and the IS continuance model to examine factors influencing broadband Internet adoption and postadoption behavior of some 1,500 organizations in Singapore. Overall, strong support for the integrated model has been manifested by our results, providing insight into influential factors. At the adoption stage, perceived behavioral control has the greatest impact on behavioral intention. Our findings also suggest that, as compared to attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control more significantly affect the broadband Internet adoption decision. At the postadoption stage, intention is no longer the only determinant of broadband Internet continuance; rather, initial usage was found to significantly affect broadband Internet continuance.

The role of context and timeframe in moderating relationships within the theory of planned behaviour

This study examined the moderating effect of context and timeframe on the predictive ability of Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) constructs. Three hundred and eighty-three students completed TPB measures either in a campus bar or a library and were randomly allocated to one of three timeframe conditions: tonight, tomorrow or next week. There was a threeway interaction such that the subjective norms of participants in a bar were more predictive of their intentions to binge drink that night, whereas thesubjective norms of participants in a library were less predictive of intentions to binge drink that night. This research provides empirical evidence that ignoring context may result in underestimation of the importance of normative factors in binge drinking. It also suggests that other research utilising the TPB needs to take greater account of the impact of context of data collection, which has been neglected to date.

How well do the theory of reasoned action and theory of planned behaviour predict intentions and attendance at screening programmes? A meta-analysis

Meta-analysis was used to quantify how well the Theories of Reasoned Action and Planned Behaviour have predicted intentions to attend screening programmes and actual attendance behaviour. Systematic literature searches identified 33 studies that were included in the review. Across the studies as a whole, attitudes had a large-sized relationship with intention, while subjective norms and perceived behavioural control (PBC) possessed medium-sized relationships with intention. Intention had a medium-sized relationship with attendance, whereas the PBC-attendance relationship was small sized. Due to heterogeneity in results between studies, moderator analyses were conducted. The moderator variables were (a) type of screening test, (b) location of recruitment, (c) screening cost and (d) invitation to screen. All moderators affected theory of planned behaviour relationships. Suggestions for future research emerging from these results include targeting attitudes to promote intention to screen, a greater use of implementation intentions in screening information and examining the credibility of different screening providers.

How well does the theory of planned behaviour predict alcohol consumption? A systematic review and meta-analysis

This study aimed to quantify correlations between theory of planned behaviour (TPB) variables and (i) intentions to consume alcohol and (ii) alcohol consumption. Systematic literature searches identified 40 eligible studies that were meta-analysed. Three moderator analyses were conducted: pattern of consumption, gender of participants and age of participants. Across studies, intentions had the strongest relationship with attitudes (r+ = .62), followed by subjective norms (r+ = .47) and perceived behavioural control (PBC; r+ = .31). Self-efficacy (SE) had a stronger relationship with intentions (r+ = .48) compared with perceived control (PC; r+ = −.10). Intention had the strongest relationship with alcohol consumption (r+ = .54), followed by SE (r+ = .41). In contrast, PBC and PC had negative relationships with alcohol consumption (r+ = −.05 and −.13, respectively). All moderators affected TPB relationships. Patterns of consumption with clear definitions had stronger TPB relations, females reported stronger attitude–intention relations than males, and adults reported stronger attitude–intention and SE–intention relations than adolescents. Recommendations for future research include targeting attitudes and intentions in interventions to reduce alcohol consumption, using clear definitions of alcohol consumption in TPB items to improve prediction and assessing SE when investigating risk behaviours.

Entrepreneurial intentions in developing and developed countries

Purpose – This study proposes to use the Theory of Planned Behaviour to predict entrepreneurial intentions among students in five developing and nine developed countries. The purpose is to investigate whether entrepreneurial intention and its antecedents differ between developing and developed countries, and to test the theory in the two groups of countries. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 2,225 students in 13 countries participated in this study by responding to a structured questionnaire in classrooms. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. Findings – The findings indicate that respondents from developing countries have stronger entrepreneurial intentions than those from developed countries. Moreover, the respondents from developing countries also score higher on the theory's antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions – attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control – than respondents from developed countries. The findings support the Theory of Planned Behaviour in both developing and developed countries. Research limitations/implications – The findings strongly support the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The measure of subjective norms used, a multiple-item index encompassing the views of other people and motivation to comply with these, seems to have advantages over other measures of this concept. Practical implications – Developing countries need to focus on the development of institutions that can support entrepreneurial efforts. At the same time, developed economies may need to accept that entrepreneurial intentions are dependent on the dynamism of an economic environment and possibly on risk-perceiving behaviours. Originality/value – While multiple-country studies on entrepreneurship in developing and developed countries have been called for, no previous study has compared entrepreneurial intentions between developing and developed countries. The inclusion of developing countries provides a unique quasi-experimental setting in which to test the theory.

Placebo expectancy effect of consuming psychoactive beverages on cognition and mood

Energy drinks have become very popular over the past few years with over half the student population in colleges and universities consuming them at least once a month (Malinauskas et al., 2007). It has been reported that the most common reasons why students consume energy drinks are to maintain alertness, reduce symptoms of hangover, increase energy, to help with driving and to prevent sleepiness (Attila and Cakir, 2011; Malinauskas et al., 2007). Previous research has suggested that energy drinks enhance sensorimotor speed, behaviour, and reduce levels of fatigue (Alford et al., 2001; Horne and Reyner, 2001; Howard and Marczinski, 2010; Kennedy and Scholey, 2004; Smit et al., 2004). The two key ingredients found in energy drinks are caffeine and glucose which have been examined together and alone, which have indicated enhanced reaction times, improvement in both verbal memory and sustained attention and more recently there is evidence to show that expectancy may play a key role in predicting intentions of future consumption (Adan and serra-Grabulosa, 2010). According to Kirsch (1997) people have specific expectations when they consume psychoactive substances that trigger physiological and psychological reactions, which tend to be independent of the psychoactive substance ingested. The concept of expectancy effects can be unambiguous especially when the information provided to the participants prior to the experimental study is specific to a possible outcome response. This thesis investigated the extent of expectancy effect on cognition and mood when psychoactive drinks containing caffeine and glucose were consumed in comparison to non-psychoactive drinks. The investigation commenced with examining the independent effects of caffeine and glucose, followed by the combination of caffeine and glucose as an energy drink on mood and cognition. The investigation advanced by comparing drink presentation effects (i.e., consuming the experimental drink from a branded bottle versus from a glass) irrespective of drink content on mood and cognition. Finally, the investigation lead to exploring what factors may predict expectancy effects when participants’ consumed psychoactive drinks among healthy adults. This was done by applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour model (TPB) (Azjen, 1991) to explore the contribution of specific attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control to the extent of expectancy effects as well as to behavioural intention, with additional variables including; beliefs, habits, past-behaviour, selfidentity. Self-identity representing someone who drinks energy drinks regularly. The level of internal consistency for Cronbach’s alpha was conducted for each variable within the TPB model and for the additional variables included for test reliability. This thesis consisted of four studies, which found that consumption of caffeine and glucose independently and also in combination resulted in psychoactive effects on mood and cognition. Experiment 2 was the only study, which indicated an expectancy effect for immediate verbal recall task and the mood subscale tension. Conversely, for experiment 4 there was a reverse effect found for the immediate verbal recall task. However, there were significant expectancy and psychoactive effects found for mood subscales throughout the four studies. It was also found that the TPB model had two significant variables past-behaviour and self-identity predicted intentions suggesting that participants who regularly consume psychoactive beverages have salient beliefs about consuming psychoactive drinks and the TPB model can be utilised to predict their intentions. Furthermore, the Theory of planned behaviour model found that habit and self-identity significantly predicted participants’ expectancy effects on the vigour. Indicating consumers of energy drinks are familiar with expected outcome response. This model was unsuccessful in predicting expectancy response for cognitive performance. Thus, overall the findings from the four studies indicated that caffeine and glucose have cognitive enhancing properties, which also positively improve mood. However, expectancy effects have been identified for mood only, whereas the overall findings within this thesis were unable to identify significant predictors of expectancy effect and response.

In two minds about screening: an investigation of cervical cancer prevention among Irish women

Cervical cancer is the second most common female cancer worldwide. Cervical screening programmes can reduce the incidence of cervical cancer by up to 80 percent if the invited women participate. Previous Irish research has associated screening attendance with subjective norms, anticipated regret, higher socio-economic status and education. Greater perceived screening barriers and lacking knowledge were associated with avoidance. These findings support a variety of expectancy-value theories of behaviour. They also suggest that expectancy-value theories could benefit from the inclusion of affective predictors of behaviour, like anticipated regret. In 2008 the Republic of Ireland introduced the National Cervical Screening Programme (NCSP). This research seeks to identify the predictors of participation in the NCSP. A systematic review of reviews showed that predictors of screening participation clustered into environmental and psychological influences. There is a gap in the evidence synthesis of associations with personal characteristics and health beliefs. Thematic analysis of focus group interviews confirmed the validity of many screening predictors identified by the systematic review and expectancy-value theories. A survey of these predictors suggested that reduced screening barriers might encourage first-time participation, while regular attendance requires greater endorsement of screening benefits and stronger subjective norm and intention. Positive attitude, rather than knowledge, appeared to be crucial for strong intention, so the final study piloted an experiment comparing the utility of positive attitude in strengthening intention to the utility of information provision. Despite lacking significant differences between conditions, content analysis of participant comments suggested that a full trial would be worthwhile, given purposive sampling and improved sample retention. These findings agree with previous Irish research on the importance of screening intention, although its association with attitude appeared to be stronger in the present research. The findings further indicate that future screening promotion should consider interventions based on patients’ experiences of screening.

Faktorer som påverkar sjuksköterskors följsamhet till riktlinjer för handhygien utifrån en beteendeteori En litteraturöversikt

Vårdrelaterade infektioner är ett globalt problem och god handhygien är det främsta verktyget i kampen mot vårdrelaterade infektioner. Följsamhet till handhygien är globalt sett låg. Sjuksköterskans händer är den främsta källan för att sprida smitta därför är sjuksköterskans beteende vad gäller handhygien viktig. Sjuksköterskans avsikt att utföra handhygien kan förklaras av den inre dimensionen som enligt Theory of planned behaviour är attityder, subjektiva normer och upplevd beteendekontroll. Syfte: Litteraturöversiktens syfte var att beskriva vilka attityder, subjektiva normer och upplevda beteendekontroller som påverkar sjuksköterskans följsamhet av riktlinjer för handhygien. Metod: Denna studie har genomförts som en litteraturöversikt och baserades på fjorton artiklar av kvantitativ- och kvalitativ metod som har sökts ur databaserna PubMed, CINAHL och Web of Science. Resultat: Studiens resultat visade att det utifrån perspektivet av Theory of planned behaviour finns attityder, subjektiva normer och upplevda beteendekontroller som påverkar sjuksköterskans följsamhet till riktlinjer för handhygien. Sjuksköterskan upplevde att personligt skydd var en framträdande attityd som motiverade till handhygien. Under subjektiv norm så framträdde patienten, kollegor och förebilder som motiverande faktorer till att utföra handhygien och att känslan av att det är enkelt att utföra handhygien var den mest framträdande faktorn under upplevd beteendekontroll. Sammanfattning: Följsamhet till riktlinjer för handhygien är låg trots nationella insatser och kampanjer för att öka följsamheten. Resultatet visade att sjuksköterskans följsamhet till riktlinjer för handhygien främst påverkades av personligt skydd, patienten, kollegor, förebilder och känslan av att det är enkelt att utföra handhygien. Litteraturöversiktens resultat kan användas för att öka kunskapen om området och utveckla nya strategier för att öka sjuksköterskans följsamhet till riktlinjer för handhygien.

Crenças normativas e comportamentais e suas influências na intenção de adoção de um sistema de informação: um estudo na área de compras da UFPA

The study aims to identify the factors that influence the behavior intention to adopt an academic Information System (SIE), in an environment of mandatory use, applied in the procurement process at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA). For this, it was used a model of innovation adoption and technology acceptance (TAM), focused in attitudes and intentions regarding the behavior intention. The research was conducted a quantitative survey, through survey in a sample of 96 administrative staff of the researched institution. For data analysis, it was used structural equation modeling (SEM), using the partial least squares method (Partial Least Square PLS-PM). As to results, the constructs attitude and subjective norms were confirmed as strong predictors of behavioral intention in a pre-adoption stage. Despite the use of SIE is required, the perceived voluntariness also predicts the behavior intention. Regarding attitude, classical variables of TAM, like as ease of use and perceived usefulness, appear as the main influence of attitude towards the system. It is hoped that the results of this study may provide subsidies for more efficient management of the process of implementing systems and information technologies, particularly in public universities