Intentions and willingness to drive while drowsy among university students: An application of an extended theory of planned behavior model

A web-based questionnaire was used to assess the utility of constructs from the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Prototype Willingness Model (PWM) to predict intentions and willingness to engage in drowsy driving in a sample of 450 university students. Those students who reported more favorable attitudes and subjective norm and greater perceived control and willingness in relation to drowsy driving behavior were more likely to report stronger intentions to engage in drowsy driving behavior. Augmenting the TPB constructs with the PWM construct of willingness significantly explained up to an additional 8 percent of the variance in drowsy driving intention. Perceived behavioral control and willingness were consistently the strongest predictors of drowsy driving intention in the augmented model, which together with the control (personal) variables explained up to 70 percent of the variance in intention. Thus, the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Prototype Willingness Model may be useful for understanding motivational influences on drowsy driving behavior in young people and present promising theoretical frameworks for designing more effective interventions against drowsy driving in this population.     

An application of the theory of planned behaviour to truck driving behaviour and compliance with regulations

A questionnaire study was conducted with truck drivers to help understand driving and compliance behaviour using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Path analysis examined the ability of the TPB to explain the direct and indirect factors involved in self-reported driving behaviour and regulation compliance. Law abiding driving behaviour in trucks was related more to attitudes, subjective norms and intentions than perceived behavioural control. For compliance with UK truck regulations, perceived behavioural control had the largest direct effect. The differing results of the path analyses for driving behaviour and compliance behaviour suggest that any future interventions that may be targeted at improving either on-road behaviour or compliance with regulations would require different approaches.     

The effect of conformity tendency on pedestrians’ road-crossing intentions in China: An application of the theory of planned behavior

This paper presents a survey investigating the effects of age, gender and conformity tendency on Chinese pedestrians’ intention to cross the road in potentially dangerous situations. A sample of 426 respondents completed a demographic questionnaire, a scale measuring their tendency towards social conformity, and a questionnaire based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB). This questionnaire measured people's intentions to cross the road in two different road crossing situations, their attitude towards the behavior, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, anticipated affect, moral norms, and perceived risk. The two scenarios depicted (i) a situation where the crossing was consistent with other pedestrians’ behavior (Conformity scenario) and (ii) a situation where the road crossing was inconsistent with other pedestrians (Non-Conformity scenario). Pedestrians reported greater likelihood in crossing the road when other pedestrians were crossing the road. People who showed greater tendencies towards social conformity also had stronger road crossing intentions than low conformity people for both scenarios. The predictive model explained 36% and 48% of the variance in the Non-Conformity and Conformity scenarios, respectively. Attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and perceived risk emerged as the common predictors for both situations. The results have a number of theoretical and practical implications. In particular, interventions should focus on perceptions of risk that inform road users that crossing with other pedestrians against the signal is also unsafe and prohibited, and may lead to negative outcomes.     

The theory of planned behavior,materialism, and aggressive driving

Purpose

Aggressive driving is a growing problem worldwide. Previous research has provided us with some insights into the characteristics of drivers prone to aggressiveness on the road and into the external conditions triggering such behavior. Little is known, however, about the personality traits of aggressive drivers. The present study proposes planned behavior and materialism as predictors of aggressive driving behavior.

Design/methodology

Data was gathered using a questionnaire-based survey of 220 individuals from twelve large industrial organizations in Israel. Our hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling.

Findings

Our results indicate that while planned behavior is a good predictor of the intention to behave aggressively, it has no impact on the tendency to behave aggressively. Materialism, however, was found to be a significant indicator of aggressive driving behavior.

Research limitations

Our study is based on a self-reported survey, therefore might suffer from several issues concerning the willingness to answer truthfully. Furthermore, the sampling group might be seen as somewhat biased due to the relatively high income/education levels of the respondents.

Originality/value

While both issues, aggressive driving and the theory of planned behavior, have been studied previously, the linkage between the two as well as the ability of materialism to predict aggressive behavior received little attention previously. The present study encompasses these constructs providing new insights into the linkage between them.     

Intentions to participate in political crowdfunding- from the perspective of civic voluntarism model and theory of planned behavior

The study has integrated the civic voluntarism and planned behavior model to check the intentions of people towards political crowdfunding. Participation in politics is the civic duty of a citizen in a democratic country and exercising this right leads to government formation. Participation in the political process is behavior influenced by the intention to do so. The study examines the influence of the civic voluntarism model (CVM) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) factors on the intention to participate in political crowdfunding. The study was done in India, the largest democracy in the world, taking a sample size of 374 respondents. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data through SmartPLS-3.2. The results of this study revealed that resources - financial, time, and technological - are essential for participating in political crowdfunding. Political engagement, political interest, and political awareness are significantly associated with the intention to participate in crowdfunding. Online community engagement also shows a positive relationship with the intention. Among the three factors of TPB, attitude and subjective norms are significantly influencing the intention towards participation. The results of this study will help the political parties and candidates to identify factors that will help them to get maximum funding and support from the crowd through political crowdfunding. The theoretical implication is that political crowdfunding can come up as a distinct segment of crowdfunding to be studied.     

An application of Stafford and Warr's reconceptualisation of deterrence to a group of recidivist drink drivers

Recent revisions of deterrence theory have highlighted the powerful effects of personal and vicarious punishment avoidance on criminal activity. The present paper reports on an application of Stafford and Warr's [Stafford, M.C., Warr, M., 1993. A reconceptualization of general and specific deterrence. J. Res. Crime Delinq. 30 (2), 123-135] reconceptualisation of deterrence theory to a group of recidivist drink drivers to explain their self-reported offending behaviours. The analysis indicated that punishment avoidance exerted the greatest influence on self-reported offending behaviours, although perceptions of arrest certainty and severity also appear associated with drink driving offences. In contrast, vicarious exposure to others who have been punished or avoided punishment was not associated with further drink driving behaviours. The results suggest that recidivist drink drivers are not heavily influenced by vicarious experiences, and that past behaviour is an efficient predictor of future behaviour. The findings have direct implications for the reconceptualisation and application of deterrence models to elucidate offending behaviours.     

Improving the quality of manually acquired data: Applying the theory of planned behaviour to data quality

The continued reliance of manual data capture in engineering asset intensive organisations highlights the critical role played by those responsible for recording raw data. The potential for data quality variance across individual operators also exposes the need to better manage this particular group. This paper evaluates the relative importance of the human factors associated with data quality. Using the theory of planned behaviour this paper considers the impact of attitudes, perceptions and behavioural intentions on the data collection process in an engineering asset context. Two additional variables are included, those of time pressure and operator feedback. Time pressure is argued to act as a moderator between intention and data collection behaviour, while perceived behavioural control will moderate the relationship between feedback and data collection behaviour. Overall the paper argues that the presence of best practice procedures or threats of disciplinary sanction are insufficient controls to determine data quality. Instead those concerned with improving the data collection performance of operators should consider the operator's perceptions of group attitude towards data quality, the level of feedback provided to data collectors and the impact of time pressures on procedure compliance. A range of practical recommendations are provided to those wishing to improve the quality of their manually acquired data.     

无线传感器网络几类拓扑控制及其抗毁性应用简述

无线传感器网络的拓扑结构随着网络中节点的增加、减少和移动实时变化,为保证网络的连通性和覆盖性不被影响,拓扑控制技术所要解决的问题正是传感器节点如何更好地自组织构建全局网络拓扑．本文首先概述了四类拓扑控制算法的理论基础及算法步骤．然后,对提高网络抗毁性的两类拓扑演化算法进行了详细叙述,即无标度网络生长与构建$k$连通网络,分别构建了基于节点位置偏好的移动网络拓扑模型和基于$k$连通的节点调度优化模型．最后,分别从移动节点的引入、折中控制算法的探索、复杂网络理论的应用和传统算法与智能算法的结合这四方面对拓扑控制算法的前景进行了阐述．     

Factors affecting the behavioral intention to adopt mobile banking: An international comparison

Over the past decade, the markets for mobile and wireless services have been among the world's fastest-growing, especially in Asian countries, presenting financial institutions with significant opportunities to offer value-added services. Mobile banking has since emerged as a new channel enabling the banks to react strategically to changes in competitive forces and to enhance customer convenience.Based on Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior (DTPB) model, this study develops an integrated model to provide a fuller understanding of factors facilitating or impeding the adoption of mobile banking, focusing on consumers in Taiwan and Vietnam. While subjective norms had a significant effect on the intention to adopt, three attributes of mobile banking (compatibility, perceived usefulness, and perceived risk) were found to have indirect effects on intention to adopt mobile banking through attitude toward adoption for consumers in both Taiwan and Vietnam. Intention to adopt mobile banking was indirectly influenced by self-efficacy and facilitating conditions, and directly affected by perceived behavioral control in both nations. Some differences in intention to adopt mobile banking between Taiwanese and Vietnamese are also discussed. Based on the research findings, managerial implications for financial institutions and mobile service providers are discussed.     

The choice to text and drive in younger drivers: behavior may shape attitude

Following a previous study that reported a large number of young adult drivers text and drive, the current study investigated this behavior by looking at patterns of use and driver assessment of the risk of the behavior. The data from the current study converge with and extended the previous work showing 70% of the 348 young adult drivers surveyed report initiating texts while driving while higher numbers reply to texts (81%) and read texts (92%) while driving. Additional drivers also report doing these behaviors, but only while stopped in traffic, showing only 2% never text and drive under any circumstances. The drivers indicated that they perceived these behaviors to be very risky and riskier than talking on a cell phone while driving, but perception of risk was a very weak predictor of behavior (for initiating texts) or had no effect on texting (for replying or reading texts while driving). In addition, a factor analysis of the perception of road conditions while texting revealed that making the choice to engage in texting (initiating) led drivers to perceive road conditions as being safer than if they replied to a text or read a text, suggesting that choosing to engage in the behavior itself changes attitudes toward risk.     

Differential theory: application to highly conducting gratings

The recently developed fast Fourier factorization method, which has greatly improved the application range of the differential theory of gratings, suffers from numerical instability when applied to metallic gratings with very low losses. This occurs when the real part of the refractive index is small, in particular, smaller than 0.1-0.2, for example, when silver and gold gratings are analyzed in the infrared region. This failure can be attributed to Li's "inverse rule" [L. Li, J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 13, 1870 (1996)] as shown by studying the condition number of matrices that have to be inverted. Two ways of overcoming the difficulty are explored: first, an additional truncation of the matrices containing the coefficients of the differential system, which reduces the numerical problems in some cases, and second, an introduction of lossier material inside the bulk, thus leaving only a thin layer of the highly conducting metal. If the layer is sufficiently thick, this does not change the optical properties of the system but significantly improves the convergence of the differential theory, including the rigorous coupled-wave method, for various types of grating profiles.     

Predicting motorcyclists’ intentions to speed: Effects of selected cognitions from the theory of planned behaviour, self-identity and social identity

This study sought to identify cognitive predictors of motorcyclists’ intentions to speed using a model that comprised selected constructs from the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), supplemented with constructs from identity theory and social identity theory. Participants (N = 110) were sampled from motorcycle clubs in Scotland and they completed web-based questionnaire measures of all cognitive variables, operationalized with respect to speeding on both 30 mph urban roads and 70 mph dual carriageways and motorways. In support of the TPB element of the model, affective attitude and perceived controllability accounted for significant variance in intention to speed on each road type. The identity constructs accounted for additional variance in intentions to speed on 70 mph roads. The significant independent predictors of speeding intentions on 30 mph roads were affective attitude and perceived controllability. For 70 mph roads, the independent predictors of intention were affective attitude, self-identity, perceived group norm, group identification, and an interaction between perceived group norm and group identification. Consistent with predictions derived from social identity theory, decomposition of the interaction showed that perceived group norm had an increasing effect on intention with increases in group identification. Implications for theory development and safety interventions are discussed.     

便携式热电饮料冷热器的研制及应用分析

研制一种小型热电饮料冷热器，用于瓶装和罐装饮料的冷藏和加热，能够进行同时冷藏、同时加热，也可以同时分别冷藏和加热，具有成本低、噪声小，携带方便等特点，具有巨大的市场应用潜力。     

The special‐linear update: An application of differential manifold theory to the update of isochoric plasticity flow rules

The evolution of plastic deformations in metals, governed by incompressible flow rules, has been traditionally solved using the exponential mapping. However, the accurate calculation of the exponential mapping and its tangents may result in computationally demanding schemes in some cases, while common low‐order approximations may lead to poor behavior of the constitutive update because of violation of the incompressibility condition. Here, we introduce the special‐linear (SL) update for isochoric plasticity, a flow‐rule integration scheme based on differential manifolds concepts. The proposed update exactly enforces the plastic incompressibility condition while being first‐order accurate and consistent with the flow rule, thus bearing all the desirable properties of the now standard exponential mapping update. In contrast to the exponential‐mapping update, we demonstrate that the SL update can drastically reduce the computing time, reaching one order of magnitude speed‐ups in the calculation of the update tangents. We demonstrate the applicability of the update by way of simulation of single‐crystal plasticity uniaxial loading tests. We anticipate that the SL update will open the way to efficient constitutive updates for the solution of complex multiscale material models, thus making it a very promising tool for large‐scale simulations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An introduction to the theory of unidimensional unfolding

Despite its 55 year presence in the field of mathematical psychology, the theory of unidimensional unfolding remains an enigma for many psychometricians and applied practitioners. This paper is the first of a three part series; and it aims to introduce unidimensional unfolding theory. The paper begins with a simple hypothetical example presenting an idealised distinction between responses to cumulative and unfolding dichotomous items. This followed by an accessible presentation of the theory of unidimensional unfolding as first articulated by Clyde H. Coombs (1950, 1964). The concept of the single peaked preference function (Coombs and Avrunin, 1977) which underpins unfolding theory is then presented. The article then progresses to the class of Rasch (1960) based IRT models developed by Andrich (1995) and Luo (2001). It was shown these models propose arguments not inconsistent with Coombs's (1964) original theory. The presumption of additive structure in psychological attributes was concluded to be the key weakness of the theories of unidimensional unfolding discussed.     

Exergy analysis of electrically- and thermally-driven engines to drive heat pumps: An exhaustive comparative study

The choice of driving a heat pump with an electrically- or a thermally-driven engine is a vexing question complicated by the carbon footprint and environmental impact of using electricity versus natural gas (or waste heat) as the main driver for the respective engines. Useful work generated by these two distinct engines is the focal point of this paper, addressing a key question: which engine presents a better choice for a given heat pumping application within the constraints of energy and environmental stewardship? We examine this question comprehensively through the methodology of energy, exergy, and availability analysis, explaining clearly, why the output of work from these two distinct engines is inherently vastly different. Thermodynamic consistency is guaranteed by satisfaction of the First and Second Laws applied to closed systems and their subsystems. The general conclusion is that thermally-driven engines are not industrious converters of heat to mechanical work, for heat pumps.     

Transient thermal behavior of multilayer media: Modeling and application to stratified moulds

Transient and steady-state heat transfer in multilayer media is investigated by the thermal quadrupole method. A semi-analytical solution is proposed for the cases of layers parallel or orthogonal to the main heat-flux direction. The principal application is the study of the effect of the brazing metal used in stratified steel moulds. __________ Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 79, No. 4, pp. 126–134, July–August, 2006.     

Singular perturbation theory and its application to the computation of electromagnetic fields

In the past decade the theory of singular perturbations has been well-established. The techniques developed to solve singular perturbation problems were succesfully applied to practical problems. In this paper we will give a brief survey of singular perturbation theory and discuss a possible application to the computation of electromagnetic fields.