Exploring Norwegian forest owner's intentions to provide harvest residues for bioenergy

The large biomass resource in the Norwegian woods may contribute considerably to the development of a more sustainable energy system. A more complete tree harvest is being promoted, where harvest residues are utilised to provide bioenergy. Little research has addressed the intentions of forest owners towards harvesting forest residues.A survey of non-industrial private forest owners in two municipalities located in the south east of Norway was conducted in order to understand their attitudes and intentions to provide harvest residues for bioenergy production. The results showed that forest owners would be willing to supply harvest residues: about 40% of the respondents were highly in favour and almost 70% expressed a positive opinion.A factor analysis of the attitudinal statements resulted in four main factors of which three were found to significantly affect the intention in a regression analysis. The first factor was related to the beneficial effects of harvest residues, the second covered negative (mainly environmental) effects, and the third covered the positive effects upon forest management.The social influences seemed to have two distinct dimensions: personal relationships (e.g., other forest owners, neighbours and family) and professional interactions (e.g., governmental authorities). While the former had a significant effect on intentions, the latter did not. Finally, socioeconomic variables (gender, age, and municipality) did not influence the intention to deliver harvest residues.     

A volitional help sheet to encourage smoking cessation: A randomized exploratory trial.

Objective: The volitional help sheet draws on Gollwitzer's (1993) concept of implementation intentions by encouraging smokers to link temptations to smoke with appropriate behavioral responses derived from Prochaska and DiClemente's (1983) transtheoretical model. Design: There were 193 smokers who were randomly allocated to receive questionnaires, planning instruction, and a volitional help sheet or one of three control conditions: Questionnaire-only; questionnaire plus planning instruction; or questionnaire, planning instruction plus volitional help sheet without the explicit instruction to link temptations to smoke with appropriate behavioral responses. Main Outcome Measures: Nicotine dependence, number of cigarettes smoked and quit status. Results: Findings revealed significant decreases in nicotine dependence, number of cigarettes smoked, and increases in quitting in the volitional help sheet condition, relative to the control conditions, Fs(3, 189) = 7.48 to 10.78, ps ps = .11 to .15. This pattern of findings did not hold for social?cognitive variables, with few differences between the volitional help sheet (standard instructions) group and the other conditions. Conclusion: The findings provide support for the use of implementation intentions to protect against health risk behaviors and are congruent with laboratory research showing that implementation intentions are a case of strategic automaticity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A threat-appraisal perspective on employees' fears about antisocial workplace behavior.

This article uses a threat-appraisal model to examine the antecedents and consequences of antisocial behavior in an urban public school system. Teachers (compared with nonteachers) and middle and high school employees (compared with elementary school employees) reported higher levels of exposure to and fears about antisocial behavior. A path analysis demonstrated that threat appraisals partially mediate the relationship between antisocial behavior and job satisfaction and indirectly affect turnover intentions. These effects were consistent across high- and low-contact job types and across elementary, middle, and high school employees. The authors used the threat-appraisal model to describe the consequences of different interventions and found empirical evidence for employee voice and security measures as intervening variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reproductive and neurobehavioural effects of thiabendazole administered to mice in the diet

Thiabendazole was given in the diet to provide levels of 0 (control), 0.031, 0.125, and 0.5% from 5 weeks of age of the F₀ generation to 9 weeks of age of the F₁ generation in mice, and selected reproductive and neurobehavioural parameters were measured. The average litter size and weight were significantly reduced in the high-dose group at birth. No adverse effects were observed in the sex ratio at birth. The average body weight of offspring was significantly increased in the low-dose group during the late lactation period, and was significantly reduced in the high-dose group during the lactation period. In the assessment of neurobehavioural parameters, surface righting at postnatal day (PND) 7 was significantly delayed in a dose-related manner in both sexes. Swimming limb movement at PND 14 and olfactory orientation at PND 14 were significantly depressed in the high-dose group in both sexes. In movement activity at 3 weeks of age in the F₁ generation, vertical time and number of defaecations were significantly decreased in the high-dose group in female offspring. Several adverse effects on reproductive and neurobehavioural parameters were produced at the highest dose level of thiabendazole used in the present study (equivalent to 700-1800mg/kg bw/day). Slight, dose-related delays were also seen in surface-righting ability at the two lower dose levels. The lowest dose level (equivalent to 50-180mg/kg bw/day) is 500     

m-Brand loyalty and post-adoption variations for the mobile data services: Gender differences

This paper uses the value brand model in an attempt to determine the factors affecting post-adoption intentions through brand loyalty for the mobile data services. Data were collected online from 1266 respondents. The structural equation modeling was used to test the research model. The results show that post-adoption intentions are directly influenced by intangible attributes. Product deliverables and intangible attributes indirectly affect post-adoption intentions via m-brand loyalty. However, the results of current research do not show any effects of price on post-adoption intentions. The results also show genders differences in post-adoption intentions. Practical suggestions are provided. This paper advances our knowledge of post-adoption variations in business–consumer contexts and mobile business from the perspectives of utilitarian and non-utilitarian values of the mobile data services. This paper also contributes to the theory of post-adoption by offering across-gender examination.     

Intentionality and power interplay in IS implementation: The case of an asset management firm

This paper evaluates the interplay between intentionality of stakeholders, organizational power and information systems (IS) implementation in the context of an European firm implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning system. We found that the implementation coincided with significant restructuring of power relations within the firm. We also found that the intentions of various stakeholders came to bear in terms of how organizational power got manifested. Our findings suggest a complex interplay between individual intentions and organizational power. Specifically, our study contributes to the literature by providing insights into the systemic nature of organizational power regarding IS implementations and how it relates to individual intentions.     

Tablet Adoption with Smart School Website Technology

Teachers play a key role in adoption of technologies for classroom use. This study surveyed teachers regarding their intention to use tablet technology to interact with students and other teachers through smart school websites technology. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) served as the theoretical framework for this study, which was then augmented with context-specific determinants of adoption that captured teachers’ perceptions of the effects of technology on interactions with students and peers. The results showed no resistance among teachers with regard to trying different ways of working with tablets to achieve better learning, unlike other studies using the UTAUT constructs that have found negative reactions to implementing new technologies in the workplace. This is a crucial finding, since teacher appraisals affect the ways in which this technology can be employed to foster learning through technology facilitated interactions.     

Testing the effort-reward imbalance model among Finnish managers: The role of perceived organizational support.

The present study is aimed at examining the combined effects of effort-reward imbalance (ERI), overcommitment (OVC), and perceived organizational support (POS) on turnover intentions and work engagement, among Finnish managers (n = 1,301). Consequently, the study contributes to the research literature by examining how the ERI-outcomes relationship was dependent simultaneously on OVC and POS. The results showed that ERI × OVC × POS interaction was significant only for turnover intentions. The ERI-turnover intentions relationship was strongest under conditions of high OVC and low POS. In addition, the relationship between ERI and decreased work engagement, especially dedication, was strengthened among overcommitted managers, compared to their less committed counterparts. Altogether, the results indicate that interventions aimed at reducing turnover intentions and increasing work engagement by increasing ERI should consider OVC and POS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An Investigation of Group Leaders' Intentions.

Stimulated recall methods were used to assist 34 group leaders in recalling their intentions (i.e., purposes, plans, goals) in relation to interventions they made in a group session. A total of 835 intentions were reported by the leaders and were categorized into 6 separate intention categories by trained judges. The categories included directing the group, gathering information and assessing members, challenging members, attending to and validating members' experiences, directing self, and promoting connections and interactions among group members. Multidimensional scaling procedures revealed 4 intention clusters: Promoting Insight/Change, Planning and Guiding, Attending, and Assessing Growth. Limitations of the study are addressed, along with implications for future research and group leader training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What Are You Doing? What Am I Doing?

Psychology ought to describe how and explain why we human beings live our lives as we do, which necessarily comes down to how and why we engage in the actions and have the subjective experiencings that we do. Our physical actions are themselves in part subjective phenomena, because actions are not simply body movements but also essentially involve intentions, beliefs about specific causation, and a sense of voluntariness. Thus, whatever else it is, psychology is inescapably the science of explaining the personally subjective. It is time for psychology to openly embrace its subjective subject-matter as such, which would open up a vast domain still waiting to be systematically studied. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)