Predicting Ghanaian farmers’ intention to sustain the supply of quality cocoa beans

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 93-98
Author(s):  
William Quarmine
Keyword(s):  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Subjective Norms ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Cocoa Beans ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
The Future ◽  
Sphere Of Influence ◽  
Intention To Continue ◽  
Social Referents

This article discusses the predictors of Ghanaian cocoa producers’ intention to continue adopting a recommended cocoa beanfermentation technology in the future. The analyses is carried out within the framework of the theory of planned behaviour.Three hundred and twenty-one cocoa producers were interviewed. Consistent with literature, attitudes, subjective norms andpast behaviour were significant predictors of fermentation intentions. Positive attitude relate to beliefs about ease of use oftechnologies and existence of non-financial rewards. Negative attitudes relate to lack of direct financial rewards. PurchasingClerks, Chief Farmers and society at large were found to be the salient social referents who shape producers’ fermentationintentions. Recommendations included improving implementation of current producer incentive regimes, promoting trust betweenproducers and purchasing clerks and strengthening producer association to increase the sphere of influence of the Chief Farmers.

scholarly journals The Academic Portfolio System (APS) Usage Intention of Senior High School Students in Taiwan

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8394
Author(s):  
Tsen-Yao Chang ◽  
Yu-Chieh Chiu
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Interface Design ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Subjective Norms ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Model Verification ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
School Students

Taiwan began to implement a new high school syllabus nationwide, in 2019. The Ministry of Education has also established a high school student Academic Portfolio System (APS) to collect the learning process of high school students for future university admissions references. However, during this period, high school students and their parents had many opinions on the implementation of the new system. There were even groups of students protesting. The main purpose of this research is to explore the factors that affect the system usage intentions of high school students. Based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the technology acceptance model (TAM), this research established a research model. The research variables include system interface design, usefulness, ease of use, attitude, subjective norms, and usage intentions. A total of 712 questionnaires were collected from high school students in northern Taiwan. Data analysis is carried out in three stages: descriptive analysis, measurement model verification, and structural equation modeling. The results of the study found that system interface design has a significant impact on the perceived ease of use. Factors such as ease of use, usefulness, attitude, and subjective norms also have a significant positive impact on usage intention; ease of use and usefulness positively affect attitudes toward using. Finally, according to the results, some practical implications were proposed for implementation references from the perspectives of education authority, high schools, teachers, and students.

Searching for Something Positive in Future Negative: The Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory–Time Attitudes Scale

2020 ◽  
pp. 016327872098559
Author(s):  
Michael T. McKay ◽  
Frank C. Worrell ◽  
Jon C. Cole
Keyword(s):  
Error Term ◽  
Emotional Engagement ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analyses ◽  
Time Attitudes ◽  
Correlated Error ◽  
The Future ◽  
Adolescent Sample ◽  
Secondary Analyses

The Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory–Time Attitudes Scale (AATI-TA) measures emotional engagement with the past, present, and future, and scores have been shown to relate meaningfully to health outcomes. For past, present, and future, five items are used to assess both positive and negative attitudes. Although evidence for the hypothesized six-factor solution has been widely reported, some studies have indicated problems with the Future Negative items. Given that a large and growing literature has emerged on the six-factor AATI-TA, and that AATI-TA scores have shown much better and more consistent fit than other temporal psychology measures, we sought to investigate the future negative factor in detail. Secondary analyses were performed on two datasets. The first was a University convenience sample ( N = 410) and the second was an adolescent sample ( N = 1,612). Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the fit for the five Future Negative items was poor. Modification indices suggested that a correlated error term between Items 4 and 10 would result in good fit, and this was indeed the case. Models without Item 4 or Item 10 also yielded acceptable fit. Analyses using all four operationalizations of Future Negative (original scale, without Item 4 or Item 10, or with the correlated error between Items 4 and 10) to predict symptoms of anxiety and depression, and emotional self-efficacy revealed minor differences in the predictive validity coefficients. Potential ways forward, including a correlated error term or the dropping or replacement of Item 10, are discussed.

scholarly journals Behavioral intentions of technology teachers to implement an engineering-focused curriculum

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuang-Chao Yu ◽  
Pai-Hsing Wu ◽  
Kuen-Yi Lin ◽  
Szu-Chun Fan ◽  
Sy-Yi Tzeng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Intentions ◽  
Behavioral Control ◽  
Subjective Norms ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Perceived Behavioral Control ◽  
Perceived Ease Of Use ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Technology Teachers ◽  
Factors Influencing

Abstract Background Teaching engineering at a high school level has been a subject of substantial concern during recent curriculum reforms. Many countries are increasingly including engineering-focused subjects in their technology curriculum guidelines. However, technology teachers face challenges regarding the optimal implementation of an engineering-focused curriculum. It is essential to understand technology teachers’ perceptions of and behavior in classroom practices when teaching an engineering-focused curriculum. To explore the factors influencing the effective implementation of the curriculum, this study aimed to explore the association between technology teachers’ perceptions regarding curriculum guidelines (i.e., perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and beliefs) and their behavioral intentions. In addition, this study explored how these perceptions change for teachers who participated in a professional development program (PDP) for teaching an engineering-focused curriculum compared with those who did not participate in the program (NoPDP). Results In this study, structural equation modeling was used to investigate factors potentially influencing teachers’ behavioral intentions, including subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. The results showed that technology teachers’ behavioral intentions were influenced by their perceptions of the curriculum's usefulness. Subjective norms and perceived behavioral control were also significant determinants of behavioral intentions. Moreover, the results differed between the two groups. Perceived usefulness had direct and indirect effects on the behavioral intentions of the PDP and NoPDP groups, respectively. Conclusions We constructed a model of technology teachers’ behavioral intentions to implement an engineering-focused curriculum and identified factors influencing technology teachers’ behavioral intentions to implement an engineering-focused curriculum. Our conclusions are as follows: (1) the model was adequate for determining the factors influencing technology teachers’ behavioral intentions; (2) in the PDP group, perceived usefulness, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control were significantly associated with behavioral intentions; and (3) in the NoPDP group, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were associated with behavioral intentions and self-reported behavior only via the mediating factor of beliefs. The above influencing factors should be taken into account when planning professional development programs for pre- and in-service teachers, as these programs will have implications regarding the successful implementation of an engineering-focused curriculum.

Materialism and the Future of Aging in America

1983 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert F. Almeder
Keyword(s):  
Colonial America ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Favorable Attitude ◽  
Social Attitude ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Ethical Attitudes ◽  
Philosophical View ◽  
Future Success ◽  
The Future ◽  
Attitudes Toward Aging

In Growing Old in America, David Fischer argues that colonial America witnessed a sudden and revolutionary shift in social attitude from gerontophilia to gerontophobia. It is argued here that the shift can be explained as the necessary result of an emerging materialism which came to dominate mercantile America. It is shown how philosophical materialism requires an attitude of denigration toward aging and the elderly, and that the future of our collective attitude toward the elderly is wedded philosophically to the future success or failure of philosophical materialism. It is also suggested that the future of materialism in America looks dim and that there will emerge a strong philosophical base adequate for reforming ethical attitudes and engendering a much more favorable attitude toward the elderly in general. It is suggested that positive or negative attitudes toward aging and the elderly are rooted in unconscious commitments to non-materialistic (dualistic) or materialistic views on the nature of man. The two basically different views on the nature of man beget the two basically different views and attitudes toward aging and the elderly. Which attitude is right is a function of which philosophical view is correct and the paper closes with some evidence that materialism is on the wane.

scholarly journals Predictors of physicians’ intentions to use clinical practice guidelines on antimicrobial in tertiary general hospitals of China: a structural equation modeling approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingwen Deng ◽  
Zhichao Zeng ◽  
Yuhang Zheng ◽  
Junhong Lu ◽  
Wenbin Liu
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Subjective Norms ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Relative Advantage ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Intention To Use ◽  
Management Support ◽  
General Hospitals ◽  
Top Management Support

Abstract Background With inappropriate use of antimicrobials becoming a great public health concern globally, the issue of applying clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) to regulate the rational use of antimicrobials has attracted increasing attention. Taking tertiary general hospitals in China for example, this study aimed to identify factors to investigate the comprehensive influencing mechanism for physicians’ intention to use CPGs on antimicrobials. Methods Based on the integration of Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and Technology-Organization-Environment framework (TOE), a questionnaire survey was conducted covering potential determinants of affecting physicians’ intentions to use CPGs on antimicrobials at the individual level (attitude, subjective norms and perceived risk), technical level (relative advantage and ease of use), and organizational level (top management support and organizational implementation). Data were collected from 644 physicians in tertiary general hospitals in eastern, central and western China, which were obtained by multi-stage random sampling. The structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to link three-level factors with physicians’ behavioral intentions. Results The majority of the participants (94.57%) showed a positive tendency toward intention to use CPGs on antimicrobials. The reliability and validity analysis showed the questionnaire developed from the theoretical model was acceptable. SEM results revealed physicians’ intentions to use CPGs on antimicrobials was associated with attitude (β = 0.166, p < 0.05), subjective norms (β = 0.244, p < 0.05), perceived risk (β = − 0.113, p < 0.05), relative advantage (β = 0.307, p < 0.01), top management support (β = 0.200, p < 0.05) and organizational implementation (β = 0.176, p < 0.05). Besides, subjective norms, perceived risk, relative advantage, ease of use, and top management support showed their mediating effects from large to small on the intentions, which were 0.215, 0.140, 0.103, 0.088, − 0.020, respectively. Conclusions This study revealed the significance of multifaceted factors to enhance the intention to use CPGs on antimicrobials. These findings will not only contribute to the development of targeted intervention strategies on promoting the use of CPGs on antimicrobials, but also provide insights for future studies about physicians’ adoption behaviors on certain health services or products.

scholarly journals Technical and Humanities Students’ Perspectives on the Development and Sustainability of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasile Gherheș ◽  
Ciprian Obrad
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Representation Error ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Future ◽  
Humanities Students

This study investigates how the development of artificial intelligence (AI) is perceived by the students enrolled in technical and humanistic specializations at two universities in Timisoara. It has an emphasis on identifying their attitudes towards the phenomenon, on the connotations associated with it, and on the possible impact of artificial intelligence on certain areas of the social life. Moreover, the present study reveals the students’ perceptions on the sustainability of these changes and developments, and therefore aims to reduce the possible negative impact on consumers, and at anticipate the changes that AI will produce in the future. In order to collect the data, the authors have used a quantitative research method. A questionnaire-based sociological survey was completed by 928 students, with a representation error of only ±3%. The analysis has shown that a great number of respondents have a positive attitude towards the emergence of AI, who believe it will influence society for the better. The results have also underscored underlying differences based on the respondents’ type of specialization (humanistic or technical), and their gender.

scholarly journals Attitude to Distance Learning of Schoolchildren and Students: Subjective Assessments of Advantages and Disadvantages

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Alla Belousova ◽  
Yuliya Mochalova ◽  
Yulya Tushnova
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
School Students ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Subjective Assessments ◽  
Chi Square Test ◽  
Students Attitudes

Currently, during the pandemic, the forced transition to distance learning carries a number of problems. These problems affect various aspects of education, including the study of students’ attitudes to distance learning. The purpose of this research is to study the features of the subjective attitude of schoolchildren and students to distance learning. This research involved 140 secondary school students (average age M = 10.7, SD = 7.2 (66.3% men)) and 30 university students (average age M = 22.5, SD = 2.4 (20% men)). The methods used were a questionnaire, Chi-square test and Criterion φ*. Fisher angular transformation. The study showed that schoolchildren do not intend to continue studying in the distance form if they choose, with a generally positive attitude towards distance learning. The self-assessment of motivation to study in a distance format has not changed, both among schoolchildren and students. Students are more likely to have a positive attitude to distance learning than schoolchildren. The variety of choices of advantages and disadvantages of distance learning is greater among students than among schoolchildren. The perspective of this study is thus to study the factors that determine the positive and negative attitudes to distance learning.

scholarly journals Perkembangan Sosial dan Emosional Anak Usia Dini

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (02) ◽  
pp. 91-102
Author(s):  
Nurhasanah Nurhasanah ◽  
Suci Lia Sari ◽  
Nova Adi Kurniawan
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Comfort Zone ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Descriptive Research ◽  
The Future ◽  
Qualitative Descriptive ◽  
Group B

The undeveloped social and emotion of early childhood, especially group B students of Kindergarten As-Salam Pekan Arba Tembilahan takes a serious teachers intention since it is one of many success factors in the future. There needs an extra-efforts to develop from teachers. This research is to discover the teachers’ efforts and factors that follow the development of social-emotional of group B students of TK As-Salam Pekan Arba Tembilahan. This is qualitative descriptive research. The data were collected over interviews, observation, and documentation. The data analyzing technique was triangulation data. The findings showed that the teacher already did many efforts to develop the students’ social and emotions, such as (1) putting attention to them, (2) introducing positive and negative, and its impact on storytelling, (3) giving a comfort zone, (4) practicing positive attitude in the school, (5) reinforcing students by giving salutations and rewards, (6) giving facilities to choose and actualize their hobby, and (7) doing communication between teacher and students.

scholarly journals COVID-19 perceptions, subjective norms, and perceived benefits to attitude and behavior of continuous using of medical mask

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1259-1280
Author(s):  
Ni Nyoman Kerti Yasa ◽  
Putu Laksmita Dewi Rahmayanti ◽  
Ni Luh Wayan Sayang Telagawathi ◽  
I Gusti Agung Gede Witarsana ◽  
Hanugerah Kristiono Liestiandre
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Method ◽  
Subjective Norm ◽  
Subjective Norms ◽  
Perceived Benefits ◽  
Analytical Technique ◽  
Regional Leaders ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Attitudes And Behavior ◽  
Continuous Use ◽  
Intention To Continue

The purpose of this study was to examine and explain the effect of COVID-19 Perception, subjective norms, and Perceived Benefits on attitudes and Behavior continuous use of medical mask. The population of this study is people in Indonesia who have used medical masks for at least a year. The size of the sample used is 146 people with purposive sampling method. The analytical technique used is Path Analysis using SEM-PLS. The results showed that the COVID-19 perception, subjective norm, and perceived benefits had a positive and significant effect on attitudes and behavior in using medical masks continuously, and attitudes about using medical masks also had a positive and significant effect on the intention to continue using them continuously. Therefore, it is important for regional leaders to continue to disseminate and educate about the importance of continuous use of medical masks in order to prevent the spread of disease due to COVID-19 and maintain public health by providing information about COVID-19 disease and the benefits of using this medical mask.

scholarly journals Weibo users’ emotion and sentiment orientation in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Hao Gao ◽  
Difan Guo ◽  
Jing Wu ◽  
Lina Li
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Medicine ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Significant Downward Trend ◽  
Sentiment Orientation ◽  
People’S Attitudes ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Objective: This study aimed to explore Chinese people’s attitudes to the official application of TCM in COVID-19 treatment. Methods: We collected data referring to TCM on Weibo from 0:00 on January 24th, 2020, to 23:59:59 on March 31st, 2020 (Beijing time). Besides, this paper utilized DLUT- Emotion ontology to analyze the sentiment orientation and emotions of selected data and then conducted a text analysis. Results: According to DLUT-Emotion ontology, we examined three sentiment orientations of 215,565 valid Weibo posts. Among them,25,025 posts were judged as positive emotions, accounting for approximately 12%; 22,362 were regarded as negative emotions, accounting for about 10%; and 168,178 were judged as neutral emotions, accounting for approximately 78%. Results indicate that the words judged as ‘Good’ have the highest frequency, and words marked as ‘Happy’ have increased over time. The word frequency of ‘Fear’ and ‘Sadness’ showed a significant downward trend. Conclusion: Weibo users have a relatively positive attitude to the TCM in the COVID-19 treatment in general. Results of text analysis show that data with negative emotions is essentially an expression of public opinions to supporting TCM or not. Texts of ‘Fear’ and ‘Sadness’ do not reflect users’ negative attitudes to TCM.

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