Accounting for the role of habit in behavioural strategies for injury prevention

The limited success of behavioural strategies in injury prevention has been attributed to failure to properly apply behaviour change models to intervention design and the explanation of safety behaviours. However, this paper contends that many health behaviour change interventions do not succeed because they fail to take into account the habitual quality of most health and safety-related behaviour; a more complete model of behaviour change needs to be based on a better understanding of the role of habit. The overall aim is to contribute to better understanding of behavioural strategies for injury prevention. When habits are weak, attitudes and intentions predict behaviours, but as behaviours turn into habits, they become better predictors of future behaviour than attitudes or intentions. Furthermore, where habits are strong, individuals are less likely to act on new information, evaluating counter-habitual information negatively. Integrating the concepts of strong and weak habits with upstream and downstream strategies, a framework is presented for tailoring strategies to the habit strength of the target behaviour.     

Beijing Parks:Greenery and Tranquility in the Metropolis

Beijing can sometimes seem a bustling city of gray buildings but in fact there is a surprising amount of green,tranquil parks in it to afford rest and relaxation to local residents and visitors to China's capital. There are over 300 parks to explore in Beijing,many of which were built by China's past emperors.In ancient times,they were not open to the public and were used by emperors for sacrifices to gods or leisure activities.Nowadays,Beijing's parks are a great place to relax,take the kids to play or watch the locals flying kites or practicing their morning tai-chi. Now let's look at some of the best parks in Beijing.     

China to Levy New Duties on U.S.Auto Imports

China's Ministry of Commerce announced December 14 that China would levy anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on sedans and sport utility vehicles (SUV)with engines of 2.5 liters and above imported from the United States,the latest in a series of trade disputes between the world's two largest economies.     

‘Market failure’ arguments are a poor guide to policy

‘Market failure’ is frequently offered as a justification for government intervention in the economy. Proponents of interventions can point to almost limitless examples of markets which do not meet all the criteria for Pareto optimality and argue that government taxation, subsidies or regulation can perfect them, maximising social welfare. But comparing market outcomes with an unattainable and unidentifiable ideal is not useful in a world of imperfect knowledge and government failure. It is better to compare market outcomes against realistic alternatives. Furthermore, even within the market failure paradigm, concepts such as ‘public goods’ and ‘negative externalities’ are routinely misunderstood and inconsistently applied. This leads to predictably poor policy outcomes.     

Working and Caring for a Child with Chronic Illness: Challenges in Maintaining Employment

This paper shares some pertinent findings from an initial, qualitative stage of a larger, national study currently being undertaken in Australia, exploring the support needs of parents who are working full time and caring for a child with chronic illness. The findings presented here depict the negative impact of these parents caring responsibilities on their work life and the increased stress they experience trying to maintain full time employment. In-depth interviews revealed how these parents had to rearrange their working hours, use up their leave entitlements, work unsatisfactory hours, sacrifice their careers and even change their jobs in order to balance their dual roles. In addition, the findings also highlight the negative and unsupportive attitude that employers had towards these parents. These employment conditions were extremely stressful and frustrating for parents affecting their physical and emotional well being.     

Perceived value of corporate donations: an empirical investigation

• There is current recognition that value is the fundamental basis for all marketing activities. The present research provides an empirical examination of perceptions of value within the voluntary sector and specifically donations made by organisations towards the funding of charitable projects. The impact of a number of charity and project‐related variables on the formation of value and the corresponding effect of value on satisfaction and behavioural variables are examined.
• The results support claims that past experience with and information about a charity as well as information about a specific project are significant determinants of value. However, the impact of these constructs is differential between the two components of value (i.e. get/benefits and give/sacrifices). We confirm the significant effect of value on satisfaction and indicate that satisfaction and benefits derived from a donation have a direct impact on behavioural intention.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.