Handwashing interventions are a priority in development and emergency aid programs. Evaluation of these interventions is essential to assess the effectiveness of programs; however, measuring ...handwashing is quite difficult. Although observations are considered valid, they are time-consuming and cost-ineffective; self-reports are highly efficient but considered invalid because desirable behaviour tends to be over-reported. Socially desirable responding has been claimed to be the main cause of inflated self-reports, but its underlying factors and mechanisms are understudied. The present study investigated socially desirable responding and additional potential explanatory factors for over-reported handwashing to identify indications for measures which mitigate over-reporting. Additionally, a script-based covert recall, an alternative interview question intended to mitigate recall errors and socially desirable responding, was developed and tested. Cross-sectional data collection was conducted in the Borena Zone, Ethiopia, through 2.5-hour observations and 1-hour interviews with the primary caregivers in households. A total sample of N = 554 was surveyed. Data were analysed with correlation and multiple regression analyses and dependent t-tests. Over-reporting of handwashing was associated with factors assumed to be involved in (1) socially desirable responding, (2) encoding and recall of information, and (3) dissonance processes. The latter two factor groups explained over-reported handwashing beyond socially desirable responding. The alternative interview question--script-based covert recall--reduced over-reporting compared to conventional self-reports. Although the difficulties involved in measuring handwashing by self-reports and observations are widely known, the present study is the first to investigate the factors which explain over-reporting of handwashing. This research contributes to the limited evidence base on a highly important subject: how to evaluate handwashing interventions efficiently and accurately.
Public resistance to sustainable innovations is oftentimes accompanied by strong negative emotions. Therefore, it is essential to better understand the underlying factors of emotions toward ...sustainable innovations to facilitate their successful implementation. Based on the Value-Innovation-Congruence model of Emotional responses (VICE model), we argue that positive and negative emotions toward innovations reflect whether innovations are congruent or incongruent with (i.e., support or threaten) people's core values. We tested our reasoning in two experimental studies (
N
= 114 and
N
= 246), by asking participants to evaluate innovations whose characteristics were either congruent or incongruent with egoistic values (study 1) or with biospheric values (study 1 and study 2). In line with the VICE model, we found overall that the more an innovation was perceived to have characteristics congruent with these values, and biospheric values in particular, the stronger positive and the weaker negative emotions they experienced toward the innovation, especially the more strongly people endorsed these values. Emotions, in turn, were related with acceptability of innovations. Our findings highlight that emotions toward innovations can have a systematic basis in people's values that can be addressed to ensure responsible decision-making on sustainable innovations.
Background Diarrheal disease kills around 760,000 infants every year. Many of these deaths could have been prevented by handwashing with soap. However, the whole range of psychological factors ...encouraging handwashing is not yet identified and handwashing campaigns are often limited to awareness-raising and education. The purpose of this article was to identify the psychological determinants of handwashing in Haiti (study 1) and Ethiopia (study 2). Methods Data were collected cross-sectionally by administering face-to-face interviews with the primary caregiver in a participating household (NHaiti = 811; NEthiopia = 463). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed on self-reported handwashing. Results In both countries, risk factors—meaning awareness and health knowledge—accounted for only 11%-19% of variance in handwashing and were not consistently associated with handwashing. The inclusion of additional factor-groups, namely attitude, norm, ability, and self-regulation factors, led to significant increases in explained variance ( P ≤ .01), accounting for 25%-44% of additionally explained variance. The attitude factor disgust, the norm factor, the ability factors motivational self-efficacy and perceived impediments, and the self-regulation factors coping planning and commitment emerged as especially relevant. Conclusions Handwashing campaigns should focus especially on attitudes and norms and not only on risk.
Abstract
Phasing out fossil fuels is inherent to sustainable energy transitions, but implementing energy policies related to phasing out processes involves risks that may affect their public support. ...Trust in institutions responsible for handling these risks is crucial for public acceptability, as it serves as a heuristic for risk assessment. In the current study, using the Dutch energy scenario, we examine how trust in institutions relates to public support for phasing out natural gas in the Netherlands. We build from previous research by examining this for the two types of trust most commonly distinguished in the literature, namely competence- and integrity-based trust, and for institutions operating at both national and local levels. Results showed that trust depends on the type of trust people evaluate and on the institution’s level of operation. Locally, institutions are seen as more honest and transparent, while nationally, they’re perceived as more skilled and having more knowledge. Further, integrity-based trust in both local and national institutions better explained public support for phasing out natural gas than competence-based trust. We discuss these results in terms of their implications for energy policy, suggesting policymakers consider trust dynamics and tailor strategies based on trust dimensions and institutional levels to facilitate phasing out processes.
Unsafe water consumption is the environmental risk factor in sub-Saharan Africa contributing most to premature death. In urban slums and dispersed rural communities, where access to safe water is ...especially limited, water kiosks are a relevant safe water source. However, irregular use challenges their operational viability and may cause discontinuation. The present study investigated collective psychological ownership for the kiosk as a potential factor to increase regular kiosk use. Data were collected cross-sectionally in one urban and two rural kiosk sites through interviews in study households (N = 205) and analyzed by path analysis. Involvement in decision-making related to the kiosks explained collective psychological ownership for the kiosks. Collective psychological ownership, in turn, explained self-reported kiosk use through social-cognitive factors. The results emphasize the importance of community involvement in decisions related to kiosk installation and maintenance because it may contribute to regular kiosk use.
•Involvement in kiosk decision-making explains collective psychological ownership.•Ownership explains reported regular kiosk use through social-cognitive factors.•Mediators are perceived water quality, effortfulness, self-efficacy and commitment.•The findings highlight the importance of community involvement in decision making.
Handwashing with soap effectively prevents diarrhoea, a leading cause of death in infants. Theory-based interventions are expected to promote handwashing more successfully than standard approaches. ...The present article investigates the underlying change processes of theory-based handwashing interventions. A nonrandomised field study compared a standard approach to two theory-based interventions that were tailored to the target population, the inhabitants of four villages in southern Ethiopia (
N
= 408). Data were collected before and after interventions by structured interviews and analysed by mediation analysis. In comparison to the standard approach (i.e., education only), education with public commitment and reminder was slightly more effective in changing social-cognitive factors and handwashing. Education with an infrastructure promotion and reminder was most effective in promoting handwashing through enhancing social-cognitive factors. The results confirm the relevance of testing interventions’ underlying change processes.
Fabio Pulizzi will host Nadja Contzen to discuss her work on the importance of user acceptance for the implementation of decentralized water treatment technologies. Yanhua Chen will then talk to ...Benjamin Bostick about factors that impact arsenic contamination of groundwater.
Read the articles here:
1. <https://rdcu.be/c53DH>
2. <https://rdcu.be/c53DL>
•CLTS intervention communities were 11 times less likely to practice open defecation at follow-up compared to controls.•Intervention communities with higher average social identification showed lower ...open defecation rates.•In control communities, higher open defecation rates were connected with higher social identificatio.•The results highlight the need of considering the social context when planning and implementing sanitation campaigns.
Unsafe sanitation practices are a major source of environmental pollution and are a leading cause of death in countries of the Global South. One of the most successful campaigns to eradicate open defecation is “Community-Led Total Sanitation” (CLTS). It aims at shifting social norms towards safe sanitation practices. However, the effectiveness of CLTS is heterogeneous. Based on social identity theory, we expect CLTS to be most effective in communities with stronger social identification, because in these communities individuals should rather follow social norms. We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial with 3,216 households in 132 communities in Ghana, comparing CLTS to a control arm. Self-reported open defecation rates and social identification were assessed pre-post. Generalized Estimating Equations showed that CLTS achieved lower open defecation rates compared to controls. This effect was significantly stronger for communities with stronger average social identification. The results confirm the assumptions of social identity theory. They imply that pre-existing social identification needs to be considered for planning CLTS, and strengthened beforehand if needed.
In dealing with water pollution and freshwater scarcity, on-site treatment and reuse of domestic wastewater has shown to be a promising solution. To increase on-site wastewater treatment and reuse, ...some cities, among them Bengaluru in India, have mandated the installation and use of the necessary technology in certain building types. However, even with a mandate, a successful and sustainable implementation of the technology, including reliable operation, monitoring, and maintenance, depends on the acceptance (i.e. positive valuation) of the technology and its use by the (prospective) users. Literature on technology acceptance indicates perceived costs, risks, and benefits of the respective technology as key predictors of acceptance. Therefore, the present online study assessed this relationship for on-site systems in Bengaluru. The relation was analysed separately for mandated users of on-site systems (N = 103) and current non-users (i.e. potential prospective users, should the mandate be expanded; N = 232), as the perceptions might differ between the two groups, due to the personal experience with the technology among users. The results show that for mandated users and non-users, acceptance of on-site systems is explained by perceived benefits only, namely a positive image of users, environmental benefits, and, only for non-users, also financial benefits for the city. The findings suggest that interventions aimed at promoting on-site systems should include emphasis on the benefits of on-site systems. Whenever possible, interventions should be tailored to the target group's individual cost, risk, and benefit perception.
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•Lack of public acceptance can impede successful implementation of on-site systems.•The study analysed whether perceived costs, risks, and benefits explain acceptance.•Perceived environmental benefits and positive user image explain acceptance.•Among non-users only, perceived financial benefit for the city explains acceptance.•Emphasising benefits could help promoting on-site systems.
Throughout the world, climate change, rapid population growth, and urbanisation raise the need for reducing freshwater consumption. One solution are on-site systems that treat wastewater for ...non-potable reuse near its source of generation, for example within a building. Policies mandating their installation can effectively increase installation rates and have been implemented in several cities. Yet, such policies have the potential to impair distributive fairness in society and therefore also policy acceptance, because usually they cover only part of the population, which then has to carry most costs and risks. On the example of Bengaluru, India, where such a policy exists, this online study (N = 350) analysed whether policy acceptance can be explained by the perceived policy outcome for different groups of society (i.e. the distribution of the policy’s costs, risks, and benefits among these groups), and whether this relation is mediated by perceived fairness. We further investigated whether these relations differed between participants covered and those not covered by the policy, since being personally affected may influence perceptions. Specifically, the outcomes for the following six groups were included: 1) participants themselves, 2) people covered by the policy, 3) people with a low income who are covered by the policy, 4) people vulnerable to water insecurity who are covered by the policy, 5) all inhabitants of Bengaluru taken together, and 6) the environment and future generations. A moderated mediation analysis showed that higher acceptance of the policy was explained by a higher perceived fairness, which, in turn, was explained by a better perceived outcome of the policy for different groups of society. Covered and non-covered participants differed with regard to which groups of society they considered for evaluating fairness. While a better perceived outcome for residents covered by the policy (compared with the outcome for those not covered) explained perceived fairness among all participants, it explained acceptance only among participants not covered by the policy. Further, and only among participants covered by the policy, perceived fairness was additionally explained by better perceived outcomes for the environment and future generations, which also explained higher acceptance among covered participants. It is discussed whether in the specific context, collective considerations may be more relevant than self-centred considerations to the perception of fairness and acceptance of the policy.
•Policies mandating on-site wastewater treatment and reuse can reduce water scarcity.•Yet, such policies may impair distributive fairness and thus public acceptance.•We found, perceived policy outcomes explain acceptance, mediated by fairness.•However, only outcomes for some groups of society were considered.•Specifically, outcomes for the environment and for people covered by the policy.
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