Sustainable mobility choices: Exploring the impact of consumers' values,attitudes, perceived behavioural control and subjective norms on the likelihood to choose sustainable mobility options

This study explores consumers' behaviour regarding sustainable mobility options. A mixed-methods approach was adopted to examine the impact of bio-altruistic values, egoistic values, environmental attitudes, attitudes regarding sustainable mobility, perceived behavioural control and subjective norms on the likelihood of choosing sustainable mobility options. To collect the data, an online survey was applied to a sample of 645 Portuguese consumers, which included one single non-mandatory open-ended question to understand which factors could contribute to increase respondents' likelihood to choose more sustainable transport modes. As most studies in the mobility field are quantitative, combining both quantitative and qualitative data provided a greater in-depth analysis with richer findings. Firstly, findings revealed that attitudes towards sustainable mobility, subjective norms, perceived behaviour control, and egoistic values influence the likelihood of choosing sustainable mobility options. However, environmental attitudes, altruistic and biospheric values do not impact this choice. Secondly, consumers highlight that the existence of a broad public transport network, safe bicycle lanes, and accessible prices would contribute to their likelihood of adopting more sustainable mobility behaviours. The content analysis of 402 answers allowed to discover new dimensions that influence sustainable mobility behaviour, such as safety, respect towards bicycle users, mindset adjustment, willpower, and especially physical efforts associated with long distances, bad weather, orography, and the difficulty to transport materials or other people. Based on both quantitative and qualitative findings, the paper provides key recommendations for politicians, urban planners, and transport organisations, that according to respondents, would contribute to increase their use of sustainable mobility.     

3-D shape perception

In this paper, we analyze and test three theories of 3-D shape perception: (1) Helmholtzian theory, which assumes that perception of the shape of an object involves reconstructing Euclidean structure of the object (up to size scaling) from the object’s retinal image after taking into account the object’s orientation relative to the observer, (2) Gibsonian theory, which assumes that shape perception involves invariants (projective or affine) computed directly from the object’s retinal image, and (3) perspective invariants theory, which assumes that shape perception involves a new kind of invariants of perspective transformation. Predictions of these three theories were tested in four experiments. In the first experiment, we showed that reliable discrimination between a perspective and nonperspective image of a random polygon is possible even when information only about the contour of the image is present. In the second experiment, we showed that discrimination performance did not benefit from the presence of a textured surface, providing information about the 3-D orientation of the polygon, and that the subjects could not reliably discriminate between the 3-D orientation of the textured surface and that of a shape. In the third experiment, we compared discrimination for solid shapes that either had flat contours (cuboids) or did not have visible flat contours (cylinders). The discrimination was very reliable in the case of cuboids but not in the case of cylinders. In the fourth experiment, we tested the effectiveness of planar motion in perception of distances and showed that the discrimination threshold was large and similar to thresholds when other cues to 3-D orientation were used. All these results support perspective invariants as a model of 3-D shape perception.     

Lay theories of delinquency

This paper is concerned with the range, structure and determinants of lay people's implicit theories of delinquency. The different explicit psychological and sociological theories were reviewed as were studies on lay beliefs about crime and delinquency. After pilot interviews in which people were asked to list what they believed to be the major causes of delinquency, over 350 people completed a questionnaire in which they rated 30 explanations for their importance in explaining delinquency. The results showed numerous sex, age and voting differences. Conservatives tended to blame a person's poor education for his or her delinquency, while Labour voters tended to explain delinquency in terms of societal factors. A factor analysis revealed six clear explanation types for delinquency some of which were clearly related to explicit theories. Results were discussed in terms of the psychology of explanations and the relationship between explicit and implicit theories. Implications of this research were also noted.     

The good,the bad and the mad: Response bias in self-report measures

This study set out to examine the susceptibility of five extensively used, self-report measures to response set bias. Subjects were requested either to fake good, (give a good impression), fake bad, (give a bad impression), fake mad, (give an impression of mental instability) or respond honestly. Subjects who faked good had significantly higher Extraversion, Lie and Social Desirability scores but lowest Neuroticism, Psychoticism and Social Anxiety scores. Subjects who faked bad had significantly lower Extraversion and higher Psychoticism and Social Anxiety scores. Fake mad subjects scored higher on Self-Monitoring and Locus of Control. Four of the eight scales showed significant differences between subjects faking bad and those faking mad. The results are discussed in terms of questionnaire design and respondent's motivation.     

Integrated-structure emergence and its mechanistic explanation

Synthese - This paper proposes an integrated-structure notion of interlevel (part-whole) emergence, from a dynamic relational ontological perspective. First, I will argue that only the...     

An empirical typology of violent incidents reported by prison inmates with convictions for violence

Forty-four male prison inmates convicted for violent offences were interviewed, and details of current offence, previous convictions for violence, prison incidents, and violent situations outside of prison were obtained from each offender. Information on victim, circumstances, precipitating events, type of violence, emotions at the time, and the like, was derived for 246 violent incidents. Cluster analysis revealed eight clusters: “criminal” violence to familiar victims, peer violence within prison, domestic violence, peer violence in pubs, gang violence, violence to staff in prison, “criminal” violence to unknown victims with accomplices, and public violence against younger victims. Results were discussed in terms of treatment of violent offenders, with special emphasis on Social Skills Training.     

New Reflections on the Mirror: the Interests Proximity Bias Solution

Philosophia - We worry about becoming non-existent, but not about coming into being. But both events are similarly bad according to Deprivationism; hence, it seems that we should display symmetric...     

Editorial: Shaping Ethical Futures in Brain-Based and Artificial Intelligence Research

Science and Engineering Ethics -