With the increased use of teleworkers, it is important to understand how teleworker attitudes are related to the willingness to accept and follow guidelines that maintain data security in the telework environment. The objective of the study was to evaluate the application of the Theory of Planned Behavior and the idea of subjective norms as a means of explaining teleworker compliance in using information technology (IT) security guidelines in a telework environment. A sample of 150 respondents who considered themselves formal and informal teleworkers and were eligible for membership in The Telework Exchange completed an original Teleworker Security Survey. Descriptive and linear regression analyses were used to determine relationships existing between willingness to follow organizational teleworker data information security guidelines and practices. The findings of the analyses demonstrated that Personal Attitude, Social Pressure, and Sense of Control represented a weak to moderate model for explaining teleworker willingness to follow an organization’s security guidelines. This study is significant to organizations with teleworkers by identifying insight on attitudes of teleworkers regarding data security, sense of control and sense of responsibility teleworkers have regarding the confidentiality and integrity of data, and the intent of teleworkers to follow security protocols in a telework environment.

With the increased use of teleworkers, it is important to understand how teleworker attitudes are related to the willingness to accept and follow guidelines that maintain data security in the telework environment. The objective of the study was to evaluate the application of the Theory of Planned Behavior and the idea of subjective norms as a means of explaining teleworker compliance in using information technology (IT) security guidelines in a telework environment. A sample of 150 respondents who considered themselves formal and informal teleworkers and were eligible for membership in The Telework Exchange completed an original Teleworker Security Survey. Descriptive and linear regression analyses were used to determine relationships existing between willingness to follow organizational teleworker data information security guidelines and practices. The findings of the analyses demonstrated that Personal Attitude, Social Pressure, and Sense of Control represented a weak to moderate model for explaining teleworker willingness to follow an organization’s security guidelines. This study is significant to organizations with teleworkers by identifying insight on attitudes of teleworkers regarding data security, sense of control and sense of responsibility teleworkers have regarding the confidentiality and integrity of data, and the intent of teleworkers to follow security protocols in a telework environment.

Träning medför såväl fysiska som psykiska hälsofördelar. Trots att detta är vedertaget, tränar människor olika mycket och det finns även en andel människor som tränar otillräckligt. I föreliggande studie användes Self-Determination Theory (SDT) och Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), för att undersöka om faktorer inom dessa teorier kan förutsäga hur mycket människor i åldern 18 – 30 tränar i veckan. Data från personer som tränade olika mycket (n= 196, Målder= 24.94, SD= 2.69) samlades in genom ett elektroniskt självskattningsformulär som bestod av frågor om träning, Behavioral Regulations in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-3) och Theory of Planned Behavior Questionnaire. Multipla regressionsanalyser genomfördes för att undersöka hur väl SDT, TPB och en kombination av dessa predicerade träningsmängd. Resultatet visade att SDT och TPB såväl enskilt som tillsammans förklarade en signifikant andel av variansen i träningsmängd, samt att autonom motivation från SDT och upplevd beteendekontroll från TPB var de bästa prediktorerna för träningsmängd. Detta pekar på att en upplevelse av att träning är lätt, glädjefyllt och en integrerad del av en själv, förutsäger hög träningsmängd i veckan. Framtida forskning kan med fördel undersöka vilka andra faktorer utöver SDT och TPB som kan förklara varför människor tränar olika mycket. / Exercise entails both physical and mental health benefits. Despite this being common knowledge, people differ in the amount of exercise performed and some even exercise insufficiently. In the present study Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) were used to examine if factors within these theories can predict the amount of exercise performed in a week by people in the age of 18 to 30 years. Data from people that differed in the amount of exercise (n= 196, Mage= 24.94, SD= 2.69) was gathered through an electronic survey consisting of questions regarding exercise, Behavioral Regulations in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-3) and Theory of Planned Behavior Questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine to what extent SDT, TPB and a combination of these were able to predict the amount of exercise. Results showed that SDT and TPB, both together and on their own, explained a significant amount of the variance in the amount of exercise performed and that autonomous motivation from SDT and perceived behavioral control from TPB were the best predictors for the amount of exercise performed. This suggests that the experience of exercise being easy, joyful and an integrated part of the self, predicts a high amount of exercise. Future research could examine other factors beyond SDT and TPB that can explain the difference in the amount of exercise people perform.

The increasing population diversity in the United States and in public schools signifies a need for principals to promote diversity awareness as mandated by principal standards. A means to quantify and measure the principals’ diversity intentions empirically is required. This study researched the possibility that the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991) could provide a theoretical basis for an operation measurement model. The instrument for the study was an electronic survey administered via e-mail to a random sample of 151 principals. This instrument incorporated the Professional Beliefs About Diversity Scale (Pohan & Aguilar, 2001) with the operationalized General Principal’s Diversity Model and the Professional Diversity Intentions sub-models. Three research questions guided the study: 1) Can a theory of planned behavior approach be used to assess school principals’ professional intentions to promote diversity awareness? 2) What are the intentions of Texas principals to promote diversity awareness in general and among the five diversity dimensions of disabilities, gender, language, racial/ethnic, and social class in their campus community? and 3) Do these intentions differ among five demographic characteristics of race/ethnicity, gender, age, degree, and campus type? Findings of the study were: 1. The results of this study provided the scientific validation that the TPB approach can be used to assess public school principals’ professional intentions to promote diversity awareness. 2. At present, Texas principals’ intentions are only slightly more positive than the neutral midpoint, a 3.38 average score out of a possible 5.00 regarding intention to promote diversity awareness. Frequency analysis of the submodels indicated positive intentions for Gender (58 cases or 38.41 percent); Race/Ethnicity (78 cases or 51.66 percent); Social Class (79 cases or 52.32 percent); and Disabilities and Language each had 89 cases (58.95 percent). 3. Principals’ intent to implement diversity decreases with age and higher academic degree held. 4. Hispanic principals are more likely than African American or White principals to promote diversity awareness. This study concluded that a Theory of Planned Behavior approach as operationalized in this study may be used to assess school principals’ professional intentions to promote diversity beyond the level recommended by their district.

Sport organizations have a negative impact on the environment but these organizations have begun environmental initiatives to decrease their impact. Introducing recycling programs not only offers visible environmental effort to decrease the organization’s impact but such programs can provide financial savings for the organization. Thus, my dissertation’s purpose is to understand the recycling intentions of sport spectators by the means of three studies theoretically framed using the theory of planned behavior. Study 1 examined the recycling intentions of individuals after consuming plastic water bottles within a campus environment. Participants were undergraduate students (N = 144) enrolled in physical activity classes at a southwestern university in the United States (males n=83, 57.6 percent, females n=60, 41.7 percent; mostly White n=96, 66.7 percent; age M=19.6, SD=1.33). The results indicate that subjective norms (β = .29, p < .001) and attitudes (β = .14, p < .05) towards recycling significantly predicted intentions to recycle plastic bottles after consumption. Study 2 analyzed the recycling intentions within a sport context. Participants (N=129) were adult spectators attending a weekend long youth baseball tournament in the Southwest United States (women n=85, 65.9 percent, men n=40, 31.0 percent; predominately White n=97, 75.2 percent; age M=44.47 years, SD=10.20). Similar to Study 1, subjective norms (β = .27, p < .01) significantly predicted intentions to recycle. However, unlike Study 1, perceived behavioral controls (β = .21, p < .05) were significant in predicting intentions to recycle. Lastly, Study 3 augmented my investigation to understand the unique context of recycling intentions among sport spectators. I used qualitative research methods to understand recycling intentions of spectators during a large scale-sporting event. Participants (N=16) were adults that regularly attend college football games at a large southwestern university (men n=10, women n=6; age M=37.44). The results indicate that recycling within a sport context is unique considering the game day atmosphere. Collectively, the findings from the three studies are discussed as to influence decision-making policies within sport organizations to improve recycling programs and to decrease the organization’s negative environmental impact. Finally, recommendations are made for future research to understand recycling behaviors of sport spectators.

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The current study used multi-wave data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to examine the existence of typologies of readiness for sexual intercourse and contraception among a nationally representative sample of adolescents aged 15-18. Grounded in the theory of planned behavior, the current study used latent profile analyses to establish five profiles of sexual readiness based on adolescents' attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control for sexual intercourse and contraception. Analyses were conducted cross-sectionally and longitudinally, and five classes were confirmed at each of two waves. The current study established and characterized four profiles of readiness for sexual behavior at both waves: “impulsive adolescents,” “precarious adolescents,” “well-controlled adolescents,” and “conservatively-reared adolescents.” Two separate fifth profiles also emerged: “hasty adolescents” at wave 1, and “unrestrained adolescents” at wave 2. Logistic regression of longitudinal data indicated that compared to “impulsive adolescents” at wave 1, “precarious” and “conservatively-reared” adolescents were significantly less likely to engage in sexual intercourse at wave 2, and “well-controlled” adolescents were significantly less likely to engage in casual sex. Wave 1 cross-sectional data indicated that “precarious” adolescents were less likely to have used contraception either at their first time or most recent time of sex, and all other profiles were more likely to have employed contraception than “impulsive” adolescents. Wave 2 cross-sectional analyses indicated that two profiles (“precarious” and “conservatively-reared”) were less likely to engage in sexual intercourse, and two profiles (“well-controlled” and “unrestrained”) were more likely to engage in sexual intercourse than “impulsive” adolescents. / text

This research used qualitative methods to investigate the police officer decision-making processes within the theoretical context of the focal concerns framework and the theory of planned behavior. This research had two primary goals. The first goal was to determine what similarities and differences exist in how ideas from the focal concerns framework manifest themselves in a policing context as compared to how they operate for judges when sentencing convicted offenders. The second goal of this research was to use ideas from the theory of planned behavior to elaborate the focal concerns framework into a functional theoretical model of police officer decision-making. While intuitively sound, the focal concerns perspective is in need of conceptual enhancements to operationalize the mechanisms through which the focal concerns identified are transformed into action. Interviews with police officers were conducted to elicit the considerations that police officers see as important to their decision-making process in order to develop a theory of police decision-making which incorporates concepts from the focal concerns framework and the theory of planned behavior. The results of this study indicate that although police officers share the same broad focal concerns as judges, the way these concerns manifest themselves in the execution of their duties is different for police officers. The results also indicate that the construct of intent from the theory of planned behavior may be a viable cognitive mechanism to connect ideas from the focal concerns framework with criminal justice outcomes, although other constructs from the theory were only found to be partially applicable. Theoretical implications of the findings and directions for future research are also discussed.

Although the adverse health effects of cigarette smoking are well known, many college students continue to initiate and maintain cigarette smoking. While some college students are making quit attempts, they have limited success. Past research has identified graduation as one life event around which college students plan to quit smoking. Therefore, the college senior may be at a reachable moment related to cessation interventions. It was one purpose of the present study to examine whether attitudes, self-efficacy, and subjective norms might influence a college senior's intention to quit smoking at graduation. Past research has also identified friends and peers as an influencing factor related to initiation and maintenance of student smoking. A second purpose was to examine the influence of peer group norms and strength of group identification on intentions to quit smoking among college seniors. The theory of planned behavior provided the theoretical framework for the study. Using a nonexperimental cross sectional design, data were collected from 573 undergraduate college seniors via a web-based survey. Sixty three percent of the respondents were female and thirty seven percent were male. Of respondents, 26.5% (n= 152) reported being current smokers (had smoked at least one cigarette in the last thirty days) and of the current smokers, 48.7% (n=74) were daily and 51.3% (n=78) were occasional smokers. Independent sample t–tests revealed that, although the original hypothesis (daily smokers would have more positive intentions toward quitting than nondaily smokers) was not supported, nondaily smokers did have more positive intentions to quit smoking than daily smokers. When intentions were examined by sex, no statistical difference was found between males and females in intentions to quit smoking at graduation. Multiple regression revealed that the attitude a smoker holds about quitting was the strongest predictor of quitting intentions, followed by the confidence in one's ability to quit (self-efficacy). The importance of the beliefs held by important others (subjective norms) about quitting was also predictive of intentions to quit, but to a lesser extent than attitudes and self-efficacy. Respondents chose a “most important peer group” (i.e. people I live with, other students in my major), which they used to answer survey questions related to peer group norms and strength of group identification. When group norms and strength of group identification variables were entered into multiple regression, the effects of group norms and group identification were not significant predictors. Strength of group identification was not found to be a moderating variable for group norms when predicting intentions to quit cigarette smoking. The present study used two concepts (subjective norms and group norms) to examine social influence on behavioral intentions. Future studies will be useful in establishing how social influences can best be conceptualized.

Land managers are facing increasing visitation rates on the resources under their care resulting in associated impacts and complex management challenges. As the Shawnee National Forest (SNF) management team updates and revises the 2006 SNF Land and Resource Management Plan, understanding influences on visitor attitudes and behaviors becomes essential. This dissertation presents findings and associated planning recommendations from three social science research efforts on the SNF. The first manuscript examined the effects of the knowledge of, and attitudes towards, Leave No Trace (LNT), as well as visitor perceptions of effectiveness and difficulty to perform minimum impact practices, on the intentions of visitors to perform future minimum impact behaviors. A survey instrument was deployed at ten different recreation sites on the forest to measure the variables of interest. Results indicated that visitor attitudes toward the appropriateness of practicing LNT, perceptions of effectiveness of LNT practices and beliefs pertaining to the ease of LNT practice do, to an extent, influence visitor behavioral intentions. The second manuscript examined the relationships within, and influences of, levels of recreation specialization, place bonding and origin of introduction to the sport of rock climbing on the environmental awareness of climbers. Results indicated that climbers are aware of ecological conditions at Jackson Falls, SNF. Origin of introduction was not a direct influence on impact awareness, as were the constructs of specialization and place, however it was correlated with both constructs suggesting a possible indirect influence. When combined, the constructs of specialization and place influenced climber awareness, albeit the influence was small. Moreover, as the combination of these constructs served as a better predictor than each alone, underlying drivers of influence within each construct is suspected. Recommendations for further research that deconstructs recreation specialization and place bonding are discussed. The third manuscript addressed relationships within, and influences of: past experience; economic investment; skill; centrality to lifestyle; commitment; place familiarity, belongingness, identity, dependence, and rootedness; origin of introduction and knowledge of LNT on rock climbers’ attitudes and self-reported onsite behaviors. Origin was not a direct influence on attitudes or behaviors. Knowledge was correlated with behaviors. While several relationships between variables were uncovered, predictive potential of variables on attitude and behavior was small. Exploratory Factor Analysis was conducted uncovering four underlying unobservable factors within the variables. A proposed model and associated implications are discussed. Management recommendations emerging from this dissertation, including strategies for indirect management opportunities such as persuasive messaging and minimum impact education efforts as well as opportunities for adaptive co-management opportunities with area recreation advocacy groups, were discussed in the concluding chapter.