Journal of Applied Social Psychology

Previous research indicates that perceived usefulness is a major determinant and predictor of intentions to use computers in the workplace. In contrast, the impact of enjoyment on usage intentions has not been examined. Two studies are reported concerning the relative effects of usefulness and enjoyment on intentions to use, and usage of, computers in the workplace. Usefulness had a strong effect on usage intentions in both Study 1, regarding word processing software (β=.68), and Study 2, regarding business graphics programs (β=.79). As hypothesized, enjoyment also had a significant effect on intentions in both studies, controlling for perceived usefulness (β=.16 and 0.15 for Studies 1 and 2, respectively). Study 1 found that intentions correlated 0.63 with system usage and that usefulness and enjoyment influenced usage behavior entirely indirectly through their effects on intentions. In both studies, a positive interaction between usefulness and enjoyment was observed. Together, usefulness and enjoyment explained 62% (Study 1) and 75% (Study 2) of the variance in usage intentions. Moreover, usefulness and enjoyment were found to mediate fully the effects on usage intentions of perceived output quality and perceived ease of use. As hypothesized, a measure of task importance moderated the effects of ease of use and output quality on usefulness but not on enjoyment. Several implications are drawn for how to design computer programs to be both more useful and more enjoyable in order to increase their acceptability among potential users.

Protection motivation theory (PMT) was introduced by Rogers in 1975 and has since been widely adopted as a framework for the prediction of and intervention in health‐related behavior. However. PMT remains the only major cognitive model of behavior not to have been the subject of a meta‐analytic review. A quantitative review of PMT is important to assess its overall utility as a predictive model and to establish which of its variables would be most useful to address health‐education interventions. The present paper provides a comprehensive introduction to PMT and its application to health‐related behavior, together with a quantitative review of the applications of PMT to health‐related intentions and behavior. The associations between threat‐ and coping‐appraisal variables and intentions, and all components of the model and behavior were assessed both by meta‐analysis and by vote‐count procedures. Threat‐ and coping‐appraisal components of PMT were found to be useful in the prediction of health‐related intentions. The model was found to be useful in predicting concurrent behavior, but of less utility in predicting future behavior. The coping‐appraisal component of the model was found to have greater predictive validity than was the threat‐appraisal component. The main findings are discussed in relation to theory and research on social cognition models. The importance of the main findings to health education is also discussed, and future research directions are suggested.

Discoveries in environmental science become the raw material for constructing social attitude objects, individual attitudes, and broad public concerns. We explored a model in which individuals construct attitudes to new or emergent attitude objects by referencing personal values and beliefs about the consequences of the objects for their values. We found that a subset of the major clusters identified in value theory is associated with willingness to take proenvironmental action; that a biospheric value orientation cannot yet be discerned in a general population sample; that willingness to take proenvironmental action is a function of both values and beliefs, with values also predicting beliefs; and that gender differences can be attributed to both beliefs and values. Our model has promise for explicating the factors determining public concern with environmental conditions.

This paper summarizes research on determinants of repeated behaviors, and the decision processes underlying them. The present research focuses on travel mode choices as an example of such behaviors. It is proposed that when behavior is performed repeatedly and becomes habitual, it is guided by automated cognitive processes, rather than being preceded by elaborate decision processes (i.e., a decision based on attitudes and intentions). First, current attitude‐behavior models are discussed, and the role of habit in these models is examined. Second, research is presented on the decision processes preceding travel mode choices. Based on the present theoretical and empirical overview, it is concluded that frequently performed behavior is often a matter of habit, thereby establishing a boundary condition for the applicability of attitude‐behavior models. However, more systematic research is required to disentangle the role of habit in attitude‐behavior models and to learn more about the cognitive processes underlying habitual behavior.

An expanded version of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) was used to predict and explain public transportation use. A pre‐post design was used to examine changes in university students’ bus ridership after the implementation of a universal bus pass (U‐pass) program. Bus ridership significantly increased after the U‐pass was implemented, and associated changes in attitudes and beliefs about transportation modes were found. In both phases, students’ public transportation use was well predicted by the original TPB. However, 2 additional constructs—a descriptive norm, and the interaction between intention and perceived behavioral control—significantly improved prediction in both phases of the study. These constructs might be useful additions to the original TPB, at least in this behavioral domain.

A model of travel mode choice is tested by means of a survey among 199 inhabitants of a village. Car choice behavior for a particular journey is predicted from the attitude toward choosing the car and the attitude toward choosing an alternative mode (i.e., train), on the one hand, and from general car habit, on the other hand. Unlike traditional measures of habit, a script‐based measure was used. General habit was measured by travel mode choices in response to very global descriptions of imaginary journeys. In the model, habit is predicted from the degree of involvement with the decision‐making about travel mode choice for the particular journey (decisional involvement) and from the degree of competition in a household with respect to car use. The model proves satisfactory. Moreover, as suggested by Triandis (1977), there is a tradeoff between attitude and habit in the prediction of behavior: When habit is strong the attitude‐behavior relation is weak, whereas when habit is weak, the attitude‐behavior link is strong.

Increasing support for the relationship between road traffic violations and accident liability has led to research focusing on the motivational factors that promote these behaviors. In Study 1, a large sample of young (17–40 years) drivers were asked to complete the Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ; Parker, Reason, Manstead, & Stradling, 1995). Factor analysis revealed 3 factors: errors, highway code violations, and more interpersonally aggressive violations. In Study 2, a smaller sample of drivers was recruited (17–70 years) to investigate further this distinction between different types of violation and also the role of affect in predicting behavior. Factor analysis of a modified DBQ revealed 3 types of violation. Measures of positive affect were found to be good predictors of all 3 violation types. Discussion focuses on social psychological and applied implications.

The issue of credit‐card debt among college students has received increasing attention. This study explored factors hypothesized to be causes and effects of credit‐card debt in 448 students on five college campuses. Students reported an average of $1,035 (SD=$1,849) in debt, including students without credit cards or credit‐card debt. Lack of financial knowledge, age, number of credit cards, delay of gratification, and attitudes toward credit‐card use were related to debt. Sensation seeking, materialism, the Student Attitude Toward Debt scale, gender, and grade point average were not unique predictors of debt. Students reporting greater debt reported greater stress and decreased financial well being. Results highlight the need for comprehensive financial literacy education among college students.

Political conservatives and liberals were interviewed about 3 kinds of sexual acts: homosexual sex, unusual forms of masturbation, and consensual incest between an adult brother and sister. Conservatives were more likely to moralize and to condemn these acts, but the differences were concentrated in the homosexual scenarios and were minimal in the incest scenarios. Content analyses reveal that liberals had a narrow moral domain, largely limited to the “ethics of autonomy” (Shweder, Much, Mahapatra, & Park, 1997) while conservatives had a broader and more multifaceted moral domain. Regression analyses show that, for both groups, moral judgments were best predicted by affective reactions, and were not predicted by perceptions of harmfulness. Suggestions for calming the culture wars over homosexuality are discussed.