Do human values predict perceptions, attitudes & behaviours towards the New Zealand marine environment?

<p>Human values predict perceptions, attitudes and behaviours towards the NZ marine environment. A confidential online survey (The New Zealand Marine Values Survey) was completed by 1,567 NZ citizens and residents in September and October of 2019. Respondents answered a variety of questions relating to demographic variables, PABs (perceptions, attitudes and behaviours) towards the NZ marine environment, and psychographic variables. Human values (values), as conceptualised and operationalised in the Theory of Basic Human Values by social psychologist and cross-cultural researcher Shalom H. Schwartz, have been demonstrated to be universal in nature and capable of predicting a range of PABs. Respondents’ prioritisation of values were measured using the latest Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ-RR). Statistical analysis identified many significant (p < .01) relationships between values and variables of interest, including the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) and a variety of PAB scales created in undertaking this research. Values explained between 24.6% and 57.2% of the variance seen in 14 scales, with each of the 19 value domains proving to be of some significance (p < .01) in the regression analyses performed. Universalism values were prominent in many of the analyses and often exhibited negative relationships with Conservation values. Findings provided mixed support for the Value Belief Norm (VBN) theory, which postulates a causal chain between values, worldviews, norms, and behaviour. Benevolence values, despite being prioritised strongly by the sample population as a whole, explained little of the variance seen in PABs towards the NZ marine environment and were an unexpected negative predictor of the NEP. This research provides an overview of how individuals, from a large sample of New Zealanders with an interest in the marine environment, prioritise human values and how these values are likely to inform PABs towards the NZ marine environment. This research should provide valuable insights to any individual or organisation hoping to engage with stakeholders in the NZ marine environment in a more meaningful and effective manner —especially those confronted with social barriers to change.</p>

Do human values predict perceptions, attitudes & behaviours towards the New Zealand marine environment?

<p>Human values predict perceptions, attitudes and behaviours towards the NZ marine environment. A confidential online survey (The New Zealand Marine Values Survey) was completed by 1,567 NZ citizens and residents in September and October of 2019. Respondents answered a variety of questions relating to demographic variables, PABs (perceptions, attitudes and behaviours) towards the NZ marine environment, and psychographic variables. Human values (values), as conceptualised and operationalised in the Theory of Basic Human Values by social psychologist and cross-cultural researcher Shalom H. Schwartz, have been demonstrated to be universal in nature and capable of predicting a range of PABs. Respondents’ prioritisation of values were measured using the latest Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ-RR). Statistical analysis identified many significant (p < .01) relationships between values and variables of interest, including the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) and a variety of PAB scales created in undertaking this research. Values explained between 24.6% and 57.2% of the variance seen in 14 scales, with each of the 19 value domains proving to be of some significance (p < .01) in the regression analyses performed. Universalism values were prominent in many of the analyses and often exhibited negative relationships with Conservation values. Findings provided mixed support for the Value Belief Norm (VBN) theory, which postulates a causal chain between values, worldviews, norms, and behaviour. Benevolence values, despite being prioritised strongly by the sample population as a whole, explained little of the variance seen in PABs towards the NZ marine environment and were an unexpected negative predictor of the NEP. This research provides an overview of how individuals, from a large sample of New Zealanders with an interest in the marine environment, prioritise human values and how these values are likely to inform PABs towards the NZ marine environment. This research should provide valuable insights to any individual or organisation hoping to engage with stakeholders in the NZ marine environment in a more meaningful and effective manner —especially those confronted with social barriers to change.</p>

Exploring healthcare staff narratives to understand the role of quality improvement methods in innovative practices during COVID-19

Background COVID-19 has impacted the context in which healthcare staff and teams operate and this has implications for quality improvement (QI) work. Contrary to the usual ambivalent relationship staff have with QI work, there have been examples of unprecedented staff engagement in implementing rapid changes during the pandemic indicating a change in important underlying factors that impact staff involvement in QI. The purpose of this study is to explore staff perspectives about how experience and skills of QI methods supported them in implementing innovative practices during COVID-19. Methods This is a qualitative narrative study based on narrative interviews to collect healthcare staff stories of implementing rapid change. The stories were identified through social media (Twitter) and a national health magazine issued by the Irish health service. Twenty staff members participated in the interviews. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and anonymised. A four-step thematic analysis was conducted. Results The analysis revealed the transformational journey of healthcare staff from the initial shock and anxiety caused by COVID-19 to making sense of the situation, implementing rapid changes, and acknowledging COVID as a learning experience. Six themes were evident from the analysis: COVID anxiety and fear, emotional supports and coping mechanisms, person-centric changes, COVID as a ‘forcing function’ for change, a collective way of working and looking back and thinking ahead. Conclusions While most rapid changes during COVID-19 did not represent a systematic and explicit QI application, QI principles were evident throughout the stories and actions taken, including making small changes, testing changes, learning, reflecting as a team, and improving. Many staff members were able to retrospectively identify the relevance of QI principles. COVID-19 eliminated some traditional barriers to change leading to efficient solutions, thus highlighting a need to sustain these positive changes into routine practice to develop an adaptive healthcare system receptive to QI.

Changing Climate and Changing Behaviour: Perceptions of Powerlessness and the Commons Dilemma

<p>Mitigating climate change is recognized as an increasingly urgent task that requires several different methods to achieve. Among these is the need to encourage voluntary behaviour change. Doing so necessitates an understanding of the barriers that prevent behaviour change, including those which are psychological. Among the psychological barriers to change are perceptions of powerlessness and the commons dilemma. This thesis takes a mixed method approach to understand importance of these in relation to both each other and other barriers when taking action to mitigate climate change. Results indicate that individuals do not clearly distinguish climate change from general environmental problems and have a tendency to simplify the issues to that considered to be the singularly most important. Powerlessness and the commons dilemma had been evaluated but not extensively or as specifically applicable to climate change. Powerlessness and the commons dilemma were both found to relate to lower amounts of action on climate change and less importance placed upon climate change in actions. Perceived risk and human influence on climate change were the strongest predictors of action. Results generally support the knowledge-deficit model of behaviour change as being applicable to climate change.</p>

Changing Climate and Changing Behaviour: Perceptions of Powerlessness and the Commons Dilemma

<p>Mitigating climate change is recognized as an increasingly urgent task that requires several different methods to achieve. Among these is the need to encourage voluntary behaviour change. Doing so necessitates an understanding of the barriers that prevent behaviour change, including those which are psychological. Among the psychological barriers to change are perceptions of powerlessness and the commons dilemma. This thesis takes a mixed method approach to understand importance of these in relation to both each other and other barriers when taking action to mitigate climate change. Results indicate that individuals do not clearly distinguish climate change from general environmental problems and have a tendency to simplify the issues to that considered to be the singularly most important. Powerlessness and the commons dilemma had been evaluated but not extensively or as specifically applicable to climate change. Powerlessness and the commons dilemma were both found to relate to lower amounts of action on climate change and less importance placed upon climate change in actions. Perceived risk and human influence on climate change were the strongest predictors of action. Results generally support the knowledge-deficit model of behaviour change as being applicable to climate change.</p>

Motivating or stigmatising? The public health and media messaging surrounding COVID-19 and obesity: a qualitative think aloud study

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore how individuals with overweight and obesity living in the UK respond to the public health and media messaging surrounding COVID-19 and obesity.Design/methodology/approachQualitative interview study with a think aloud protocol. A total of 10 participants self-reported to have overweight, obesity or as actively trying to lose weight were recruited through social media and were asked to think aloud whilst exposed to four sets of public health and media materials describing the link between COVID-19 and obesity. Interviews were conducted over zoom, recorded and transcribed verbatim.FindingsThree primary themes were identified through thematic analysis: “flawed messaging”, “COVID-19 as a teachable moment” and “barriers to change”. Transcending these themes was the notion of balance. Whilst the messaging around COVID-19 and obesity was deemed problematic; for some, it was a teachable moment to facilitate change when their future self and physical health was prioritised. Yet, when focussing on their mental health in the present participants felt more overwhelmed by the barriers and were less likely to take the opportunity to change.Practical implicationsFindings hold implications for public health messaging, highlighting the need for balance between being educational and informative but also supportive, so as to achieve maximum efficacy.Originality/valueThis study offers a novel and useful insight into how the public health and media messaging concerning COVID-19 risk and obesity is perceived by those with overweight and obesity.

Farmers’ action space to adopt sustainable practices: a study of arable farming in Saxony

The urgency to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and natural resource degradation requires major changes in agricultural practices. Agricultural policy in Germany has so far failed to generate such changes; meanwhile, public demands for new regulations are met by widespread farmers’ protests. Against this background, an improved understanding of the factors influencing farmers’ uptake of sustainable agricultural practices is necessary. This study introduces the concept of action space to analyze the role of barriers to change which lie beyond farmers’ perceived immediate control. We apply this conceptual framework to the case of diversified crop rotations in Saxony (Germany) and combine semi-structured interviews and a survey to identify key barriers to change and their relative weights. We find that farmers feel rather strongly restricted in their action space to implement diversified crop rotations for sustainable agriculture. The most important barriers pertain to the market environment, which severely limits the feasibility of many crops. In addition, limited regulatory predictability as well as regulatory incoherence and limited flexibility restrict farmers in their action space. The role of resource availability within the farm businesses as well as availability and accessibility of knowledge is ambiguous between interview and survey results. The analysis of interactions indicates that multiple barriers form a self-reinforcing system in which farmers perceive to have little leeway to implement sustainable practices. These results emphasize the need to create an enabling market and regulatory environment in which sustainable practices pay off.

‘A Way of Being in the World’: An Exploration of the Experience of Developing Self-Compassion through Online Training

Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) has increasingly been shown to have a positive impact for people experiencing a range of difficulties, and online self-help formats could provide a way of increasing its accessibility and scalability. This study explored adult participants’ subjective experiences of engaging with online self-compassion training drawn from Compassionate Mind Training (CMT) and CFT. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 participants who had completed online self-compassion training, and the interview data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The analysis generated four main themes and 17 sub-themes. The four main themes generated were ‘A way of being in the world’, ‘Old habits die hard’, The learning process, and Context and resources. These themes showed that while the process of developing self-compassion was often challenging, most participants described experiencing positive changes in their ways of relating to themselves and others. Participants identified many facilitators and barriers to change, including factors related to the training format and their wider social contexts. These findings support previous research into CMT and CFT, particularly in relation to some common positive changes people experience and some of the difficulties with this process (e.g. fears of compassion). Participants’ descriptions offer promise that approaches based on CMT and the CFT model can be experienced as acceptable and helpful by people engaging through an online self-help format as well as through individual and group-based interventions. The facilitators and barriers to change described by participants indicate the strong influence of people’s contexts and the need for these to be carefully considered when designing and implementing approaches.