Evaluating Validity Properties of 25 Race-Related Scales

Racial attitudes, beliefs, and motivations lie at the center of many of the most influential theories of prejudice and discrimination. The extent to which such theories can meaningfully explain behavior hinges on accurate measurement of these latent constructs. We evaluated the validity properties of 25 race-related scales in a sample of 1,031,207 respondents using modern approaches such as dynamic fit indices, Item Response Theory, and nomological nets. Despite showing adequate internal reliability, many scales demonstrated poor model fit and had latent score distributions showing clear floor or ceiling effects, results that illustrate deficiencies in measures’ ability to capture their intended construct. Nomological nets further suggested that the theoretical space of “racial prejudice” is crowded with scales that may not actually capture meaningfully distinct latent constructs. We provide concrete recommendations for scale selection and renovation and outline implications for overlooking measurement issues in the study of prejudice and discrimination.

Role of Trust in Influencing Service Recommendation from Customers for Beauty Service Industry

The research aims to deconstruct trust in beauty service into underlying latent variables with observable predictors. It further analyses the influence of these latent variables on the service recommendation behaviour of customers for beauty service. Factor reduction using EFA and structural equation modelling using CFA with AMOS 18 was applied on two samples of 214 and 225 respondents. The two latent constructs strongly representing trust were identified as “trust due to customer education” and “trust due to safety and hygiene.” These factors were found to play a significant role in service recommendation when it comes to beauty service.

Factors influencing household-level positive and negative solid waste management practices in rapidly urbanizing cities: insights from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia

Household solid waste management (HSWM) practices are a critical aspect of municipal solid waste management (MSWM) systems. Despite efforts to implement source separation and recycling at the household level in developing countries, negative practices such as illegal dumping and backyard burning remain ubiquitous, particularly in rapidly urbanizing cities. Source separation and recycling behaviors have been rarely studied in such cities. Moreover, studies on illegal dumping and backyard burning using robust tools and frameworks are practically non-existent. This study aims to (a) estimate the prevalence of “negative” and “positive” behaviors for different HSWM practices, and (b) identify their observable and non-observable influencing factors. The focus is Santa Cruz, a rapidly urbanizing city of Bolivia. Household surveys (n=305) are used to establish the connections between latent constructs (e.g. awareness, satisfaction), and observable variables (e.g. location, socio-demographic characteristics) with each behavior. This is achieved through the combination of exploratory factor analysis to validate the constructs to be included in the analysis, and structural equation modeling to identify the most influential factors. Two causal models are developed, one for the positive behaviors (i.e. source separation, recyclables donation, recyclables selling, and use of drop-off facilities), and the other for the negative behaviors (i.e. illegal dumping and backyard burning). Results indicate that, satisfaction with the MSWM service has a negative and significant influence on the prevalence of illegal dumping and backyard burning behaviors, while the remoteness of the household (i.e. distance to the city center) has a positive significant effect on the prevalence of these behaviors. Source separation and recyclable donation are influenced positively by latent constructs such as attitudes, knowledge, and awareness. For recyclables selling and use of drop-off stations, income and location are the most relevant factors, although with smaller effects.

Cycling for a Sustainable Touristic Mobility: A Preliminary Study in an Urban Area of Italy

This study wants to give a contribution for the investigation of sustainable mobility with positive consequences on public health implementing policies starting from cyclists’ perceptions. Data were collected by interviewing cyclists along three bike lanes of an urban area of southern Italy through a face-to-face survey. The survey was conducted in Autumn 2019, interviewing a sample of 129 cyclists. In order to identify the critical aspects of the bike paths, both an importance-performance analysis (IPA) and a gap-IPA were performed. The average values of the cyclists’ perceptions of each aspect have been considered as performance values. The importance values have been obtained by performing a principal component analysis (PCA), which was helpful also for better defining the service quality phenomenon. From the PCA, six latent constructs can be identified as: “Physical Nuisance”; “Non-physical Nuisance”; “Physical Comfort”; “Non-physical Comfort”; “Protection”; and “Ambience”. The results of Gap-IPA confirmed that the criticalities of the bike paths relate to the degree of protection in relation to accidents, and to the degree of nuisance caused by pollution and opposing pedestrians along the path. Based on the conducted analyses, sustainable tourism implementing policies should be oriented in solving the emerged criticalities of the existing bike paths. The results of Gap-IPA are very intuitive and can certainly be helpful for identifying the most convenient strategies.

Validating Three Common Self-Report Measures of Social Functioning: Implications for Autism Research

Social functioning difficulties are a core diagnostic feature of autism spectrum condition (ASC) and are commonly assessed in ASC research. Many measures have been created to assess the various dimensions of social functioning; thus, it is important to evaluate how each scale captures these latent constructs in order to integrate results from studies using different measures. The current brief report assessed the convergent validity (at the subscale level) of three commonly used social functioning scales in ASC research: The Autism Quotient, the Multidimensional Social Competence Scale, and the Social Responsiveness Scale. Amongst a sample of nonclinical adults, the scales showed robust convergent validity between theoretically related subscales, indicating sensitivity to variation in social functioning abilities across diagnostic labels.

Structural equation model of physical activity in Turkish schoolchildren: an application of the integrated behavioural model

ObjectivesChildhood obesity is increasingly prevalent in the developing world including Turkey. This study examined constructs of the integrated behavioural model associated with physical activity in a sample of schoolchildren in Ankara, Turkey using structural equation modelling.DesignCross-sectional survey by probability sampling.SettingFifteen schools of different socioeconomic strata in Ankara, Turkey with grade 4 students.Participants2066 (969 girls and 1097 boys) grade 4 schoolchildren and their parents selected using a probability-based sampling frame.Primary outcome measuresThree primary outcomes were used: moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, team sport participation, sedentary behaviour.ResultsData were collected from 2066 fourth-grade children from schools of three socioeconomic strata. Missing data were imputed using multiple imputation. To examine the integrated behavioural model, a structural equation model containing latent constructs for physical activity outcome expectancies, self-efficacy, home environment and social norms were fitted with the three outcomes above. Adequate model fit was achieved in the structural equation model (χ2=1821.97, df=872, p<0.001, Comparative Fit Index=0.91, Tucker Lewis Index=0.91, root mean square error of approximation=0.02, standardised root mean square residual=0.04). All scale items were significantly associated with their respective latent constructs (all p<0.001). Several significant pathways between latent constructs and outcomes of interest were observed (p<0.05). Self-efficacy was positively associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (p<0.001) and team sport participation (p<0.001) and negatively associated with sedentary behaviour (p<0.001). Negative outcome expectancies were negatively associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (p<0.01) and sedentary behaviour (p<0.01) while positive outcome expectancies were positively associated with team sport behaviour (p<0.001) and negatively associated with sedentary behaviour (p<0.05). Home support was positively associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (p<0.01) and team sport participation (p<0.05). Finally, physical activity social norms were negatively associated with sedentary behaviour only (p<0.05).ConclusionsThis study supported the extension to Turkish children of the integrated behavioural model in relation to physical activity behaviours. Results illustrate multiple targets for interventions to increase physical activity.

A study of boundedly rational behaviour in housing choice: evidence from Malaysia

Purpose Housing choice is always a complicated decision with its dual functions as a roof over the head and as an investment good. This paper aims to investigate the boundedly rational behaviours that affect the housing choice three bounded behaviours play roles in explaining the decision-making behaviour of homebuyers when they acquire/sell a property. These behaviours are endowment effect, loss aversion and herding, which have implications on the decision-making process. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on cross-sectional questionnaires and collected from 587 respondents. Factor analysis and reliability tests were used to identify the latent construct of bounded rational housing choice behaviour. In the meantime, the study used one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to examine whether there are any differences in the housing choice based on the respondents’ demographic backgrounds. Findings The findings indicated that a total of 11 items were reduced to three factors that accounted for the decision-making in housing choice. There are significant differences in herding behaviour amongst respondents with different level of education and their purpose of looking for a house. Research limitations/implications This paper helps to identify latent constructs that shed light on the housing choice, especially on the bounded rational behaviour. Originality/value This is one of the few studies to explore boundedly rational behaviours in housing choice from the angle of homebuyers. Previous studies addressed housing choice in terms of price, demand and supply in general but not on individual homebuyers. The results will be useful to developers, policymakers, homebuyers as well as scholars in understanding the decision-making process in housing choice.

Is psychosis a syndemic manifestation of historical and contemporary adversity? Findings from UK Biobank

Background Psychosis is associated with many forms of adversity, deprivation and living in urban areas. Aims To investigate whether psychosis is part of a syndemic of multiple adversities. Method Drawing on UK Biobank (UKBB) data (Project ID: 57601), we sought to understand mechanisms by which childhood, recent/contemporary and place-based adversities might cluster and interact to be implicated in pathways by which psychoses evolve. We investigated the associations between adversities, potential mediating inflammatory markers and ICD-10 diagnoses (F20–F31) of psychotic disorders. We fitted logistic regression models initially including all relevant candidate variables and used backwards deletion to retain theoretically plausible and statistically significant (P < 0.05) associations with psychotic disorders. The candidate variables were entered in a partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) to test for syndemic interactions between risk factors. We tested whether the findings were sensitive to demographics, gender and ethnicity. Results We fitted a PLS-SEM including psychosis as a syndemic outcome, and identified three latent constructs: lifetime adversity, current adversity and biomarkers. Factor loadings were above 0.30, and all structural paths were significant (P < 0.05). There were moderate associations between lifetime adversity and current adversity (standardised coefficient s.c. = 0.178) and between current adversity and biomarkers (s.c. = 0.227). All three latent constructs showed small but significant associations with psychosis (s.c. < 0.04). Lifetime adversity and current adversity were more strongly associated among ethnic minorities (combined) than White British people. Conclusions Our findings stress the importance of interactions between childhood and contemporary adversities in preventive and therapeutic interventions for psychotic disorders, especially among ethnic minorities.

Consumer attitudes towards the mountain product label: Implications for mountain development

To protect and promote the originality and authenticity of mountain foodstuffs, the European Union set Regulation No 1151/2012 to create the optional quality term “mountain product”. Our research aimed at exploring the attractiveness of the mountain product label for consumers, considering both attitude towards the label itself and purchase intentions. We propose a model to investigate relationships between four latent constructs — mountain attractiveness, mountain food attractiveness, attitude towards the mountain product label, and purchase intention — which have been tested, thus confirming the statistical relevance of the relationships. All 47 items selected for describing the latent constructs are suitable for this purpose. Ridge and LASSO results also show that 17 items of the first three constructs are relevant in explaining purchase intentions. Some contextual variables, such as age, income, geographical origin of consumers, and knowledge of mountain products and mountains for tourism purposes, can positively influence consumers’ behavior. These findings could support the design of mountain development strategies, in particular marketing actions for both the product and the territory.

HIT-6 and EQ-5D-5L in patients with migraine: assessment of common latent constructs and development of a mapping algorithm

Objective The aims of this study were to assess whether there is a conceptual overlap between the questionnaires HIT-6 and EQ-5D and to develop a mapping algorithm allowing the conversion of HIT-6 to EQ-5D utility scores for Germany. Methods This study used data from an ongoing randomised controlled trial for patients suffering from migraine. We assessed the conceptual overlap between the two instruments with correlation matrices and exploratory factor analysis. Linear regression, tobit, mixture, and two-part models were used for mapping, accounting for repeated measurements, tenfold cross-validation was conducted to validate the models. Results We included 1010 observations from 410 patients. The EQ-5D showed a substantial ceiling effect (47.3% had the highest score) but no floor effect, while the HIT-6 showed a very small ceiling effect (0.5%). The correlation between the instruments’ total scores was moderate (− 0.30), and low to moderate among each domain (0.021–0.227). The exploratory factor analysis showed insufficient conceptual overlap between the instruments, as they load on different factors. Thus, there is reason to believe that the instruments’ domains do not capture the same latent constructs. To facilitate future mapping, we provide coefficients and a variance–covariance matrix for the preferred model, a two-part model with the total HIT-6 score as the explanatory variable. Conclusion This study showed that the German EQ-5D and the HIT-6 lack the conceptual overlap needed for appropriate mapping. Thus, the estimated mapping algorithms should only be used as a last resort for estimating utilities to be employed in economic evaluations.