Search Results (3,063)

This research paper examines the spatial and time variation of demographic dependency in Europe in a 30-year horizon of the evolution of the demographic dividend regarding the economic dependency ratio (ADR1). We used the Curve Fit Forecast tool to estimate the trends of ADR1 in each of the EU Member States using data on Eurostat projections and a sophisticated geostatistical analysis tool developed in ArcGIS Pro 3.2.2. The findings indicate that the dependency in all countries has increased significantly in a statistically significant manner as the Gompertz function has appeared as the best curve in a third of the cases. It is an S-shaped asymptotic behaviour of this function that effectively describes the nonlinear patterns of acceleration and saturation of demographic ageing. As indicated in the analysis, the European regions are increasingly moving apart, with the southern and eastern nations such as Romania demonstrating the most alarming decline in ADR1. These trends highlight the need to reform labour market policies and social protection mechanisms to an ageing population. The paper combines the curve-fitting, descriptive statistics (median, skewness, interquartile range (IQR)) with time clustering (value, correlation, and Fourier) to provide an effective, replicable approach to early warning and policy prioritisation. Overall, the results highlight the importance of integrating predictive spatial modelling and demographic economics to support anticipatory and evidence-based policy decisions. The proposed approach proves to be a robust and transferable framework, applicable to a wide range of socio-economic phenomena characterised by inertia and structural change. Future research should extend the analysis to subnational levels, incorporate additional explanatory variables, and develop scenario-based simulations, including multivariate Gompertz-type models, to further enhance both predictive accuracy and policy relevance in the context of emerging structural labour scarcity. Full article

Household rainwater tanks (HRWTs) have re-emerged globally as a decentralised strategy to address water scarcity, climate variability, and increasing urban water demand. In several jurisdictions, including New South Wales, Australia, rainwater tanks have been chosen to meet the mandatory potable water reduction target in new residential developments for nearly two decades; however, growing evidence indicates persistent underutilisation and variable performance in practice. Despite their recognised benefits in reducing potable water demand, mitigating stormwater runoff, and enhancing urban resilience, the global HRWT research landscape remains fragmented across disciplinary and thematic boundaries. This paper presents a multifaceted review, defined here as an approach that synthesises multiple perspectives on the topic. It integrates systematic mapping of peer-reviewed literature with a critical thematic analysis across four dominant research domains: technological and design innovation, policy and governance frameworks, environmental performance, and social–behavioural dimensions. The findings reveal a strong research focus on technical optimisation, while policy effectiveness, environmental trade-offs, and household-level behavioural factors receive comparatively uneven attention. Regulatory and incentive-based instruments are shown to produce inconsistent outcomes, shaped by local institutional capacity to design, implement, enforce, and sustain programs, as well as by climatic context and household acceptance. Environmental assessments identify both benefits and burdens, including energy use, treatment requirements, and operational complexity. Social and behavioural studies indicate growing acceptance of household rainwater tank (HRWT) systems. However, financial constraints, local conditions, and ongoing maintenance demands continue to influence adoption and performance. A key insight from this review is the limited attention given to households’ lived experiences, particularly how users adopt, adapt, operate, and maintain HRWT systems over time. This gap constrains progress across technical, policy, environmental, and social dimensions and risks cycles of early policy uptake followed by stagnation. The review highlights the need to integrate household perspectives into future research, policy design, and industry practice to improve system performance, user experience, and the long-term contribution of HRWTs to sustainable urban water management. Full article

Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) increasingly rely on player-developed third-party tools to extend functionality and personalise gameplay, creating a complex software ecosystem that introduces both usability benefits and security risks. This study investigates whether such tools can be exploited as an attack vector for cybercrime by designing and implementing a proof-of-concept add-on within a widely deployed commercial MMORPG using its native scripting and application programming interface. The developed tool supports automated player discovery, chat capture, target inspection, and local data persistence, enabling a systematic evaluation of how cyber-assisted and cyber-dependent crimes could be facilitated within the game client. Empirical testing demonstrates that while the platform’s protected execution model and interface restrictions prevent direct credential theft and remote code execution, the add-on architecture allows extensive behavioural data collection and social-engineering-relevant monitoring, making several forms of cyber-enabled crime technically feasible. These findings show that MMORPG add-on frameworks represent a non-trivial socio-technical attack vector in next-generation online platforms, where security depends not only on code isolation, but also on how user-generated extensions interact with human behaviour. The results highlight the need for architecture-aware security controls and governance mechanisms to mitigate emerging threats in large-scale, extensible virtual environments. Full article

This study aims to analyse the influence of sustainability knowledge on sustainable lifestyles with attitudes toward sustainability as a mediating variable, within the framework of Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR). The study respondents were 311 tourism managers in Yogyakarta with various destinations who were selected using non-probability sampling techniques due to limited population access and the specific needs of subjects relevant to sustainability issues. The data analysis uses Structural Equation Modelling–Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) with Smart PLS. The results of the study show that sustainability knowledge directly affects sustainable lifestyles; in addition, attitudes towards sustainability partially mediate the influence of sustainability knowledge on sustainable lifestyles. Sustainability knowledge is seen as an external stimulus that influences positive attitudes towards sustainability, which then drives a response in the form of adopting a sustainable lifestyle. Although knowledge is often assumed to directly influence behaviour, theoretical and empirical findings suggest that attitudes play an important role as mediators that bridge knowledge with real behaviour. Other results show that sustainable awareness does not directly affect a sustainable lifestyle. Attitude toward sustainability plays a mediating role in the influence of sustainable awareness on sustainable lifestyles. Individuals or tourism managers who have a deep awareness of environmental, social, and economic issues tend to internalise sustainability values, form positive attitudes, and ultimately adopt sustainable lifestyles. This research is expected to make a theoretical contribution by strengthening the application of the SOR framework in sustainable tourism, as well as a practical contribution through educational programme recommendations that emphasise the importance of forming positive attitudes in behaviour transformation. Full article

Mathematics achievement in South African schools continues to be limited by identifiable barriers to instructional improvement, including inadequate technological infrastructure, excessive teacher workloads, and inconsistent institutional support for professional learning. Although data-driven instruction is widely promoted, little is known about how psychological constructs such as instrumental attitudes, perceived control, social norms, and self-efficacy influence teachers’ use of data. This study, therefore, explored mathematics teachers’ perspectives on data use, guided by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). TPB was selected because, unlike purely cognitive or socio-cultural models, it integrates individual psychological factors, attitudes, perceived control, and self-efficacy with social and contextual influences on behaviour, making it particularly well suited to examining data use within complex, resource-constrained school environments. A qualitative design was employed, involving focus-group discussions with senior-phase mathematics teachers. Data were thematically analysed using NVivo 14, with iterative coding aligned with TPB constructs. Findings revealed that while teachers valued data for diagnosing learning gaps, they perceived data tasks as administratively demanding. Collegial collaboration fostered authentic engagement, whereas hierarchical accountability and limited technological capacity reduced motivation and autonomy. The interaction among attitudes, social norms, and perceived control showed that both belief systems and institutional conditions shape teachers’ behavioural intentions. The study concludes that professional development should strengthen teachers’ data literacy, encourage collaborative learning cultures, and improve infrastructural support to promote effective data-driven mathematics instruction in resource-constrained contexts. Full article

Street soundscapes significantly shape communities’ environmental perceptions, behaviour and urban sustainability. Previous research has mainly focused on physical and acoustic aspects, while limited attention has been given to emotional and behavioural dimensions. This study explores how expert participants perceive street soundscapes through personal, physical, behavioural, and emotional dimensions, using international online focus groups with soundscape experts, urban planners, and policymakers (n = 12). Analysis followed a deductive thematic approach establishing four main a priori themes, with additional inductive coding used to refine these themes. The findings reveal that perception is shaped by contextual, cultural, temporal, multisensory, and environmental affordance factors. Notably, silence was found to carry a dilemma—perceived as either safe or unsafe depending on pedestrian density—and religious and cultural soundmarks were identified as evoking place attachment and belonging, areas largely overlooked in existing literature. These soundscapes were associated with emotional responses, including comfort, safety, restoration, and belonging, and with pedestrian behaviour encompassing mobility choices, coping strategies, and social interactions. Furthermore, seven out of ten Healthy Streets metrics were directly referenced by participants, highlighting the close relationship between acoustic environments and healthy streets design. Future studies should examine cultural, temporal, and spatial street characteristics and their effects on human behaviour and emotional responses. Full article

Higher education institutions (HEIs) play a central role in fostering sustainability competencies to address environmental challenges. Within Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 frameworks, universities must cultivate not only knowledge but also attitudes and behaviours promoting environmental responsibility. This study examines environmental attitudes as sustainability learning outcomes among undergraduate students, analysing differences by gender, age, and discipline in six Andalusian universities. Sustainable Education is defined as an approach integrating environmental, social, and economic sustainability dimensions into teaching to develop active competencies for sustainable development. A cross-sectional survey (n = 1471) used the validated CASEM questionnaire (see previous validation studies) to assess environmental knowledge, environmental education knowledge, and pro-environmental behaviour. The results show significant differences: women outperformed men across all dimensions, students aged over 25 exhibited stronger profiles, and Education Sciences students outperformed Engineering students. A persistent knowledge–behaviour gap emerged, especially in technical fields. These findings reveal curricular inequalities in sustainability integration. Mandatory, discipline-specific ESD—particularly in engineering—may help bridge these gaps and enhance uniform learning outcomes. By employing a multidimensional instrument and stratified sample, this study offers robust evidence of structural disparities, informing policy for equitable Higher Education for Sustainability. Full article

The scope of actual pro-environmental initiatives, programs, interventions, and campaigns is limited. Therefore, spillover effects from these activities to other domains of economy, the private sphere, and society are crucial to achieve a transformation of society towards sustainability. Starting from the known literature and using Google Scholar as a platform for searching additional studies, this explorative, traditional narrative review analyses behavioural spillover effects, where either one behaviour influences the likelihood of another behaviour, or an intervention shows an impact on an environmentally significant behaviour, which it did not primarily address. In the scientific literature, spillover is classified by direction (environmentally positive versus negative), involved behaviours (similar or cross-behavioural), timing (short or long term), context (e.g., work to private life), and social scope (personal, interpersonal, intra- and inter-organisational, intergroup, or international). Positive spillover can result from cognitive dissonance reduction, consistent self-perception, pro-environmental values, norms, self-identity, action-based learning, and habit formation. Negative spillover emerges through rebound effects, moral licensing, and psychological reactance. Stronger spillover is observed between similar behaviours, while cross-domain spillover is generally weaker. According to previous research, a facilitated participatory approach with strong pro-environmental orientation appears recommendable for practitioners to foster the value change required for effective and sustained positive spillover. Full article

Diet quality, nutrition knowledge, and psychosomatic literacy—defined as the understanding of the interactions between diet, gut microbiota, and mental well-being—may shape weight-related behaviours in youth. This study used a cross-sectional design to integrate these domains with digital information pathways in Central–Eastern Europe. This study assessed diet quality, nutrition, and psychosomatic knowledge, supplement use, and health-information sources among Polish adolescents and young adults, with emphasis on age-related differences and the role of social media. A cross-sectional, anonymous online survey (October 2025–January 2026) was conducted in Poland (final analytical sample: n = 478; adolescents 15–19 years vs. young adults 20–30 years). Of 591 individuals who accessed the survey, 478 were included in the final analytical sample. Diet quality was estimated from FFQ data using KomPAN-derived indices (pHDI-10, nHDI-14, DQI). Nutrition knowledge (0–25 points), psychosomatic/gut–brain indicators, supplementation, and information sources were analysed using χ²/Fisher tests and Mann–Whitney U tests with effect sizes. The primary outcomes measured were dietary supplement use and excess body weight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m²). Multivariable logistic regression examined predictors of supplement use and BMI ≥ 25 kg/m². Overall diet quality was low to moderate, with limited intake of whole grains, legumes, and fish, and common nutrition misconceptions. Social media was the most frequently indicated source of diet/supplement information and was independently associated with more frequent supplement use (OR = 2.29; 95% CI: 1.43–3.64). Adolescents reported lower whole-grain intake and more misconceptions than young adults. Predictors of BMI ≥ 25 kg/m² included male sex (OR = 2.46; 95% CI: 1.46–4.15), lower education, and lower nutrition knowledge, while age showed a non-linear positive association with excess body weight. Polish adolescents and young adults show gaps between declared pro-health attitudes and actual diet quality/competencies. Social media reliance appears particularly linked to product-oriented behaviours (supplementation). Prevention should strengthen nutrition and food safety education, digital health literacy, and professional guidance on supplementation, especially in adolescents. Our findings suggest that social media is a primary driver for dietary supplementation among Polish youth, more so than objective nutrition knowledge. While diet quality is linked to weight status, the relationship is complex. These results may inform future public health interventions targeting digital health literacy to promote balanced nutrition and safe supplementation practices. Full article

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore how healthcare professionals in the Republic of Ecuador perceive violence against women, its underlying social determinants, and their role in prevention and response within the healthcare setting. Methodology: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted using purposive sampling. Ten healthcare professionals with experience in managing cases of violence against women participated. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using Braun and Clarke’s reflective thematic analysis. The ATLAS.ti software was used throughout the analysis process. Results: The participants emphasised the normalisation of microaggressions, institutional shortcomings in prevention systems, and the need for gender-sensitive professional training. Three main themes emerged from the data analysis: (1) the characteristics and identification of violence against women, (2) the social dimensions of violence against women, and (3) combating violence against women in clinical and educational settings. Conclusions: The healthcare professionals highlighted the need to recognise normalised and less visible forms of violence reflected in everyday attitudes and behaviours. They emphasised the importance of early identification, multidisciplinary care and sex education as preventive strategies. The social context and deep-rooted power dynamics favour the perpetuation of violence against women. Healthcare professionals can play an important role in the prevention of violence against women by improving care for survivors, identifying areas for improvement within existing prevention systems, and promoting sex education. Full article

Chaotic itinerancy—irregular switching among metastable collective states—provides a dynamical substrate for flexible social coordination, yet its mechanistic origin in multi-agent systems remains unclear. We present a multi-agent Active Inference model in which chaotic itinerancy emerges from Expected Free Energy minimisation without outcome-level social priors. Agents select actions to minimise Expected Free Energy while updating preferences through a precision-gated learning mechanism modulated by interpersonal trust. Hill-function nonlinearity in state transitions creates bistable “affordance landscapes” that gate behavioural mode switching. Simulations with small number of agents on an Erdos–Rényi trust network reveal spontaneous alternation among multiple metastable behavioural clusters, heavy-tailed dwell-time distributions, and sign-changing finite-time Lyapunov exponents—three hallmarks of chaotic itinerancy. Crucially, replacing Hill-function dynamics with linear transitions reduces the chaotic-itinerancy detection rate from 80% to 20%, demonstrating that nonlinear affordance structure is necessary for generating metastable switching. We further show that agents with simplified internal models of the world sustain richer itinerant dynamics as a group than “perfect-foresight” agents, suggesting that bounded rationality may be functionally advantageous for maintaining behavioural flexibility. These results establish active inference as a principled framework for modelling chaotic itinerancy in social systems and offer a computational account of trust-mediated collective transitions observed in theatre workshops and group dynamics. Full article

This study examines workplace bullying within the middle-management tier of a large Gauteng-based retail organisation in South Africa, with a focus on structural organisational pressures and perceptual differences among managers. While traditional research often emphasises individual personality traits or victim demographics, this study explores how organisational conditions—particularly the “middle management squeeze” and performance-driven Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)—are reflected in workplace behaviours. Grounded in a positivist paradigm, a quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted among a probability-based sample of 253 retail managers. Data were collected using the Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ-22) and analysed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and nonparametric inferential tests. The findings indicate that task-related negative acts, such as micromanagement (M = 2.00) and persistent monitoring (M = 1.87), are frequently experienced. EFA identified two dimensions—General Harassment and Managerial Control—accounting for 62% of the total variance. Inferential results show that perceptions of General Harassment differ significantly across educational groups (p = 0.0268), whereas perceptions of Managerial Control remain consistent (p = 0.3378). These findings indicate that social forms of incivility are interpreted differently across educational cohorts, while task-related managerial practices are widely normalised. The study highlights the importance of understanding workplace bullying as both a structural and perceptual phenomenon and underscores the need for organisational interventions that address systemic pressures rather than relying solely on individual-level approaches. Full article

Background: Lay counsellor-delivered psychosocial interventions are increasingly used to address workforce shortages in mental health care. While randomised trials commonly report mean improvements, explicit assessment of clinical deterioration is rare. This secondary analysis evaluated whether a lay counsellor intervention for early psychosis was associated with evidence of deterioration compared with usual care. Methods: Patient-level data from a randomised controlled trial in Thailand (n = 255) were analysed. Deterioration was defined as worsening between baseline and the 6-month follow-up across functional, behavioural, and service utilisation domains. Risk differences were estimated using Newcombe confidence intervals, and risk ratios were calculated using standard methods with the Haldane–Anscombe correction applied, where required. Analyses were conducted for the full sample (UC n = 125; LICM n = 130) and stratified by baseline severity (none/borderline: UC n = 103, LICM n = 103; mild-to-severe: UC n = 22, LICM n = 27). Results: In the full sample, deterioration rates were similar across most domains. A statistically significant reduction in deterioration related to disturbing or aggressive behaviour was observed in the LICM arm (risk difference −14.1%; 95% CI −26.8% to −0.6%; risk ratio 0.45; 95% CI 0.26 to 0.79). No statistically significant excess deterioration was observed in other domains. In severity-stratified analyses, no subgroup showed a statistically significant increase in deterioration attributable to the intervention. However, among participants with mild-to-severe baseline illness, although no statistically significant harm signal was detected, the adverse risk differences and risk ratios observed in socially useful activities, self-care, regular outpatient follow-up visits, and medication adherence among participants with greater baseline severity underscore the importance of careful monitoring in higher-risk subgroups. Conclusions: No statistically significant evidence of excess deterioration was observed in either the full sample or subgroup analyses between the intervention and control arms. However, the adverse absolute difference observed in multiple patient-related domains, among participants with mild-to-severe baseline illness, suggests that lay-counsellor interventions may require a stepped-care approach to safely address the mental health needs of patients with higher levels of severity. Psychosocial trials should routinely report deterioration and subgroup analyses alongside mean improvements. Full article

This study investigates the determinants of borrower repayment intentions in Marketplace Lending (MPL) platforms, focusing on the interplay between behavioural factors and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) awareness in the Hungarian context. A Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) approach was employed to analyze survey responses from 477 participants familiar with MPL platforms. The study integrates constructs from behavioural finance (Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Borrowing, Theory of Planned Behaviour) and ESG-related factors (Socially Responsible Investment Theory, Reciprocity Theory) to assess their influence on repayment intentions. Perceived Usefulness (PU) emerged as the strongest predictor of Repayment Intention (RI) (β = 0.554, p < 0.001), highlighting the importance of platform functionality. Socially Responsible Investment Theory (SRIT) also had a significant positive impact (β = 0.194, p < 0.01), suggesting that ethical lending practices enhance borrower accountability through reciprocity mechanisms. Conversely, Continuance Intention to Borrow (CIB) and Credit Risk Theory (CRT) showed no significant effects. This study contributes to the literature by bridging behavioural finance, credit risk theory, and ESG principles in FinTech lending, offering a novel framework for sustainable lending practices. Full article

Background/Objectives: The presented study aimed to understand the relationship between knowledge, attitudes, and practices, as well as consumers’ preferences for the consumption of Spirulina-enriched fruit and vegetable juices. Methods: A survey about the consumers’ attitudes towards consumption of algae in general and especially Spirulina was conducted to better understand the target groups and marketing strategies for this novel non-alcoholic beverage product. Knowledge–Attitude–Practice (KAP) model in combination with structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied to test the hypothesised relationships between the variables. Additionally, consumers’ preference test was done using a seven-point hedonic scale and ranking of the six juice samples: plain sour cherry juice (SC1), sour cherry juice with 0.8% (SC2) and 1.6% (SC3) of blue Spirulina powder; plain tomato juice (T1), tomato juice with 0.8% (T2) and 1.6% (T3) of blue Spirulina powder. Results: The SEM results showed that there is a limited direct impact of knowledge on social motivation, while personal behaviour strongly predicts social motivation. Namely, perceived nutritional value and health benefits were shown to be the main factors for consumers’ willingness to drink Spirulina-enriched juice. Conclusions: The result of the consumer preference evaluation exposed that the juices containing sour cherry and Spirulina achieved better sensory acceptance and ranking than those containing tomato, pointing out the importance of the product matrix for achieving consumer acceptance. Full article