Predicting the Protective Behavioral Intentions for Parents with Young Children Living in Taipei City and New Taipei City Using the Theory of Planned Behavior for Air Polluted with PM2.5

Siu-Kei Woo; Chih-Jui Pai; Yi-Te Chiang; Wei-Ta Fang

doi:10.3390/ijerph20032518

Predicting the Protective Behavioral Intentions for Parents with Young Children Living in Taipei City and New Taipei City Using the Theory of Planned Behavior for Air Polluted with PM2.5

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 31;20(3):2518. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032518.

Authors

Siu-Kei Woo¹, Chih-Jui Pai¹, Yi-Te Chiang¹, Wei-Ta Fang¹

Affiliation

¹ Graduate Institute of Environmental Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 116, Taiwan.

Abstract

While studies on the damaging effects of PM2.5 air pollution are abundant, studies seeking to understand the factors that influence human behaviors for the avoidance of exposure to PM2.5 are lacking. Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) can be used to investigate the effects of Attitudes (AT), Subjective Norms (SN), and Perceived Behavioral Controls (PBC) in the Behavioral Intentions (BI) of parents with young children against exposure to PM2.5. Questionnaires, based on the TPB used to predict BI, were distributed to 610 parents in Taipei City and New Taipei City. Our results revealed that the AT of both groups had a significant positive predictive effect on their PBC and BI. While the SN of the Taipei group affected BI directly, there was no significant effect on the BI from the SN of the New Taipei group. Using path analysis, Taipei City and New Taipei City groups had different BI paths: All five hypotheses are statistically significant and form four paths in the Taipei City group. While only four hypotheses in the New Taipei City group formed three paths and no path for SN-BI. Both groups formed behaviors that were based on the SN/PBC around them, which ultimately contributed to the BI of their protective behaviors.

Keywords: PM2.5; behavioral intentions; environmental behavior; path analysis; theory of planned behavior.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Attitude
Child
Child, Preschool
Health Behavior*
Humans
Intention*
Particulate Matter
Psychological Theory
Surveys and Questionnaires
Theory of Planned Behavior

Substances

Particulate Matter

Grants and funding

This research was supported by grants from the National Science and Technology Council (105-2511-S-003-021-MY3 and 109-2511-H-003-031 to W.-T. Fang). This article was also subsidized by the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), Taiwan.