How do fatalistic beliefs affect the attitudes and pedestrian behaviours of road users in different countries? A cross-cultural study.

This paper reports on an exploratory investigation of the influence of five different fatalistic belief constructs (divine control, luck, helplessness, internality, and general fatalism) on three classes of self-reported pedestrian behaviours (memory and attention errors, rule violations, and aggressive behaviours) and on respondents' general attitudes to road safety, and how relationships between constructs differ across countries. A survey of over 3400 respondents across Bangladesh, China, Kenya, Thailand, the UK, and Vietnam revealed a similar pattern for most of the relationships assessed, in most countries; those who reported higher fatalistic beliefs or more external attributions of causality also reported performing riskier pedestrian behaviours and holding more dangerous attitudes to road safety. The strengths of relationships between constructs did, however, differ by country, behaviour type, and aspect of fatalism. One particularly notable country difference was that in Bangladesh and, to a lesser extent, in Kenya, a stronger belief in divine influence over one's life was associated with safer attitudes and behaviours, whereas where significant relationships existed in the other countries the opposite was true. In some cases, the effect of fatalistic beliefs on self-reported behaviours was mediated through attitudes, in other cases the effect was direct. Results are discussed in terms of the need to consider the effect of locus of control and attributions of causality on attitudes and behaviours, and the need to understand the differences between countries therein.

Vulnerable road users in low-, middle-, and high-income countries: Validation of a Pedestrian Behaviour Questionnaire.

The primary aim of this study was to validate the short version of a Pedestrian Behaviour Questionnaire across six culturally and economically distinct countries; Bangladesh, China, Kenya, Thailand, the UK, and Vietnam. The questionnaire comprised 20 items that asked respondents to rate the extent to which they perform certain types of pedestrian behaviours, with each behaviour belonging to one of five categories identified in previous literature; violations, errors, lapses, aggressive behaviours, and positive behaviours. The sample consisted of 3423 respondents across the six countries. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the fit of the data to the five-factor structure, and a four-factor structure in which violations and errors were combined into one factor (seen elsewhere in the literature). For some items, factor loadings were unacceptably low, internal reliability was low for two of the sub-scales, and model fit indices were generally unacceptable for both models. As such, only the violations, lapses, and aggressions sub-scales were retained (those with acceptable reliability and factor loadings), and the three-factor model tested. Although results suggest that the violations sub-scale may need additional attention, the three-factor solution showed the best fit to the data. The resulting 12-item scale is discussed with regards to country differences, and with respect to its utility as a research tool in cross-cultural studies of road user behaviour.

A New Beam Model for Simulation of the Mechanical Behaviour of Variable Thickness Functionally Graded Material Beams Based on Modified First Order Shear Deformation Theory.

There are many beam models to simulate the variable thickness functionally graded material (FGM) beam, each model has advantages and disadvantages in computer aided engineering of the mechanical behavior of this beam. In this work, a new model of beam is presented to study the mechanical static bending, free vibration, and buckling behavior of the variable thickness functionally graded material beams. The formulations are based on modified first order shear deformation theory and interpolating polynomials. This new beam model is free of shear-locking for both thick and thin beams, is easy to apply in computation, and has efficiency in simulating the variable thickness beams. The effects of some parameters, such as the power-law material index, degree of non-uniformity index, and the length-to-height ratio, on the mechanical behavior of the variable thickness FGM beam are considered.