Shaping farmers' beliefs, risk perception and adaptation response through Construct Level Theory in the southwest Iran.

Due to the severe effects of climate change on the agricultural sector, urgent action is required on the part of farmers and is, indeed, critical to reducing climate change impacts. However, reports globally revealed farmers' engagement in climate change adaptation is still insufficient, ambivalent, and inconsistent and farmers do not consider adaptation to be urgent. Researchers have argued that this issue is rooted in psychological biases beside other factors. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate how psychological distance determines climate change beliefs, risk perception and adaptation strategies among Iranian farmers. A cross-sectional paper-based survey was conducted in the Dasht-e Azadegan county of Khuzestan province in southwest Iran. The study sample consisted of 250 farmers selected through a multi-stage random sampling process. An expert panel review and a pilot study were conducted to confirm convergent validity and reliability of the scales. The results confirm that all four dimensions of psychological distance influence water management adaptation strategies and non-farm activities. Moreover, all psychological dimensions, except the temporal dimension, affect adaptation in farming management. Thus, making climate change more proximal to decision makers could be a strategic way of encouraging individuals to take adaptive actions. This study emphasizes that concepts of psychological distance can be applied to help organizations (e.g., agriculture extension services) to understand farmers' risk perceptions and responses to climate change impacts and improve risk communication to better engage farmers in climate action.

Personal and Professional Mitigation Behavioral Intentions of Agricultural Experts to Address Climate Change.

Mitigation activities, whether at the personal level relating to lifestyle or on the professional level, especially in the agriculture sector, are widely encouraged by scientists and policymakers. This research empirically analyses the association between agricultural experts' perceptions about climate change and their intention to implement climate change mitigation. Based on survey data, individuals' reported intention to implement personal and professional mitigation behavior is explained using a conceptual model. The structural equation modeling results suggest that the new ecological paradigm (NEP), institutional trust, and risk salience indirectly influence climate change mitigation intentions. The findings indicate that risk perception, personal efficacy, responsibility, belief in climate change occurring, and low psychological distance trigger a significantly greater intention to support personal and professional mitigation behaviors. However, the research framework is much stronger at predicting the intention to mitigate climate change in professional affairs compared to personal activities. The findings suggest that hypothetical distance factors only have a moderating effect on the relationship between higher climate change environmental values, institutional trust, risk salience, and mitigation intention. This paper analytically explores the regulating role of risk perception, hypothetical distance, personal efficacy, and responsibility between institutional trust, risk salience, and the NEP as independent concepts and intention to personal and professional mitigation behaviors as dependent variables. The findings of the study have important implications for encouraging personal and professional mitigation behaviors.

Employing the TAM in predicting the use of online learning during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Online learning systems have become an applied solution for delivering educational content, especially in developing countries, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study is designed to identify the factors influencing the behavioral intention of agricultural students at universities in Iran to use online learning systems in the future. This research uses an extended model in which the constructs of Internet self-efficacy, Internet anxiety, and output quality are integrated into the technology acceptance model (TAM). Data analysis was performed using the SmartPLS technique. The analyses showed the proposed model to be strong in terms of predicting the attitude to online learning and the intention to use it. The extended TAM model fit the data well and predicted 74% of the intention variance. Our findings show attitude and perceived usefulness to have directly affected intention. Output quality and Internet self-efficacy indirectly affected attitude and intention. Research findings can help with the design of educational policies and programs to facilitate education and improve student academic performance.

Exploring the motivational roots of farmers' adaptation to climate change­induced water stress through incentives or norms.

The aim of the current study is to consider farmers' perceptions regarding the impacts of climate change on water resources and their intention toward adaptation in southwestern Iran. To this end, this study applied the theory of reasoned action and the norm activation model as well as these two models in combination. A descriptive quantitative research study was designed and conducted using cross-sectional survey methods among 250 farmers in Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran, selected through multistage sampling methods. Research data were collected through a structured questionnaire whose validity was confirmed by a panel of experts; scale reliability of the questionnaire was approved through a pilot study. Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that the norm activation model, the theory of reasoned action, and a model integrating the two can predict 32, 42, and 47%, respectively, of changes in farmers' intention toward performing climate-change adaptation activities. In the combined model, personal norm, subjective norm, and attitude were able to influence the farmers' intention to perform adaptive behaviors. Attitude towards adaptation is the most powerful predictor in explaining intention to adaptation. Subjective norm is the most important predictors of moral norms which is the logical confirmation behind the combination of the two models. In addition, the combined model has better predicting powerful that each model separately. The research findings hold valuable implications for policymakers seeking to increase the intention of farmers to implement adaptation activities against a background of harsh climate change and water scarcity in this region of Iran.

Promoting the adoption of residential water conservation behaviors as a preventive policy to sustainable urban water management.

As concerning with water insecurity driven by water scarcity threatens the lives and livelihoods of humanity worldwide, urban water demand management is focused on promoting residential water conservation behaviors (WCBs) as a critical policy response to water scarcity. However, urban water conservation initiatives cannot be successful unless households involve in residential WCBs voluntarily by adopting water curtailment and/or water-efficiency actions. Thus, understanding motivations and mechanisms underlying accepting these two types of WCBs and interpreting their distinctions are primary policy considerations to make sustainable water consumption behaviors. Hence, the purpose of this research was twofold: (1) To explore intentions to household adoption of water curtailment and water-efficiency actions, key corresponding determinants, and distinctions between them; and (2) To evaluate the capability and robustness of the Health Belief Model (HBM) to explain residential WCBs. The present research design was a cross-sectional survey conducted in Tehran, Iran. The outcomes from structural equation modeling indicated that: (1) Water curtailment intention was solely determined by self-efficacy and perceived benefits; (2) In addition to self-efficacy and perceived benefits, perceived severity, cues to action, and perceived barriers were significantly related to water-efficiency intention; (3) While only perceived susceptibility was not a significant determinant for water-efficiency intention, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived barriers, and cues to action could not significantly explain water curtailment intention; (4) Self-efficacy also emerged as the strongest predictive variable behind intentions to adopt both WCBs; (5) The perceived barriers had a negative significant relationship only with water-efficiency intention; and (6) The HBM could explain 72% and 61% of the variance in households' intentions to adopt water curtailment and water-efficiency actions, respectively. These outcomes supported that the HBM could propose a reliable and practical heuristic theoretical framework to predict residential WCBs. Moreover, the findings confirmed significant differences among socio-psychological factors behind intentions to household adoption of both WCBs, which need to be addressed. The research results introduced numerous implications from theoretical and policy standpoints for improving residential WCBs.

Investigating the Adoption of Precautionary Behaviors Among Young Rural Adults in South Iran During COVID-19.

COVID-19 is an unprecedented challenge for public health worldwide. Reducing the incidence of the disease requires protective measures to prevent virus transmission. Understanding those factors influencing preventive behavior is the first step in preventing the spread of the disease. This study investigates factors affecting youth intention and preventive behaviors in the face of COVID-19 through the health belief model by using a cross-sectional survey collected through an online questionnaire. The sample comprises 304 rural youth in South Iran who were selected through a random sampling technique. The results reveal that perceived severity, perceived benefits, public health beliefs, perceived self-efficacy, and the cue to act positively and significantly affect preventive behaviors. The model explains 59% of variance changes in rural youth preventive behaviors during COVID-19. Cue to action is the strongest and self-efficacy was the weakest determinant of youth's preventive behavior. This study confirms that the HBM framework has appropriate predictive power and is an effective tool for investigating preventive behaviors during COVID-19. These results provide important policy implications for the development of policies that aim to avoid the further spread of COVID-19 between young citizens.

Factors affecting smallholder farmers' technical and non-technical adaptation responses to drought in Iran.

Farmers adopt a range of technical and non-technical adaptation behaviors (TANAB) to alleviate the negative effects of drought. Understanding this adaptation behavior and its determinants is essential for improving adaptation capacity and promoting sustainable agriculture. In this study, we investigated the factors affecting TANAB using the Health Belief Model (HBM) as a theoretical framework. A survey was conducted of 320 farmers in Dashtestan County, Bushehr Province, southern Iran, on the shores of Persian Gulf. We used multi-stage stratified random sampling to select the research samples and applied structural equation modeling to analyze the determinants of TANAB. The findings revealed that the self-efficacy variable is the most important predictor of TANAB. As well as self-efficacy, other determinants of technical adaptation behaviors (TAB) are perceived barriers, severity, and susceptibility. Self-efficacy and cue to action were found to determine non-technical adaptive behaviors (NAB). This study indicates the differences between the determinants of TAB and NAB and emphasizes the key role of self-efficacy. The results of this study have implications for policymakers in the agricultural sector and can help in the development of interventionist policies to improve rural development in response to environmental crises. Governments and policymakers need to reinforce capacity-building potential for agricultural extension systems and adaptation training through information and communication technologies. This investment in education is critical for sustainable agricultural development and encourages farmers to adopt appropriate drought strategies aiming reducing farmers' vulnerability.

The Impact of Livelihood Assets on the Food Security of Farmers in Southern Iran during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The impact of COVID-19 on farmers' livelihoods and food security is a key concern in rural communities. This study investigates the impacts of the livelihood assets on the food security of rural households during the COVID-19 pandemic and determines those factors related to food security. The population of this study includes rural households in Dashtestan county, Bushehr province, in southern Iran. Based on the Krejcie and Morgan sampling table, 293 households were selected using the convenience sampling method. To measure food security, the American standard index and ordinal regression are used to analyze the factors. The results of the food security situation show highly precarious and food insecure situations among the studied rural households. The regression analysis shows that the most important assets affecting the food security of rural households under COVID-19 are financial, psychological, physical, and human assets, respectively. The results can help rural development planners and policymakers to improve both livelihoods and food security in rural communities, not just during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also in its aftermath.

Cognitive theory of stress and farmers' responses to the COVID 19 shock; a model to assess coping behaviors with stress among farmers in southern Iran.

Better understanding the capacity of farmers to react to the COVID-19 pandemic shock requires analyzing their coping mechanisms. This study investigates the relationship between coping style and coping behaviors with COVID-19, identifying the psychological factors affecting them based on the cognitive theory of stress. Perceived government support is added to the original model as a predictor for coping style and behavior. Cross sectional survey data was collected among farmers living in Dashtestan county of Bushehr province in southern Iran (N = 377). To determine the strength of the model, structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed. We find that demand appraisal and perceived collective efficacy have a positive, direct, and significant effect on coping style and an indirect effect on behaviors. Coping style and perceived government support are significantly related to behavior. The research model predicts 63% and 31% of variance changes in coping style and behavior, respectively. The results of this study provide empirical evidence on how people cope with the COVID-19 shock as well as useful information for designing and implementing health and social programs and policies in the agricultural communities.

Some at Risk for COVID-19 Are Reluctant to Take Precautions, but Others Are Not: A Case From Rural in Southern Iran.

Little is known about the evaluative and cognitive foundations for adopting preventive measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Recognizing the existence of a gap in the knowledge describing the intention and behavior of participating in health measures, this study investigated the drivers that contribute to the intention to take health protective measures among 305 rural youth from the Dashtestan Region, Bushehr Province, and southern Iran, reached through an online survey. Protection motivation theory (PMT) served as the theoretical framework for the study. It was able to forecast variation in intentions and behaviors with accuracies of 39 and 64%, respectively. Furthermore, the variables of response efficiency, perceived severity, and self-efficacy had a positive and significant effect on protective intentions. Additionally, perceived severity, self-efficacy, and intention produced a positive and significant impression on behaviors, with most of the behavioral variance being accounted for by intention, as was hypothesized. In conclusion, it is suggested that health development including training measures that take account of both the concrete issues of health resources and technologies and of more abstract ones, such as mindset readiness, are important for engagement in positive health care behaviors. Accordingly, training-based interventions for rural youth should be contemplated, with the object of changing their intentions.