Changing Attitudes and Behaviors

#Attitudinal change
#Behavior change
#Risk behavior
#Sustainable behavior
#Quantitative methods
#Survey designs
#e-inclusion

The “Changing Attitudes and Behaviors” (CABS) research team is dedicated to advancing the understanding of health, risk and pro-environmental behaviors through a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach. By integrating perspectives from psychology, sociology, criminology, and other relevant fields, we aim to unravel the complex determinants that shape attitudes and behaviors. Our research establish a clear link between research and service to community, given our involvement in the creation of policy and awareness-raising initiatives.

Research lines

The CABS team has four research lines:

1. Research on the determinants of online health and risk behaviors (e.g., sexting, cyber dating abuse, porn consumption, …) and offline health and problem behaviors (e.g., drugs taking, mental health problems, sexual behaviors, regulation and parenting problems, …). While non-academics find it obvious that online and offline risk behaviors are associated which each other, this association has longtime been neglected by academic scholars, because of a lack of interdisciplinary interest. Our research group became an international key player in research that combines online and offline characteristics.
2. Research on digital inclusion. The pace of digital evolution is accelerating rapidly, even for younger generations who are often considered digital natives. We are committed to understanding and addressing the challenges this rapid digital changes present. Our research on digital inclusion explores how different people adapt to new technologies, with a focus on ensuring that everyone, regardless of age or background, can fully participate in our increasingly digital world.
3. Research on the contextual drivers and barriers of pro-environmental behavior. While great strides have been made to develop technological innovations that support sustainability, very often the choice for sustainable behavior is the responsibility of people themselves. Research shows that although people are concerned about the environment, they however do not act upon their concerns, leading to an attitude-behavior gap. We, therefore, aim to understand what drives sustainable habits to design interventions impacting this behavior.
4. Research on developing and testing the psychometric properties of questionnaires. Our expertise on scale development, data collection among hard-to-reach people, and structural equation modeling has been consulted numerous times by academic colleagues and professionals, and led to the construction and publication of >20 new scales, like the Persian Version of the Cancer Attitude Inventory (Khazaee-Pool et al., 2019), Digital Difficulties Scale (Anrijs et al., 2020), Parental Mediation Strategies with Regard to Internet Use scale (Symons et al., 2017), Claiming Costs Scale (Janssens et al., 2021), ...

We are committed to the rigorous application of both quantitative and qualitative methods, ensuring that our research is methodologically sound and capable of capturing the multifaceted nature of human behavior. Therefore, we rely on cross-sectional, longitudinal and multi-actor designs, the inclusion of self-reports, observations, and vignettes, and the use of a multitude of different statistical techniques to address the questions at stake.

Our work is grounded in strong theoretical foundations, and we continuously strive to refine our methods to best address the questions at hand. Hypotheses are derived from existing models within (sustainable) behavioral research, assuming that people make both reasoned and spontaneous choices. We apply a user centric approach, with users at the heart of the process.

What sets our group apart is our holistic approach. We do not merely seek to understand behavior; we aim to change it for the better. By starting from theory, identifying the most appropriate methods, and applying our extensive methodological expertise, we work towards developing actionable solutions that can have a tangible impact on individuals and communities.

Our ultimate goal is to contribute to a safer, healthier society by providing evidence-based insights and interventions that address the root causes of risk behaviors. Through our research, we aspire to influence policy, guide public health strategies, and promote positive behavioral change.

Contact

CABS is part of the research group imec-mict at the Department of Communication Sciences, University of Ghent.

For more information, contact koen.ponnet@ugent.be