Hohjin Im

Aviation accounts for a disproportionate share of tourism-related carbon emissions. Many travelers express environmental concern but continue to fly, reflecting the well-documented attitude–behavior gap. This study examines the concept of flight behavioral integrity (i.e., the alignment between professed avoidance of air travel for environmental reasons and actual flying behavior) to assess whether integrity profiles predict support for climate policy. Drawing on nationally representative survey data from Germany (N = 2410), respondents were classified into four groups based on flight avoidance attitudes and reported flight activity in the past 12 months. An elastic-net multinomial regression tested psychological predictors of group membership, and factorial ANCOVAs assessed differences in environmental and climate policy support. Results showed that flight avoidance attitudes, rather than recent flying behavior, were the primary predictors of both integrity profiles and policy support. Flight-avoidant respondents consistently reported stronger policy endorsement, regardless of whether they had flown. Contrary to expectations, recent fliers expressed marginally higher support than non-fliers, potentially reflecting compensatory mechanisms or sociodemographic factors. Findings suggest that there are opportunities for tourism operators and policymakers to engage travelers through value-based (vs. purely behavioral) sustainability initiatives.

The current study investigated which causal beliefs for socioeconomic status (SES) attainment map onto endorsement of noblesse oblige ;(i.e. the belief that powerful others are obligated to give back). Noblesse oblige endorsement was positively associated with opportunity belief (i.e. opportunity drives SES attainment) but not merit belief (i.e. merit drives SES attainment) or chance belief (i.e. chance drives SES attainment) (Study 1; n = 562). Studies 2 (n = 679) and 3 (n = 327) likewise showed that characters who attained their SES through opportunity were perceived as more noblesse obliged than merited characters. These findings suggest that beliefs about status attainment shape perceptions of obligation, informing how public figures and institutions manage social expectations.

Although objective states of inequality often stifle civic engagement, subjective perceptions of inequality can stimulate it. Across two studies using a nationally representative US sample (Study 1, n = 1053) and a US university student sample (Study 2, n = 604), we found that the perception of inequality was positively associated with civic engagement. We further explored the mediating pathways linking this association. We found that perceived inequality is positively associated with the belief that socioeconomic status (SES) is attained through opportunity (e.g., social connections). In turn, opportunity belief was negatively associated with acceptance of inequality which was likewise negatively correlated with civic engagement. Our findings suggest opportunity belief may be a key mechanism activated by perceived inequality that links it to civic engagement. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

We recruited a large cross‐sectional sample of undergraduate students in China (n = 1134) early in the COVID‐19 pandemic to investigate how family cohesion may be related to the maintenance of social trust. Family cohesion was positively associated with social trust, and this effect was partially mediated by psychological stress responses to COVID‐19 (PSRC), that is, family cohesion was negatively associated with greater PSRC which was also negatively associated with social trust. Having a “stress‐as‐enhancing” mindset had an additive negative effect on the association between family cohesion and PSRC but only had a weak dampening effect on the negative association between PSRC and trust. Interventions focusing on cultivating positive family relationships and embracing a stress‐as‐enhancing mindset may offer avenues for maximizing protective factors in times of public health crises.

Understanding predictors of consumerism, particularly those reflective of how individuals believe society functions, is an emerging, yet understudied, area of research. Recent findings have shown a link between perceived social mobility and materialism. However, it remains unclear how the perceived causes of socioeconomic status (SES) attainment predict consumerism. The current study ( N = 171) showed that believing SES was attained through individual merit was positively associated with consumer acquisitiveness while believing SES was attained through opportunity was positively associated with consumer dissatisfaction. These findings suggest that different causal beliefs about SES attainment have unique implications for consumer perceptions and values.

Purpose: This study aims to examine how the initial ambiguity of COVID-19 contributed to tourists' intentions for visiting a once-viral outbreak site in the future.Design/methodology/approach: The present study (N = 248) used partial least-squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine whether perceptions of ambiguity and mismanagement of COVID-19 are indirectly related to intentions to travel to Wuhan in a post-pandemic world through perceptions of risk and tourism value. Further, whether the model effects differed as a function of individual safety orientation was examined.Findings: Perceptions of COVID-19 risk and tourism value serially mediated the effects of perceived COVID-19 ambiguity on post-pandemic travel intentions. Safety orientation did not moderate any paths. Perceived risk was a negative direct correlate of post-pandemic travel intentions.Originality/value: The current study's strength is rooted in its specific targeting of post-pandemic travel intentions to Wuhan—the first city to experience a widescale outbreak of COVID-19 and subsequent international stigma—compared to general travel inclinations.

Consumerism during the COVID-19 pandemic has been characterized by impulsive buying. Using the theoretical lens of uncertainty avoidance and ego-depletion to identify the mediating mechanisms and moderating factors for online impulse buying, we surveyed young consumers across two relevant periods for high consumerism—the week preceding the 2021 Chinese Spring Festival (Study 1; February 4–9, 2021, n = 1495) and the weeks during and after the festival (Study 2; February 12 to March 2, 2021, n = 923). Perception of COVID-19 variant uncertainty was both directly and indirectly (via online shopping trust) positively associated with online impulse buying. COVID-19 burnout was consistently indirectly associated with online impulse buying via self-regulation and self-appraised impulsivity but inconsistently directly associated. Self-regulation was surprisingly positively associated with online impulse buying, possibly reflecting evidence of already depleted resources from prolonged regulatory exertion among high self-regulators. Self-appraised impulsivity negatively interacted with perception of COVID-19 variant uncertainty, suggesting that as trait impulsivity increases, individuals are less incentivized by peripheral drivers of online impulse buying.

Employee referral is a critical component of talent acquisition. Yet, its underlying correlates remain understudied. Using three years of annual surveys of US public employees ( n₂₀₁₉ = 1,133, n₂₀₂₀ = 1,190, n₂₀₂₁ = 1,330), the results showed that perceptions of workplace inclusion culture and leadership performance orientation were positively associated with employee engagement, which, in turn, was associated with job satisfaction. Engagement and job satisfaction were positively associated with employer recommendation, sequentially linking the conceptual indirect effects of inclusion culture and performance orientation on willingness to recommend one’s workplace. Utilizing even short employee surveys may yield notable insights for administration to model employee referral and recommendation intentions.