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To test a social-psychological model of public acceptance of highway infrastructure projects in the Chinese architecture/engineering/construction industry.

Through a comprehensive literature review, we established a social-psychological model of public acceptance related to benefit perception, risk perception and public trust. We empirically validated our model by using structural equation model analysis based on a questionnaire survey in the S35 Yongjin Highway Infrastructure Project in Yunnan Province, China.

Benefit, trust and risk perception had a significant influence on local residents' public acceptance of highway infrastructure projects; benefit perception and trust perception had a greater influence than risk perception. Public acceptance among local male residents over the age of 35 or those with higher education levels was more likely to be determined by the relative dominance of risk and benefit perceived.

This study contributes empirical evidence to the theoretical literature related to locally unwanted land use (LULU) siting and stakeholders in the field of project management from the public perspective. This study also suggests valuable practical implications to authorities, project managers and the public in decision-making and risk communication.

Although previous studies addressed factors affecting public acceptance towards potentially hazardous facilities, understanding of the implications of these social-psychological factors and their effects are still far from sufficient. This study bridges this gap by exploring the determinants of public acceptance towards highway infrastructure projects based on a selected case in China.

Public perception of health benefits derived from organic foods is often misaligned with scientific evidence. This study aims to examine the factors affecting public perception of scientific information about organic foods.

The authors conducted multinominal and multiple linear regression analyses to examine associations between public perception of scientific information about organic foods and 19 factors using data from a descriptive survey (N = 763).

Perceived benefits of organic foods, trust in scientists, communicator credibility, preexisting beliefs and events related to science (e.g. COVID-19) were significant predictors of public perception of scientific information about organic foods.

Cognitive dissonance and recreancy theoretical frameworks help describe relationships between beliefs, science, trust and risk. These theories intersect when purchasing credence goods (i.e. organic foods) whose qualities cannot be observed during or after purchase. Hence, public trust of scientific information about perceived health benefits of organic foods may conflict with strongly held beliefs that contradict scientific findings.

Scientists can more effectively share research findings after trust is established through the listening, asking and sharing values process. Therefore, by following the path of listening, asking and sharing the endogenous/exogenous factors in this study, scientists and the public can have meaningful conversations about perceived health benefits and nutritional values of organically and conventionally grown foods.

Current research on perception factors about organic foods often examined consumers' perceptions and purchase intentions but rarely considered perceptions of scientific information about organic foods. This study examined relationships between public perception of scientific information about organic foods and endogenous/exogenous factors.

Measuring the performance of public participation is conducive to improving participation systems. However, such measurement, particularly in urban regeneration projects, is difficult because of the complex indicators and multiple stakeholders involved. The purpose of this paper is to measure the public participation level in urban regeneration projects in China.

This study adopts a perception difference-based method to measure the public participation level in urban regeneration projects in China. Specifically, an indicator system consisting of 12 indicators from three categories was first purposed. A perception difference-based method that integrates ANOVA test and Tukey test were then developed. The method was validated using five represented projects, and the results are interpreted based on a proposed measurement matrix.

Regardless of the type of indicator, the perception of the government aligns with the perception of private sector professions, however, deviates from the perception of citizens. By taking the mean score and the significance level among stakeholders of perception as two dimensions, different patterns of issues in the current participation practice in urban regeneration are manifested.

Theoretically, the proposed indicator system and perception difference-based method combined to provide a holistic view of public participation, which is verified to provide a better measurement. Practically, the authors’ methodology helps in revealing issues in current participation practice and further leading to designing coping strategies. Nonetheless, the proposed method requires further validation in participation practices in China and other countries.

By considering the perception mean and the significance level as two dimensions, a public participation measurement matrix is proposed. The performance in different indicators are classified into four stages accordingly, namely idling, starting, running-in and accelerating.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, mass media play a vital role in containing the outbreak of the virus by quickly and effectively delivering risk communication messages to the public. This research examines the effects of risk communication exposure on public understanding and risk perception of COVID-19 and public compliance with health preventive measures.

Data from Vietnam during COVID-19 social distancing and path analysis model are used for empirical analysis.

This analysis finds that exposure to risk communication in mass media encourages public compliance directly and indirectly through the mediating roles of public understanding and risk perception. Further investigations also find that exposure to risk communication in both online media and traditional media facilitates public compliance. In addition, exposure to risk communication in online media only raises public risk perception, whereas exposure to risk communication in traditional media only raises public understanding.

This research implies that traditional and online media should be combined to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of government risk communication work.

This research is among the first attempts that examine the role of mass media (both traditional and online) in enhancing public compliance with preventive measures directly and indirectly through the mediating roles of public risk perception and understanding.

Public relations practitioners and journalists in South Korea (n=300) were surveyed regarding their perceptions of the influence of 11 types of informal relations (ranging from press tours to perks and bribes) on the news. Using coorientational analysis, the perceptions of each group regarding the ethics of informal relations were also investigated. The two groups reported significantly different perceptions of the influence of informal relations on the news, as well as the ethics of informal relations. Practitioners perceive greater influence of informal relations on news coverage as well as on news content, and perceive informal relations as more ethical or acceptable in practice than do journalists. Regarding informal relations, journalists’ perceived gap between their own ethical values and their predictions of practitioners’ ethical values is bigger than the converse. Finally, practitioners’ misunderstanding of journalists’ ethical values is greater than journalists’ misunderstanding of practitioners’ ethical values. This study indicates that even in a culture where press clubs and interpersonal media relations are the norm and could be expected to breed familiarity, attitudinal differences between practitioners and journalists are striking.

The purpose of this paper is to address the perceptions senior public leaders in local government have regarding the need for business intelligence and their perceptions of the extent to which their organizations are capable of effectively assimilating business intelligence.

The data are from a survey on local governments’ need for and capability to use business intelligence, with a response rate of 50.5 percent, and semi-structured interviews. The survey method originates from private sector research but is adapted to local government conditions in Sweden.

The leaders’ perceptions about the need for business intelligence were fragmented. Their perceptions regarding its use were even more fragmented, both between different municipalities and within municipalities.

The survey is adapted to local government conditions in Sweden and may need further changes to fit other settings. The adaptation and renewal of questions can lead to summation errors in relation to the original survey.

The paper highlights some of the strategic areas where senior public leaders need to advance their business intelligence and prioritize specific organizational capabilities. The dominant logic, enhancing an inward-looking approach, seems to prevent a more thoroughgoing business analysis.

The adaptation of a method that is mainly used in the private sector can give new perspectives to senior public leaders regarding the need for and use of business intelligence and can help them identify the factors that can affect the complexity and volatility in local government settings.

The purpose of this paper is to explore institutional realities and public perceptions of police use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Canada in relation to each other, drawing attention to areas of public misunderstanding and concern.

Public perceptions data are drawn from a national survey (n=3,045) of UAV use. Institutional realities data are drawn from content analyses of all Special Flight Operation Certificates issued by Transport Canada from 2007 to 2012 and flight logs of a regional service kept from 2011 to 2013. Officer interviews (n=2) also provide qualitative insights on institutional realities from this same regional service.

The data reveal disparities between institutional realities and public perceptions. Although federal, provincial and regional services currently use UAVs, awareness of police use of UAVs relative to traditionally piloted aircraft was low. Further, support for police use of UAVs was significantly lower than traditionally piloted craft; but, support also varied considerably across UAV applications, with the greatest opposition tied to tasks for which police do not report using UAVs and the greatest support tied to tasks for which police report using UAVs.

This research provides previously unknown descriptive data on the institutional realities of police use of UAVs in Canada, positioning that knowledge in relation to public perceptions of police use of the technology. The findings raise concerns over how UAVs may negatively shape police/civilian relations based on procedural justice literature which demonstrates that a lack of public support for the technology may affect the police more broadly.

This paper aims to use three theoretical perspectives to understand variation in public opinion regarding the frequency with which police use race/ethnicity unfairly in making stops: procedural and instrumental justice, local government responsiveness, and intra‐racial differences.

The paper looks at data from a telephone survey of 1,431 Oregon residents: 741 from a stratified state‐wide random sample by county; 164 African‐Americans and 161 Hispanics over samples.

Perceived negative treatment during recent involuntary police contacts is related to a perception that police are more biased. Instrumental judgments regarding local government responsiveness to constituent needs and personal safety showed a negative relationship to perceptions of police bias. African‐American respondents exhibited the strongest police bias opinions; however, intra‐racial analyses showed that perceptions of government responsiveness weaken bias perceptions across race/ethnicity.

Research needs to explore how the public's relationship to their local government influences perceptions of police. The conclusions of the study are limited by the cross‐sectional design.

The study illustrates that proper police‐citizen communication tactics, stop and investigatory procedures, and ethical decision making should continue to be reinforced along with better promotion of local government and police success in meeting constituent needs through the media.

The paper examines the influence of both procedural and instrumental justice perceptions, and voluntary and involuntary police contacts. The sample contains sufficient numbers of African‐Americans and Hispanics and diverse communities (urban, suburban, and rural) to gain a representative view.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the similarities and differences in police officers’ attitudes toward citizens between China and Ghana, and explore the extent to which officers’ perceptions of citizens influence their effectiveness and behavior.

In total, 271 Chinese police officers were surveyed representing those attending in-service training program at a national police university in China in 2014, and a random sample of 145 Ghanaian police officers was surveyed in 2013, representing those from five police districts in the Accra region of Ghana Police service.

Results revealed significant perceptual variations across the two countries. While Ghanaian officers were found to have more favorable perceptions of citizens’ cooperation and recognition, Chinese officers reported greater levels of citizens’ compliance and disrespectfulness. Moreover, results indicated significant relationships between officers’ attitudes and their sense of effectiveness and behavior in the two countries.

This study is based on a convenient sample of Chinese police officers, which restricts the generalizability of the results.

Findings offer insights for police administrators to reform the police with a focus on improving police perceptions of citizens.

Although there are a few comparative studies that compare police attitudes toward citizens between developing and developed countries, and between western democracies, there is a profound lack of studies comparing these attitudes between developing/transitional countries. This study is an initial attempt to identify variations in officers’ perceptions of the public between two developing/transitional countries.

The study of citizens' perceptions of the performance of public services and their relationship with the taxes allocated to them is of great interest in the context of public and fiscal management and the welfare state. This study has a twofold objective in defining a structural equation modeling (SEM) model: on the one hand, to measure the relationship between the perception of the performance of public services and the taxes allocated to them and on the other hand, to study the reflection of the perception of the performance of public services on the happiness and satisfaction of citizens.

To achieve this objective, a descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out based on data from the “Public opinion and fiscal policy, 2022” questionnaire of the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS) through a survey with a sample of 2,543 citizens representative of the Spanish population. The partial least squares (PLS) method was applied to test the following hypotheses.

The result of this research allows us to know which variables in relation to citizens' perception of the functioning of public services have a positive influence on use of taxes and on citizens' happiness and satisfaction.

One of the novelties of this study is to analyse the effect of consumer perception on the performance of public services from the perspective of the welfare state by improving citizens' happiness and satisfaction.