To meet EU climate goals, reducing fossil fuel use is crucial, and transitioning domestic energy consumption to sustainable sources like heat pumps offers a potential solution. However, uptake in Flanders remains low. This study explores predictors of heat pump adoption intention among Flemish homeowners using a mixed-methods approach. A quantitative survey based on an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour model (Study 1, n = 692, M_age = 55.03, SD_age = 15.54, male/female = 335/357) is complemented by semi-structured interviews with homeowners who do not own a heat pump (Study 2, n = 16, M_age = 41, SD_age = 35, male/female = 8/8). Study 1 indicates that perceived behavioural control and subjective norms positively influence heat pump adoption intention, with perceived behavioural control enhanced by product knowledge and technological innovativeness. Surprisingly, a positive attitude towards heat pumps is associated with a lower adoption intention. Study 2 reveals cost concerns, uncertainties about energy cost savings and property value increases as barriers to adoption intention, alongside a temporal disconnect between attitude and intention due to practical constraints. Our findings offer suggestions for communication strategies of policy makers such as addressing financial and practical barriers, mitigating practical constraints and enhancing public knowledge. Lastly, our survey results suggest the presence of yet unidentified moderating variables affecting the attitude-intention relationship, which could be determined in future research.

Research on bystander intervention (BI) during public harassment, that is, intrusive and intimidating (sexual) behaviors in public spaces, remains scarce, creating knowledge gaps regarding its frequency, influencing factors, and impact. This study addresses these gaps by examining BI experiences among an age-diverse sample (16–82 years) living in 10 Belgian municipalities, based on 541 reports collected through an online platform in 2023. Moreover, this study examines BI from two perspectives: receiving help during a specific incident and offering help oneself. BI occurred in only 28% of public harassment incidents with witnesses present, and around half of respondents had ever intervened. Given that prior research on violent conflicts reports much higher intervention rates, this low intervention rate suggests that harassment is perceived as less dangerous and supports the need to raise awareness about its harms. Intervention was more likely when bystanders knew the victim, underlining the potential of fostering a stronger sense of community to encourage intervention. Finally, this study found that victims were significantly more likely to report perceived support when bystanders intervened, highlighting the value of promoting BI.

Since heating-related energy consumption is one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions and accounts for a large part of domestic energy use in Europe, reducing heating-related energy consumption has great potential to reduce Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions. This study examines which factors determine people's intention to decrease heating-related energy usage, specifically lowering the temperature in winter. It was part of a larger European project focused on promoting energy reduction. This study presents a smaller-scale model tested among 363 individuals from five pilot countries, i.e., Belgium (n = 58), Croatia (n = 82), Germany (n = 105), Greece (n = 33), and Portugal (n = 85). We applied three robust theoretical frameworks: the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the Value Belief Norm Theory, and the Prototype Willingness Model. We conducted a confirmatory factor analysis to ensure construct validity, followed by a structural equation model. Our findings suggest that willingness (from the Prototype Willingness Model) is the most important predictor in explaining someone’s intention to reduce heating-related energy consumption. Additionally, perceived behavioural control, subjective norms, and attitudes (part of Theory of Planned Behaviour) also play an important role in predicting the intention to reduce energy consumption. Lastly, personal moral norms (from the Value Belief Norm Theory) have a significant impact, but their effect is moderate compared to the other predictors.

Reducing heating-related energy consumption is vital in Europe, where it accounts for a significant portion of domestic energy usage. We studied the factors that influence reduced heating-related consumption by using three theoretical frameworks: the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the Value Belief Norm theory, and the Prototype Willingness Model. Our sample consisted of 3098 people from 29 European countries. We conducted a confirmatory factor analysis to verify whether our observed variables measure our latent factors, followed by a structural equation model that incorporated these three behavioural models. We find that perceived behavioural control, subjective norms and attitudes (as part of the Theory of Planned Behaviour) are significant predictors of intent to reduce consumption. However, perceived behavioural control was not statistically significantly associated with behaviour. Environmental concern had a more significant influence on attitudes towards energy reduction than bill consciousness. Attitude was additionally significantly associated with fear of losing comfort and energy knowledge. Moreover, personal moral norms (as part of Value Belief Norm Theory) and willingness (as part of the Prototype Willingness Model) contributed to explaining the intent to reduce consumption, while willingness was also associated with behaviour.

Partner phubbing (Pphubbing) concerns the act of ignoring a romantic partner during a conversation by paying attention to the mobile phone. In previous research, Pphubbing has been associated with several negative relationship outcomes, such as relationship dissatisfaction. In this study, we propose that another consequence of Pphubbing may be that the partner who is being phubbed (i.e., phubbee) engages in electronic partner surveillance (EPS) behaviors to check on their partner's online activities. We propose that this relationship is mediated by perceived partner responsiveness and anxiety. Data were collected via online survey among an adult sample in Belgium (n = 346; Mage = 40.5 years; 75.7% women). Analyses revealed that a relationship exists between Pphubbing and EPS, and that it can (partially) be explained through the chained mediation pathway of partner responsiveness and anxiety. Specifically, Pphubbing decreases perceived partner responsiveness, which in turn increases anxiety in the phubbee. Consequently, the phubbee may resort to partner surveillance to cope with these feelings and to decrease uncertainty. Our findings imply that research and practice related to digital intrusion within romantic relationships should consider (the interplay between) intra- and interpersonal factors in trying to explain the occurrence and impact of these harmful digital behaviors.

An exponential amount of academic research has been dedicated to the safety culture concept, but still, no consensus has been reached on its definition and content. In general, safety culture research lacks an interdisciplinary approach. Furthermore, although the concept of safety culture is characterised by complexity and multifacetedness, the safety culture concept has been characterised by reductionism, where models and theories simplify the concept in order to better grasp it, leading to confined approaches. In this article, the multifacetedness of safety culture is acknowledged, and the topic is addressed from a safety science perspective, combining insights from multiple academic disciplines. An integrative and comprehensive conceptual framework to assess safety culture in organisations is developed, taking into account the limitations of existing models, as well as the needs of the work field. This conceptual framework is called the ‘Integrated Safety Culture Assessment’ (ISCA), where the ‘assessment’ refers to its practical usability. The practical rendition of ISCA can be used to map the safety culture of an organisation and to formulate recommendations in this regard, with the ultimate goal of bringing about a change towards a positive safety culture. The comprehensiveness of ISCA lies in the inclusion of technological factors, organisational or contextual factors and human factors interacting and interrelating with each other, and in considering both observable or objective safety-related aspects in an organisation, and non-observable or subjective safety-related aspects. When using ISCA, organisational safety culture is assessed in an integrative way by using a variety of research methods involving the entire organisation, and by taking into account the specific context of the organisation.

Safety climate and safety culture are important research domains in risk and safety science, and various industry and service sectors show significant interest in, and commitment to, applying its concepts, theories, and methods to enhance organizational safety performance. Despite the large body of literature on these topics, there are disagreements about the scope and focus of these concepts, and there is a lack of systematic understanding of their development patterns and the knowledge domains on which these are built. This article presents a comparative analysis of the literature focusing on safety climate and safety culture, using various scientometric analysis approaches and tools. General development patterns are identified, including the publication trends, in terms of temporal and geographical activity, the science domains in which safety culture and safety climate research occurs, and the scientific domains and articles that have primarily influenced their respective development. It is found that the safety culture and safety climate domains show strong similarities, e.g., in dominant application domains and frequently occurring terms. However, safety culture research attracts comparatively more attention from other scientific domains, and the research domains rely on partially different knowledge bases. In particular, while measurement plays a role in both domains, the results suggest that safety climate research focuses comparatively more on the development and validation of questionnaires and surveys in particular organizational contexts, whereas safety culture research appears to relate these measurements to wider organizational features and management mechanisms. Finally, various directions for future research are identified based on the obtained results

The current study explores the role of individual and environmental determinants on students’ fear of crime. Based on a large-scale survey among students of a Belgian university (n = 1,463), the relationship between perceived social and physical disorder and the three dimensions of fear of crime (perceived risk of victimization, feelings of anxiety, avoidance behaviour) is examined. Support was found for a relationship between perceived social and physical disorder and perceived risk of victimization. Moreover, a relationship was found between students’ perception of social disorder and anxiety and students’ perception of physical disorder and avoidance behaviour. Based on the results, this study suggests that preventing or reducing visible signs of disorder on campus should inevitably be included in the university’s security policy. This research offers universities more insight in the determinants of students’ fear of crime and potential measures to increase their (perception of) safety.

As policy makers are developing new alternative strategies to prevent bicycle theft, a nudging approach could provide useful insights in this field. In the current study, two different nudges were implemented at a selection of bicycle parking facilities in the neighborhood of a Belgian university campus. To measure the effectiveness of the nudges, a multi-method approach was used with a combination of observations (n = 3963) and questionnaires (n = 197). The results showed that both nudges had a positive impact on cyclists’ locking behavior. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that nudging can be a rather cheap and easy way to improve secure behavior. However, concerns such as the limitations of increased awareness on behavior and the excessive focus on the victim need to be taken into account when implementing nudges in the field of security.

Today, the need to deal with workplace security threats has become an important matter for many organisations. While companies have invested in technological and organization measures, the human processes behind these techniques are often ignored. However, employees’ awareness of security procedures and policy of the organisation may strengthen or weaken the implemented security measures. This article assessed in an empirical way employees’ security awareness and has a twofold aim. First, a study was conducted to examine the associations between three dimensions of employees’ security awareness. By the use of a survey (n = 1,443; mean age = 42.5; 60.4% female, 30.4% male), the relationship between employees’ knowledge about security procedures and policy, the attitudes towards security and the self-reported security behaviour is measured. Second, a case study was carried out to examine the impact of training sessions on employee's level of security awareness. By organizing an awareness training, its effect on employees’ knowledge, attitude and behaviour was measured (n = 74; mean age = 51.7; 70.3% female, 29.7% male). While the first study found a significant relationship between employees’ knowledge and attitude and their self-reported behaviour, the second study showed that the training session had a positive effect on employees’ level of security awareness. Based on the findings from both studies, recommendations for practice and future research are presented.

There has been an increase in research into the security culture in organizations in recent years. This growing interest has been accompanied by the development of tools to measure the level of security culture in order to identify potential threats and formulate solutions. This article provides a systematic overview of the existing tools. A total of 16 are identified, of which six are studied in detail. This exploration reveals that there is no validated and widely accepted tool that can be used in different sectors and organizations. The majority of the tools reviewed use only a quantitative method; however, security culture includes very different domains and therefore a mixed-method approach should be used. In contrast to security culture, instruments for measuring safety culture are widely available, and with many similarities between these two domains it is possible that well-established tools for measuring safety culture could be adapted to a security environment.

Only since the beginning of this century, the prevention of radicalization has become an important topic in debates about terrorism and sustainable development in developing countries. Research has shown that radicalized individuals are not uneducated, but have often completed secondary or tertiary education. Additionally, it became clear that some extremist groups consider the school environment as an attractive recruitment place. These findings led to a new approach where the education sector is considered as a prominent partner in preventing and combating the radicalization of young individuals. In this article, the potential limitations of the role of the education sector in developing countries are exposed. Based on previous research, three bottlenecks in the education sector were found: unequal access to education, poor quality of education and the relationship between education and employment. In order to strengthen the role of education for sustainable development in developing countries, it is recommended that equal access to education is improved, that schools invest in the creation of safe spaces for their students, that not only secondary but also primary and tertiary education are involved in policy strategies regarding radicalization, and that the job market is adjusted to the educational level of graduated students.

An increase in the use of information and communication techniques, the complex modern infrastructure and a closer connection between different systems and organizations have created a greater vulnerability with respect to physical security. While numerous conceptual models, metaphors and principles have been developed to manage safety risks, security can be considered as a relatively young field of science. However, because of the similarities and interwovenness between safety and security, much can be learned from the models and principles that have been developed within safety science. Both safety and security have the same objective, that is, to avoid or reduce any losses. This article explains how physical security relates to safety and which models and principles from safety science can be employed to manage company's physical security risks.

Op gebied van veiligheid bestaat al een lange traditie van onderzoek, maar van beveiliging staat dit nog eerder in de kinderschoenen. De aanslagen van 9/11 hebben de aandacht voor beveiliging vergroot. Ook cybercriminaliteit en de bescherming van gevoelige informatie kwam de afgelopen jaren hoger op de bedrijfsagenda te staan. Deze recente focus weerspiegelt zich in het wetenschappelijk onderzoek, waar op het vlak van beveiliging nog maar een beperkt aantal concepten en modellen werden ontwikkeld.

In recent years, many companies stepped up security efforts in chemical and process facilities. The need for the implementation of technological and organizational measures is accompanied by an increased attention for the human factor of the company’s security policy. In order to create a strong security culture, a high level of security awareness among employees is needed. The aim of this paper is to measure the impact of a training session on the level of security awareness. Based on the results of a quantitative research, the effectiveness regarding the security knowledge, attitude and behavior.of employees is measured.

In this paper, safety-related terms, factors and dimensions, such as safety climate, safety attitude, safety behaviour, safety technology, safety procedures, safety training, safety perception and others, are investigated from the perspective of safety culture. Based on an extensive review of literature regarding existing studies and models with respect to safety, an overall conceptual ‘big picture’ model of safety culture is developed and suggested. This model, called The Egg Aggregated Model, and abbreviated TEAM, provides a clear overview of how safety culture can be viewed in an organisation and how the different safety factors and dimensions constituting the safety culture are related in a cyclic way.

A conceptual framework for physical security culture in organisations is proposed, based on the integrative model of safety culture, as developed by Vierendeels et al. (2018). The proposed conceptual framework for physical security culture has the advantage that it brings security threats, technique, organisation and human aspects together in a coherent, integrative and related way. The framework includes five main domains of security culture, being (a) an observable technological domain, (b) an observable organisational domain, (c) an observable human domain, (d) a non-observable organisational domain or perceptual domain, and (e) a non-observable human domain or psychological domain. These five main domains can be further divided into several more specific sub-domains of security culture. At their turn, these sub-domains can be translated into measurable security results, being (a) observable security outcomes, (b) the security climate of an organisation or the shared perceptions on security, and (c) the individual intention to behave secure or insecure. The aim of the framework is to take all security-related aspects into account – based on the specific security threats to which an organisation is exposed – leading to a pro-active approach of the physical security of organisations. The framework provides specific points of departure to make the security culture measurable, and by extension controllable.