The Journal of Behavioral Science

Utilizing Artificial Intelligence in Human Resources: A Qualitative Study in the Philippines

2026-06-30T10:51:50+07:00

Background/ problem: Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being utilized in human resource management (HRM), thereby transforming its practice. However, nuanced literature on its use in developing contexts remains limited.

Objective/ purpose: This exploratory study examined how human resources (HR) practitioners in the Philippines perceive and experience the utilization of AI in their work.

Design and Methodology: Guided by the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), it adopted a qualitative research design. Eleven practitioners from diverse industries were interviewed, and data were analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis.

Findings: Reflexive thematic analysis identified specific themes across four UTAUT dimensions: (1) social influences (leadership influence, workforce openness/resistance, institutional influences); (2) facilitating conditions (structural barriers, change management, AI-friendly ecosystem); (3) effort expectancy (perceived tool flexibility, competency gaps, output unreliability); and (4) performance expectancy (operational efficiency, functional efficiency, strategic capacity). Findings highlight how social and organizational drivers enable AI usability to elevate HR’s strategic role.

Conclusion and Implications: This study highlights the interdisciplinary nature of technology adoption in HRM by bridging topics in work psychology, management, organization development, and AI. It demonstrates that the utilization of AI’s transformative potential depends not only on technical capacity but also on addressing psychological and social barriers. Implications point to the need for greater structural support from organizations in the use of AI in HR as well as resources to develop the AI capabilities of HR practitioners.

Structural Pathways Linking Mindfulness, Spiritual Health and Leadership with Workplace Spirituality and Work-Life Balance among Teachers

2026-01-14T11:19:54+07:00

Background/ problem: Teachers’ work demands can challenge work–life balance. Although mindfulness, spiritual health, perceived spiritual leadership, and workplace spirituality are relevant to well-being, their structural associations in faith-based educational settings remain underexamined.

Objective/ purpose: This study examined direct and indirect associations among mindfulness (awareness and acceptance), spiritual health, perceived spiritual leadership, workplace spirituality, and work–life balance (interference and enrichment).

Design and Methodology: A cross-sectional survey of 437 teachers from schools affiliated with the Catholic Education Council of Thailand used established measures. Data were analyzed using correlations and observed-variable path analysis within a structural equation modeling framework.

Results: The modified model showed acceptable fit (GFI = 1.00, AGFI = .99, RMSEA = .05, CFI = .99, TLI = .97, χ²/df = 2.22). Awareness and acceptance were positively associated with spiritual health, and awareness with perceived spiritual leadership. Acceptance and perceived spiritual leadership were negatively associated with work–life interference. Spiritual health and perceived spiritual leadership were positively associated with workplace spirituality, which was positively associated with work–life enrichment. Significant indirect associations were observed through spiritual health, perceived spiritual leadership, and workplace spirituality.

Conclusion and Implications: The findings identify distinct correlates of work–life interference and enrichment. In faith-based schools, mindfulness, spiritual health, perceived spiritual leadership, and workplace spirituality may represent relevant areas for supporting teacher well-being.

Knowledge Sharing Behavior among Vietnamese Academics: The Dominant Roles of Organizational Culture and Leadership

2026-08-19T11:37:33+07:00

Background/ problem: While knowledge sharing is vital for academic innovation and institutional performance, its behavioral determinants in emerging higher education systems remain inconclusive, particularly regarding the assumed facilitating role of information technology (IT).

Objective/ purpose: Grounded primarily in social exchange theory, this study investigates the effects of organizational culture, top management support, and personality traits on knowledge sharing behavior among university lecturers, while also examining the moderating role of IT.

Design and Methodology: A cross-sectional quantitative survey was administered to 185 academic staff across universities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and multigroup analysis (MGA).

Results: The model explains 56.0% of the variance in knowledge sharing behavior (R² = .56). Organizational culture (β = .42, p < .001, f ² = .34) and top management support (β = .38, p < .001, f ² = .32) emerged as dominant drivers with medium-to-large effect sizes. Extraversion exerted a significant positive impact (β = .32, p < .001, f ² = .20), whereas introversion exhibited a small negative effect (β = -.11, p = .03, f ² = .03). Conversely, IT had neither a significant direct effect (β = .09, p = .07, f ² = .02) nor a moderating effect on organizational relationships. MGA revealed no significant gender differences.

Conclusion and Implications: Findings demonstrate that knowledge sharing is fundamentally a socially embedded behavioral process. Technological infrastructure cannot substitute for interpersonal trust, collaborative norms, and supportive leadership in fostering academic knowledge exchange.

Tenure, Incentives, and Community Forest Management Behavior in Vietnam: A Mixed Methods Study

2026-05-25T10:52:31+07:00

Background/problem: Community forest management depends on institutional arrangements that shape participation, incentives, and long-term stewardship. In Vietnam, community forest allocation and forest protection contracting create contrasting governance conditions.

Objective/purpose: The qualitative objective was to examine how tenure, decision authority, incentives, benefit sharing, and participation differed across the two arrangements. The quantitative objective was to assess household perceptions of protection and long-term forest-development activities under forest protection contracting.

Design and Methodology: An exploratory sequential mixed methods comparative case-study design was used. Phase 1 comprised field observations, six focus group discussions, and eight key informant interviews. Findings informed Phase 2, a survey of 89 respondents using nine Likert-type perception items. The strands were integrated through a joint display based on Ostrom’s common-pool resource principles and adaptive co-management.

Results: Community forest allocation cases showed more secure rights, greater local decision authority, and broader long-term management activities, whereas forest protection contracting concentrated participation on assigned protection duties. Quantitatively, 93% of respondents disagreed that patrols were insufficient, 91% disagreed that illegal exploitation had increased, and 89% agreed that no forest-enrichment activities had been undertaken. Household economic status differed between communes, p < .001. Integrated findings converged on a distinction between favorable perceptions of routine protection and limited long-term forest development under short-term contracting.

Conclusion and Implications: More secure rights, meaningful local decision-making, equitable benefits, and expectations of future gains were associated with stronger conditions for long-term stewardship. Policies should combine protection incentives with inclusive participation, longer-term rights, and local decision authority.

Task Significance and Prosocial Behavior among Rescue Volunteers: The Mediating Role of Pressure-Based Prosocial Motivation

2026-07-15T15:10:14+07:00

Background/problem: Rescue volunteers work under risk, strain, and strong social expectations. Although perceived task significance is usually treated as a positive work-design resource, socially significant volunteer work may also make helping feel expected or difficult to refuse.

Objective/purpose: This study tested pressure-based prosocial motivation as a mediator and impression management motive as a moderator of the task significance–motivation association.

Design and methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 572 rescue volunteers from 64 charitable emergency service organizations in southern Thailand. Data were analyzed using latent structural equation modeling in Mplus, with robust standard errors adjusted for
organizational clustering.

Results: Task significance was positively associated with pressure-based prosocial motivation (b = .46, SE = .12, p < .001) and prosocial behavior (b = .58, SE = .14, p < .001). The indirect association was significant (b = .13, SE = .05, p = .02, 95% CI [.03, .24]). Impression management motive strengthened the task significance–pressure-based motivation association (b = .12, SE = .05, p = .03), but the index of moderated mediation was nonsignificant (b = .03, SE = .02, p = .13, 95% CI [−.01, .08]).

Conclusion and implications: Task significance may carry an obligation-based motivational component in morally salient volunteer work. Rescue organizations should communicate task importance without making refusal or recovery socially costly. Cross-sectional data do not establish causality, and the study did not compare controlled and autonomous pathways.

Smartphone Addiction Proneness, Mastery, Perceived Cohesion and School Burnout among Vietnamese Adolescents: A Moderated Mediation Model

2026-08-31T15:22:31+07:00

Background/ problem: Smartphone addiction proneness is associated with academic and psychological difficulties among adolescents, yet mechanisms linking it to school burnout remain underexamined in Vietnam. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, smartphone addiction proneness may undermine mastery, thereby increasing vulnerability to school burnout.

Objective/ purpose: This study examined whether mastery mediated the association between smartphone addiction proneness and school burnout and whether perceived classroom cohesion moderated this association.

Design and Methodology: A cross-sectional of 375 secondary and high school students in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam employed convenience sampling. Participants completed measures of smartphone addiction proneness, school burnout, mastery, and perceived classroom cohesion. A moderated mediation path model was estimated using standardized scores and 5,000 bootstrap resamples.

Results: Smartphone addiction proneness negatively predicted mastery (β = -.20, p < .001), while mastery negatively predicted school burnout (β = -.19, p < .001). The indirect effect through mastery was significant (β = .04, p = .03, 95% CI [.01, .08]), and the direct effect remained significant (β = .33, p < .001). Perceived classroom cohesion negatively predicted school burnout (β = -.17, p < .001), whereas its interaction with smartphone addiction proneness was positive (β = .10, p = .04).

Conclusion and Implications: Smartphone addiction proneness was linked to higher school burnout directly and through lower mastery. Perceived classroom cohesion was associated with lower burnout overall but strengthened the positive association between smartphone addiction proneness and school burnout. School-based interventions should strengthen mastery and promote healthier peer connection norms.

Evaluating a Prototype Curriculum for Specialty Green Coffee Production among Disadvantaged Farmers in Thailand

2026-06-29T12:10:54+07:00

Background/ problem: Disadvantaged coffee farmers in Northern Thailand face challenges in meeting specialty green coffee quality requirements, particularly in post-harvest processing and quality management. Evidence concerning their production problems, competency needs, learning preferences, and contextual conditions is needed to inform curriculum development.

Objective/ purpose: This study assessed farmers’ production and learning needs, explored stakeholder perspectives on contextual conditions and curriculum development, and integrated quantitative and qualitative findings to derive evidence-based curriculum design requirements.

Design and Methodology: A convergent mixed methods design was employed within the analysis and exploration phase of educational design research (EDR). Quantitative data were collected from involved 15 disadvantaged coffee farmers using a 32-item needs assessment questionnaire, while qualitative data involved 20 stakeholders. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were conducted, and findings were subsequently integrated.

Results: Farmers reported very high production-related challenges (M = 4.41, SD = 0.67), high contextual readiness (M = 3.91, SD = 0.86), very high competency development needs (M = 4.70, SD = 0.76), and very high preferences for practice-oriented learning (M = 4.74, SD = 0.87). Qualitative findings identified technical knowledge gaps, motivation for quality improvement, experiential learning preferences, and context-responsive learning needs.

Conclusion and Implications: Four curriculum requirements emerged: competency-aligned content, experiential learning, expert-guided collaboration, and context-responsive community-based learning. From a behavioral science perspective, the findings emphasize how experiential, social, and contextual processes shape adult occupational learning through practice, interaction, problem solving, and locally relevant tasks. These findings provide an empirical basis for the subsequent curriculum design and construction phase of EDR.

Beyond Risk Behavior: Psychosocial Vulnerabilities among Unmarried Pregnant Adolescents in Institutional Care in Malaysia

2026-08-14T14:30:16+07:00

Background/ problem: Pregnancy among unmarried adolescents is a psychosocial and public health concern. Existing research has emphasized individual risk behaviors, with less attention to relational contexts and distinctions between social influence and experiences involving coercion, exploitation, or substantially constrained voluntary choice. Evidence from adolescents in institutional care in Malaysia remains limited.

Objective/ purpose: This study explored psychosocial vulnerabilities and social influences among unmarried pregnant adolescents in institutional care.

Design and Methodology: A qualitative case study involved nine adolescents residing in a government-operated protection institution in Malaysia. In-depth interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis, while interviews with four institutional officers provided contextual perspectives and data-source triangulation.

Findings: Five themes were identified: adverse family and relational contexts; sexual coercion, exploitation, and violence; peer and partner social influence; digital contexts of relationships and interpersonal exposure; and behavioral and social challenges. Participants’ accounts reflected differing degrees of voluntary choice, from interpersonal persuasion and peer-facilitated situations to force, non-consensual sexual activity, inability to escape, and loss of consciousness.

Conclusion and Implications: The findings contribute to a behavioral science understanding of pregnancy among unmarried adolescents by highlighting diverse relational and social contexts and distinguishing social influence from coercion, exploitation, and circumstances in which voluntary choice is substantially constrained. The social influence theory provides a bounded interpretive lens for interpersonal influence where some capacity for voluntary choice remains. Trauma-informed support should address family and relational support, peer and partner influence, digital safety, and protection from sexual exploitation and violence.

The Bright and Dark Sides of AI Dependency on Students’ Critical Thinking: The Roles of Cognitive Fatigue and Engagement

2026-09-11T15:16:24+07:00

Background/ problem: The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) use in education has sparked debate about its potential association with students’ critical thinking, while existing studies have reported inconsistent findings.

Objective/ purpose: This study examined how AI dependency affects students’ critical thinking disposition through the mediating roles of cognitive fatigue and engagement.

Design and Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 639 university students in Java, Indonesia, using convenience sampling design. Data were collected through an online questionnaire and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (SEM-PLS).

Results: The findings show that AI dependency does not directly affect students' critical thinking disposition (β = .05, p = .31). Instead, cognitive fatigue (β = -.60, p = .00) and engagement (β = .36, p = .00) significantly mediate the relationship in contrasting ways. On one hand, AI dependency increases cognitive fatigue, which subsequently weakens students' critical thinking disposition. On the other hand, AI dependency promotes engagement, which in turn strengthens critical thinking disposition.

Conclusion and Implications: These findings suggest that AI dependency influence students’ critical thinking disposition indirectly through contrasting cognitive and behavioral pathways. From a behavioral-science perspective, modifiable student–AI interaction behaviors shape these outcomes. Educators should promote reflective AI engagement, require independent verification of AI-generated outputs, and design learning activities that maintain students’ responsibility for reasoning and decision-making. Strategies that limit cognitive offloading, uncritical acceptance of AI outputs, and excessive dependency help prevent cognitive fatigue and support students’ critical thinking disposition.