The purpose of this study was to identify the predictors of behavioral intentions of people with high attitudinal ambivalence based on the theory of planned behavior. Although past research indicated that attitudinal ambivalence works as a moderator in forming behavioral intentions, what predicts behavioral intentions of highly ambivalent people has yet to be identified. In the present study, attitudes, subjective norm (SN), perceived behavioral control (PBC), and behavioral intentions with respect to cervical cancer screening were assessed over two time periods for 186 female undergraduates. Multiple regression analyses revealed that attitudes predicted intentions among low–ambivalent participants, while SN and PBC predicted intentions among high–ambivalent. Considering attitudes were stable during the study period, it was suggested that ambivalence attenuates attitudes certainty and thus, attitudes is less likely to affect behavioral intentions relative to SN and PBC among ambivalent people. The relationship between attitudinal ambivalence and persuasion was discussed.

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This study aimed to describe and explore how communication between professionals and non-professionals is accomplished, through fieldwork in Science Cafe. From the content analysis of the conversations between these two parties, two findings were yielded. First, the diversity of the interests of the participants in Science Cafe was observed through the KJ method; and second, the public (non-professionals) engaged in a conversation with scientists (professionals) more actively when a facilitator was present (discourse analysis) than when not. More specifically, supportive actions, such as correcting the public’s statements by a facilitator can actually decrease the gap in knowledge between scientists and the public. Such support increases opportunities for the public to speak out more often. These results imply that the presence of a facilitator can induce bi-directional communication between professionals and non-professionals.

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We examined the 15-year recovery process after a major disaster, through a collection of personal memoirs of the survivors of the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, edited by the Group for Continuous Documentation of the Great Hanshin Earthquake. Through their social construction of the concepts of “disaster” and “survivor,” we uncovered diverse and unique accounts of the survival experience that can only be told by the survivors themselves. In general, the contents of the memoirs converge on a common theme, and as a result, it is difficult to find diversity in their accounts. Despite this, the particular collection consisted of a wide range of content, due to the fact that the editor and writers engaged in an interactive, mutual process of co-construction of the disaster account. This collaboration allowed the writer to re-construct the disaster experience more vividly, and hence, the accounts were more personal in nature, and less the prototypical. This re-construction process of personal experiences resulted in connectivity amongst survivors, and helped them to disseminate what they had actually experienced in a more detailed and personalized manner.

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Legitimacy is defined as people’s evaluated approvability of others’ or own rights to decide public policies according to some reasons or values. In the present research, legitimacies and determinants among various actors around the decision rights of policies for NIMBY problem were examined between high-relevant concerned parties and low-relevant third parties who are related to policies of American military bases in Okinawa prefecture. We focused on trustworthiness and legality as determinants of legitimacies. Effects of trustworthiness toward legitimacy are hypothesized to vary across each actor among concerned parties, because they are motivated to process information minutely. Among third parties, on the other hand, legitimacies of related actor are evaluated according to peripheral clues, so it was hypothesized that both trustworthiness and legality to be determinants uniformly. Although these hypotheses were supported, the third parties were suggested to arouse a strategic process approving legitimacies of particular actors to maintain their own benefits as a result of acquirement of information about NIMBY structure. This paper discussed on theoretical perspectives to investigate consensus among various actors over public policies from the frame of rights structure.

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Existing research on the effect of homo- and heterogeneity of group membership on problem solving performance have indicated that heterogeneous groups potentially yield superior performance than homogeneous. On the other hand, the diverse composition of its members create more difficulty in communication and mutual understanding, reducing cohesiveness and emotional attraction, hence giving rise to more conflict. These interpersonal issues may inhibit group problem solving performance, but in established or trained groups, heterogeneity may actually enhance performance. Significant impact on performance may be attained when group members recognize mutual variations, and when they form interdependent relationships based on heterogeneity.

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