Objective: Container deposit schemes are often hailed as a useful avenue to increase consumer recycling rates. Yet, there is little research investigating within-person changes in people’s beliefs and behavior following the implementation of these schemes, or tests of the mechanisms by which such change has occurred. Methods: The current study fills this knowledge gap and assessed container recycling behavior and habits as well as the social cognition factors of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions in a sample of 90 Queenslanders before the implementation of the container deposit scheme and one and three months post-implementation. Results: Analysis of variance indicated more frequent recycling behavior following the implementation of the scheme, as well as stronger habits, intentions, and perceived behavioral control. Conclusions: Such a concomitant change in behavior, beliefs, and habits provides support for behavior change theory, while also flagging potential targets for strategies that can be paired with container deposit schemes to enhance their efficacy and uptake.

Objective: People older than 65 years are anticipated to comprise a steadily increasing proportion of the Australian population. This older adult population is also made up of other sub‐populations that may experience similar, different or additional needs to the ‘average’ older adult, such as LGBT+ people. Given the well‐documented history of oppression, stigma and discrimination, research is critically needed to understand how to best support the concerns and needs of populations such as LGBT+ people. Method: The present cross‐sectional study aimed to explore the concerns of ageing and accessing aged care services among 171 LGBT+ people in Australia. Results: The results revealed that LGBT+ people were most concerned about their health and physical functioning, including feelings of isolation, loneliness and abandonment as they age. The results also indicated a range of specific concerns for accessing aged care services, including feeling respected and service quality and discrimination, particularly from religiously run organisations. Conclusions: Despite a relatively small and homogenous sample, this study was able to identify important beliefs and experiences held by this cohort to help shape advocacy, policy, procedures and education.

There is a need for robust, empirically-validated conceptualisations of teachers’ attitudes towards teaching science, with a view to understand how these might explain their intention to teach science. The Dimensions of Attitudes Toward Science (DAS) theoretical framework suggests that cognitive, affective and perceived control dimensions of teachers’ professional attitudes may be related to their behavioural intention to teach science. While the DAS framework has been employed in numerous studies investigating the attitudes of preservice and inservice teachers, its efficacy remains mostly unknown. The current study employed a cross-sectional survey research design to investigate the question, to what extent does the DAS theoretical framework explain primary preservice teachers’ intention to prioritise teaching science in their future practice? Early childhood and primary preservice teachers (n = 250) at an Australian university completed the DAS instrument prior to completing a science curriculum unit. Structural equation modelling revealed inadequate/poor model fit across multiple indices. Perceived relevance of science education and enjoyment teaching science were statistically significant predictors of preservice teachers’ intention to prioritise teaching science, whereas other attitudinal constructs from the framework were not significant in this research. These findings warrant further attention to theories of behaviour and behaviour change in science education research.

Objective: While there have been substantive advances in the conceptualisation, measurement, and effects of habit as a psychological construct, there is limited research on individuals' beliefs and perspectives on habit. The current investigation reports the findings of two studies purposed to explore individuals' lay representations of habit which further inform habit theory and measurement, and interventions designed to promote habits. Methods: Study 1 (N = 158) used an online, open-ended questionnaire to elicit lay beliefs on the salient features of habit. Study 2 (N = 27) involved a series of interviews and focus groups to further explore individuals' representations of habit. Results: Thematic content analysis revealed that participants described habit in terms of its content, salient features or characteristics, and function or consequences. The results also indicated that while collective knowledge converged on expert perspectives, few individuals identified all or most features of habit, suggesting individuals' beliefs are incomplete. Conclusions: Current findings indicate that lay people as a collective hold consistent but largely 'patchy' beliefs about habit. Future research should focus on integrating the beliefs identified in this research with new measures of habit and habit interventions.