Previous literature has recognized that workers’ unsafe behavior is the combined result of both isolated individual cognitive processes and their interaction with others. Based on the consideration of both individual cognitive factors and social organizational factors, this paper aims to develop an Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) approach to explore construction workers’ sociocognitive processes under the interaction with managers, coworkers, and foremen. The developed model is applied to explore the causes of cognitive failure of construction workers and the influence of social groups and social organizational factors on the workers’ unsafe behavior. The results indicate that (1) workers’ unsafe behaviors are gradually reduced with the interaction with managers, foremen, and workers; (2) the foreman is most influential in reducing workers’ unsafe behaviors, and their demonstration role can hardly be ignored; (3) the failure of sociocognitive process of construction workers is affected by many factors, and cognitive process errors could be corrected under social norms; and (4) among various social organizational factors, social identity has the most obvious effect on reducing workers’ unsafe behaviors, and preventive measures are more effective than reactive measures in reducing workers’ unsafe behaviors.

The recent coronavirus outbreak has captured worldwide attention. This study investigated the anxiety of the Chinese public and its relationship with social support during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby providing empirical support for interventions on improving the public’s mental health. On the basis of an online questionnaire survey conducted on 10–18 February 2020, this study shows that 19.8%, 68.5%, and 11.1% of the respondents suffered mild anxiety, moderate anxiety, and severe anxiety, respectively. Significant differences are reported in state anxiety between people with different household incomes. There are significant differences in trait anxiety and state anxiety between different social support groups. Social support and trait anxiety are negatively correlated. Social support and state anxiety are negatively correlated. Social support affects state anxiety both directly and indirectly (through the mediation of trait anxiety). Therefore, during the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing public support for society can effectively reduce public anxiety.

As an important influencing factor of construction workers' safety performance, safety stressor has received increasing attention. However, no consensus has been reached on the relationship between different types of safety stressors and the subdimensions of safety performance, and the mechanism by which safety stressors influence safety performance remains unclear. This study proposed a multiple mediation model with ego depletion and self-efficacy as mediators between safety stressors and workers' safety performance. Data were collected from 335 construction workers in China. Results demonstrated that: (1) the three types of safety stressors (i.e., safety role ambiguity, safety role conflict, and interpersonal safety conflict) all had negative effects on workers' safety performance (i.e., safety compliance and safety participation); (2) self-efficacy mediated all the relationships between the three safety stressors and safety performance; (3) ego depletion only mediated part of the relationships between the three safety stressors and safety performance; and (4) only part of the multiple-step mediating effects through ego depletion and self-efficacy were supported. This study made contributions by shedding light on the mechanism by which safety stressors influence workers' safety performance and providing more empirical evidence for the relationship between various safety stressors and the subdimensions of safety performance. Additionally, targeted strategies for improving workers' safety performance were proposed according to the findings.

Risk-compensation behavior refers to the riskier behavior resulting from the perception that the environment has become safer. This study aims to investigate the role of demographics and psychological constructs in predicting construction workers’ tendencies to engage in risk-compensation behaviors. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The participants include 88 roof tilers in New South Wales, Australia. By using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique with partial least-squares estimation (PLS), the authors found that workers’ tendencies to engage in risk-compensation behaviors are influenced by both demographics (e.g., work experience, education level, and negative safety experience) and psychological constructs (e.g., optimism, internal locus of control, trait worry, and habit), and that the effects of demographics were mediated by the psychological constructs. The findings imply that overconfidence about own capability and perceived power of control over safety issues may encourage risk-compensation behaviors on construction sites. The structural model developed in this study may help people to understand the important mental processes that may influence potential behavioral changes when people perceive that they are more protected.

Rework has been identified as a major cause of cost overran of residential building projects. This study aims to investigate the magnitude of rework costs generated by different sources for residential building projects in China. Six residential building projects were selected as sample cases; rework activities and their detailed cost information were collected and analysed. The result revealed that average rework cost of residential building projects was 4.95% of the total project cost. The majority of rework costs were generated by three sources including contractor field management (20.10%), design management (18.91%) and client management (14.73%). It was also found that the main liability bearers of rework costs did not take corresponding responsibilities. The establishment of rework costs allocation mechanism is therefore required to enhance the sense of responsibility among different entities. The magnitude of rework cost may well motivate them take collaborative actions to reduce rework cost. This article provides valuable empirical data for practitioners to understand the major sources of rework costs and main liability-bearers. Therefore, practitioners can take targeted measures to address certain key factors that cause rework based on the data. Above all, this study will bring benefit to the construction industry as well as the whole society.