Social distancing as a health-related behavior during epidemics and pandemics, can significantly influence their control. In this regard, the identification of the factors influencing behavior change can play a remarkable role in assessing for how behaviors form. This paper is an attempt to show that the extended theory of planned behavior can provide a useful theoretical framework for explaining social distancing in the face of a contagion disease. The results showed that the constructs of attitude, descriptive norms, perceived behavioral control, and self-efficacy significantly influenced the students’ intention to adhere to social distancing in the form of university closure. Among these constructs, self-efficacy was found to be the main predictor of the students’ intention. Interestingly, the research revealed that injunctive norms were not a significant predictor of the students’ intention. Practically, this study is a justification for the use of attitude, descriptive norms, perceived behavioral control, and self-efficacy in planning and decision-making for encouraging students to adhere to social distancing during epidemics and pandemics, like the COVID-19 pandemic. The extended theory of planned behavior is useful in understanding Iranian College Students’ Intention toward Social Distancing in COVID-19 Pandemic.

To change the behavior of users of diminishing groundwater resources toward its conservation, it is necessary to identify the psychological factors affecting farmers as the main users of these resources. This study identifies the psychological factors influencing Iranian farmers' intention to conserve groundwater resources in the restricted Plain of Rumeshkan. This study was conducted using a cross-sectional survey method and was based on the Value-Belief-Norm theory, incorporating two additional constructs: feelings of pride and guilt. Multi-stage sampling was employed to gather the data. The sample size consisted of 282 farmers, and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used for analysis. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire were assessed and confirmed. The findings indicated that the constructs of biospheric and altruistic values had a positive and significant effect on the new environmental paradigm. However, egoistic values did not significantly affect the new environmental paradigm. Additionally, the new environmental paradigm had a significant effect on awareness of consequences, and awareness of consequences significantly influenced the attribution of responsibility. Next, responsibility attribution positively and significantly influenced farmers' personal norms, and finally, personal norms positively and significantly affected farmers' intention to conserve groundwater resources. While the primary VBN model explained 30% of the variance in the intention to conserve groundwater resources, incorporating the constructs of guilt and pride increased its explanatory power to 40%, highlighting their fundamental role in motivating farmers' behavioral intention to conserve groundwater resources. This extension underscored the significance of emotional drivers in shaping groundwater conservation decisions. The developed VBN framework provides valuable theoretical and practical insights for policymakers, planners, and water management officials to promote groundwater conservation behaviors.