Svein Larsen

Anabolic steroid use in high school students.

A total of 1351 high school students (52.3% males, 47.7% females) with mean age 17.5 years (SD = 2.2) from randomized school classes in Hordaland County, Norway, participated in an Internet survey conducted in 2004 about the lifetime use of anabolic steroids and personal acquaintance with at least one user of anabolic steroids. In addition to questions about anabolic steroids the participants completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. They also answered questions about demography, smoking, and narcotic use. The lifetime prevalence for use of anabolic steroids was 3.6% for males and 0.6% for females. In all, 27.9% of the respondents reported having at least one acquaintance that used or had used anabolic steroids. Use of anabolic steroids and having acquaintances using such drugs were strongly related to use of other drugs such as alcohol, nicotine, and narcotics. Implications for prevention are discussed and the studys limitations are noted.

The school trip: travelling with, not to or from.

The school trip is relatively under-researched. In the present study the aim was to explore 14–15 year-old childrens reasons and motivations for going on such a trip. In the first part of the study, a Norwegian school class (25 children) was surveyed some four months prior to departure concerning their motives for travelling and activities they wanted to engage in while on the school trip. In the second part of the study, the children were interviewed while they were on the trip, while the final data was collected some 4 weeks after the children had returned home. The most prevalent theme observed in these children regarding the school trip was a social being together motive (“doing things together”). Further norm governed motives including responding to school demands concerning learning, utilitarian motives including punishment avoidance, reward and getting away from school, and finally pull motives referring to a wish to gather experiences were also observed. Concerning activities, our informants most frequently referred to fantasies about social activities, some of them of an extreme nature such as mountain climbing, rafting and other sports activities. Even though this study was explorative, the results imply that the main reasons children give for the school trip can be described as travelling with, more than travelling to or from.

Service attitudes in hotel and restaurant staff and nurses.

It is commonly believed that service attitudes are more positive in the private than in the public sector of the service industry. The problems are addressed here. The aim of the project was to study service attitudes in hotel and restaurant staff compared to nurses in public hospitals. An instrument for measuring service attitudes, the Service Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ) was developed. This instrument aimed at measuring cognitive, emotional and behavioural aspects of service attitudes. A total of 62 respondents in the Stavanger region, Norway, completed the SAQ. The results indicated that service attitudes were more positive in the private (hotel and restaurant staff) than in the public sector (registered nurses). Hotel and restaurant staff scored higher (more positive service attitudes) on the cognitive, emotional and behavioural components of the SAQ.

Effects of Sudden and Dramatic Events on Travel Desire and Risk Judgments

This paper reports results from two quasi experiments and one field experiment. The first study was performed before and during the Iraq war (Spring 2003), applying a within-subjects design. Participants rated their desire to undertake trips to various destinations and they estimated risks linked to these destinations and trips. The preferences were subjected to factor analysis, yielding 12 various holiday forms. Study 2 was conducted before and after the terror attacks in Madrid (Spring 2004), applying a within-subjects design and addressing the same issues as in the first study. The third study used a between-subjects design, and focused on risk judgments in tourists to Mallorca before and after the terror attacks in London (July 2005). Results from Study 1 indicated that the desire to travel decreased during the initial stages of the Iraq war. It was observed that risk judgments for various holiday forms remained unchanged. Results from Study 2 indicated that desire to travel and subjective risk judgments for various holiday forms did not change following the terrorist bombs in Madrid, but that Madrid was judged to be more risky following the terror. Results from Study 3 indicated that the terror bombs in London had no effect on risk judgments for various holiday forms, but that the events resulted in higher judgments for specific destinations such as for example London. Interestingly, retrospectively respondents in both Study 2 and Study 3 judged the world as such as well as tourist destinations to have become more risky and less safe since the “War on terror” was launched.

‘I am not at risk – typical tourists are’! Social comparison of risk in tourists

Aim: The presented research aims to study the relationship between judgements of risks to oneself as a tourist as compared to risks to ‘typical tourists’, ‘average tourists’ and ‘typical tourist from your home country’. Methods: Altogether, 1,892 tourists visiting Norway (summer 2010) filled in a questionnaire on aspects of being a tourist. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of four groups. Group 1 was asked about risk to themselves; Group 2 was asked to indicate their thoughts about ‘risk to typical tourists’; Group 3 indicated risks for ‘average tourists’; and Group 4 was asked about risks for typical tourists from their home country. Results: Results show that all risks were judged to be low, but significantly higher risks were attributed to the typical and average tourist than to ‘self’. Conclusions: The results are interpreted in terms of social cognitive processes such as the ‘optimistic bias’.

Supportive and defensive communication.

Explores the communication structure of a cruise company. Argues that communication is a key area concerning productivity and job satisfaction on board cruise ships. The Communication Climate Inventory was distributed to all employees in the company, and returned satisfactorily filled in by 236 employees. It was found that the degree of defensiveness was higher and the degree of supportiveness was lower on board ships than for the company′s land‐based operations. Interprets the results in view of organizational climate, culture and traditions. Makes suggestions concerning appropriate measures to be taken in order to improve on current communication practices.

Intentions to make sustainable tourism choices: do value orientations, time perspective, and efficacy beliefs explain individual differences?

ABSTRACT There is a growing literature addressing psychological variables that can be associated with choices of environmentally sustainable tourism alternatives. This paper contributes to this literature by focusing on individual differences in value orientations (i.e. egoistic values, altruistic values, and biospheric values), time perspective (i.e. consideration of immediate consequences and consideration of future consequences), and efficacy beliefs (i.e. self-efficacy and collective efficacy). A cross-sectional survey (N = 385) was carried out to investigate the role of each of these psychological variables in explaining intentions to choose environmentally sustainable travel options. Overall results showed that value orientations, time perspective, and efficacy beliefs together contributed to explaining about 53% of the variance in behavioural intentions. Consideration of future consequences and collective efficacy showed the strongest associations with behavioural intentions. Implications of these findings for research and managerial practice are noted.

Attitudes, efficacy beliefs, and willingness to pay for environmental protection when travelling

Environmental sustainability may be seen as a collective challenge that can only be met if a sufficient number of individuals cooperate. Whether or not individual tourists are willing to contribute their share may thus depend not only on the degree to which they think that environmental sustainability is important (attitudes), but also on the degree to which they think that other tourists hold similar attitudes (social comparison). Other possible influences are beliefs that ones own behaviour can make a difference (self-efficacy beliefs) and that tourists as a group together can make a difference (collective efficacy beliefs). This paper reports on findings from a study (N = 358) that investigated the role of these factors in explaining peoples willingness to pay for environmental protection when travelling. Attitudes, self-efficacy and collective efficacy accounted for 30% of the variance in willingness to pay for environmental protection; social comparison did not explain additional variance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Tourist Worries after Terrorist Attacks: Report from a Field Experiment

The current study reports the results of a field experiment measuring tourist worries assessed by the Tourist Worry Scale (TWS) before and after the terror bombings in London during the summer of 2005. As part of a larger study on tourist experiences, tourists on vacation to Mallorca, Spain, were asked to fill in a questionnaire prior to the bombings. A follow up study was administered about seven weeks after the terror attacks. The results showed sum scores on the TWS to remain stable over the test period, but ratings regarding worry about terrorism and acts of war significantly increased at the post terror measurement. The results support both the stability and sensitivity of the TWS in a situation of international turmoil.

On‐stage in the Service Theatre

Addresses the feasibility of applying the theatre analogy in the service industries, where terms borrowed from the stage are used frequently to describe guest‐customer relations and interaction. Principles from the fragments of Aristotle′s Peri Poietikes supplied the framework for a critical look at the hospitality industry in Norway. The authors concluded that, where investments with a purpose of improving customer satisfaction are planned, they are most likely to achieve results when applied to the human resources sector. On the theatre stage as well as in the service theatre, customer satisfaction is dependent on the actors and their performance.