Ankrah, N A; Proverbs, D G and Ahadzie, D K (2008) Exploring the behaviours of construction project participants through social cognitive theory. In: Dainty, A (ed.) Proceedings of 24th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2008, Cardiff, UK.
Abstract
It has been theorised that human functioning is governed by a triadic reciprocal causal interaction between the cognitive, behavioural and environmental contexts within which people operate. Applying this theory to the construction project context, it can be hypothesised that if the internal dispositions of project participants can be determined and the situational context in which they operate is known, then the behaviours of project participants can be predicted. This hypothesis if valid has significant implications for behaviour management on construction projects, especially in respect of behaviours relating to aspects such as health and safety and collaborative working which are considered priorities on many modern projects. This study thus explores the application and validity of this theory within the construction project context by examining empirical evidence from a number construction projects in the UK to establish if it is possible to predict the behaviour of project participants by examining their perceptions and attitudes on these construction projects and the environmental context under which these projects were undertaken. Although the results generally confirm the hypothesis, it is argued from the lack of overwhelming evidence that efforts to manage behaviours on construction projects must go beyond the cognitive and the situational context set out in the theory. Group dynamics and project outcomes must also be taken into account.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | behaviour management; construction project organisations; culture; quantitative analysis; social cognitive theory |
| Index terms: | social cognitive theory, health and safety, project outcome, validity, construction project, evidence, group dynamics, quantitative analysis, interaction |
| Subjects: | health safety and environment, production management, sociology, behavioral psychology, project completion, evaluation and assessment methods, data analysis and analytics |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Project Management, Health and Safety, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here