Psychological driving mechanism of safety citizenship behaviors of construction workers: Application of the theory of planned behavior and norm activation model

Researchers and practitioners are focusing greater attention on safety citizenship behavior (SCB), an important factor in preventing injuries and improving workplace safety conditions; however, very little research has been done to study the cognitive mechanisms of employees engaged in this proactive safety behavior. This study aims to explain critical antecedents and cognitive mechanisms of construction workers' SCBs based on an integrated theoretical framework of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and norm activation model (NAM). This study was conducted by distributing a questionnaire survey to 719 construction workers in China. The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that personal norms (PNs), attitudes toward SCB (ATT), subjective norms (SNs), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) have significant positive impacts on the intention of SCB, and the size of direct effects decreases in turn. The study also confirmed the significant indirect effects of SN on behavioral intention by way of ATT, PBC, and PN; ATT, PN, and PBC predicted SCB through the mediating processes of SCB intention. The study demonstrates the applicability and effectiveness of the integrative model in predicting workers' intentions to adopt SCBs and provides targeted suggestions and strategies for the sustainable development of safety management. These findings have meaningful implications for academic research on SCBs and the industrial practice of safety management.