Psychological predictors such as disgust, health risk perception, general risk perception, distrust of authorities and science, perceived unfairness, and pricing concerns are negatively correlated with acceptance. Meanwhile, environmental concerns, supportive social norms, perceived benefits, knowledge, information, and prior experience were positively correlated with acceptance [
9]. Still, regarding psychological factors, Lee et al. [
10] found that the modified unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model may account for a person’s intent and behavior in using water purification technology. The modified UTAUT model comprises factors relating to physical support, educational support, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating condition, and role. As such, these models may help to better understand individual- and societal-level attitudes and behavior that may help inform scientists or policymakers in preservation issues. Aside from the demographic and psychological predictors stated above, Fielding [
9] also examined the correlations between water characteristics with acceptance toward recycled water.
1.1. Culture Is Mediated by Personality to Affect Attitude towards Water Purification Technology
One relationship pattern that may exist between personality and culture is that the effect of culture toward a person is mediated by their personality, as asserted by Leong and Serafica [
14] (p. 95), as follows:
“In Holland’s (1985) [
15] view … He sees culture influencing career development through its influence on personality development … therefore, the effect of culture is mediated by personality types”.
A similar statement was provided by Hofstede and McCrae [
16] (p. 54, 71), as follows:
“The view that personality is created through the process of enculturation is akin to some contemporary ideas of psychological anthropology, which hold that culture is constitutive of personality (Miller, 1999) [
17] … Assuming that culture explains levels of trait scores rather than the other way round, Hofstede carried out a stepwise regression of the NEO-PI-R country means against the four IBM culture scores”.
The statements demonstrate that studies on the predictive relationship between national cultures and personality traits have been conducted. Across 33 countries, it was found that (1) uncertainty avoidance and masculinity were predictors of neuroticism; (2) individualism and masculinity were predictors of extraversion; (3) uncertainty avoidance was a predictor of agreeableness; (4) power distance was a predictor of conscientiousness; and (5) masculinity, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance were predictors of openness to experience. Although these findings came from non-randomized controlled studies, it is worth noting that any data on personality and culture research in the context of environment-related attitudes is a useful knowledge to understand how culture influences the manifestation of traits for issues as critical as environmental engagement.
The difference between Hofstede and McCrae’s [
16] study with this present study is that the measurement of cultural orientation in this study uses Yoo et al.’s [
18] measurement on the individual level. Aside from this, this present study aims to test a different hypothetical configuration compared to the associations mentioned in the above paragraphs and, simultaneously, attempts to correlate it with attitudes toward water purification technology.
In other words, this present study designates Big Five personality traits as mediators in the predictive relationships between cultural value orientations (at the individual level) and attitudes toward water purification technology. Specifically, the associations in the aforementioned hypothesis are as presented in
Table 1.
Attitude towards water purification technology is a summary appraisal of water purification technology along a dimension ranging from negative to positive. The attitude is hypothesized to be predicted by cultural value orientations mediated by personality traits.
Culture is the collective mental programming of the human mind that separates one group of people from another, as stated by Hofstede et al. [
19]. This programming has an impact on thinking patterns, which are mirrored in the meaning people assign to many elements of life and become solidified in a society’s institutions. The cultural aspects of Hofstede et al. [
19] are universal values that influence all behavioral domains [
18]. Chirkov et al. [
20] showed that individuals absorb or internalize cultural orientations of the society to which they belong differently, depending on how those cultural orientations fulfill their basic psychological requirements. The descriptions of each cultural value orientation are listed below [
18].
Uncertainty avoidance is a cultural value orientation that indicates an individual’s anxiety level in the face of future uncertainty. The degree to which a member of society expects and accepts unequal power distribution is referred to as power distance. Collectivism describes a strong social structure in which individuals expect others in their group to support and protect them. A member of a culture with high masculinity is motivated by rivalry, achievement, assertiveness, and success. Long-term orientation is defined as to what degree a culture’s member has a pragmatic future-oriented outlook as opposed to short-term traditional historical perspectives.
In this present study’s context, personality traits are defined as “broad dimensions of individual differences between people, accounting for interindividual consistency and continuity in behavior, thought, and feeling across situations and overtime … the overall style of a person’s adjustment to and engagement of the social world”, as stated by McAdams and Pals [
21] (p. 207). The following are the descriptions of each personality trait according to John, Naumann, and Soto [
22]. Self-discipline and a strong desire to complete duties are all characteristics of
conscientiousness. Negative emotions (fear, sadness, anxiety, or disappointment), mental instability, inability to relax, frequent complaints, difficulty controlling oneself, and susceptibility to stress are all characteristics of
neuroticism. Orientation toward other people and the community, humility toward other people, and trustworthiness are all characteristics of
agreeableness.
Extraversion is characterized by a strong interest in social situations, aggressiveness, firmness, and the capacity to gain energy from social interactions. Originality, depth, and breadth of knowledge, and a strong desire to create novel arrangements within one’s life space describe
openness to experience.
1.2. Rationales of Hypotheses
The rationale of the first hypothesis (H1): There have been indications that conscientiousness can positively predict attitudes toward water purification technology. Among others, conscientiousness is associated with a person with care and willingness traits to enhance their performance whereby new technologies may serve as a facilitator of that particular enhancement [
23]. Aside from this, conscientiousness is associated with an environmentally conscious way of life [
24], such as supporting water sustainability, as previously elaborated. Extraversion is also positively correlated with sustainable consumption [
25]. Sustainable consumption in this context means [
25] (p. 310):
“The search for ecologically-correct products and services, the preference for corporations and organizations actively engaged in environment conservation, the using of materials and equipment up to the end of its service life, the saving of resources such as water and energy, the reusing, whenever possible, the right destination of materials to recycling and the propensity to a lifestyle with less negative environment impact”.
Conscientiousness might be predicted by uncertainty avoidance (UA). There is an indication that UA, as present in the GLOBE/Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness measurement, is positively correlated with conscientiousness [
26]. Gründl and Aichholzer [
27] explained that, although there is limited evidence, an indication was found that UA and conscientiousness have similar features, being the need for certainty or cognitive closure. The relationship between UA and conscientiousness has been empirically confirmed in a study by Berenbaum et al. [
28]. They discovered a cognitive correlation between conscientiousness and three related uncertainty variables (uncertainty distress, uncertainty paralysis, and inflexible uncertainty beliefs). These three variables have opposing qualities with UA, whereas conscientiousness is positively correlated with the desire for predictability which is one of the main features of UA.
Based on the explanations above, this study hypothesized that uncertainty avoidance can positively predict favorable attitudes toward water purification technology through conscientiousness. Or, in other words, conscientiousness is a mediator between uncertainty avoidance and positive attitudes toward water purification technology (see H1 in
Table 1).
The rationale of the second hypothesis (H2): There have been indications that neuroticism can negatively predict attitudes toward water purification technology. Among others, neuroticism is associated with anxiety, negative thoughts, low willingness to take risks despite potential gains, and fear of loss [
29].
New technology generally contains elements of risks. Punnoose [
29] elaborated on research findings that demonstrated how neuroticism is negatively correlated with the perceived usefulness of new technology. Technological development is perceived as threatening and suppressive. Aside from this, neuroticism is negatively correlated with a preference for recycled water [
11]. Wester et al. [
30] discovered that anticipated disgust is correlated with reluctance to use recycled water. Meanwhile, it was found that disgust is positively correlated with neuroticism [
31].
Neuroticism might be predicted by power distance (PD). There is an indication that PD is positively correlated with neuroticism [
32,
33]. This positive correlation is very reasonable, as high power distance reflects a hierarchical, paternalistic, and autocratic culture whereby people in inferior positions must immediately accept the decisions of persons from higher ranks. Understandably, inequality and lack of democratization increase neuroticism [
34,
35]. Fatke [
35] (p. 7) explained, “emotionally stable persons are less moved by the challenges social outcasts face in undemocratic systems”. In other words, a positive reciprocal relationship between undemocratic situations and neuroticism exists (emotional instability, greater emotionality).
Based on the explanation above, this study hypothesized that power distance can negatively predict favorable attitudes toward water purification technology through neuroticism. Or, in other words, neuroticism is a mediator between power distance and negative attitudes toward water purification technology (see H2 in
Table 1).
The rationale of the third hypothesis (H3): There have been indications that agreeableness can predict positive attitudes toward water purification technology. Among others, it was found that agreeableness (as characterized by cooperative, likable, kind, and helpful qualities) is positively correlated with technology acceptance, particularly in elements of perceived usefulness of that technology [
36]. Maican et al. [
37] explained that more agreeable individuals have higher effort expectancy, perceived ease of use, and hedonic incentive to use assistive technology. In addition, Hirsh [
38] found that both on the individual or state level, agreeableness traits are positively correlated with environmental sustainability, particularly on water effects on the ecosystem as well as water effects on human health. Hirsh [
38] further explained that individuals with higher agreeableness perceive their selves more as part of the larger community and even as part of nature. Due to this, such people are more empathic and have deep ecological concerns toward both the community’s and nature’s sustainability. The logical implication would be that water purification technology is viewed as a positive entity by people with high agreeableness.
Agreeableness might be predicted by collectivism. An empirical study by Burton et al. [
39] confirmed that both vertical and horizontal collectivism is positively correlated with agreeableness. In one direction, agreeableness would predict collectivism, as suggested by Realo et al. [
40] (p. 93), “Agreeable persons, who are also closed to experience, are comparatively more predisposed to absorb collectivistic elements from the culture into their own cognitive schemes”. In addition, vice versa, as found by Javalagi and Newman [
41], collectivism supports agreeableness. Triandis and Suh [
42] explained how collectivism would predict agreeableness. They found that allocentrism—which has components of sociability, interdependence, and family integrity—is generally central in collectivist cultures. Meanwhile, allocentrism is positively correlated with agreeableness as allocentric individuals (1) have a greater tendency for affiliation, (2) have lower needs on individuality, (3) are more receptive of others, (4) prefer to adjust their needs with the needs of others (and tend to deny their personal needs and desires), and (5) are more sensitive toward social rejection. These five aspects are following the agreeableness personality trait features.
Based on the explanation above, this study hypothesized that collectivism can positively predict favorable attitudes toward water purification technology through agreeableness. Or, in other words, agreeableness is a mediator between collectivism and positive attitudes toward water purification technology (see H3 in
Table 1).
The rationale of the fourth hypothesis (H4): There have been indications that extraversion can predict positive attitudes toward water purification technology. Among others, Behrenbruch et al. [
43] found that extroverted individuals have higher levels of energy and readiness in dealing with doubts about technology. Extraverted individuals are also more likely to discern more benefits from technology when compared to introverted individuals who are more content with their lives. They tend to have greater intentions, compared to individuals with low extraversion, to use new technology [
44]. Aside from this, Di Fabio and Rosen [
45] found a positive correlation between extraversion and connectedness to nature. Wuertz [
24] also discovered that extraversion is positively correlated with pro-environmental attitudes, including water conservation. In the context of this present study, water purification is part of water conservation [
46].
Extraversion might be predicted by masculinity. Based on a review of numerous studies, Zheng and Zheng [
47] concluded that masculinity, with its features of independence and self-reliance, contributes positively to extraversion, whether in Western or Eastern countries. Marušić and Bratko [
48] argued that many prior studies have found a positive correlation between masculinity and other indicators of healthy psychological functioning (such as well-being, self-esteem, locus of control, depression) and that one indicator that has yet to be studied is extraversion (with qualities of warmth, positive emotionality, assertiveness, excitement-seeking, and gregariousness). In their empirical study in Croatia (a non-Western country), they found that masculinity does positively contribute to extraversion.
Based on the explanation above, this study hypothesized that masculinity can positively predict favorable attitudes toward water purification technology through extraversion. Or, in other words, extraversion is a mediator between masculinity and positive attitudes toward water purification technology (see H4 in
Table 1).
The rationale of the fifth hypothesis (H5): There have been indications that openness can predict positive attitudes toward water purification technology. Among others, Behrenbruch et al. [
43] found positive predictive correlations between openness and intention to use new technology. They argued that this may be due to openness traits that tend to seek new opportunities rather than familiarity. These individuals also provide more time to learn and reflect on new technology. Due to this, it is reasonable that openness is also correlated with perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use from new technology. Althuizen [
49] corroborated that the novelty seeking and intellectual curiosity elements of the openness trait cause individuals with this trait to have attitudes, intentions, and behavior leaning toward trying newer and greater technology. A prior study by Harmon et al. [
11] also found positive correlations between openness and attitudes toward water conservation. A study by Poškus [
50] found that individuals with lower openness were incompatible with pro-environmental activities as such activities “require changing habits and adopting new practices” (p. 12).
Openness might be predicted by long-term orientation (LTO). Zotzmann et al. [
51] and Krishnan [
52], in an intercorrelation matrix between cultural values and personality dimensions, found a significant and positive correlation between LTO and openness. This is foreseeable as a long-term orientation has similar characteristics to openness, particularly the willingness to learn novel or unmastered things. As stated by Rüdian et al. [
53] (p. 8), “Learners with high long-term orientation will spend longer periods of time in class preparing to successfully complete related exercises”. Krishnan [
52] added that the values possessed by people with higher LTO, being a preference towards future rewards, will cause them to (1) perceive technostress more positively, (2) be more willing to learn technology’s complexity, and (3) share their knowledge. These three aspects are compatible with features of openness to new experiences.
Based on the explanations above, this study hypothesized that long-term orientation can positively predict favorable attitudes toward water purification technology through openness. Or, in other words, openness is a mediator between long-term orientation and positive attitudes toward water purification technology (see H5 in
Table 1).