An ontological framework for organising and describing behaviours: The Human Behaviour Ontology [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]
Background Human behaviours have been classified in domains such as health, occupation and sustainability. We aimed to develop a broadly applicable behavioural framework to facilitate integrating evidence across domains. Methods The Human Behaviour Ontology (HBO), a part of the Behaviour Change Inte...
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Wellcome
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Wellcome Open Research |
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| Online Access: | https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/9-237/v2 |
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| author | Alison J. Wright Robert West Janna Hastings Lisa Zhang Oscar Castro Marta M. Marques Emily Hayes Elizabeth Corker Micaela Santilli Susan Michie Marie Johnston Gabriella Stuart Paulina M. Schenk |
| author_facet | Alison J. Wright Robert West Janna Hastings Lisa Zhang Oscar Castro Marta M. Marques Emily Hayes Elizabeth Corker Micaela Santilli Susan Michie Marie Johnston Gabriella Stuart Paulina M. Schenk |
| author_sort | Alison J. Wright |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background Human behaviours have been classified in domains such as health, occupation and sustainability. We aimed to develop a broadly applicable behavioural framework to facilitate integrating evidence across domains. Methods The Human Behaviour Ontology (HBO), a part of the Behaviour Change Intervention Ontology (BCIO), was developed by: (1) specifying its scope, (2) identifying candidate classes from existing classifications, (3) refining it by annotating behaviours in relevant literature, (4) a stakeholder review with behavioural and ontology experts, (5) testing the inter-rater reliability of its use in annotating research reports, (6) refining classes and their relations, (7) reviewing its coverage of behaviours in theories and (8) publishing its computer-readable version. Results The initial ontology contained 128 classes (Steps 1–4), achieving an inter-rater reliability of 0.63 for familiar researchers and 0.74 after minor adjustments (to the ontology and guidance) for unfamiliar researchers. Following Steps 6–7, the published ontology included 230 classes, with six upper-level behavioural classes: human behaviour, individual human behaviour, individual human behaviour pattern, individual human behaviour change, population behaviour and population behaviour pattern. ‘Individual human behaviour’ was defined as “a bodily process of a human that involves co-ordinated contraction of striated muscles controlled by the brain”, with its 159 subclasses organised across high-level classes relating to: experiences (e.g., playing); expression (e.g., laughing); reflectiveness; harm (e.g., self-injury behaviour); harm prevention; coping; domestic activities; goals; habits; health (e.g., undergoing vaccination); life-function (e.g., breathing behaviour); interactions with materials (e.g., consumption); bodily care (e.g., washing); position (e.g., postural behaviour); social environments (e.g., communication); and behavioural substitution. Additional classes needed for characterising behaviours (e.g., frequency and duration), their attributes and behavioural abstinence were included. Relations were defined for timings, locations, participants, mental processes, functions, goals and outcomes. Conclusions The HBO provides an extensive and detailed framework for describing human behaviours. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-498ba02b924f478aa6949e92889fefb4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2398-502X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Wellcome |
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| series | Wellcome Open Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-498ba02b924f478aa6949e92889fefb42025-08-20T03:38:54ZengWellcomeWellcome Open Research2398-502X2025-06-01910.12688/wellcomeopenres.21252.227065An ontological framework for organising and describing behaviours: The Human Behaviour Ontology [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]Alison J. Wright0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0373-5219Robert West1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6398-0921Janna Hastings2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3469-4923Lisa Zhang3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4255-9609Oscar Castro4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5332-3557Marta M. Marques5Emily Hayes6Elizabeth Corker7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2055-7493Micaela Santilli8Susan Michie9https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0063-6378Marie Johnston10https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0124-4827Gabriella Stuart11Paulina M. Schenk12https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5239-1977Centre for Behaviour Change, University College London, London, England, UKDepartment of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, England, UKInstitute for Implementation Science in Health Care, University of Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandCentre for Behaviour Change, University College London, London, England, UKFuture Health Technologies, Singapore-ETH Centre, Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore, SingaporeCentre for Behaviour Change, University College London, London, England, UKCentre for Behaviour Change, University College London, London, England, UKClinical and Applied Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England, UKCentre for Behaviour Change, University College London, London, England, UKCentre for Behaviour Change, University College London, London, England, UKAberdeen Health Psychology Group, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UKCentre for Behaviour Change, University College London, London, England, UKCentre for Behaviour Change, University College London, London, England, UKBackground Human behaviours have been classified in domains such as health, occupation and sustainability. We aimed to develop a broadly applicable behavioural framework to facilitate integrating evidence across domains. Methods The Human Behaviour Ontology (HBO), a part of the Behaviour Change Intervention Ontology (BCIO), was developed by: (1) specifying its scope, (2) identifying candidate classes from existing classifications, (3) refining it by annotating behaviours in relevant literature, (4) a stakeholder review with behavioural and ontology experts, (5) testing the inter-rater reliability of its use in annotating research reports, (6) refining classes and their relations, (7) reviewing its coverage of behaviours in theories and (8) publishing its computer-readable version. Results The initial ontology contained 128 classes (Steps 1–4), achieving an inter-rater reliability of 0.63 for familiar researchers and 0.74 after minor adjustments (to the ontology and guidance) for unfamiliar researchers. Following Steps 6–7, the published ontology included 230 classes, with six upper-level behavioural classes: human behaviour, individual human behaviour, individual human behaviour pattern, individual human behaviour change, population behaviour and population behaviour pattern. ‘Individual human behaviour’ was defined as “a bodily process of a human that involves co-ordinated contraction of striated muscles controlled by the brain”, with its 159 subclasses organised across high-level classes relating to: experiences (e.g., playing); expression (e.g., laughing); reflectiveness; harm (e.g., self-injury behaviour); harm prevention; coping; domestic activities; goals; habits; health (e.g., undergoing vaccination); life-function (e.g., breathing behaviour); interactions with materials (e.g., consumption); bodily care (e.g., washing); position (e.g., postural behaviour); social environments (e.g., communication); and behavioural substitution. Additional classes needed for characterising behaviours (e.g., frequency and duration), their attributes and behavioural abstinence were included. Relations were defined for timings, locations, participants, mental processes, functions, goals and outcomes. Conclusions The HBO provides an extensive and detailed framework for describing human behaviours.https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/9-237/v2behaviour behavior human ontology categorisation classificationeng |
| spellingShingle | Alison J. Wright Robert West Janna Hastings Lisa Zhang Oscar Castro Marta M. Marques Emily Hayes Elizabeth Corker Micaela Santilli Susan Michie Marie Johnston Gabriella Stuart Paulina M. Schenk An ontological framework for organising and describing behaviours: The Human Behaviour Ontology [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations] Wellcome Open Research behaviour behavior human ontology categorisation classification eng |
| title | An ontological framework for organising and describing behaviours: The Human Behaviour Ontology [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations] |
| title_full | An ontological framework for organising and describing behaviours: The Human Behaviour Ontology [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations] |
| title_fullStr | An ontological framework for organising and describing behaviours: The Human Behaviour Ontology [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations] |
| title_full_unstemmed | An ontological framework for organising and describing behaviours: The Human Behaviour Ontology [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations] |
| title_short | An ontological framework for organising and describing behaviours: The Human Behaviour Ontology [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations] |
| title_sort | ontological framework for organising and describing behaviours the human behaviour ontology version 2 peer review 1 approved 2 approved with reservations |
| topic | behaviour behavior human ontology categorisation classification eng |
| url | https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/9-237/v2 |
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