| Quantifying engagement: Measuring player involvement in human-avatar interactions | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 1-11 | |
| Anne E. Norris; Harry Weger; Cory Bullinger; Alyssa Bowers | |||
| This research investigated the merits of using an established system for
rating behavioral cues of involvement in human dyadic interactions (i.e.,
face-to-face conversation) to measure involvement in human-avatar interactions.
Gameplay audio-video and self-report data from a Feasibility Trial and Free
Choice study of an effective peer resistance skill building simulation game
(DRAMA-RAMA™) were used to evaluate reliability and validity of the
rating system when applied to human-avatar interactions. The Free Choice study
used a revised game prototype that was altered to be more engaging. Both
studies involved girls enrolled in a public middle school in Central Florida
that served a predominately Hispanic (greater than 80%), low-income student
population. Audio-video data were coded by two raters, trained in the rating
system. Self-report data were generated using measures of perceived realism,
predictability and flow administered immediately after game play. Hypotheses
for reliability and validity were supported: reliability values mirrored those
found in the human dyadic interaction literature. Validity was supported by
factor analysis, significantly higher levels of involvement in Free Choice as
compared to Feasibility Trial players, and correlations between involvement
dimension sub scores and self-report measures. Results have implications for
the science of both skill-training intervention research and game design. Keywords: Engagement; Involvement; Human-avatar interactions; Simulation | |||
| Simultaneously presented animations facilitate the learning of higher-order relationships | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 12-22 | |
| Rolf Ploetzner; Richard Lowe | |||
| In an experimental study, we investigated how the simultaneous and
sequential presentation of animation episodes affects learners' perceptual
interrogation of the animation as well as their acquisition of higher-order
relationships. Of the 60 students who participated in the study, 30 studied the
animation episodes presented simultaneously and 30 studied the same episodes
presented sequentially. The eye movements of eight participants from each group
were recorded while they studied the animation episodes. The simultaneous
presentation resulted in significantly more visual transitions between the
episodes than the sequential presentation. Further, in case of the simultaneous
presentation significantly more bi-directional visual transitions occurred than
in case of the sequential presentation. Learning of higher-order relationships
was significantly more successful from simultaneously presented episodes than
from sequentially presented episodes. Keywords: Animation; Sequential presentation; Simultaneous presentation; Animation processing; Eye tracking; Learning | |||
| Facebook: Social uses and anxiety | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 23-27 | |
| Bethany McCord; Thomas L. Rodebaugh; Cheri A. Levinson | |||
| Research has shown inconsistent relationships between social anxiety and
time spent on Facebook, possibly because Facebook's many activities vary in
degree of social interactivity. We examined the relationships between social
anxiety, anxiety on Facebook, and social Facebook use. A multiple regression
predicting social Facebook use revealed an interaction. Participants with high
anxiety on Facebook and high social anxiety reported more frequent social
Facebook use than those with high anxiety on Facebook and low social anxiety. A
second multiple regression predicting social anxiety showed a suppression
effect, indicating that social Facebook use predicts social anxiety only once
anxiety on Facebook has been accounted for. These findings suggest that anxiety
on Facebook clarifies the relationship between social anxiety and social
Facebook use. Keywords: Social anxiety; Social Facebook use; Anxiety on Facebook; Social compensation hypothesis | |||
| Psychosocial functions of social media usage in a disaster situation: A multi-methodological approach | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 28-38 | |
| German Neubaum; Leonie Rösner; Astrid M. Rosenthal-von der Pütten; Nicole C. Krämer | |||
| Disasters are unexpected events that can affect a great number of
individuals physically and psychologically. While previous research identified
the Internet and especially social media as crucial platforms for information
and communication in such situations, the psychological perspective on
disaster-related functions of social media is still underrepresented. Building
on motivation and emotion theories, this work uses a multi-methodological
approach to holistically assess the individual's motives that underlay social
media usage in the context of the human stampede at the Love Parade 2010. The
results of a content analysis of postings in social networking site groups (N =
5970), qualitative interviews (N = 10), and an online survey (N = 171)
delineate social media not only as a means for verifying the well-being of
loved ones but also as appropriate spaces for social sharing of emotions and
pursuing empathic concerns. Moreover, social media have been found to provide
psychological benefits for users: The more individuals actively engaged in
social media communication, the more they felt emotionally relieved and as a
part of a like-minded community. These findings extend prior knowledge with
regard to processes of emotion regulation that accompany social media
communication in non-routine situations. Keywords: Disaster communication; Emotion regulation; Social media; Social networking sites | |||
| Differences in intrapersonal and interactional empowerment between lurkers and posters in health-related online support communities | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 39-48 | |
| Andraz Petrovcic; Gregor Petric | |||
| Participation in health-related online support communities plays an
important role in the psychological empowerment of people who are faced with
health problems. Research has suggested that important differences exist in
terms of psychological empowerment depending on the form and intensity of
participation in such domains by showing that users who contribute to
health-related online support communities by posting messages (posters)
generally experience greater benefits in terms of intrapersonal empowerment,
compared to participants who only read messages (lurkers). However, as yet,
very little is known about how the often-neglected interactional aspect of
psychological empowerment is associated with participation in these online
domains. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore how different forms and
intensity of participation in health-related online support communities are
associated with both dimensions of psychological empowerment. Drawing on a
nonprobability sample of 616 participants in two health-related online support
communities, the analysis of the data, obtained with an online questionnaire,
revealed that posters scored significantly higher in degree of interactional
empowerment than lurkers, whereas no difference was observed in terms of
intrapersonal empowerment. In addition, high posting frequency was
significantly associated with a high level of interactional empowerment but not
intrapersonal empowerment. The study suggests that to better understand the
empowering potential of participation for users of health-related online
support communities, it is important to distinguish not only between various
forms of participation but also between different aspects of psychological
empowerment. Keywords: Psychological empowerment; Online health community; Social support; Participation; LurkingPosting | |||
| The relationship between life stress and smartphone addiction on Taiwanese university student: A mediation model of learning self-Efficacy and social self-Efficacy | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 49-57 | |
| Shao-I. Chiu | |||
| Although numerous studies have examined factors that influence smartphone
addiction, few have analyzed the potential protective factors inherent in
individuals that may benefit future intervention programs for smartphone
addiction. Thus, this study established a model for analyzing the mediating
effect that learning self-efficacy and social self-efficacy have on the
relationship between university students' perceived life stress and smartphone
addiction. Sampling 387 Taiwanese university students, we distributed scales
surveying for university students' life stress, learning self-efficacy, social
self-efficacy, and smartphone addiction. Data retrieved from the scales were
analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The SEM path analysis
yielded the following results: (1) Academic stress had negative predictive
power for social and learning self-efficacies, and interpersonal relationship
stress had negative predictive power for social self-efficacy. (2) Social
self-efficacy had positive predictive power for smartphone addiction. (3)
Family and emotional stresses had positive predictive power for smartphone
addiction. Generally, the results of this study could be used to significantly
predict the life stresses that influenced university students' smartphone
addiction. In addition, social self-efficacy can be considered a cognitive
mechanism that mediates the relationships between academic stress and
smartphone addiction and between interpersonal relationship stress and
smartphone addiction. Finally, we discussed the research results and offered
relevant suggestions for schools, university students, and future studies. Keywords: Life stress; Social self-efficacy; Learning self-efficacy; Smartphone addiction | |||
| Conversations with a virtual human: Synthetic emotions and human responses | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 58-68 | |
| Chao Qu; Willem-Paul Brinkman; Yun Ling; Pascal Wiggers; Ingrid Heynderickx | |||
| To test whether synthetic emotions expressed by a virtual human elicit
positive or negative emotions in a human conversation partner and affect
satisfaction towards the conversation, an experiment was conducted where the
emotions of a virtual human were manipulated during both the listening and
speaking phase of the dialogue. Twenty-four participants were recruited and
were asked to have a real conversation with the virtual human on six different
topics. For each topic the virtual human's emotions in the listening and
speaking phase were different, including positive, neutral and negative
emotions. The results support our hypotheses that (1) negative compared to
positive synthetic emotions expressed by a virtual human can elicit a more
negative emotional state in a human conversation partner, (2) synthetic
emotions expressed in the speaking phase have more impact on a human
conversation partner than emotions expressed in the listening phase, (3) humans
with less speaking confidence also experience a conversation with a virtual
human as less positive, and (4) random positive or negative emotions of a
virtual human have a negative effect on the satisfaction with the conversation.
These findings have practical implications for the treatment of social anxiety
as they allow therapists to control the anxiety evoking stimuli, i.e., the
expressed emotion of a virtual human in a virtual reality exposure environment
of a simulated conversation. In addition, these findings may be useful to other
virtual applications that include conversations with a virtual human. Keywords: Virtual reality; Virtual human; Emotion; Dialogue experience; Social anxiety | |||
| Memory abilities in action video game players | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 69-78 | |
| Ashley F. McDermott; Daphne Bavelier; C. Shawn Green | |||
| Action video game players (AVGPs) have been shown to outperform non-action
video game players (NVGPs) on tasks of perception and attention. Here we set
out to investigate if these benefits also extended to another cognitive domain,
memory. In particular, while there is some previous evidence suggesting AVGPs
demonstrate better visual short-term memory, it is unclear whether this extends
to long-term memory processes or indeed, whether these enhancements are due to
memory per se or are instead reflective of changes in speed of processing or
strategy. Using four tasks that tap distinct areas of memory processing we
found evidence for greater speed of processing and enhanced visual short-term
memory in AVGPs and compared to NVGPs. However, we found either equivalent or
possibly decreased performance in AVGPs in tasks related to long-term memory
access. Furthermore, differences in strategy were noted across tasks, in
particular differences in the tradeoff between speed and accuracy, which calls
for a closer investigation of how task instructions bias performance in future
studies. Keywords: Action video games; Memory; Speed-accuracy trade-off | |||
| Misery rarely gets company: The influence of emotional bandwidth on supportive communication on Facebook | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 79-88 | |
| Andrew C. High; Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch; Saraswathi Bellur | |||
| This study introduces the concept of emotional bandwidth to describe a
communicator's ability to use technological features to disclose personal
affect online. Strategic use of emotional bandwidth was expected to correspond
with interpersonal rewards, specifically the willingness of others to provide
social support. Participants (N = 84) viewed hypothetical Facebook profiles
that contained manipulated levels of emotional bandwidth and were asked how
much support they would provide to the person in the profile. Participants who
viewed profiles portraying high emotional bandwidth were less willing to
provide social support; however, this finding was qualified by personal
qualities. Females, people who perceived a sense of community, and people who
had a preference for online social interaction indicated a greater willingness
to provide support in the high emotional bandwidth condition. Implications for
designing affective affordances in technologies and their psychological effects
are discussed. Keywords: Emotional bandwidth; Self-disclosure; Social support; Facebook | |||
| Online communication and subjective well-being in Chinese college students: The mediating role of shyness and social self-efficacy | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 89-95 | |
| Caina Li; Xinxin Shi; Jianning Dang | |||
| The present study attempts to examine the relationship between online
communication and subjective well-being from the perspective of psychological
need satisfaction, as well as the mediating role of shyness and social
self-efficacy among Chinese college students. 574 college students with average
age of 20 were asked to complete Psychological Need for Online Communication
Scale, Shyness Scale, Social Self-efficacy Scale and Subjective Well-being
Scale. SEM evidence supports the stimulation hypothesis, namely, the
psychological needs satisfied by online communication can promote a person's
social self-efficacy and experience a higher evaluation of subjective
well-being. Meanwhile, the psychological needs satisfied by online
communication can also influence individuals' status of shyness, which will
decrease their social self-efficacy and lead to a lower subjective well-being.
Furthermore, Chinese female college students obtain less social self-efficacy
from the satisfaction of psychological needs through online communication than
their male counterparts did, and resulted in less subjective well-being. The
results are discussed in terms of psychological needs theory. Keywords: Online communication; Psychological need; Shyness; Social self-efficacy; Subjective well-being | |||
| Using modern technology to keep in touch with back burners: An investment model analysis | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 96-100 | |
| Jayson L. Dibble; Michelle Drouin | |||
| Relationship research and theory recognizes that individuals continue to
monitor the availability of their romantic/sexual prospects whether or not they
are already in a committed relationship. We use the term back burner to
describe a desired potential or continuing romantic/sexual partner with whom
one communicates, but to whom one is not exclusively committed. Although
communication with back burners is not new, modern technology affords novel
channels (e.g., social networking applications and text messaging) that
individuals are using to connect with back burners. A survey study (N = 374)
explored whether people used technology to communicate with back burners, as
well as relationships between back burner contacts and investment model
variables (Rusbult, 1980). Results indicated that back burner activity through
electronic channels was common, men reported more back burners than women, and
that number of back burners associated positively with quality of alternatives.
For those in committed relationships, no relationships were observed between
back burner activity and commitment to or investment in the relationship.
Implications and limitations are discussed. Keywords: Back burners; Relationship alternatives; Investment theory; Communication technology; Social networking | |||
| Exploring how perceived threat and self-efficacy contribute to college students' use and perceptions of online mental health resources | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 101-109 | |
| Christopher J. McKinley; Erin K. Ruppel | |||
| Drawing from prior fear-appeal and information seeking research, this study
explored how perceived threat and self-efficacy predicted college students' use
and perceptions of online mental health resources. Results showed that
perceived vulnerability was a modest, yet robust predictor of visiting any
Internet website and joining an online support group, while self-efficacy
modestly predicted greater perceived usefulness and trust for online support
groups. Although numerous interactions emerged between self-efficacy and
perceived threat, the impact of these relationships on use and perceptions of
these services varied significantly. In particular, at higher levels of
self-efficacy, perceived severity negatively predict use of online services yet
also positively predicted trust in these resources. Furthermore, results showed
that vulnerability was only associated with favorable judgments of web services
at lower levels of efficacy. Overall, the findings suggest that self-efficacy
and perceived threat play a small, yet significant role in explaining online
mental health information seeking outcomes; however, the exact nature by which
these factors operate together to influence one's use and larger impressions
such resources remains unclear. Keywords: Mental health | |||
| Completion rates and non-response error in online surveys: Comparing sweepstakes and pre-paid cash incentives in studies of online behavior | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 110-119 | |
| Robert LaRose; Hsin-yi Sandy Tsai | |||
| This study aims to compare the effects of incentives and contact modes on
survey completion rates, and examine how non-response rates might affect the
quality of responses in online surveys. Two online surveys with different
incentives and contact modes were conducted. In study 1, both pre-paid cash
incentives and a sweepstakes offering of equal monetary value were more
effective than no incentive but the pre-paid incentive were more effective than
the sweepstakes. In study 2, respondents who received a pre-paid cash incentive
via postal mail after initially failing to respond to an emailed sweepstakes
offer differed from the initial respondents with respect to demographic and
psychological characteristics previously found to be important in a widely
cited study of social networking. Therefore, non-response error may indeed be a
problem in online surveys, at least among those directed to college students
and using a common method of recruitment in which offers of sweepstakes
drawings are delivered via email. Not only do the levels of variables important
to an understanding of online communication vary by survey method, but also the
lawful relationships among variables differ between groups recruited by
different methods. Keywords: Survey; Completion rate; Non-response error; Online surveys; Social networking | |||
| Exploring users' social responses to computer counseling interviewers' behavior | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 120-130 | |
| Sin-Hwa Kang; Jonathan Gratch | |||
| We explore the effect of behavioral realism and reciprocal self-disclosure
from computer interviewers on the social responses of human users in simulated
psychotherapeutic counseling interactions. To investigate this subject, we
designed a 3 × 3 factorial between-subjects experiment involving three
conditions of behavioral realism: high realism, low realism, and audio-only
(displaying no behavior at all) and three conditions of reciprocal
self-disclosure: high disclosure, low disclosure, and no disclosure. We
measured users' feelings of social presence (Copresence, Social Attraction, and
Emotional Credibility), rapport, perception of the quality of users' own
responses (Embarrassment and Self-Performance), emotional state (PANAS),
perception of an interaction partner (Person Perception), self-reported
self-disclosure, speech fluency (Pause Fillers and Incomplete Words), and
Verbal Self-Disclosure. We observed some contradictory outcomes in users'
subjective reports. However, the results of objective data analysis
demonstrated that users disclosed greater Verbal Self-Disclosure (medium level
of intimacy) when interacting with computer interviewers that displayed high
behavioral realism and high self-disclosure. Users also delivered more fluent
speech when interacting with computer interviewers that displayed high
behavioral realism. Keywords: Computer interviewers; Agents; Social-presence; Behavioral realism; Reciprocal self-disclosure; Counseling interactions | |||
| How political candidates use Twitter and the impact on votes | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 131-139 | |
| Sanne Kruikemeier | |||
| This study investigates the content characteristics of Twitter during an
election campaign, and the relationship between candidates' style of online
campaigning (i.e., politically personalized and interactive communication) and
electoral support for those candidates. Thereby, it provides a better
understanding of the linkage between the use of Twitter by candidates and
effects on preferential votes. Two data sources are used to examine this
relationship: first, a quantitative computer-assisted as well as a manual
content analysis of tweets posted by political candidates during the Dutch
national elections of 2010 (N = 40,957) and second, a dataset containing the
number of votes for electable political candidates during that period. The
findings show that using Twitter has positive consequences for political
candidates. Candidates who used Twitter during the course of the campaign
received more votes than those who did not, and using Twitter in an interactive
way had a positive impact as well. Keywords: Votes; Twitter; Campaigns; Political candidates; Content analysis | |||
| Antecedents and consequences of perceived value in Mobile Government continuance use: An empirical research in China | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 140-147 | |
| Changlin Wang | |||
| This paper examines the antecedents and consequences of perceived value in
m-government continuance use. Drawing upon service science studies and Chinese
m-government context, a research model is constructed by extending the
technology acceptance model (TAM). Data collected from a field survey of 326
m-government users are analyzed to test the proposed hypotheses. The results
indicate that perceived value is strongly influenced by mobility, perceived
usefulness and security, which is, in turn, significant impact on satisfaction
and trust in technology, trust in agent and trust in government. These results
contribute to drawing attention to the important role of perceived value in
m-government continuance use and providing a new view that supplements to the
extant technology acceptance research. Keywords: Mobile Government; Continuance use; Perceived value; Perceived security; Mobility; Satisfaction; Trust | |||
| An experimental study of online chatting and notetaking techniques on college students' cognitive learning from a lecture | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 148-156 | |
| Fang-Yi Flora Wei; Y. Ken Wang; Warren Fass | |||
| This experimental study investigated the effects of college students' online
chatting behavior and notetaking techniques (handwritten vs. computer-mediated)
on their cognitive learning. The results showed that regardless of notetaking
technique, students who did not participate in off-learning online chatting
during class, compared to those who did, demonstrated better recall of lecture
content and higher quality of note. In terms of cognitive learning, students
who used laptops to take notes were least negatively affected by online
chatting during class than those who took handwritten notes or took no notes
during the lecture. The findings suggest that task switching and interruption
result in reduced effectiveness of learning and notetaking; moreover, switching
from handwriting on notepads to typing chat messages on computer keyboards
demonstrated a motor delay compared to students who used the same devices to
multitask. Keywords: Cognitive learning; Multitasking; Online chatting; Notetaking; Recall | |||
| Does country context matter? Investigating the predictors of teen sexting across Europe | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 157-164 | |
| Susanne E. Baumgartner; Sindy R. Sumter; Jochen Peter; Patti M. Valkenburg; Sonia Livingstone | |||
| Despite growing research interest in sexting, not much is known about
individual and country differences in engaging in sexting. Therefore, the aims
of this study were to investigate (a) which individual and country
characteristics explain sexting and (b) whether individual predictors vary
across countries. On the individual level, we investigated age, gender,
sensation seeking, and internet use. On the country level, we investigated
traditionalism, gross domestic product, and broadband internet penetration. The
sample consisted of 14,946 adolescents (49.7% boys) aged 11-16 from 20 European
countries. Data were collected as part of the EU Kids Online project.
Participants were interviewed at home. Using multilevel modeling, findings
indicate that on the individual level, age, sensation seeking, and frequency of
internet use predicted sexting across all countries. Gender differences in
sexting varied across countries. Although country characteristics (GDP,
broadband internet penetration, traditional values) had no direct effect on
adolescent sexting, traditionalism significantly predicted gender differences
in sexting. In more traditional countries, gender differences were more
pronounced than in less traditional countries, with more boys than girls
engaging in sexting. In less traditional countries, gender differences were
smaller. Keywords: Sexting; Gender differences; Adolescents; Internet; Cross-national comparison | |||
| Low self-control and cybercrime: Exploring the utility of the general theory of crime beyond digital piracy | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 165-172 | |
| Christopher M. Donner; Catherine D. Marcum; Wesley G. Jennings; George E. Higgins; Jerry Banfield | |||
| While technological innovations over the last thirty years have markedly
improved the ways in which people communicate and gather information, these
advances have also led to computer crimes and related deviance becoming
permanent fixtures in our society. In an effort to curtail internet offending,
it is important for academics and practitioners alike to better understand why
some individuals engage in cybercriminality. Criminologists have utilized
several theories to investigate this type of deviance, including low
self-control theory. However, the vast majority of this prior research has
focused on a narrow scope of offending, namely digital piracy. The current
study utilizes a sample of 488 undergraduate students to evaluate the theory's
generality hypothesis by examining the extent to which low self-control
predicts online deviance in general and beyond digital piracy more
specifically. Study results support the generality hypothesis in that low
self-control is related to non-digital piracy online deviance. Specific
findings, policy implications, and directions for future research are
discussed. Keywords: Self-control; Computer crime; Cybercrime; Online deviance; Digital piracy; Criminological theory | |||
| Student perceptions of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) content and careers | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 173-186 | |
| Rhonda Christensen; Gerald Knezek; Tandra Tyler-Wood | |||
| Attitudinal data were gathered from 364 high school students participating
in a residential science and mathematics program on a university campus in
which participating students finish their last 2 years of high school in
conjunction with their first 2 years in college. Instruments employed assessed
dispositions toward Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
content and careers. Dispositions were analyzed in comparison to data gathered
on the same instruments from other groups of students and teachers. Findings
included that the residential early admissions students had STEM dispositions
more similar to STEM professionals and less similar to traditional high school
students. Analyses of disaggregated data characteristics based on attributes
such as gender are also presented. Keywords: STEM dispositions; Secondary education; Student attitudes; Gender studies | |||
| Letter repetitions in computer-mediated communication: A unique link between spoken and online language | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 187-193 | |
| Yoram M. Kalman; Darren Gergle | |||
| Computer-mediated communication (CMC) affords many CMC cues which augment
the verbal content of the message: all uppercase letters, asterisks, emoticons,
punctuation marks, chronemics (time-related messages) and letter repetitions,
to name a few. Letter repetitions are unique CMC cues in that they appear to be
a written emulation of a spoken paralinguistic cue -- phoneme extension. In
this study we explore letter repetitions as a CMC cue, with specific emphasis
on elucidating the link between them and spoken nonverbal cues. The letter
repetitions are studied in the Enron Corpus, a large ecologically valid
collection (~500,000) of e-mail messages sent by and to employees of the Enron
Corporation. We conclude that letter repetitions in the corpus often, but not
always, emulate spoken nonverbal cues. This conclusion is examined in a
longitudinal analysis that demonstrates the dynamic nature of this cue, and
suggests that the usage of letter repetitions is increasing over time, while
the link to spoken language is diminishing. Keywords: CMC cues; Nonverbal cues; Computer-mediated communication; Letter repetitions | |||
| Another brick in the Facebook wall -- How personality traits relate to the content of status updates | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 194-202 | |
| Stephan Winter; German Neubaum; Sabrina C. Eimler; Vanessa Gordon; Jenna Theil; Jonathan Herrmann; Judith Meinert; Nicole C. Krämer | |||
| Status updates represent a new form of one-to-many communication which is
widely used among members of social networking sites (SNS). The present study
investigated the question of who in particular uses the self-presentational
opportunities of this feature and which users engage in riskier
self-disclosures than others. Combining questionnaire and content analysis, we
related self-reports on users' personality traits (extraversion, narcissism,
self-efficacy, need to belong, need for popularity) to the actual use of
Facebook status updates. Results showed that higher degrees of narcissism led
to deeper self-disclosures and more self-promotional content within these
messages. Users with higher need to belong disclosed more intimate information
in status updates, while perceived efficacy of self-presentation was negatively
related to the mass suitability of postings. Findings extend prior research on
personality and SNS usage with regard to dynamic features and content
differences in online self-presentation. Keywords: Social networking sites; Self-presentation; Self-disclosure; Narcissism; Personality traits | |||
| A snapshot of the first encounters of visually disabled users with the Web | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 203-212 | |
| Markel Vigo; Simon Harper | |||
| Navigating the Web is particularly challenging for disabled users who are
not familiar with the idiosyncrasies of the Web and have to rely on assistive
technologies. We provide insights on the adaptation process of novice visually
disabled users through a snapshot that depicts their first encounters with the
Web during a period of 2 months. We discover that, as the sessions go on, last
resort tactics are replaced by more sophisticated exploration tactics, which
suggests that users not only become more skilled, but also more independent and
autonomous. We observe that at later stages, tasks are more effectively
accomplished at the expenses of reduced efficiency. We propose 2 explanations
for this phenomenon: at later stages users may be more prone to misuse tactics
from a larger repertoire or alternatively, they may feel more confident and
less thoughtful. Design implications suggest that, initially, users should be
provided with mechanisms to recover from failure, while interventions at later
stages should not interfere with the learning process. Keywords: Behavioural sciences; Web; Adaptive behaviour; Learning; Skill acquisition; Coping tactics; Visually disabled; Blind users; Visually impaired users | |||
| Avatar creation in virtual worlds: Behaviors and motivations | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 213-218 | |
| Hsin Lin; Hua Wang | |||
| Avatar creation has become common for people to participate and interact in
virtual worlds. Using an online survey (N = 244), we investigated both the
behavioral characteristics and major motivations for avatar creation in virtual
worlds. Our results suggest that a majority of the participants had multiple
avatars; these avatars' appearance did not merely resemble the human players;
and their personality did not necessarily mirror the player's real personality.
Furthermore, participants on average spent over 20 h per week and often
interacting with others in the virtual worlds. Our exploratory factor analysis
yielded four major motivations: virtual exploration, social navigation,
contextual adaptation, and identity representation. Keywords: Avatar creation; Behavior; Motivation; Virtual worlds | |||
| "I Have AIDS": Content analysis of postings in HIV/AIDS support group on a Chinese microblog | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 219-226 | |
| Yanru Guo; Dion Hoe-Lian Goh | |||
| With the widespread growth and adoption of new technologies, online
platforms such as social network sites (SNSs) have become a channel for health
information. Online groups have been set up for communication and interaction,
among which many are for people with chronic illnesses, including people with
HIV/AIDS (PHA). In the study of online communication behavior, the Social
Information Processing Theory (SIPT) predicted people will develop deeper
interpersonal relationships in online groups over time (Walther, 1996).
However, the author argued that CMC content should be examined more closely to
get a dynamic picture of how people interaction and how groups develop over
time. Thus this paper attempted to refine SIPT by enriching the framework with
detailed components, and used directed content analysis to categorize messages
posted on the PHA Support Group on Sina Weibo, a China-based microblog. The
results showed that the percentage of socio-emotional messages saw an increase
of almost 1/3 over time, taking over informational messages as the major
content in all online postings. Medical related informational messages
surpassed non-medical related informational messages as time went by. Intimacy
relationship messages saw drastic increase in the two time periods. This study
refined SIPT by providing increased granularity of its categorization scheme to
examine group communication more closely. Keywords: Informational content; Online support group; People living with HIV/AIDS; Socio-emotional content | |||
| User experience and personal innovativeness: An empirical study on the Enterprise Resource Planning systems | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 227-234 | |
| Yujong Hwang | |||
| Although user experience and personal innovativeness are two important
factors in new technology adoption, there has been no prior study to test these
factors with the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) adoption. This paper
investigates moderating roles of user experience on the relationship between
the personal innovativeness and the ERP adoption motivations. This issue is
important because if the user has more experience with the systems then the
power of influence of personal innovativeness on ERP adoption motivation would
be different. Thus, this paper tests these important insights of ERP systems
adoption with the two different field samples with high (more than three years)
and low (less than three years) user experience, based on the innovation
diffusion theory, self determination theory, and different types of motivations
such as intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. The findings, based on the PLS
analysis of the model using 107 ERP end users, show that there are clear
moderating effects of user experience -- such as impacts of personal
innovativeness on ERP systems adoption motivations are higher in case of low
user experience samples, as expected. Academic and practical implications are
discussed in the paper based on these empirical findings. Keywords: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems; User experience; Personal innovativeness in IT; Innovation diffusion theory; Extrinsic motivation; Intrinsic motivation | |||
| Predicting guild commitment in World of Warcraft with the investment model of commitment | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 235-240 | |
| Aleksandra M. Odrowska; Karlijn Massar | |||
| Many MMORPG offer players the possibility to become a member of a guild, a
hierarchical organization of characters with common objectives. Guild
membership can be beneficial to game progress, and offer opportunities for
social interaction. In the current study we focus on the MMORPG World of
Warcraft (WoW), with the main aim to examine whether guild commitment and
players' intention to remain in their guild can be predicted by players'
satisfaction, investments, and perceptions of alternatives to their guild. To
this end, 165 WoW players completed an online questionnaire and answered
questions related to their guild membership. They also completed the investment
model scale which was reworded so all questions pertained to their guild and
their fellow guild members. Results show that satisfaction level, quality of
alternatives, and investment size significantly predict commitment level (p's
< .001), which in turn predicted likelihood of participants' staying with
their current guild (p < .001) and the number of guilds they had been a
member of in the past (p < .001). Moreover, high levels of guild commitment
were indicative of better mental health, whereas weekly hours of game play was
negatively related to mental health. In the discussion, we conclude that
interdependence theory and the investment model of commitment are applicable to
online gaming environments, and we argue that commitment to one's guild is one
factor that could prevent the risks associated with online game play (i.e.
problematic use). Keywords: Online gaming; World of Warcraft; Guild membership; Interdependence theory; Investment model of commitment | |||
| Spatial augmented reality as a method for a mobile robot to communicate intended movement | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 241-248 | |
| Michael D. Coovert; Tiffany Lee; Ivan Shindev; Yu Sun | |||
| Our work evaluates a mobile robot's ability to communicate intended
movements to humans via projection of visual arrows and a simplified map.
Humans utilize a variety of techniques to signal intended movement in a
co-occupied space. We evaluated an augmented reality projection provided by the
robot. The projection is on the floor and consists of arrows and a simplified
map. Two pilots and one quasi-experiment were conducted to examine the
effectiveness of visual projection of arrows by a robot for signaling intended
movement. The pilot work demonstrates the effectiveness of utilizing arrows as
a communication medium. The experiment examined the effectiveness of a
simplified map and arrows for signaling the short-, mid-range, and long-term
intended movement. Two pilot experiments confirm that arrows are an effective
symbol for a robot to use to signal intent. A field experiment demonstrates
that a robot can use a projected arrow and simplified map to signal its
intended movement and people understand the projection for upcoming short-,
medium-, and long-term movement. Augmented reality, such as projected arrows
and simplified map, are an effective tool for robots to use when signaling
their upcoming movement to humans. Telepresence robots in organizations, museum
docents, information kiosks, hospital assistants, factories, and as members of
search and rescue teams are typical applications where mobile robots reside and
interact with people. Keywords: Augmented reality; Mobile robot; HRI communication; Modality | |||
| Son, you're smoking on Facebook! College students' disclosures on social networking sites as indicators of real-life risk behaviors | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 249-257 | |
| Joris J. van Hoof; Jeroen Bekkers; Mark van Vuuren | |||
| Health risk behavior in student populations is an issue of major concern,
and students' risk levels are difficult to determine. In this study, we explore
the extent to which information disclosed publicly on Facebook provides
reliable indications of five real-life health behaviors.
Questionnaire data and Facebook contents (2928 items) on alcohol use, smoking, illicit drug use, (un)healthy nutrition, and participation in sports of 71 respondents were collected and analyzed. The study shows that one can analyze Facebook profiles to reliably associate profile owners' smoking and sport behavior. It also shows that regarding alcohol use, some Facebook profile elements are indicative of real-life drinking. We discuss and suggest improved methods of coding disclosed public data, which may lead to reliable indications of peoples' real-life behavior. Keywords: Social networking sites (SNSs); Alcohol; Tobacco; Illicit drugs; Nutrition; Sports | |||
| Consumer attitudes toward blogger's sponsored recommendations and purchase intention: The effect of sponsorship type, product type, and brand awareness | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 258-266 | |
| Long-Chuan Lu; Wen-Pin Chang; Hsiu-Hua Chang | |||
| Sponsored recommendation blog posts, a form of online consumer review, are
blog articles written by bloggers who receive benefits from sponsoring
marketers to review and promote products on their personal blog. Because
national regulations require that marketer sponsorship must be revealed in the
blog post, sponsored recommendation posts can no longer conceal their marketing
intent. Consumer's attitudes toward sponsored recommendation posts are thus a
vital issue in assessing the effectiveness of the advertisement. This study
uses a 2(sponsorship type) × 2(product type) × 2(brand awareness)
experimental design and a total of 613 valid samples to examine consumer
attitudes toward sponsored recommendation posts and purchase intention. The
results show that when products recommended in blog posts are search goods or
have high brand awareness, consumers have highly positive attitudes toward
sponsored recommendation posts, which improves purchase intention. The
directly-monetary/indirect-monetary benefits received by the bloggers have no
significant effect on readership attitudes. Using these features in blog
writings appears to improve online readers' trust toward and the credibility of
sponsored recommendation posts and thus can be a vital online marketing tool
for marketers. Keywords: Online consumer review; Blog recommendation; Product type; Brand awareness; Purchase intention | |||
| Constantly connected -- The effects of smart-devices on mental health | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 267-272 | |
| Joshua Harwood; Julian J. Dooley; Adrian J. Scott; Richard Joiner | |||
| A number of studies have demonstrated the mental health implications of
excessive Internet-browsing, gaming, texting, emailing, social networking, and
phone calling. However, no study to date has investigated the impact of being
able to conduct all of these activities on one device. A smart-device (i.e.,
smart-phone or tablet) allows these activities to be conducted anytime and
anywhere, with unknown mental health repercussions. This study investigated the
association between smart-device use, smart-device involvement and mental
health. Two-hundred and seventy-four participants completed an online survey
comprising demographic questions, questions concerning smart-device use, the
Mobile Phone Involvement Questionnaire, the Internet Addiction Test and the
Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales. Higher smart-device involvement was
significantly associated with higher levels of depression and stress but not
anxiety. However, smart-device use was not significantly associated with
depression, anxiety or stress. These findings suggest that it is the nature of
the relationship a person has with their smart-device that is predictive of
depression and stress, rather than the extent of use. Keywords: Smart-devices; Smart-phones; Mental health; Depression; Stress; Addiction | |||
| Neurophysiological correlates of cognitive absorption in an enactive training context | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 273-283 | |
| Pierre-Majorique Léger; Fred D. Davis; Timothy Paul Cronan; Julien Perret | |||
| Various aspects of intrinsic motivation have long been theorized as key
determinants of learning achievement. The present research seeks deeper
insights into these intrinsically motivating mechanisms by investigating
neurophysiological correlates of cognitive absorption in the context of
enactive learning, specifically simulation-based training on the use of
enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. An experiment was conducted in
which 36 student trainees used ERP software to make decisions while running a
simulated company. Consistent with flow theory, skill, difficulty, and their
interaction significantly influenced cognitive absorption (R² = .16). Five
neurophysiological measures were captured for each trainee: EEG alpha, EEG
beta, electrodermal activity (EDA), heart rate, and heart rate variability.
Each of the five neurophysiological measures explained significant unique
variance in cognitive absorption over and above skill, difficulty, and their
interaction, and collectively more than doubled the explained variance to
R² = .34. Overall, cognitive absorption was positively related to a more
relaxed, less vigilant state. Cognitive absorption was significantly related to
the training outcome. These findings provide new insights into the
psychological states that are conducive to experiencing cognitive absorption
during enactive training. Keywords: NeuroIS; Neurophysiological measures; End-user training; Cognitive absorption; Enactive learning | |||
| Depression, loneliness and Internet addiction: How important is low self-control? | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 284-290 | |
| Yalçin Özdemir; Yasar Kuzucu; Serife Ak | |||
| This study aimed to explore both the direct and indirect relationships
between depression, loneliness, low self-control, and Internet addiction in a
sample of Turkish youth, based on a cognitive-behavioral model of generalized
problematic Internet use. Data for the present study were collected from 648
undergraduate students with a mean age of 22.46 years (SD = 2.45). Participants
completed scales for depression, loneliness, self-control and Internet
addiction. Structural equation modeling was used to test the model in which
depression and loneliness predicted Internet addiction through low
self-control. The findings revealed that of the two factors, only loneliness
was related to Internet addiction through low self-control. The results are
discussed in terms of the cognitive-behavioral model of generalized problematic
Internet use, and implications for practice are considered. Keywords: Depression; Loneliness; Internet addiction; Self-control | |||
| Prediction of cyberslacking when employees are working away from the office | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 291-298 | |
| Thomas A. O'Neill; Laura A. Hambley; Angelina Bercovich | |||
| The landscape of counterproductive workplace behavior is changing with the
rapid integration of advanced communication technologies in the modern
workforce. Specifically, employers are increasingly allowing employees to spend
some work time at home, and to stay connected with the office through
communication technologies. These telework arrangements bring about a new form
of counterproductive workplace behaviors, namely, cyberslacking. Cyberslacking
involves using the Internet for non-work related purposes while on company
time. Engaging in cyberslacking might be particularly relevant when working at
home because it would be easier to avoid being caught by supervisors and
co-workers. The current study examines personality, satisfaction, and perceived
performance as antecedents of cyberslacking while working away from the office.
Findings from a field study indicate that cyberslacking is positively related
to Procrastination, and negatively related to Honesty, Agreeableness, and
Conscientiousness. Cyberlacking was also found to be negatively related to both
satisfaction and perceived performance while working remotely. The study
suggests that personality might be used as an avenue for screening those who
may be selected for remote work, or to help develop structures that reduce
cyberslacking opportunities for those with personalities that are predisposed
to cyberslacking (e.g., closer managerial monitoring of the employee's daily
output). Keywords: Cyberslacking; Cyberloafing; Telework; Remote work; Work outcomes; Personality | |||
| When technology acceptance models won't work: Non-significant intention-behavior effects | | BIB | Full-Text | 299-300 | |
| Nicolae Nistor | |||
| Behavioral intention, use behavior and the acceptance of electronic learning systems: Differences between higher education and lifelong learning | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 301-314 | |
| Ángel F. Agudo-Peregrina; Ángel Hernández-García; Félix J. Pascual-Miguel | |||
| Widespread implementation of e-learning systems -- learning management
systems, virtual learning environments -- across higher education institutions
has aroused great interest on the study of e-learning acceptance. Acceptance
studies focus on the predictors of system adoption and use, with behavioral
intention to use the system as a proxy for actual use. This study proposes a
TAM3-based model -- with the inclusion of two additional variables: personal
innovativeness in the domain of information technology and perceived
interaction -- to study the factors influencing the acceptance of e-learning
systems. Attention is also brought towards the role of behavioral intention,
especially in its relation with use behavior. In order to do so, two different
settings were considered: higher education and lifelong learning; data was
gathered from a survey administrated to Spanish graduate and lifelong learning
students, and partial least squares analysis was used to test the research
model. Results supported TAM relations, except for the intention-behavior
linkage, and unveiled a dual nature of perceived usefulness -- with one
component related to efficiency and performance, and another component related
to flexibility. The adequacy of applying TAM3-based models in educational
contexts and suitability of actual system usage measures are also discussed. Keywords: Educational technology acceptance; Behavioral intention; Use behavior; Self-reported use; TAM3 | |||
| Predicting teachers' generative and receptive use of an educational portal by intention, attitude and self-reported use | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 315-322 | |
| Bram Pynoo; Johan van Braak | |||
| This study takes off where most acceptance studies stop, namely by
investigating the link between acceptance and different aspects of actual usage
of an educational portal. Both receptive (logins, downloads and pageviews) and
generative use behavior (uploads and reactions) of 864 teachers was collected
on two occasions, and linked to their responses on an acceptance questionnaire
based upon C-TAM-TPB. Two research questions were put forward: (1) which
dimensions of actual use are predicted by attitude, intention and self-reported
use; and (2) can C-TAM-TPB discern uploaders from non-uploaders. Regression
analyses showed that receptive use (logins, downloads, pages viewed) was
predicted by attitude, intention and self-reported use (variance explained in
the range .13-.16). Generative use (uploading and reacting) was not explained
by these self-reported measures (Adj. R² .01 and .04). Uploaders scored
higher on all use parameters and almost all scales. A logistic regression
showed that the more positive teachers' attitudes towards the portal and the
higher their perceptions of control; the more likely they will upload
information. This study is a call for more research on the factors that
influence different dimensions of actual educational technology use, and should
be an onset for more research on the link between intention and behavior in
different settings, user populations, and technologies. Keywords: Teachers' technology acceptance; Use behavior; C-TAM-TPB; Educational portal; Generative use behavior; Receptive use behavior | |||
| Toward an understanding of the behavioral intention to use a social networking site: An extension of task-technology fit to social-technology fit | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 323-332 | |
| Hsi-Peng Lu; Yi-Wen Yang | |||
| Social networking sites (SNS) are one of the recent popular social media
platforms. Successful SNS can attract millions of users in a few years, which
has drawn much attention in the study of SNS. Understanding the relationships
between a user's intention and the utilization of SNS is an essential step in
engaging the SNS as a marketing or educational tool. However, current research
models for technology acceptance can hardly explain the impact on the intention
of using SNS from the perspective of technology fit due to the lack of social
constructs. This study examines and compares the impact of task, social, and
technology characteristics on users' intentions in using SNS by integrating the
task-technology fit model and social capital theory. Data of 315 Facebook users
were collected from the online questionnaire, and processed using the SmartPLS
version 2.0 for path analysis and hypotheses tests. The results reveal that the
social-technology fit has a dominant impact over the task-technology fit on
users' intentions to employ SNS. For SNS research, it suggests a
reconceptualization of the current task-technology fit model by adding social
constructs if necessary. Keywords: Social networking sites; Task-technology fit; Technology acceptance; Social capital theory; Partial least squares | |||
| Non-significant intention-behavior effects in educational technology acceptance: A case of competing cognitive scripts? | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 333-338 | |
| Ambar Murillo Montes de Oca; Nicolae Nistor | |||
| Current technology acceptance research insufficiently considers complex
educational settings. Recent research in educational technology acceptance has
found weak or non-significant intention-behavior effects. To understand this
finding, this paper presents a learning scripts approach to acceptance. A mixed
methods approach is used to examine the intention-behavior effect in the
context of informal learning in the workplace, focusing on the use of a virtual
community of practice (vCoP) where participants share knowledge about the
technical use of a software used in daily work tasks. Alternatively, users can
access expert knowledge by contacting a Help Desk. As expected, the
quantitative results show that the participants develop an intention to use the
vCoP, however this intention has a limited effect on the actual vCoP use
behavior. Qualitative results reveal that users have two cognitive scripts: an
acceptance script, resulting in intention formation, and a help-seeking script,
a well-established script in users which is leading them away from the
technology and toward alternative help-seeking strategies. The help-seeking
script is therefore interfering with the acceptance script, thus explaining
weak or non-significant intention-behavior effects. Further research is needed
to explore additional scripts that play a role in educational technology
acceptance. Keywords: Educational technology acceptance; Use behavior; Academic help seeking; Informal learning; Scripts | |||
| Participation in virtual academic communities of practice under the influence of technology acceptance and community factors. A learning analytics application | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 339-344 | |
| Nicolae Nistor; Beate Baltes; Mihai Dascialu; Dan Mihiailia; George Smeaton; Stefan Triausan-Matu | |||
| Participation in virtual communities of practice (vCoP) can be influenced at
the same time by technology acceptance and by community factors. To overcome
methodological issues connected with the analysis of these influences, learning
analytics were applied. Based on a recent vCoP model, the collaborative
dialogue comprising 4040 interventions in 1981 messages created by a vCoP
located at a US American online university was automatically analyzed. The
text-based asynchronous online discussions were scored using a cohesion-based
participation and collaboration analysis. Additionally, a sample of N = 133
vCoP participants responded a technology acceptance survey. Thus, a combined
research model including the vCoP model and an established technology
acceptance model was verified. The results confirmed the vCoP model entirely,
and the acceptance model only partially. As consequence for educational
research, the CoP model was confirmed and extended to vCoP settings, while the
acceptance model appears to need reconsideration. For academic practice, the
study initiates the development of assessment tools fostering knowledge sharing
through dialogue in vCoP. Also, it suggests how virtual classrooms can be
extended to open spaces where value creation takes place through social
learning. Learning analytics proved thus successful, provides information that
impacts both theory and practice of technology-enhanced learning. Keywords: Communities of practice; Technology acceptance; Learning analytics; Discourse analysis; Natural language processing; Social network analysis | |||
| An e-maturity analysis explains intention-behavior disjunctions in technology adoption in UK schools | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 345-351 | |
| Colin Harrison; Carmen Tomás; Charles Crook | |||
| This paper addresses the problem of non-significant intention-behavior
effects in educational technology adoption, based on a reanalysis of data from
the Impact09 project, a UK-government funded evaluation of technology use in
high schools in England that had been selected as representing outstanding
Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) innovation. The reanalysis
focuses on intentionality and teleology, and attempts to combine an ecological
perspective with a critical analysis of the intention-behavior correlations
among participants, particularly teachers and head teachers. The concept of
self-regulation is also considered as a determinant of behavior. The study
reports a qualitative analysis of extensive interview data from four schools,
and makes use of Underwood's concept of 'linkage e-maturity'. Traditional
models of technology acceptance often assumed a steady trajectory of
innovation, but such studies failed to explain uneven patterns of adoption. In
this reanalysis, an emphasis on learning practices and e-maturity, interpreted
within local and system-wide ecological contexts, better explained uneven
adoption patterns. Keywords: Information and communications technologies; Evaluation; Technology adoption; Maturity modeling; Linkage e-maturity; Self-regulation | |||
| Corrigendum to "Computerized working memory training: Can it lead to gains in cognitive skills in students?" [Comput. Hum. Behav. 29 (2012) 632-638] | | BIB | Full-Text | 352 | |
| Tracy Packiam Alloway; Vanessa Bibile; Gemma Lau | |||
| Corrigendum to "Discrepant gender patterns for cyberbullying and traditional bullying -- An analysis of Swedish adolescent data" [Comput. Hum. Behav. 29 (2013) 1896-1903] | | BIB | Full-Text | 353 | |
| Linda Beckman; Curt Hagquist; Lisa Hellström | |||