Perceptions and attributions of bystanders to cyber bullying | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 1-7 | |
Brett Holfeld | |||
Bystanders play a critical role in the maintenance or reduction of bullying
behavior. The potentially unlimited audience in the online world suggests that
the role of bystanders may be particularly important in cyber bullying.
However, little is known about the perceptions of bystanders or the situational
factors that can increase or decrease their support for victims. In this study,
bystanders' perceptions of control, attributions of responsibility and blame
for a hypothetical same-gender victim of cyber bullying were examined within a
blog. Participants included 1105 middle school students who were assigned to
one of three experimental conditions that manipulated the victim's response
(passive, active, reactive). In all conditions, a negative outcome resulted
(cyber bullying continued). A 3 × 2 MANCOVA tested effects of Response
Type × Gender on bystanders' perceptions and attributions. Results
indicate that passive responses elicited stronger perceptions of control,
attributions of responsibility and blame than active or reactive responses,
particularly for male bystanders. Bystanders may be less likely to offer
assistance to victims of cyber bullying who respond passively to their
experience. The findings have implications for understanding the factors that
can increase or decrease bystander support in real-life cyber bullying
situations. Keywords: Cyber bullying; Bystanders; Attribution theory; Adolescents |
Who does that anyway? Predictors and personality correlates of cyberbullying in college | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 8-16 | |
Zebbedia G. Gibb; Paul G. Devereux | |||
Less is known about cyberbullying behaviors in college populations because
studies on this topic traditionally have focused on adolescent populations,
have not measured correlates of this behavior within college samples, or have
methodological weaknesses limiting their findings. By using a more
comprehensive measure of cyberbullying behaviors and examining what is
associated with its occurrence, the current study aims to extend the knowledge
about cyberbullying behaviors in college. Results showed that approximately 52%
of college students report engaging in cyberbullying behaviors and indicated
that victims of CBB and individuals high on a subclinical measure of
psychopathy were more likely to report having engaged in CBB. It was also found
that victims of CBB, men, and individuals high on subclinical psychopathy
engaged in a wider range of cyberbullying behaviors. Age was the only factor
associated with a decrease in CBB. Keywords: Cyberbullying; College population; Dark Triad |
The role of stereotypical beliefs in gender-based activation of the Proteus effect | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 17-24 | |
Brett Sherrick; Jennifer Hoewe; T. Franklin Waddell | |||
Informed by the Proteus effect, the current study examined the moderating
effect of belief in stereotypes on the relationship between avatar appearance
and user behavior, via an interactive fiction. The results of a one-factor
(avatar gender: male vs. female), between-subjects experiment revealed that
female avatars elicited more frequent masculine behaviors (particularly among
individuals high in feminine gender stereotypes) and that male avatars elicited
more frequent feminine behaviors. Conversely, self-reported gender led to
stereotypic behaviors as expected. A moderating effect of awareness of the
avatar's influence on stereotypically gender-based decisions on frequency of
gender-typed behavior was not found, suggesting individuals are not aware of
the influence of avatars on their subsequent decisions. Keywords: Proteus effect; Avatars; Stereotyping; Gender |
To ban or not to ban: Differences in mobile phone policies at elementary, middle, and high schools | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 25-32 | |
Qiufeng Gao; Zheng Yan; Chongwei Zhao; Ying Pan; Lei Mo | |||
The present study was to examine differences in mobile phone policies at
elementary, middle and high schools. We surveyed 245 elementary, middle and
high schools teachers in Shenzhen of China, using a specially designed 18-item
questionnaire. Teachers' responses indicate that, across elementary, middle and
high schools, significant differences exist in (1) students' percentages of
using mobile phones among students, (2) students' dependence of mobile phones,
(3) the number of schools banning students' mobile phone use, (4) oral and
written forms used by schools to ban students' mobile phone use, and (5) policy
reinforcement strategies used by schools. However, no school-level differences
was found in (1) students' fondness of using mobile phones, (2) teachers'
assessment of low-level effectiveness of mobile phone policies, and (3)
teachers' policy improvement recommendations. Significance and implications of
the findings are discussed. Keywords: Mobile phone; Mobile phone use policy; Elementary, middle, and high schools; Mobile phone behavior; School policy |
Solving the privacy paradox: A counter-argument experimental approach | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 33-42 | |
Young Min Baek | |||
This study investigates why ordinary online users highly concerned about the
misuse of personal information do not adopt privacy-protective behaviors, or
even engage in risky behaviors, on the Internet. Given that people have few
chances to directly experience privacy infringement and tend to be unfamiliar
with technical terms, their opinions as reflected in conventional polls tend to
be instantaneous reactions to survey questionnaires, lacking thoughtfulness. By
adopting a counterargument experimental technique, this study produced three
important findings: (1) people's opinions about online privacy are swayed after
being presented with a message containing a counterargument; (2) this
persuasion effect is pronounced among people with a low level of online
knowledge or who assess the presented message's argument as strong; and (3) the
privacy paradox is found in conventional polls but disappears in
counterargument conditions. These findings imply that opinions concerning
online privacy should not be estimated through conventional polling. Rather,
alternative polls (e.g., deliberative polls) should be adopted for online
privacy policy-making. Keywords: Online privacy opinions; Online privacy concerns; Privacy paradox; Counterargument experiment; Argument strength |
Organizational balancing of website interactivity and control: An examination of ideological groups and the duality of goals | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 43-54 | |
Matthew L. Jensen; Norah E. Dunbar; M. Shane Connelly; William D. Taylor; Michael Hughes; Bradley Adame; Bobby Rozzell | |||
Researchers have overwhelmingly concluded that substantial benefits can be
achieved by organizations increasing the level of interactivity on their
websites. However, interactivity, with its emphasis on facilitating visitors'
unconstrained exchanges and control over website content, may undermine the
communicative purpose of an organization's website. Taking a perspective based
on the duality of goals, we argue that interactivity may not be desirable for
some supporting organizations. We tested these ideas by examining the features
of interactivity on 105 websites that are supported by national and
international groups. Some of the websites are supported by ideological groups
that have a strong interest in controlling their messages and clearly
articulating their ideology to the public. A subset of the ideological groups
also sanctions acts of violence in support of their ideology. As predicted, we
found substantial differences in the level of interactivity between the violent
groups and other ideological and non-ideological groups, with the greatest
disparity occurring in social media. We conclude that for violent groups the
need for control over website content and representation outweighs the benefits
of interactivity. Surprisingly, we found little difference between nonviolent
ideological and non-ideological groups. Implications for theory and practice
are discussed. Keywords: Ideological groups; Duality of goals; Interactivity; Social media; Organization websites |
Examining the adoption of KMS in organizations from an integrated perspective of technology, individual, and organization | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 55-67 | |
Wei-Tsong Wang; Yi-Ju Lai | |||
Knowledge management systems (KMS) have been implemented by many
organizations to aid in the management of the intellectual property and the
development of sustainable competitive advantages. However, despite the efforts
of academics and practitioners with regard to promoting the use of KMS, the
rate of adoption remains relatively low. Based on the DeLone and McLean's
information system success model, self-efficacy theory, and institutional
theory, this study develops a multi-dimensional model to better understand KMS
adoption among employees from an integrated perspective of technology,
individual, and organization. Survey data collected from 295 employees of a
petroleum corporation and its business partners were examined using structural
equation modeling to verify the proposed research model. The results indicate
that system quality factors, top management support, and organizational rewards
are the key determinants of employee adoption of KMS, while KMS self-efficacy
is far less important. The theoretical and practical implications are
discussed. Keywords: Knowledge management systems; D&M ISS model; Self-efficacy; Top management support |
The moderating role of psychosocial well-being on the relationship between escapism and excessive online gaming | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 68-74 | |
Daniel Kardefelt-Winther | |||
The purpose of this study was to empirically test the proposed theory of
compensatory internet use, suggesting that people who play online games
excessively are motivated to do so because they need to cope with psychosocial
problems (Kardefelt-Winther, 2014a; Kardefelt-Winther, 2014b). The study used
survey data from players of World of Warcraft (WoW), a popular MMO game. The
indicators of psychosocial problems were high stress and low self-esteem and
the motivation was escapism. The empirical analysis investigated interaction
effects between indicators of psychosocial well-being and motivations. It was
hypothesized that the relationship between escapism and negative outcomes would
be positive for individuals with high stress or low self-esteem, which would be
indicative of escapist online gaming as a coping strategy. However, this was
only expected for individuals who experience more negative outcomes from their
online gaming, which would highlight an important difference between those who
experience many problems and those who experience few. The results showed that
both stress and self-esteem moderated the relationship between escapism and
negative outcomes as expected. In both cases, the relationship between escapism
and negative outcomes was positive in the presence of more psychosocial
problems (i.e. high stress or low self-esteem) for those who experience many
negative outcomes, but not for those who experience few. The results support
the theory of compensatory internet use and suggest that excessive online
gaming may be a coping strategy for life problems rather than a mental disorder
as proposed in DSM-V. Keywords: Online gaming addiction; Excessive internet use; Internet addiction; Gaming motivations; Compensatory internet use |
When stereotypes meet robots: The double-edge sword of robot gender and personality in human-robot interaction | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 75-84 | |
Benedict Tay; Younbo Jung; Taezoon Park | |||
With the emerging application of social and psychological concepts to
human-robot interaction, we investigated the effects of occupational roles
(security vs. healthcare), gender (male vs. female), and personality (extrovert
vs. introvert) on user acceptance of a social robot. In a laboratory
experiment, a robot performed two different roles of a healthcare and security
to address the potential usage of social robots at home. During the task, the
robot manifested different genders and personalities via nonverbal cues. The
results showed that participants (n = 164) preferred the robot with matching
gender-occupational role and personality-occupational role stereotypes. This
finding implies that the gender and personality of social robots do not
monotonically influence user responses; instead, they interact with
corresponding role stereotypes to affect user acceptance of social robots. In
addition, personality-occupational role stereotypes showed a stronger effect on
users' responses than gender-occupational role stereotypes. The overall results
lay a foundation for designers to reduce the wide design spaces of social
robots by grouping the various parameters under the big umbrella of social role
stereotypes. Keywords: Human-robot interaction; Social robot; User acceptance; Social stereotypes; Robot gender; Robot personality |
Mobile communication and political participation in South Korea: Examining the intersections between informational and relational uses | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 85-92 | |
Hoon Lee; Nojin Kwak; Scott W. Campbell; Rich Ling | |||
This study aims to extend the literature on mobile communication by
demonstrating that multifaceted mobile practices work in coordination with one
another to predict enhanced engagement in public life. Using a national survey
of adults in South Korea, we show that informational mobile phone use to gather
and discuss content about news and public affairs is positively associated with
political participation while the corresponding link for relational mobile
phone use to enhance strong personal tie relationships being also significant.
More importantly, the findings indicate that the two mobile usage patterns
interact with each other to explain increased involvement in political
activities. However, analysis of the three-way interaction points to a
noteworthy caveat, namely that those who are already engaged, by virtue of
their perceived capacity to produce desired outcomes in politics (i.e.,
self-efficacy), are even more likely to obtain motivational benefits from the
manifold uses of mobile telephony. Keywords: Mobile communication; New media; Political participation; South Korea; East Asia |
Applying channel complementarity theory to new and traditional economic media usage patterns of U.S. investors | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 93-99 | |
Carroll J. Glynn; Michael E. Huge | |||
The role communication processes within the realm of economic and financial
activity is an important, yet relatively unexplored phenomenon. We define
economic communication as the purposeful exchange of financial and economic
ideas and messages by citizens, media, lawmakers and economic professionals
intended to shape national, local, or personal finances. We use channel
complementarity theory to examine the choices and combinations of communication
outlets utilized by individuals seeking economic information, especially the
differences between online and offline economic communication. Results indicate
a high degree of complementarity across several modes of economic
communication, including traditional and new media, interpersonal discussion,
and professional communication. Keywords: Complementarity theory; Online communication; Financial media; Information seeking; Biased media; Economic communication |
"TV no longer commands our full attention": Effects of second-screen viewing and task relevance on cognitive load and learning from news | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 100-109 | |
Anna Van Cauwenberge; Gabi Schaap; Rob van Roy | |||
Second-screen viewing -- the use of smartphones, tablets, and laptops while
watching television -- has increased dramatically in the last few years. Using
multiple resource theory and threaded cognition theory, this study investigated
the effects of second-screen viewing on cognitive load, factual recall and
comprehension of news. Second, we examined the effects of relevant (i.e.,
looking up information related to the news story) and irrelevant (i.e., looking
up information unrelated to the story) second-screen viewing on learning from
news. Results from an experiment (N = 85) showed that second-screen viewing led
to lower factual recall and comprehension of news content than single-screen
viewing. These effects were mediated by cognitive load: second-screen viewing
led to a higher cognitive load than single-screen viewing, with higher
cognitive load, in turn, leading towards lower factual recall and comprehension
of news content. Contrary to our expectations, we found no statistically
significant differences between effects of relevant and irrelevant
second-screen viewing. Keywords: Media multitasking; Cognitive load; Limited capacity; News learning; Second-screen viewing; Computer mediated communication |
Understanding lurkers in online communities: A literature review | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 110-117 | |
Na Sun; Patrick Pei-Luen Rau; Liang Ma | |||
In internet culture, lurkers are a special group of website users who
regularly login to online communities but seldom post. This study aims to
provide an overall understanding of lurkers by explaining the definition of
lurkers, discussing the reasons for lurking and providing suggestions on
de-lurking. To understand the reason for lurking, this study first explains why
people participate in online communities by building an integrated model of
motivational factors of online behaviors. This model classifies motivational
factors into four categories: the nature of the online community, individual
characteristics, the degree of commitment and quality requirement. Based on
this model, four types of lurking reasons are identified: environmental
influence, personal preference, individual-group relationship and security
consideration. Finally, several strategies for motivating participation in
online communities are provided, including external stimuli, improved
user-friendliness, encouragement of participation and guidance for newcomers. Keywords: Lurker; Online community; Motivational factor; Lurking reason; De-lurking strategy |
Exploring differences in how men and women respond to threats to positive face on social media | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 118-126 | |
Gina Masullo Chen; Zainul Abedin | |||
A three-condition (rejection, criticism, control) experiment (N = 78) with
gender treated as an additional factor and moderating variable examined gender
differences in response to two types of threats to positive face -- rejection
and criticism -- on a social-networking site. Results showed it did not matter
if men or women were rejected or criticized on a social-networking site; both
threats to positive face lead to more retaliatory aggression, compared to the
control. However, men retaliated to a greater extent than women to both types
of threats. Also, men responded differently to criticism than to rejection,
while women's results did not vary. Findings are discussed in relation to face
theory and politeness theory, particularly in regard to computer-mediated
communication. Keywords: Face theory; Politeness theory; Computer-mediated communication |
Social relationships and information dissemination in virtual social network systems: An attachment theory perspective | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 127-135 | |
Erez Yaakobi; Jacob Goldenberg | |||
Web-based communication via social networking sites has become an integral
method of communication, raising the question of whether the well-established
Attachment Theory remains applicable to modern relationships. This
communication shift is also likely to affect the information dissemination
dynamic; i.e., how internal attachment working models relate to virtual modes
of communication. Three studies (354 participants in total, median age 27)
examined the applicability of Attachment Theory to web-based social network
communications. Using self- report measures (Study 1) and an experimental
simulation (Study 2), the results indicate that attachment security level
predicts an individual's number of social ties and willingness to initiate
web-based relationships. Secure individuals emerged as best situated to become
social hubs. Study 3 reveals that a decrease in avoidance scores predicts an
increased willingness to deliver information to others. Anxious participants
exhibited less willingness to deliver highly threatening information but more
willingness to deliver neutral information to others.
These findings support the applicability of attachment internal working models to predicting web-based social network communication, and suggest that Attachment Theory can be a predictor of the dynamics of web-based dissemination of information. Keywords: Attachment; Web-based social networks; Social media dissemination of information |
A motives framework of social media website use: A survey of young Americans | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 136-141 | |
Joseph N. Luchman; Jennifer Bergstrom; Caitlin Krulikowski | |||
Social media is increasingly important in daily life and is an especially
important social interaction mechanism for young people. Although research has
been conducted evaluating user types based on motives for using social media,
no such framework has been extended to social media websites. We extend
previous research by evaluating the underlying structure of social media
website usage motivations using a 13 item survey and evaluations from 19
different social media websites administered to 1686 young Americans. Using a
multidimensional scaling approach, we uncover 2 major motive dimensions
underlying social media website use: fun-related and content-specific. Based on
the derived dimensions, we generate a graphical "quadrant" system for
classifying social media websites and depict all 19 social media sites based on
their quadrant. We propose that our quadrant system can be used by other
researchers to further refine understanding of social media website usage
motives. Keywords: Social media; Motives; Social media sites; Internet; Survey |
The effects of dissociation, game controllers, and 3D versus 2D on presence and enjoyment | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 142-150 | |
Kevin D. Williams | |||
Dissociative experiences create a feeling of being outside one's own body.
Oftentimes, people experiencing these states claim to be off in another place
and find they are losing time. Gamers who experience a high level of presence
with their games echo these sorts of claims. A gaming experiment was conducted
to determine if those people scoring high in having dissociative episodes
experience presence more so than those scoring low in having dissociative
episodes. The experiment also manipulated the variables of controller type
(steering wheel versus traditional controller) and stereoscopic dimension (2D
versus 3D) to determine if they interacted with ratings of dissociative
episodes. Enjoyment of the game, which has been theoretically linked to
presence, was also measured. After 146 participants played a racing game under
the different manipulated conditions, the study confirmed that dissociation was
highly related to sense of presence in a game and enjoyment. Playing the game
with a steering wheel, as opposed to traditional controller, also created a
greater sense of presence and enjoyment. 3D, as opposed to 2D, did not impact
sense of presence or enjoyment. No interactions among the three variables
occurred. Keywords: Dissociation; Presence; Enjoyment; Game controllers; 3D; Video games |
Generalized problematic Internet use and regulation of social emotional competence: The mediating role of maladaptive cognitions arising from academic expectation stress on adolescents | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 151-158 | |
Wan Har Chong; Stefanie Chye; Vivien S. Huan; Rebecca P. Ang | |||
This study explored the relationships between adolescents' perceptions of
their capacity for social-emotional regulation and generalized problematic
Internet use (GPIU). It further examined if maladaptive thoughts from undue
academic-related stress mediated this relationship in a school-going population
in Singapore where educational achievement is heavily emphasized and expected
from the family and school, and the pressure to succeed and do well
academically is more acutely felt than that experienced in western contexts. A
total of 1437 8th and 9th graders participated in a survey questionnaire. The
results showed that adolescents who perceived higher regulatory competence were
more likely to use the Internet to deal with the negative consequences of
Internet use in appropriate ways. Also, the study found maladaptive thoughts
that came from perceived academic expectations of parents and teachers
partially mediated the effects of social-emotional regulatory competence and
these youngsters' ability to control their online social interactions. Of
interest was the unexpected finding that the respective relationships between
social-emotional regulatory competence and compulsive Internet use, and
withdrawal from Internet use became salient when such maladaptive thoughts were
taken into account, suggesting the possibility of suppression rather than
mediational effects. Implications arising from the study will be discussed. Keywords: Social-emotional competence; Academic stress; Generalized problematic Internet use; Maladaptive cognitions; Mediation; Suppression effect |
Rationality-based beliefs affecting individual's attitude and intention to use privacy controls on Facebook: An empirical investigation | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 159-173 | |
Aakash Taneja; Jennifer Vitrano; Nicolas J. Gengo | |||
Online social networking sites like Facebook provides a fast and easy way to
connect with friends and family. Users need to post and share their personal
information in order to get the best possible experiences on Facebook. However,
the spreading of private information can also lead to serious and harmful
issues. Therefore, privacy becomes an important component in the use of
Facebook and it is the user's responsibility to protect his or her profile.
This study draws upon the theory of planned behavior and the rational choice
theory to investigate the rationality-based beliefs affecting individual's
attitude and intention to use privacy controls on Facebook. The results show
that individual's attitude toward using privacy controls is influenced by
benefit of using privacy controls, cost of using privacy controls, and cost of
not using privacy controls. Further, benefits of using privacy controls is
shaped by beliefs regarding intrinsic benefit and resource safety; cost of not
using privacy controls is shaped by beliefs regarding resource vulnerability,
threat severity, privacy risk and privacy intrusion; and cost of using privacy
controls is shaped by beliefs about intrinsic cost and work impediment.
Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed in the
paper. Keywords: Facebook; Online social networking; Privacy control; Rational choice; Rationality-based beliefs; Theory of planned behavior |
Reinforcing inspiration for technology acceptance: Improving memory and software training results through neuro-physiological performance | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 174-184 | |
James A. Rodger | |||
This paper investigates the phenomenon of reinforcing inspiration for
technology acceptance by improving memory and software training results
Neuro-physiological performance. Monitoring of cortisol levels provided
feedback for a decision support system that measured errors and elapsed time
for training tasks completed by end-users of a health care application. The
training success was measured utilizing statistics, SEM and a Fuzzy approach.
The predictive model was implemented by comparing the regression, fuzzy logic
and SEM results. Data collected from 338 health care workers were used to test
a proposed model that inspiration, memory, and inspirational memory affect end
user intention to adopt a digitized patient record software application.
Structural equation modeling showed that, as expected, inspiration affected the
individual behavior of the end users. Inspiration had an interactive impact
through memory on collective acceptance of the technology, thereby affecting
subsequent evaluations and behavior. The proposed model was nomologically
validated through the use of a portable platform loaded with software for the
electronic collection of operational-level health care data. Embedded metrics
measured participants' memory as operationalized by task completion time,
number of errors, and completeness of the data. In order to triangulate the
results, salivary cortisol levels collected from 74 health care workers were
used to measure whether inspiration improves memory and affects end user
intention to adopt the application through reduced errors and decreased
completion times. This paper contributes to the literature by introducing
inspiration as a key driver that improves memory to affect end user intention
to use digitized patient record technology. Keywords: Inspiration; Adoption; Training; Emotion; Cortisol; Memory |
User perceptions of e-quality of and affinity with virtual communities: The effect of individual differences | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 185-195 | |
Xianjin Zha; Jinchao Zhang; Yalan Yan; Zhiliang Xiao | |||
Following the information systems (IS) success model, this study explores
the effect of individual differences on users' perceptions of virtual
communities in terms of e-quality (namely, information quality, system quality
and service quality) of and affinity with virtual communities given individual
differences are crucial in determining how individuals think and respond to the
environment. This study examines the effect of individual differences on
virtual community success dimensions from both physical and psychological
perspectives, which we think presents a new view for virtual community research
and practice alike. Data collected from users of virtual communities were used
for data analysis. First, the cluster analysis was applied and five personality
trait clusters were identified in terms of extraversion, agreeableness,
openness to new experience, conscientiousness and neuroticism. Then, the
independent sample t test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were
employed. The effect of individual differences in terms of gender, age,
position, experience with virtual communities as well as the five personality
trait clusters on users' perceptions of e-quality of and affinity with virtual
communities was explored and discussed. Keywords: Information quality; System quality; Service quality; Affinity; Individual differences; Virtual communities |
How does an intelligent agent infer and translate? | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 196-200 | |
Faria Nassiri-Mofakham | |||
Recently, websites employ online guides to help the users exploring required
materials and information. The guides are presented through exchanging online
questions and answers. For a foreign language visitor, website tour guides not
only need to provide background and justification for the argument, but also
they are better to translate the interaction. This paper presents an automated
and intelligent software agent that can answer the questions logically.
Although people can somehow simply reason and argument in their daily life, the
nature of the humans' reasoning is generally complex and nontrivial. To make
the inference and reasoning automated, the agent is armed with first-order
logic in artificial intelligence. This enables the agent to understand and
answer questions. Implementation of the complex process and the results are
shown through a simple example. In addition, to make the agent more trustable
and user-friendly, the intermediary inference and justification steps are
translated in the user's language. Keywords: Software intelligent agent; Logical inference; Translation |
How college students read and write on the web: The role of ICT use in processing online information | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 201-207 | |
Bu Zhong; Alyssa J. Appelman | |||
The diffusion of information and communication technology (ICT) has enabled
people to process more information than at any time in human history. Despite a
growing body of scholarship in ICT use and information processing, we still
know very little about how people process mediated information in an online
environment. This study contributes to the understanding of this process by
investigating the connection between ICT use and processing of online news
information. Through an experiment (N = 114), several interesting relationships
were detected. First, perceived credibility of a news article was significantly
correlated with enjoyment, knowledge gain, and motivation. In addition, recall
was significantly related to credibility, enjoyment, knowledge, and motivation.
Implications and avenues for future research are discussed. Keywords: Information and communication technology; Information processing; Power user; Online news; Credibility |
Changes in technology use and adult attachment orientation from 2002 to 2012 | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 208-212 | |
William J. Chopik; Christopher Peterson | |||
We have lived in an age of ever-increasing connection this past decade.
Although technology and online social networking may not have increased
psychological closeness, as some researchers suggest, it may have increased the
perceived availability of other people in our social networks. The current
study measures changes in comfort with closeness (attachment avoidance) and
perceived availability of others (attachment anxiety) in a large Internet
sample (N = 123,554) from 2002 to 2012. Attachment anxiety decreased from 2002
to 2012 and attachment avoidance exhibited no changes over the same time
period. Further, these decreases were primarily driven by younger adults,
presumably due to their heavy technology use. Attachment anxiety was negatively
associated with mobile phone subscription rates and the number of Facebook
users over this time period. Results from the current study suggest that the
perceived availability of others has been increasing over time -- perhaps
because technology has increased the accessibility of close others. Keywords: Attachment; Technology; Cohort changes; Media; Anxiety |
Self-disclosure on social networking sites, positive feedback, and social capital among Chinese college students | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 213-219 | |
Dong Liu; B. Bradford Brown | |||
Drawing on social capital theory, this study examined whether college
students' self-disclosure on a social networking site was directly associated
with social capital, or related indirectly through the degree of positive
feedback students got from Internet friends. Structural equation models applied
to anonymous, self-report survey data from 264 first-year students at 3
universities in Beijing, China, indicated direct effects on bridging social
capital and indirect effects on bonding social capital. Effects remained
significant, though modest in magnitude, after controlling for social skills
level. Findings suggest ways in which social networking sites can foster social
adjustment as an adolescent transition to residential college environments. Keywords: Self-disclosure; Social networking site; Social capital; Gender difference |
Understanding personal use of the Internet at work: An integrated model of neutralization techniques and general deterrence theory | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 220-228 | |
Lijiao Cheng; Wenli Li; Qingguo Zhai; Russell Smyth | |||
This paper examines the influence of neutralization techniques, perceived
sanction severity, perceived detection certainty and perceived benefits of
using the Internet for personal purposes on intention to use the Internet at
work for personal use. To do so, we draw on a conceptual framework integrating
neutralization theory and general deterrence theory. The study finds that both
neutralization techniques and perceived benefits have a positive effect on
personal use of the Internet. Perceived detection certainty is found to have a
negative effect on personal use of the Internet, while the effect of perceived
sanctions severity on personal use of the Internet is not significant. The
effect of neutralization and perceived benefits are much stronger than
perceived detection certainty. The findings suggest that people may think more
about neutralization and perceived benefits than they do about costs, when
deciding whether to use the Internet at work for personal purposes. Keywords: Deterrence theory; Neutralization theory; Personal use of the Internet |
One click away is too far! How the presentation of cognitive learning aids influences their use in multimedia learning environments | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 229-239 | |
Tatjana Ruf; Rolf Ploetzner | |||
In an experimental study, we investigated how the presentation of cognitive
learning aids, as well as the availability of self-monitoring questions affect
the frequency of use of cognitive learning aids in a multimedia learning
environment. The learning aids were presented either dynamically, statically,
or they were initially collapsed and the students had to activate them by
clicking on a button. The comparability of all three versions of the multimedia
learning environment was assured by means of repeated usability testing.
Self-monitoring questions were either presented to the learners or not. A total
of 60 undergraduate students participated in the study. Their activities in the
learning environment, together with their eye movements were recorded. The
students took advantage of the learning aids most when they were dynamically
presented, less when they were statically presented, and least when they were
presented in a collapsed form. The differences in use of the learning aids were
statistically significant with large effect sizes. The availability of
self-monitoring questions had no significant effect on the use of learning
aids. Keywords: Multimedia learning; Cognitive learning aids; Interface design; Usability; Eye tracking |
The effects of home page design on consumer responses: Moderating role of centrality of visual product aesthetics | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 240-247 | |
Jungmin Yoo; Minjeong Kim | |||
This study examined the effect of home page design on consumer responses
based on the Hierarchy of Effects model and impression formation theory. The
design of the study was a one factor (home page design: image- vs.
text-oriented) between-subjects design with two moderators, brand familiarity
and the centrality of visual product aesthetics (CVPA). College women (N = 658)
participated in this online experiment. The findings revealed that: (1) an
image-oriented design is more effective in enhancing a home page's visual
fluency, and (2) people in both high and low CVPA groups preferred an
image-oriented home page to a text-oriented home page. Keywords: Home page design; Visual fluency; Centrality of visual product aesthetics; Consumer behavior; Online retailing |
A vacation from your mind: Problematic online gaming is a stress response | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 248-260 | |
Jeffrey G. Snodgrass; Michael G. Lacy; H. J. Francois, II Dengah; Scarlett Eisenhauer; Greg Batchelder; Robert J. Cookson | |||
We present ethnographically-informed survey and interview data suggesting
that problematic online gaming in the World of Warcraft (WoW) can be
conceptualized as a response to pre-existing life stress, which for highly
stressed individuals magnifies rather than relieves their suffering. In
particular, we explore how relaxing and arousing in-game experiences and
activities provide forms of cognitive diversion that can lead to problematic
play among more highly stressed individuals. Our research supports what has
been called a "rich get richer" model of problematic Internet use. In this
instance, less stressed individuals manage to play WoW so as to enhance their
offline lives. By contrast, more highly stressed players further magnify the
stress and suffering in their lives by playing problematically the online game
within which they sought refuge from their offline problems. Keywords: Online computer games; Virtual worlds; Stress; Cognitive diversion; Engagement; Internet addiction |
The impact of rotating summarizing roles in online discussions: Effects on learners' listening behaviors during and subsequent to role assignment | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 261-271 | |
Alyssa Friend Wise; Ming Ming Chiu | |||
This study investigated whether assigning students summarizing roles in
online discussions during specific weeks affects how they attend to the posts
of others while playing the role, and in subsequent discussion weeks.
Thirty-three students in a large undergraduate course on educational psychology
were assigned one of two summarizing roles (Synthesizer, Wrapper) on a rotating
basis during six week-long small-group online discussions; demographic and
log-file data were collected (N = 198 student-weeks). Multilevel,
cross-classification modeling revealed that assigning students summarizing
roles increased the breadth of their listening during in-role weeks, but the
effect was only weakly sustained after the role was completed. Students taking
the Synthesizer role showed some increased depth of listening during in-role
weeks but not post-role weeks. Other post-role behavior changes (a reduced
number of sessions and review of posts) suggest unintended negative side
effects of a role-rotation strategy, possibly due to post-role abdication of
responsibility. Keywords: Computer mediated communication; Asynchronous discussion groups; Scripting; Role taking; Quantitative analysis of computer-supported collaborative learning; Temporal analysis |
Notification pending: Online social support from close and nonclose relational ties via Facebook | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 272-280 | |
Bobby Rozzell; Cameron W. Piercy; Caleb T. Carr; Shawn King; Brianna L. Lane; Michael Tornes; Amy Janan Johnson; Kevin B. Wright | |||
Previous research has often assumed social support as a unique affordance of
close relationships. Computer-mediated communication alters the availability of
relationally nonclose others, and may to enable additional sources or social
support through venues like social networking sites. Eighty-eight college
students completed a questionnaire based on their most recent Facebook status
updates and the comments those updates generated. Items queried participants'
perception of each response as well as the participants' relationship closeness
with the responder. Individuals perceived as relationally close provide
significant social support via Facebook; however, individuals perceived to be
relationally nonclose provided equal social support online. While SNSs has not
eroded the importance of close relationships, results demonstrate the social
media tools may allow for social support to be obtained from nonclose as well
as close relationships, with access to a significant proportion of nonclose
relationships. Keywords: Network ties; Social support; Computer-mediated communication; Social media |
Uses and gratifications and acceptance of Web-based information services: An integrated model | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 281-295 | |
Margaret Meiling Luo; William Remus | |||
This study combines the technology acceptance model (TAM) and uses and
gratifications theory (U&G) to create an integrated model that predicts
usage and satisfaction with Web-based information services (WIS). Two pilot
studies and three laboratory experiments were conducted to test and develop the
concepts, measurements, and the integrated model. The results support the
proposed integrated model. Behavioral intention and entertainment motive
collectively predicted behavioral usage. Satisfaction was positively associated
with the level of usage. The good structure fit with the merge model and data
showed that the model explained more than 30% variance of behavioral usage.
Although both theories are solid acceptance theories, U&G provides specific
information and a more complete understanding of usage, whereas TAM constructs
are easily used with Web-based applications. This study gives researchers and
practitioners an interdisciplinary perspective for investigating the phenomenon
of technology acceptance. In addition, it merges the strengths from the fields
of information systems and communications. Keywords: Information services; Technology acceptance model; Uses and gratifications; Technology adoption; Partial least squares |
Understanding privacy knowledge and skill in mobile communication | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 296-303 | |
Yong Jin Park; S. Mo Jang | |||
This study aims to examine mobile-based privacy literacy among young adults
across characteristics of mobile use, basic mobile familiarity, and
socio-demographic factors. We investigate privacy knowledge and skill among the
African American young adults, adopting a mixed design of quantitative and
qualitative inquiries. The results showed that less than half of the
interviewed users possessed (1) basic information and locational privacy
knowledge, (2) privacy skills, and (3) awareness of risk associated with
commercial mobile environments. Interestingly, a high level of mobile
familiarity did not translate into knowledge as the frequent daily mobile use
was not associated with privacy knowledge and skill. In-depth interviews also
indicated that functional confusion and misguided confidence confounded the low
mobile knowledge and skills. These findings have implications for consumer
policy and hint on the need that the FTC in its broader digital literacy
initiative incorporates the information need of young adult users among
underserved communities. Keywords: Information control; Privacy protection; Mobile surveillance; Smartphone; African Americans |
Security awareness of computer users: A phishing threat avoidance perspective | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 304-312 | |
Nalin Asanka Gamagedara Arachchilage; Steve Love | |||
Phishing is an online identity theft, which aims to steal confidential
information such as username, password and online banking details from its
victims. To prevent this, anti-phishing education needs to be considered.
Therefore, the research reported in this paper examines whether conceptual
knowledge or procedural knowledge has a positive effect on computer users'
self-efficacy to thwart phishing threats. In order to accomplish this, a
theoretical model based on Liang and Xue's (2010) Technology Threat Avoidance
Theory (TTAT) has been proposed and evaluated. Data was collected from 161
regular computer users to elicit their feedback through an online
questionnaire. The study findings revealed that the interaction effect of
conceptual and procedural knowledge positively impacts on computer users'
self-efficacy, which enhances their phishing threat avoidance behaviour. It can
therefore be argued that well-designed end-user security education contributes
to thwart phishing threats. Keywords: Usable security; Phishing threats; Security awareness; Security education; Procedural knowledge; Conceptual knowledge |
Searching for the perfect fit: The interaction of community type and profile design in online communities | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 313-321 | |
Ulrike Cress; Eva Schwämmlein; Katrin Wodzicki; Joachim Kimmerle | |||
In times of social networking and knowledge exchange on the Internet, we ask
how different types of member profiles are perceived depending on the type of
community, and how the interplay between community and profile affects the
audience orientation of community members. We explored these questions in two
laboratory experiments. Experiment 1 examined the suitability of profiles. It
demonstrated that in common-bond communities people showed satisfaction with
off-topic as well as on-topic profiles, whereas in common-identity communities
they were less satisfied with off-topic than on-topic profiles. In common-bond
communities, in addition, people perceived profiles, independent of the type of
profile, as an important feature of the community, whereas in common-identity
communities people devaluated the importance of the off-topic profiles.
Experiment 2 dealt with the influence of profiles on audience orientation in
the different community types. This study showed that in common-identity
communities off-topic compared to on-topic profiles reduced group members'
reflection about what is important to know for the group as a whole as well as
their self-presentation goal of being accepted by the group. In sum, off-topic
profiles are not only perceived as inappropriate in common-identity
communities, they also diminish the orientation toward the group. Keywords: Self-presentation; Satisfaction; Audience; Online communities; Goals |
Personality and behavior in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 322-330 | |
Narnia C. Worth; Angela S. Book | |||
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) present new and
important opportunities for studying the connections between personality and
behavior. Players of the MMORPG World of Warcraft were surveyed on their
personalities and frequency of different behaviors within the game. An
exploratory principal components analysis of a World of Warcraft in-game
behavior survey revealed six components: Player-versus-Player, Social
Player-versus-Environment, Working, Helping, Immersion, and Core Content.
Significant correlations with HEXACO personality traits were found for each
component. Player-versus-Player activities were primarily related to low levels
of Honesty-Humility and also to high levels of psychopathic traits. Social
Player-versus-Environment activities were primarily positively correlated with
Extraversion, Working activities were positively correlated with
Conscientiousness, Helping and Immersion activities were positively correlated
with Openness to Experience, and Core Content activities were positively
correlated with Emotionality. The authors discuss the implications of these
results for future research and game design. Keywords: Video games; Massively multiplayer online role-playing games; Personality; Psychopathy; Online games |
Does it matter with whom you slay? The effects of competition, cooperation and relationship type among video game players | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 331-338 | |
Julia Crouse Waddell; Wei Peng | |||
Cooperation and competition have emerged as factors that may affect video
game players. Competition consistently has been found to elicit increased
aggression whilst cooperation has been found to mitigate aggression and
increase cooperative behaviors after game play. Of interest is the effect of
the relationship between players (friend vs. stranger) in cooperative and
competitive multiplayer contexts. In this study, we considered how game goal
structure -- competition or cooperation -- and relationships between players --
friend or stranger -- affect aggression and cooperative behaviors. Compared
with competition, cooperative play resulted in significantly more cooperative
behaviors in a modified Prisoner's Dilemma task. However, neither competitive
nor cooperative goal structures significantly increased state hostility,
suggesting that altering players' gaming goals (e.g. competition or
cooperation) may not be enough to elicit strong affective aggression.
Additionally, cooperative game play was found to predict increased cooperative
behaviors and trust in their partner. Implications of the findings are
discussed. Keywords: Video game; Cooperation; Competition; Affective aggression; Friendship; Relationship |
Understanding the adoption of mobile innovation in China | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 339-348 | |
Jinzhu Song | |||
China has already become the largest mobile communication market in the
world. Yet research into what factors drive Chinese consumers adoption of
mobile innovation is limited. This study makes efforts to investigate Chinese
consumers' intentions to adopt mobile innovation, with consideration of their
cultural characteristics. Face, a core concept in Chinese cultural values is
introduced and its effects on innovation adoption are firstly tested. The study
develops and empirically tests a theoretical model incorporated four sets of
adoption factors representing general perceptions and perceived social outcomes
from using mobile innovation, social influences and perceived barriers. The
findings identify utilitarian perception, hedonic perception, face gains, face
loss avoidance, interpersonal influence, cost and quality concern as
influential factors affecting adoption intention in Chinese context. This study
also provides theoretical and practical implications for academics and
practitioners. Keywords: Mobile innovation; Chinese consumers; Adoption intention; Face; Factors |
Social relationship on problematic Internet use (PIU) among adolescents in South Korea: A moderated mediation model of self-esteem and self-control | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 349-357 | |
Seungmin Park; Minchul Kang; Eunha Kim | |||
Despite previous research efforts on identifying the risk and protective
factors of problematic Internet use (PIU), the specific mechanism among these
factors are largely unknown. Thus, the present study examined the effect of
adolescents' social relationships on their PIU, as well as the effect of
self-esteem as a mediator and the effect of self-control as a moderator. Survey
data from 750 South Korean middle and high school students in Seoul and
Gyeonggi areas were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results
are as follows. First, PIU is significantly associated with relationship with
peers and with mother. Second, self-esteem did not mediate the effect of
communication with mother on PIU, but was found to partially mediate the effect
of peer relationship on PIU. Third, adolescents' self-control significantly
moderated the indirect effect of peer relationship on PIU via self-esteem.
Through detailed analyses, this study identified self-esteem as a mediator and
self-control as a moderator in the relationship between social relationships
and PIU. Implications of these results for understanding the relationship among
social relationships, self-esteem, self-control, and PIU are discussed. Keywords: Problematic Internet use; Self-esteem; Self-control; Communication with mother; Peer relationship |
The effects of source cues on online news perception | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 358-367 | |
Eun Go; Eun Hwa Jung; Mu Wu | |||
Among various interface cues, expertise, identity, and bandwagon cues have
been consistently found to have significant effects on media users' perceptions
of online news content. To examine the effects of these three types of
heuristic cues in the context of online news consumption, the current study
involved a 2 (expertise cue: low vs. high) × 2 (identity cue: in-group
vs. out-group) × 2 (bandwagon cue: low vs. high) online experiment. A
total of 121 undergraduate students participated in the study. Significant
two-way interaction effects between the expertise and bandwagon cues on
perceived credibility suggested the positive combined effect of these two cues.
Moreover, significant three-way interaction effects among expertise, identity
and bandwagon cues indicated that the interaction effects between expertise and
bandwagon cues tend to work as a function of the identity cue. While confirming
the importance of the identity cue in users' perceptions of online news,
three-way interaction effects confirmed the co-occurrence of heuristic and
systematic processing. The interaction effects also suggested that people
process news systematically when the recommenders are out-group members,
whereas they process news heuristically when the recommenders are in-group
members. Theoretical as well as practical implications have also been discussed
in this article. Keywords: Online news perception; Expertise cue; Identity cue; Bandwagon cue |
An investigation of the effects of cultural differences on physicians' perceptions of information technology acceptance as they relate to knowledge management systems | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 368-380 | |
Hsien-Cheng Lin | |||
The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of national cultural
differences on physicians' perceptions of knowledge management systems
acceptance. Data is collected from 106 physicians in the United States and 255
physicians in Taiwan who agreed to participate in the investigation, and a
t-test is used to compare the path coefficients for each moderator. Cultural
differences were found to impact knowledge management system acceptance. The
results reveal that individualism/collectivism, power distance, and
high-context/low-context cultural characteristics account for the significant
differences between the U.S. and Taiwan in this regard. Theoretical issues
related to technology acceptance which lay beyond the scope of this
investigation and other issues related to cultural differences may have had an
impact on the research findings. This study can assist in the management of
healthcare organizations by adding to the knowledge regarding the acceptance
and development of management systems. The findings provide insight into the
cultural differences which influence physicians' perceptions about knowledge
management systems acceptance, and have implications for improving the
knowledge relating to management systems acceptance in healthcare
organizations. Keywords: Knowledge management systems; Cultural differences; Technology acceptance model; Healthcare organizations |