Search results for: internal social responsibility
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 12149

Search results for: internal social responsibility

10439 From the Fields to the Concrete: Urban Development of Campo Mourão

Authors: Caio Fialho

Abstract:

The automobile incentive policy in Brazil since the 1950s creates several problems in its cities, more visible in large centers such as São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, but also strongly present in smaller cities, resulting in an increase in social and spatial inequality, together with a drop in the quality of life. The analyzed city, Campo Mourão, reflects these policies, a city that initially planned to be compact and walkable took other directions and currently suffers from urban mobility and social inequality in this urban environment, despite being a medium-sized city in Brazil. The research aims to understand and diagnose how these policies shaped the city and what are the results in Brazilian's inland cities. Based on historical, bibliographical, and field research in the city, the result is a diagnosis of the problem faced and how it can be reversed in search of social equality and better quality of life.

Keywords: urban mobility, quality of life, social equality, substantiable

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10438 Stakeholders Perspectives on the Social Determinants of Health and Quality of Life in Aseer Healthy Cities

Authors: Metrek Almetrek, Naser Alqahtani, Eisa Ghazwani, Mona Asiri, Mohammed Alqahtani, Magboolah Balobaid

Abstract:

Background: Advocacy of potential for community coalitions to positively address social determinants of health and quality of life, little is known about the views of stakeholders involved in such efforts. This study sought to assess the provinces leaders’ perspectives about social determinants related to the Health Neighborhood Initiative (HNI), a new county effort to support community coalitions. Method and Subjects: We used a descriptive, qualitative study using personal interviews in 2022. We conducted it in the community coalition's “main cities committees” set across service planning areas that serve vulnerable groups located in the seven registered healthy cities to WHO (Abha, Tareeb, Muhayel, Balqarn, Alharajah, Alamwah, and Bisha). We conducted key informant interviews with 76 governmental, profit, non-profit, and community leaders to understand their perspectives about the HNI. As part of a larger project, this study focused on leaders’ views about social determinants of health related to the HNI. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. An inductive approach to coding was used, with text segments grouped by social determinant categories. Results: Provinces leaders described multiple social determinants of health and quality of life that were relevant to the HNI community coalitions: housing and safety, community violence, economic stability, city services coordination and employment and education. Leaders discussed how social determinants were interconnected with each other and the need for efforts to address multiple social determinants simultaneously to effectively improve health and quality of life. Conclusions: Community coalitions have an opportunity to address multiple social determinants of health and quality of life to meet the social needs of vulnerable groups. Future research should examine how community coalitions, like those in the HNI, can actively engage with community members to identify needs and then deliver evidence-based care.

Keywords: social determinants, health and quality of life, vulnerable groups, qualitative research

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10437 Social Contact Patterns among School-Age Children in Taiwan

Authors: Dih Ling Luh, Zhi Shih You, Szu Chieh Chen

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Social contact patterns among school-age children play an important role in the epidemiology of infectious disease. Since many of the greatest threats to human health are spread by direct person-to-person contact, understanding the spread of respiratory pathogens and patterns of human interactions are public health priorities. This study used social contact diaries to compare the number of contacts per day per participant across different flu/non-flu seasons and weekend/weekday. We also present contact properties such as sex, age, masking, setting, frequency, duration, and contact types among school-age children (grades 7–8). The sample size with pair-wise comparisons for the seasons (flu/non-flu) and stratification by location were 54 and 83, respectively. There was no difference in the number of contacts during the flu and non-flu seasons, with averages of 16.3 (S.D. = 12.9) and 14.6 (S.D. = 9.5) people, respectively. Weekdays were associated with 23% and 28% more contacts than weekend days during the non-flu and flu seasons, respectively (p < 0.001) (Wilcoxon signed-rank test).

Keywords: contact patterns, behavior, influenza, social mixing

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10436 Personality Traits and Starting a Romantic Relationship on Social Media in a Turkish Sample

Authors: Ates Gul Ergun, Melda Tacyildiz

Abstract:

The current study focuses on the relationship between the personality traits and starting a romantic relationship on social media. It is interested in the study whether there are any personality trait differences between individuals who started their romantic relationships on social media platforms or through circle of friends in daily life. Sixty five participants between the ages of 18-30 filled out a three-question-survey about romantic relationships and social media, with the Big Five Inventory. Four separate independent samples t tests comparing agreeableness and extraversion scores on the environment of participants first interacted (online vs. real-life) and where they fırst meet without interaction (online vs. real-life) were carried out. The results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between people who had the first interaction with their partner online vs. real-life in terms of extraversion and agreeableness traits. The more extrovert and agreeable traits reported the more people were likely to interact with their partner through circle of friends in real-life. Furthermore, it was found that people who are less agreeable have a tendency to interact with their partners in social media for the first time. However, there was no statistically significant difference between how participants met with their partners without interaction (online vs. real-life) in terms of extraversion and agreeableness traits. This study has shown the relationships between personality traits and starting a romantic relationship on social media versus in real-life but not the reasons behind it. Further research could examine such reasons. In addition, the data only includes Turkish sample. By virtue of the cultural restriction in the present study, it is suggested that the future research should also include different cultures to investigate how people spend time with their friends and also in social media which can be changed according to individualism levels of countries. Overall, the study emphasizes the importance and the role of social media in individual’s lives, and it opens the ways associated with personal traits and social media relationships for further researches.

Keywords: agreeableness, big five, extraversion, romantic relationships, social media

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10435 Wettability Properties of Pineapple Leaf Fibers and Banana Pseudostem Fibers Treated by Cold Plasma

Authors: Tatiana Franco, Hugo A. Estupinan

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Banana pseudostem fiber (BPF) and pineapple leaf fiber (PLF) for their excellent mechanical properties and biodegradability characteristics arouse interest in different areas of research. F In tropical regions, where the banana pseudostem and the pineapple leaf are transformed into hard-to-handle solid waste, they can be low-cost raw material and environmentally sustainable in research for composite materials. In terms of functionality of this type of fiber, an open structure would allow the adsorption and retention of organic, inorganic and metallic species. In general, natural fibers have closed structures on their surface with intricate internal arrangements that can be used for the solution of environmental problems and other technological uses, however it is not possible to access their internal structure and sublayers, exposing the fibers in the natural state. An alternative method to chemical and enzymatic treatment are the processes with the plasma treatments, which are known to be clean, economical and controlled. In this type of treatment, a gas contained in a reactor in the form of plasma acts on the fiber generating changes in its structure, morphology and topography. This work compares the effects on fibers of PLF and BPF treated with cold argon plasma, alternating time and current. These fibers are grown in the regions of Antioquia-Colombia. The morphological, compositional and wettability properties of the fibers were analyzed by Raman microscopy, contact angle measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy analysis (AFM). The treatment with cold plasma on PLF and BPF allowed increasing its wettability, the topography and the microstructural relationship between lignin and cellulose.

Keywords: cold plasma, contact angle, natural fibers, Raman, SEM, wettability

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10434 An Exploration of Why Insider Fraud Is the Biggest Threat to Your Business

Authors: Claire Norman-Maillet

Abstract:

Insider fraud, otherwise known as occupational, employee, or internal fraud, is a financial crime threat. Perpetrated by defrauding (or attempting to defraud) one’s current, prospective, or past employer, an ‘employee’ covers anyone employed by the company, including board members and contractors. The Coronavirus pandemic has forced insider fraud into the spotlight, and it isn’t dimming. As the focus of most academics and practitioners has historically been on that of ‘external fraud’, insider fraud is often overlooked or not considered to be a real threat. However, since COVID-19 changed the working world, pushing most of us into remote or hybrid working, employers cannot easily keep an eye on what their staff are doing, which has led to reliance on trust and transparency. This, therefore, brings about an increased risk of insider fraud perpetration. The objective of this paper is to explore why insider fraud is, therefore, now the biggest threat to a business. To achieve the research objective, participating individuals within the financial crime sector (either as a practitioner or consultants) attended semi-structured interviews with the researcher. The principal recruitment strategy for these individuals was via the researcher’s LinkedIn network. The main findings in the research suggest that insider fraud has been ignored and rejected as a threat to a business, owing to a reluctance to admit that a colleague may perpetrate. A positive of the Coronavirus pandemic is that it has forced insider fraud into a more prominent position and giving it more importance on a business’ agenda and risk register. Despite insider fraud always having been a possibility (and therefore a risk) within any business, it is very rare that a business has given it the attention it requires until now, if at all. The research concludes that insider fraud needs to prioritised by all businesses, and even ahead of external fraud. The research also provides advice on how a business can add new or enhance existing controls to mitigate the risk.

Keywords: insider fraud, occupational fraud, COVID-19, COVID, coronavirus, pandemic, internal fraud, financial crime, economic crime

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10433 The Communication Effect of the Emotional Storytelling on Non-Profit Organizations: The Moderating Effect of Social Distance

Authors: ZhangRun, Yi-Fang Chiang, Li-Shia Huang

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The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of emotional story marketing on the fundraising effectiveness of non-profit organizations and to further clarify the communication effectiveness of emotional story types by using "social distance" which reflects individual differences, as an intervening variable in two experiments. The quasi-experimental design of the development experiment (positive warmth of the story v.s. negative sadness of the story) × social distance (near v.s. far) to clarify the effects of social distance. In this study, we designed the experimental advertising situation ourselves, and data were collected through a questionnaire survey. A total of 391 questionnaires were distributed, and data analysis and hypothesis verification were conducted through variance analysis. According to the analysis results of this study, the use of positive emotional appeals in the design of non-profit organization advertisements on issues related to the loss of children will increase the willingness of listeners to donate. For those with close social distance, there is no significant difference between the positive and "warm" emotional story ads and the negative and "sad" emotional story ads. For those with far social distance, there is a significant difference between the positive and "warm" emotional story ads and the negative and "sad" emotional story ads, with the positive and "warm" emotional appeals improving their willingness to donate. Therefore, this study suggests that NPOs should use more positive and warm emotional stories in their advertising design to enhance the fundraising effectiveness of NPO story marketing.

Keywords: story marketing, emotional appeal, social distance, willingness to donate

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10432 Assessing the Feasibility of Commercial Meat Rabbit Production in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana

Authors: Nana Segu Acquaah-Harrison, James Osei Mensah, Richard Aidoo, David Amponsah, Amy Buah, Gilbert Aboagye

Abstract:

The study aimed at assessing the feasibility of commercial meat rabbit production in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. Structured and unstructured questionnaires were utilized in obtaining information from two hundred meat consumers and 15 meat rabbit farmers. Data were analyzed using Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR)/Profitability Index (PI) technique, percentages and chi-square contingency test. The study found that the current demand for rabbit meat is low (36%). The desirable nutritional attributes of rabbit meat and other socio economic factors of meat consumers make the potential demand for rabbit meat high (69%). It was estimated that GH¢5,292 (approximately $ 2672) was needed as a start-up capital for a 40-doe unit meat rabbit farm in Kumasi Metropolis. The cost of breeding animals, housing and equipment formed 12.47%, 53.97% and 24.87% respectively of the initial estimated capital. A Net Present Value of GH¢ 5,910.75 (approximately $ 2984) was obtained at the end of the fifth year, with an internal rate return and profitability index of 70% and 1.12 respectively. The major constraints identified in meat rabbit production were low price of rabbit meat, shortage of fodder, pest and diseases, high cost of capital, high cost of operating materials and veterinary care. Based on the analysis, it was concluded that meat rabbit production is feasible in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. The study recommends embarking on mass advertisement; farmer association and adapting to new technologies in the production process will help to enhance productivity.

Keywords: feasibility, commercial meat rabbit, production, Kumasi, Ghana

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10431 Fostering Social Challenges Within Entrepreneur University Systems: The Case of UPV

Authors: Cristobal Miralles Insa

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The network of chairs of the "Valencian Public System of Social Services" (VPSSS) is sponsored by the Valencian Institute of Training, Research, and Quality in Social Services and aims to promote research, dissemination, and evaluation of the needs that arise in the field of the public system of social services. It also seeks to transfer knowledge to foster the development of public policies in this field. Given that it is an Interuniversity Chair among the five public universities in Valencia, there is coordination of complementary themes and roles for this objective, with Universitat Politènica de València focusing primarily on promoting innovation and social entrepreneurship to address multiple social challenges through its platform INSSPIRA. This approach is aimed at the entire university community and its various interest groups, carrying out research, teaching, and dissemination activities that promote social inclusion, personal development, and autonomy for groups in situations of vulnerability, lack of protection, dependence, or social urgency. Although it focuses on the Valencian context, both the issues in this context and the tools in process to address them, often have a universal and scalable character and has been inspiring for the innovation system of UPV. This entrepreneurial incubator goes along from early stages of students on the campus until the so-called “StartUPV” system, where students are challenged with social problems that require creative solutions. Therefore, the Chair is conceived with a holistic spirit and an inspiring vocation that engages the whole university community. In this communication, it is described the entities and individuals participating in this UPV Chair of VPSSS, followed by the presentation of different work lines and objectives for the chair. Subsequently, a description of various activities undertaken to promote innovation in social services are described, where support to teaching and extracurricular activities in this field are exposed. It must be noted that some awareness and dissemination of activities are carried out in a transversal mode as they contribute to different objectives simultaneously; with special focus on Learning-Service approaches that achieved very good results which are also summarized.

Keywords: social innovation, entrepeneurship, university, vulnerable sectors

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10430 Geochemical Characterization of Geothermal Waters in Albania, Preliminary Results

Authors: Aurela Jahja, Katarzyna Wątor, Arjan Beqiraj, Piotr Rusiniak, Nevton Kodhelaj

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Albanian geological terrains represent an important node of the Alpine – Mediterranean mountain belt and are divided into several predominantly NNW - SSE striking geotectonic units, which, based on the presence or lack of Cretaceous transgression and magmatic rocks, belong to Internal or External Albanides. The internal (Korabi, Mirdita and Gashi) units are characterized by the Lower Cretaceous discordance and the presence of abundant magmatic rocks whereas in the external (Alps, Krasta-Cukali, Kruja, Ionian, Sazani and Peri Adriatic Depression) units an almost continuous sedimentation from Triassic to Paleogene is evidenced. The internal and external units show relevant differences in both geothermal and heat flow density values. The gradient values vary from 15-21.3 to 36 mK/m, while the heat flow density ranges from 42 to 60 mW/m2, in the external (Preadriatic Depression) and internal (ophiolitic belt) units, respectively. The geothermal fluids, which are found in natural springs and deep oil wells of Albania, are located in four thermo-mineral provinces: a) Peshkopi (Korabi) province; b) Kruja province; c) Preadriatic basin province, and d) South Ionian province. Thirteen geothermal waters were sampled from 11 natural springs and 2 deep wells, of which 6 springs and 2 wells from Kruja, 1 spring from Peshkopia, 2 springs from Preadriatic basin and 2 springs South Ionian province. Temperature, pH and Electrical Conductivity were measured in situ, while in laboratory were analyzed by ICP method major anions and cations and several trace elements (B, Li, Sr, Rb, I, Br, etc.). The measured values of temperature, pH and electrical conductivity range within 17-63°C, 6.26-7.92 and 724- 26856µS/cm intervals, respectively. The chemical type of the Albania thermal waters is variable. In the Kruja province prevail the Cl-SO4-NaCa and Cl-Na-Ca water types; while SO4-Ca, HCO3-Ca and Cl-HCO3-Na-Ca, and Cl-Na are found in the provinces of Peshkopi, Ionian and Preadriatic basin, respectively. In the Cl-SO4-HCO3 triangular diagram most of the geothermal waters are close to the chloride corner that belong to “mature waters”, typical of geothermal deep and hot fluids. Only samples from the Ionian province are located within the region of high bicarbonate concentration and they can be classified as peripheral waters that may have mixed with cold groundwater. In the Na-Ca-Mg and Na-K-Mg triangular diagram the majority of waters fall in the corner of sodium, suggesting that their cation ratios are controlled by mineral-solution equilibrium. There is a linear relationship between Cl and B which indicates the mixing of geothermal water with cold water, where the low-chlorine thermal waters from Ionian basin and Preadriatic depression provinces are distinguished by high-chlorine thermal waters from Kruja province. The Cl/Br molar ration of the thermal waters from Kruja province ranges from 1000 to 2660 and separates them from the thermal waters of Ionian basin and Preadriatic depression provinces having Cl/Br molar ratio lower than 650. The apparent increase of Cl/Br molar ratio that correlates with the increasing of the chloride, is probably related with dissolution of the Halite.

Keywords: geothermal fluids, geotectonic units, natural springs, deep wells, mature waters, peripheral waters

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10429 Automatic Detection and Filtering of Negative Emotion-Bearing Contents from Social Media in Amharic Using Sentiment Analysis and Deep Learning Methods

Authors: Derejaw Lake Melie, Alemu Kumlachew Tegegne

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The increasing prevalence of social media in Ethiopia has exacerbated societal challenges by fostering the proliferation of negative emotional posts and comments. Illicit use of social media has further exacerbated divisions among the population. Addressing these issues through manual identification and aggregation of emotions from millions of users for swift decision-making poses significant challenges, particularly given the rapid growth of Amharic language usage on social platforms. Consequently, there is a critical need to develop an intelligent system capable of automatically detecting and categorizing negative emotional content into social, religious, and political categories while also filtering out toxic online content. This paper aims to leverage sentiment analysis techniques to achieve automatic detection and filtering of negative emotional content from Amharic social media texts, employing a comparative study of deep learning algorithms. The study utilized a dataset comprising 29,962 comments collected from social media platforms using comment exporter software. Data pre-processing techniques were applied to enhance data quality, followed by the implementation of deep learning methods for training, testing, and evaluation. The results showed that CNN, GRU, LSTM, and Bi-LSTM classification models achieved accuracies of 83%, 50%, 84%, and 86%, respectively. Among these models, Bi-LSTM demonstrated the highest accuracy of 86% in the experiment.

Keywords: negative emotion, emotion detection, social media filtering sentiment analysis, deep learning.

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10428 Impacts of Social Support on Perceived Level of Stress and Self-Esteem among Students of Private Universities of Karachi-Pakistan

Authors: Sheeba Farhan

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This study is conducted to explore the predictive relationship of perceived stress and self-esteem with social support of students and to explore the factors, which contribute to develop or enhance the level of stress in students of private universities in Karachi-Pakistan. After literature review following hypotheses were formulated; 1)social support would predict perceived stress of students of business administration of private organizations of Higher education, 2) social support would predict the self-esteem of students of private organizations of Higher education, 3) there will be a relationship of perceived stress and self-esteem of students of private organizations of Higher education, 4) there will be a relationship of self esteem and social support of students of private organizations of Higher education. Sample of the study is comprise of 100 students of private organizations of Higher education in Karachi- Pakistan (i.e. males= 50 & females= 50). The age range of participants is 18-26 years. The measures, used in the study are: Demographic information form, a semi structured interview form, Rosenberg self esteem scale (Rosenberg, 1965) and perceived stress scale (Cohen, Kamarck, and Mermelstein, 1983) and multidimensional scale of perceived social support (Zimet, 1988) Descriptive statistics is used for getting a better statistical view of characteristics of sample. Regression analysis is used to explore the predictive relationship of study related stress and self esteem with academic achievement of students of private organizations of Higher education. Percentages and ratios were calculated to explore the level of perceived stress with respect to Socio-demographic characteristics in students of private organizations of Higher education. Finding shows that social support is significantly associated with the higher level of self-esteem among students of graduation but insignificantly associated with stress that has been experienced by them. These results are correlated with a wide variety of studies in which social support has proposed to be a predictor of well being for the students.

Keywords: private universities of Karachi-Pakistan, Self-esteem, social support, stress

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10427 Illness-Related PTSD Among Type 1 Diabetes Patients

Authors: Omer Zvi Shaked, Amir Tirosh

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Type 1 Diabetes (T1DM) is an incurable chronic illness with no known preventive measures. Excess to insulin therapy can lead to hypoglycemia with neuro-glycogenic symptoms such as shakiness, nausea, sweating, irritability, fatigue, excessive thirst or hunger, weakness, seizure, and coma. Severe Hypoglycemia (SH) is also considered a most aversive event since it may put patients at risk for injury and death, which matches the criteria of a traumatic event. SH has a ranging prevalence of 20%, which makes it a primary medical Issue. One of the results of SH is an intense emotional fear reaction resembling the form of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTS), causing many patients to avoid insulin therapy and social activities in order to avoid the possibility of hypoglycemia. As a result, they are at risk for irreversible health deterioration and medical complications. Fear of Hypoglycemia (FOH) is, therefore, a major disturbance for T1DM patients. FOH differs from prevalent post-traumatic stress reactions to other forms of traumatic events since the threat to life continuously exists in the patient's body. That is, it is highly probable that orthodox interventions may not be sufficient for helping patients after SH to regain healthy social function and proper medical treatment. Accordingly, the current presentation will demonstrate the results of a study conducted among T1DM patients after SH. The study was designed in two stages. First, a preliminary qualitative phenomenological study among ten patients after SH was conducted. Analysis revealed that after SH, patients confuse between stress symptoms and Hypoglycemia symptoms, divide life before and after the event, report a constant sense of fear, a loss of freedom, a significant decrease in social functioning, a catastrophic thinking pattern, a dichotomous split between the self and the body, and internalization of illness identity, a loss of internal locus of control, a damaged self-representation, and severe loneliness for never being understood by others. The second stage was a two steps study of intervention among five patients after SH. The first part of the intervention included three months of therapeutic 3rd wave CBT therapy. The contents of the therapeutic process were: acceptance of fear and tolerance to stress; cognitive de-fusion combined with emotional self-regulation; the adoption of an active position relying on personal values; and self-compassion. Then, the intervention included a one-week practical real-time 24/7 support by trained medical personnel, alongside a gradual exposure to increased insulin therapy in a protected environment. The results of the intervention are a decrease in stress symptoms, increased social functioning, increased well-being, and decreased avoidance of medical treatment. The presentation will discuss the unique emotional state of T1DM patients after SH. Then, the presentation will discuss the effectiveness of the intervention for patients with chronic conditions after a traumatic event. The presentation will make evident the unique situation of illness-related PTSD. The presentation will also demonstrate the requirement for multi-professional collaboration between social work and medical care for populations with chronic medical conditions. Limitations of the study and recommendations for further research will be discussed.

Keywords: type 1 diabetes, chronic illness, post-traumatic stress, illness-related PTSD

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10426 Rumour Containment Using Monitor Placement and Truth Propagation

Authors: Amrah Maryam

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The emergence of online social networks (OSNs) has transformed the way we pursue and share information. On the one hand, OSNs provide great ease for the spreading of positive information while, on the other hand, they may also become a channel for the spreading of malicious rumors and misinformation throughout the social network. Thus, to assure the trustworthiness of OSNs to its users, it is of vital importance to detect the misinformation propagation in the network by placing network monitors. In this paper, we aim to place monitors near the suspected nodes with the intent to limit the diffusion of misinformation in the social network, and then we also detect the most significant nodes in the network for propagating true information in order to minimize the effect of already diffused misinformation. Thus, we initiate two heuristic monitor placement using articulation points and truth propagation using eigenvector centrality. Furthermore, to provide real-time workings of the system, we integrate both the monitor placement and truth propagation entities as well. To signify the effectiveness of the approaches, we have carried out the experiment and evaluation of Stanford datasets of online social networks.

Keywords: online social networks, monitor placement, independent cascade model, spread of misinformation

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10425 Sustaining the Social Memory in a Historic Neighborhood: The Case Study of Uch Dukkan Neighborhood in Ardabil City in Azerbaijani Region of Iran

Authors: Yousef Daneshvar Rouyandozagh, Ece. K. Açikgöz

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Conservation of historical urban patterns in the traditional neighborhoods is a part of creating integrated urban environments that are socially more sustainable. Urbanization reflects on life conditions and social, physical, economical characteristics of the society. In this regard, historical zones and traditional regions are affected by dramatic interventions on these characteristics. This article focuses on the Uch Dukkan neighborhood located in Ardabil City in Azarbaijani region of Iran, which has been up to such interventions that leaded its transformation from the past to the present. After introducing a brief inventory of the main elements of the historical zone and the neighborhood; this study explores the changes and transformations in different periods; and their impacts on the quality of the environment and its social sustainability. The survey conducted in the neighborhood as part of this research study revealed that the Uch Dukkan neighborhood and the unique architectural heritage that it possesses have become more inactive physically and functionally in a decade. This condition requires an exploration and comparison of the present and the expected transformations of the meaning of social space from the most private unit to the urban scale. From this token, it is argued that an architectural point of view that is based on space order; use and meaning of space as a social and cultural image, should not be ignored. Based on the interplay between social sustainability, collective memory, and the urban environment, study aims to make the invisible portion of ignorance clear, that ends up with a weakness in defining the collective meaning of the neighborhood as a historic urban district. It reveals that the spatial possessions of the neighborhood are valuable not only for their historical and physical characteristics, but also for their social memory that is to be remembered and constructed further.

Keywords: urban integrity, social sustainability, collective memory, social decay

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10424 Social Media: The Major Trigger of Online and Offline Political Activism

Authors: Chan Eang Teng, Tang Mui Joo

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With the viral factor on social media, the sense of persuasion is generated by repetition and popularity. When users’ interest is captured, political awareness increases to spark political enthusiasm, but, the level of user’s political participation and political attitude of those active users is still questionable. An online survey on 250 youth and in-depth interview on two politicians are conducted to answer the main question in this paper. The result shows that Facebook significantly increases political awareness among youths. Social media may not be the major trigger to political activism among youths as most respondents opined that they would still vote without Facebook. Other factors could be political campaigning, political climate, age, peer pressure or others. Finding also shows that majority of respondents did not participate in online political debates or political groups. Many also wondered if the social media was the main power switch that triggers the political influx among young voters. The research finding is significant to understand how the new media, Facebook, has reshaped the political landscape in Malaysia, creating the Social Media Election that changed the rules of the political game. However, research finding does not support the ideal notion that the social media is the major trigger to youth’s political activism. This research outcome has exposed the flaws of the Social Media Election. It has revealed the less optimistic side of youth political activism. Unfortunately, results fall short of the idealistic belief that the social media have given rise to political activism among youths in the 13th General Election in Malaysia. The research outcome also highlights an important lesson for the democratic discourse of Malaysia which is making informed and educated decisions takes more commitment, proactive and objective attitude.

Keywords: social media, political participation, political activism, democracy, political communication

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10423 Affectness of Emotional Intelligence on Employee Profesionalism

Authors: Vanisa Damayanti Yuningsih

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Employee professionalism is certainly the hope for every company to create a good working environment. Emotional intelligence is one of the factors that determine the success of professionalism, for, in emotional intelligence, an employee can control his ego and can understand and understand his coworkers and thus create a dynamic environment in which to work. Each employee is encouraged to have professionalism in order to optimize his resources. This professionalism is shown by employees being able to do their work and taking responsibility in their profession by involving controlled feelings and emotions. The problem which is drawn from this research is how emotional intelligence can affect the professional attitudes of employees. The purpose of this research is to find out how far emotional intelligence goes in the professional manner of employees.

Keywords: professionalism, emotional intelligence, work environment, company

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10422 Development of an Attitude Scale Towards Social Networking Sites

Authors: Münevver Başman, Deniz Gülleroğlu

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The purpose of this study is to develop a scale to determine the attitudes towards social networking sites. 45 tryout items, prepared for this aim, were applied to 342 students studying at Marmara University, Faculty of Education. The reliability and the validity of the scale were conducted with the help of these students. As a result of exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation, 41 items grouped according to the structure with three factors (interest, reality and negative effects) is obtained. While alpha reliability of the scale is obtained as .899; the reliability of factors is obtained as .899, .799, .775, respectively.

Keywords: Attitude, reliability, social networking sites, validity.

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10421 Development and Evaluation of a Psychological Adjustment and Adaptation Status Scale for Breast Cancer Survivors

Authors: Jing Chen, Jun-E Liu, Peng Yue

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Objective: The objective of this study was to develop a psychological adjustment and adaptation status scale for breast cancer survivors, and to examine the reliability and validity of the scale. Method: 37 breast cancer survivors were recruited in qualitative research; a five-subject theoretical framework and an item pool of 150 items of the scale were derived from the interview data. In order to evaluate and select items and reach a preliminary validity and reliability for the original scale, the suggestions of study group members, experts and breast cancer survivors were taken, and statistical methods were used step by step in a sample of 457 breast cancer survivors. Results: An original 24-item scale was developed. The five dimensions “domestic affections”, “interpersonal relationship”, “attitude of life”, “health awareness”, “self-control/self-efficacy” explained 58.053% of the total variance. The content validity was assessed by experts, the CVI was 0.92. The construct validity was examined in a sample of 264 breast cancer survivors. The fitting indexes of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed good fitting of the five dimensions model. The criterion-related validity of the total scale with PTGI was satisfactory (r=0.564, p<0.001). The internal consistency reliability and test-retest reliability were tested. Cronbach’s alpha value (0.911) showed a good internal consistency reliability, and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC=0.925, p<0.001) showed a satisfactory test-retest reliability. Conclusions: The scale was brief and easy to understand, was suitable for breast cancer patients whose physical strength and energy were limited.

Keywords: breast cancer survivors, rehabilitation, psychological adaption and adjustment, development of scale

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10420 An Exploration of Organisational Elements on Social Media Platforms Based Knowledge Sharing: The Case of Higher Education Institutions in Malaysia

Authors: Nor Erlissa Abd Aziz, R. M. U. S. Udagedara, S. Sharifi

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Managing and sharing knowledge has been a broadly satisfactory strategy to most of the organisations. Harnessing the power of knowledge supported the organisations to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors. Along with the invention of social media, knowledge sharing process has been more efficient and comfortable. Numerous researches have been conducted to investigate the effect of social media platforms for public and academic use. Furthermore, knowledge sharing, in general, have been subject to considerable n research, but research on sharing knowledge in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is rare. Also, it is noted that still there is a gap related to the organisational elements that contribute to the successful knowledge sharing through social media platforms. Thus, this research aims to investigate organisational elements that influence the social media platform based knowledge sharing within the context of Malaysian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The research used qualitative research methods to get an in-depth understanding of the subject matter. The conclusions of this study are based on interpreting the results of semi-structured interviews with academic staff from various Malaysian HEIs from the public and private sectors. Documents review will supplement the data from the interviews, and this ensures triangulation of the responses and thus increase the validity of the research. This research contributes to the literature by investigating an in-depth understanding the role of organisational elements about the social media platform based knowledge sharing in nourishing knowledge and spreading it to become better HEIs in utilising their knowledge. The proposed framework which identifies the organisational elements influences of social media platform based knowledge sharing will present as the main contribution of this research.

Keywords: knowledge sharing, social media, knowledge and knowledge management

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10419 The Role of Social Capital and Dynamic Capabilities in a Circular Economy: Evidence from German Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Authors: Antonia Hoffmann, Andrea Stübner

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Resource scarcity and rising material prices are forcing companies to rethink their business models. The conventional linear system of economic growth and rising social needs further exacerbates the problem of resource scarcity. Therefore, it is necessary to separate economic growth from resource consumption. This can be achieved through the circular economy (CE), which focuses on sustainable product life cycles. However, companies face challenges in implementing CE into their businesses. Small and medium-sized enterprises are particularly affected by these problems, as they have a limited resource base. Collaboration and social interaction between different actors can help to overcome these obstacles. Based on a self-generated sample of 1,023 German small and medium-sized enterprises, we use a questionnaire to investigate the influence of social capital and its three dimensions - structural, relational, and cognitive capital - on the implementation of CE and the mediating effect of dynamic capabilities in explaining these relationships. Using regression analyses and structural equation modeling, we find that social capital is positively associated with CE implementation and dynamic capabilities partially mediate this relationship. Interestingly, our findings suggest that not all social capital dimensions are equally important for CE implementation. We theoretically and empirically explore the network forms of social capital and extend the CE literature by suggesting that dynamic capabilities help organizations leverage social capital to drive the implementation of CE practices. The findings of this study allow us to suggest several implications for managers and institutions. From a practical perspective, our study contributes to building circular production and service capabilities in small and medium-sized enterprises. Various CE activities can transform products and services to contribute to a better and more responsible world.

Keywords: circular economy, dynamic capabilities, SMEs, social capital

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10418 Effects of People’s Participation in Adult Education Programmes for Social Change in Ondo State, Nigeria

Authors: Akinyemi Eyitayo Oufunmilayo

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In every society, it is expected that adult education will help in meeting the needs of people in terms of economic and social lives and reveal their talents, culture, and political abilities. Participation in adult education programmes could be the ones offered by the Federal, state, and local governments or non-governmental organisations. This study, therefore, investigated how people’s participation in adult education programmes could change their social lives. A quantitative method was employed for the study. The study population consisted of 210 people randomly selected from the three Senatorial Districts in Ondo State. Data obtained was analysed using frequency counts and percentages and chi-square analysis. Findings revealed that members of the society responded to the benefits of adult education programmes made available, and there were positive changes to their social lives. It could be concluded that people’s participation in adult education programmes improved every aspect of their lives for better living. It is recommended that members of the society respond and make good use of any adult education programme made available in their community, while stakeholders and other opportune members of the society come to the aid of less privileged people in their society.

Keywords: adult education programmes, social change, participation, society

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10417 Social Networking Sites: A Platform for Communication and Collaboration for Visually Impaired

Authors: Sufia Khowaja, Nishat Fatima

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Social networking sites are significant for visually impaired to overcome the unique challenges they face and access the resources they need to succeed in their education and beyond which might be difficult to obtain through traditional means. It provides them an opportunity to build relationships, stay connected with their support network as well as to develop social skills which give them emotional support to fell less isolated. In this connection the study is conducted with the aim to determine the use of social networking sites, purpose of using and activities performed by visually impaired at Delhi University, Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi and Jamia Milia Islamia, Delhi. The study followed survey technique in which structured interview is followed to collect data from 137 visually impaired students and analysed using ‘SPSS ver23’. The findings of the study revealed that mostly used social networking sites are whatsapp by 89.23% students of DU, 95.12% of JNU, 87.09% of JMI, followed by e-mail by 78.46% of DU, 78.04% of JNU, 64.51%; youtube by 73.84% DU, 90.24% JNU, 80.64% JMI. Purpose for using these sites is for academics mentioned by 96.92% DU, 100% JNU, 93.54% JMI. Activities performed on sites are sending and receiving messaging 96.92% DU, 92.68% JNU, 93.55% JMI, communicating with friends and family as well as getting academic information. Findings of the study will be helpful for libraries to disseminate their services and resources as well as latest updates to their visually impaired users with the help of most used tools.

Keywords: social networking sites, visually impaired, Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Milia Islamia

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10416 Ibadan-Nigeria Citizenship Behavior Scale: Development and Validation

Authors: Benjamin O. Ehigie, Aderemi Alarape, Nyitor Shenge, Sylvester A. Okhakhume, Timileyin Fashola, Fiyinfunjah Dosumu

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Organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) is a construct in industrial and organisational behaviour that explains a person's voluntary commitment within an organisation, which is outside the scope of his or her contractual tasks. To attain organisational effectiveness the human factor of production is inevitable, hence the importance of employee behaviour. While the concept of organisational citizenship behavior is mostly discussed in the context of the workplace, it is reasoned that the idea could be reflective in relation to national commitment. Many developing countries in Africa, including Nigeria, suffer economic hardship today not necessarily due to poor resources but bad management of the resources. The mangers of their economies are not committed to the tenets of economic growth but engrossed in fraud, corruption, bribery, and other economic vices. It is this backdrop that necessitated the development and validation of the Ibadan-Nigeria Citizenship Behaviour (I-NCB) Scale. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey (online) research design, using 2404 postgraduate students in the Premier University of the country, with 99.2% being Nigerians and 0.8% non-Nigerians. Gender composition was 1,439 (60%) males and 965 (40%) females, 1201 (50%) were employed while 1203 50% unemployed, 74.2% of the employed were in public paid employment, 19.5% in private sector, and 6.3% were self-employed. Through literature review, 78 items were generated. Using 10 lecturers and 21 students, content and face validity were established respectively. Data collected were subjected to reliability and factor analytic statistics at p < .05 level of significance. Results of the content and face validity at 80% level of item acceptance resulted to 60 items; this was further reduced to 50 after item-total correlation using r=.30 criterion. Divergent validity of r= -.28 and convergent validity of r= .44 were obtained by correlating the I-NCB scale with standardized Counterproductive work behaviour (CWB) scale and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) scale among the workers. The reliability coefficients obtained were; Cronbach alpha of internal consistency (α = 0.941) and split-half reliability of r = 0.728. Factor analyses of the I-NCB scale with principal component and varimax rotation yielded five factors when Eigenvalue above 1 were extracted. The factors which accounted for larger proportions of the total variance were given factor names as; Altruistic, Attachment, Affective, Civic responsibility and Allegiance. As much as there are vast journals on citizenship behaviour in organisations, there exists no standardized tool to measure citizenship behaviour of a country. The Ibadan-Nigeria Citizenship Behaviour (I-NCB) scale was consequently developed. The scale could be used to select personnel into political positions and senior administrative positions among career workers in Nigeria, with the aim of determining national commitment to service.

Keywords: counterproductive work behaviour, CWB, Nigeria Citizenship Behaviour, organisational citizenship behaviour, OCB, Ibadan

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10415 Smashed Mirror: Immigrant Students’ Constructions of South Africa

Authors: Vandeyar Saloshna, Vandeyar Hirusellvan

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The image of post-apartheid South African Society that is reflected in the social mirror of the world is largely one of hope, faith, and aspiration. But is this reality? Utilizing social constructivism, case study approach and narrative inquiry, this chapter set out to explore the reflection of South African students from the lens of immigrant students. The picture that unfolds is troublesome in its negativity. In this chapter, we establish in detail what this picture is about and what implications it holds for South African Society.

Keywords: immigrant students, social mirror, xenophobia, identity formation, makwerekwere, expectations

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10414 Working Together: The Nature of Collaborative Legal and Social Services and Their Influence on Practice

Authors: Jennifer Donovan

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Practice collaborations between legal assistance and social support services have emerged as a growing framework worldwide for delivering services to clients with high degrees of disadvantage, vulnerability and complexity. In Australia, the past five years has seen a significant growth in these socio-legal collaborations, with programs being delivered through legal, social service and health organizations and addressing a range of issues including mental health, immigration, parental child abduction and domestic violence. This presentation is based on research currently mapping the nature of these collaborations in Australia and exploring the influence that collaborating professions are having on each other’s practice. In a similar way to problem-solving courts being seen as a systematic take up of therapeutic jurisprudence in the court setting, socio-legal collaborations have the potential to be a systematic take up of therapeutic jurisprudence in an advice setting. This presentation will explore the varied ways in which socio-legal collaboration is being implemented in these programs. It will also explore the development of interdisciplinary therapeutic jurisprudence within them, with preliminary findings suggesting that both legal and social service practice is being influenced by the collaborative setting, with legal practice showing a more therapeutic orientation and social service professions, such as social work, moving toward a legal and rights orientation.

Keywords: collaboration, socio-legal, Australia, therapeutic jurisprudence

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10413 Fake Accounts Detection in Twitter Based on Minimum Weighted Feature Set

Authors: Ahmed ElAzab, Amira M. Idrees, Mahmoud A. Mahmoud, Hesham Hefny

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Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook attracts over 500 million users across the world, for those users, their social life, even their practical life, has become interrelated. Their interaction with social networking has affected their life forever. Accordingly, social networking sites have become among the main channels that are responsible for vast dissemination of different kinds of information during real time events. This popularity in Social networking has led to different problems including the possibility of exposing incorrect information to their users through fake accounts which results to the spread of malicious content during life events. This situation can result to a huge damage in the real world to the society in general including citizens, business entities, and others. In this paper, we present a classification method for detecting fake accounts on Twitter. The study determines the minimized set of the main factors that influence the detection of the fake accounts on Twitter, then the determined factors have been applied using different classification techniques, a comparison of the results for these techniques has been performed and the most accurate algorithm is selected according to the accuracy of the results. The study has been compared with different recent research in the same area, this comparison has proved the accuracy of the proposed study. We claim that this study can be continuously applied on Twitter social network to automatically detect the fake accounts, moreover, the study can be applied on different Social network sites such as Facebook with minor changes according to the nature of the social network which are discussed in this paper.

Keywords: fake accounts detection, classification algorithms, twitter accounts analysis, features based techniques

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10412 Microbes at Work: An Assessment on the Use of Microbial Inoculants in Reforestation and Rehabilitation of the Forest Ancestral Land of Magbukun Aytas of Morong, Bataan, Philippines

Authors: Harold M. Carag, April Charmaine D. Camacho, Girlie Nora A. Abrigo, Florencia G. Palis, Ma. Larissa Lelu P. Gata

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A technology impact assessment on the use of microbial inoculants in the reforestation and rehabilitation of forest ancestral lands of the Magbukün Aytas in Morong, Bataan was conducted. This two-year rainforestation technology aimed to determine the optimum condition for the improvement of seedling survival rate in the nursery and in the field to hasten the process of forest regeneration of Magbukün Ayta’s ancestral land. A combination of qualitative methods (key informant interviews, focus groups and participant observation), participated by the farmers who were directly involved in the project, community men and women, the council of elders and the project staff, was employed to complete this impact assessment. The recorded data were transcribed, and the accounts were broadly categorized on the following aspects: social (gender, institutional, anthropological), economic and environmental. The Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) framework was primarily used for the impact analysis while the Harvard Analytical Framework was specifically used for the gender impact analysis. Through this technology, a wildling nursery with more than one thousand seedlings was successfully established and served as a good area for the healthy growth of seedlings that would be planted in the forest. Results showed that this technology affected positively and negatively the various gender roles present in the community although household work remained to be the women’s responsibility. The technology introduced directly added up to the workload done by the men and women (preparing and applying fertilizer, making pots etc.) but this, in turn, provided ways to increase their sources of livelihood. The gender roles that were already present were further strengthened after the project and men remained to be in control. The technology or project in turn also benefited from the already present roles since they no longer have to assign things to them, the execution of the various roles was smoothly executed. In the anthropological aspect, their assigned task to manage the nursery was an easy responsibility because of their deep connection to the environment and their fear and beliefs on ‘engkato’ and ‘anito’ was helpful in guarding the forest. As the cultural value of these trees increases, their mindset of safeguarding the forest also heightens. Meanwhile, the welfare of the whole tribe is the ultimate determinant of the swift entry of projects. The past institutions brought ephemeral reliefs on the subsistence of the Magbukün Aytas. These were good ‘conditioning’ factors for the adoption of the technology of the project. As an attempt to turn away from the dependent of harmful chemical, the project’s way of introducing organic inputs was slowly gaining popularity in the community. Economically, the project was able to provide additional income to the farmers. However, the slow mode of payment dismayed other farmers and abandoned their roles. Lastly, major environmental effects weren’t that much observed after the application of the technology. The minor effects concentrated more on the improved conditions of the soil and water in the community. Because of the introduced technology, soil conditions became more favorable specifically for the species that were planted. The organic fertilizers used were in turn not harmful for the residents living in Sitio Kanawan. There were no human diseases caused by the technology. The conservation of the biodiversity of the forest is clearly the most evident long-term result of the project.

Keywords: ancestral lands, impact assessment, microbial inculants, reforestation

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10411 Sharing Personal Information for Connection: The Effect of Social Exclusion on Consumer Self-Disclosure to Brands

Authors: Jiyoung Lee, Andrew D. Gershoff, Jerry Jisang Han

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Most extant research on consumer privacy concerns and their willingness to share personal data has focused on contextual factors (e.g., types of information collected, type of compensation) that lead to consumers’ personal information disclosure. Unfortunately, the literature lacks a clear understanding of how consumers’ incidental psychological needs may influence consumers’ decisions to share their personal information with companies or brands. In this research, we investigate how social exclusion, which is an increasing societal problem, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, leads to increased information disclosure intentions for consumers. Specifically, we propose and find that when consumers become socially excluded, their desire for social connection increases, and this desire leads to a greater willingness to disclose their personal information with firms. The motivation to form and maintain interpersonal relationships is one of the most fundamental human needs, and many researchers have found that deprivation of belongingness has negative consequences. Given the negative effects of social exclusion and the universal need to affiliate with others, people respond to exclusion with a motivation for social reconnection, resulting in various cognitive and behavioral consequences, such as paying greater attention to social cues and conforming to others. Here, we propose personal information disclosure as another form of behavior that can satisfy such social connection needs. As self-disclosure can serve as a strategic tool in creating and developing social relationships, those who have been socially excluded and thus have greater social connection desires may be more willing to engage in self-disclosure behavior to satisfy such needs. We conducted four experiments to test how feelings of social exclusion can influence the extent to which consumers share their personal information with brands. Various manipulations and measures were used to demonstrate the robustness of our effects. Through the four studies, we confirmed that (1) consumers who have been socially excluded show greater willingness to share their personal information with brands and that (2) such an effect is driven by the excluded individuals’ desire for social connection. Our findings shed light on how the desire for social connection arising from exclusion influences consumers’ decisions to disclose their personal information to brands. We contribute to the consumer disclosure literature by uncovering a psychological need that influences consumers’ disclosure behavior. We also extend the social exclusion literature by demonstrating that exclusion influences not only consumers’ choice of products but also their decision to disclose personal information to brands.

Keywords: consumer-brand relationship, consumer information disclosure, consumer privacy, social exclusion

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10410 Analysis of the Social Problems of the Early Adolescents in Northeast China

Authors: Zhidong Zhang, Zhi-Chao Zhang, Georgianna Duarte

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The social problems of early adolescents in Northeast China were examined with the instrument of Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA). In this study, the data consisted of 2532 early adolescents. The relevant variables such as sports activities, hobbies, chores and the number of close friends, as independent variables have been included in this study. The stratified sampling method was used to collect data from 2532 participants. The analysis results indicated that sports activities, hobbies, chores and the number of close friends, as predictors can be used in a predictive model, which significantly predict the social problem T-score.

Keywords: social problems, ASEBA, early adolescents, predictive Model

Procedia PDF Downloads 349