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This paper aims to investigate the mechanisms through which social media news consumption across different platforms leads to opinion polarization in society. To this end, the authors draw from cultivation theory to examine whether social media news consumption imparts a mainstreaming or resonance effect. Media consumption imparts a mainstreaming effect if frequent users, regardless of their social identity, develop homogenous attitudes about issues, whereas resonance is at play if there is a differing cultivation effect on various social groups depending on their relatability of life experiences.

The authors conduct the study in the developing context of India, using a population survey dataset from 2019. Regression-based mediation and moderation analyses were carried out to test the hypotheses.

The findings reveal that resonance is the most prominent mechanism through which social media news consumption cultivates opinion polarization, contrary to the mainstreaming effect imparted by television. Further, WhatsApp use was found to strengthen the polarizing effect of overall social media news consumption, while YouTube use weakened the cultivation of polarization.

The paper unearths how social media news consumption influences the opinion polarization of various social groups differently. The authors also find the differential effect of specific platform use. These findings have the potential to inform policymakers and developers about how to mitigate the detrimental effects of platform-based political persuasion.

This study offers significant contributions. First, the authors explain social media-induced polarization using the novel theoretical lens of cultivation. Second, the authors find that social media and television news consumption differ in their polarizing effects. Third, the authors find that while WhatsApp use amplifies the polarizing effect of social media news consumption, YouTube use weakens it.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the influence of the cathodic polarized potential on the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) susceptibility of X120 steel in a simulated acidic soil solution and the different SCC mechanisms at different cathodic polarized potentials.

The SCC behaviors of X120 pipe steels at various potentials were investigated in a simulated acidic soil solution by slow strain rate tensile tests, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and surface analysis techniques.

The fracture surface of X120 steel stretched in air showed a ductile fracture. Both elongation and tensile strength of X120 steel in the simulated acidic soil solution decreased compared to that obtained in air. A slight cathodic polarization increased the elongation and tensile strength of X120 steel; therefore, the SCC susceptibility was lower at −0.65 V_SCE than that at OCP, anodic dissolution dominates the corrosion process. However, a strong cathodic polarization induced hydrogen embrittlement, decreasing elongation and tensile strength, therefore, the SCC susceptibility was highest at −1.1 V_SCE, and hydrogen embrittlement became the dominant process.

The paper provides an essential insight into the mechanism of pipeline SCC for X120 steel in acidic soil environments.

Country of origin (COO) effect refers to the influence of COO on consumers' perception and evaluation of a product. This research explores the impact of consumers' power distance on COO effect.

We conducted two experiments to test the relevant hypotheses.

The results indicate that power distance has a polarizing influence on COO effect. That means, for products from countries with good images, the higher the consumers' power distance, the better their evaluation of the products; while for products from countries with poor images, the higher the power distance, the worse their evaluation of the products. The research also finds the moderating effect of consumers' competence–related country-related affect (CRA). When holding positive competence–related CRA, for products from countries with good images, the higher the consumers' power distance, the better their evaluation of the products; for products from countries with poor images, consumers' power distance has no effect. When having negative competence–related CRA, for products from countries with poor images, the higher the consumers' power distance, the worse their evaluation of the products; for products from countries with good images, power distance has no effect.

This study finds that depending on the perception of COO image, power distance not only improves the evaluation of products but also lows such evaluation, reflecting a two-way polarizing feature.

Once a corporate crisis is entangled with a social issue, how consumers make sense of the crisis can be impacted by issue-based opinion polarization. This study investigates the underlying mechanisms as consumers go through this process. This study also examines whether corporate social advocacy (CSA) can be an effective crisis-response strategy for mitigating reputational loss.

Theoretical inquiries were empirically tested using an online experiment (N = 792). The experiment set the context in China, in a working-overtime-issue-related crisis. It had a 2 (online exposure: anti-issue opinion vs. pro-issue opinion) × 2 (CSA: absence vs. presence) between-subject design with a continuous variable (pre-existing issue attitudes) measured before the manipulation.

This study found that pre-existing issue attitudes can be directly and indirectly associated with corporate reputation, for the issue attitudes influence how consumers attribute crisis blame. Such a direct effect of pre-existing issue attitudes varies depending on which polarized opinion consumers were exposed to on social media. This study also found CSA to be a robust crisis response strategy, through multiple mechanisms, in protecting the corporate reputation.

Scholars are scarcely aware of the threats that issue-based opinion polarization poses to corporate reputation. This study serves as an early attempt to provide theoretical explanations. In addition to this, this study extends the current conceptual understandings of CSA during corporate crises that involve social issues while adding fresh insights into the established typology of crisis-response strategies.

Social media has played a pivotal role in polarizing views on Russia–Ukraine conflict. The effects of polarization in online interactions have been extensively studied in many contexts. This research aims to examine how multiple social media sources may act as an integrator of information and act as a platform for depolarizing behaviors.

This study analyzes the communications of 6,662 tweets related to the sanctions imposed on Russia by using textual analytics and predictive modeling.

The research findings reveal that the tweeting behavior of netizens was depolarized because of information from multiple social media sources. However, the influx of information from non-organizational sources such as trending topics and discussions has a depolarizing impact on the user’s pre-established attitude.

For policymakers, conflict mediators and observers, and members of society in general, there is a need for (1) continuous and consistent communication throughout the crisis, (2) transparency in the information being communicated and (3) public awareness of the polarized and conflicting information being provided from multiple actors that may be biased in the claims being made about the conflict crisis.

While previous research has examined Russia–Ukraine conflict from a variety of perspectives, this is the first study to examine how social media might be used to reduce attitude polarization during times of conflict.

This paper aims to provide a sobering and unique view of technological unemployment and job changes by identifying endangered jobs and skills, as well as the essential up-skills critical to employees’ performance, which cannot be replaced by technology.

A systematic literature review, used because it is replicable, transparent, and scientific, was implemented to examine the current and future technological influences on employment, job outlook, work structure, and human resource development (HRD).

The study concludes that HRD professionals should promptly reexamine their social responsibility relative to the technological influence on workers by focusing developmental efforts on employees’ human skills while assisting workers’ transition to a skill-polarized workplace. HRD professionals should play a major role in facilitating employees’ coexistence with robots in the workplace.

While recognizing the valuable contributions of previous researchers with similar concerns, this comprehensive review provides an amalgamated and updated view, which reveals the escalating and combined challenges of a skill-polarized workplace, a tendency of technological unemployment for those positioned in middle-skill jobs, and an increased demand for employees with a higher level of human skills.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature on issues regarding the influence of skill-polarized workplace on jobs, human capital and organization from human resource development’s (HRD’s) perspective, this research identified 30 displaceable skills from endangered jobs and examined 423 adult employees’ awareness and level of technological redundancy based on the displaceable kills.

By using survey methodology, the findings discovered four displaceable skill sets – repeated physical motion and performance, information process and analysis, repeated physical control of equipment, and individual affective performance – existing in 23 occupations with varying degrees.

Evidently, about half of the respondents were not aware of their level of technological redundancy and the current changes caused by automation and advancing technology in the job market. Proper HRD interventions are needed to assist employees to adjust the job changes and coexist with machines and robots in the technologically dynamic workplace. Specific approaches and strategies to help employees to become robot-proof were provided and discussed.

This research offers important insights for HRD professionals to understand the phenomena of the current skill-polarized workplace and to potentially address the related issues of talent shortage, endangered jobs, and technological unemployment.

Proclaims that political aspirations often favour small units, economic advantages conversely, lie with fewer, larger entities. States, if given sufficient powers, the provincial level of authority is likely to prove the most successful and could polarise powerful new forces from the mass media. Posits, further, planning strategies can function effectively only at such a level with greater flexibility for change than is possible in a network of smaller units. Documents that regionalism is a widespread and growing force at many levels, having a variety of manifestations. Recommends that compromise must be of the essence for any accommodation of the phenomenon, but an administrative device alone has never been enough.

Despite the growing significance afforded to small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in contemporary Britain, much of the industrial relations (IR) literature in this country is based on research undertaken in large organisations. The minority of IR studies that are focused on smaller firms tend to be prescriptive and their results polarise into either the “small is beautiful” or the “bleak house” perspective and involve relatively small target samples. As a result, there is a paucity of quantitative research that could be generalised across this important sector of the British economy. The research (1998‐2000) on which this article is based originated from a perceived need to redress this imbalance. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from a target sample of 6,000 organisations. Preliminary results indicate that the majority of small business owner/managers in the sample exhibited personalised and mostly informal management styles. It emerges that IR in this type of business can be as varied as the characteristics, personalities and preferences exhibited by the respondents in the research sample.

This study aims to highlight the impact of altruistic-self and hunger awareness on socially responsible food consumption through the lens of self-awareness and self-congruity theories due to the great challenge of Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger.

A survey was conducted with a sample of 812 respondents. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) confirm each variable's structure through the measurement model and test the hypothesis to support a structural model.

The results highlight that the combination of altruistic-self and hunger awareness (AS-HA congruence) drives consumers to execute socially responsible food consumption. Meanwhile, consumers' food-saving attitude mediation translates to the attitude towards responsible and ethical use increasing socially responsible food consumption, a contextual development in the theory of congruence. Conversely, hunger awareness is not confirmed as significantly influencing socially responsible food consumption.

This research provides valuable insights for academicians and practitioners in developing food waste management strategies that can be implemented to reduce food wastage.

Food waste is a global concern and is challenging for many manufacturing, distribution and individual wastage levels. However, food wastage by consumers is one of the most critical problems which can be minimised with awareness and attitudinal changes in behaviour as a form of socially responsible consumption.