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1 – 10 of over 6000This paper aims to discuss the dilemma of terrorism as a political phenomenon that many political scientists care about; however, they find themselves incapable of explaining some…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss the dilemma of terrorism as a political phenomenon that many political scientists care about; however, they find themselves incapable of explaining some of its aspects and they resort to other disciplines. The second part of the dilemma is related to the incapability of well-established disciplines to provide political scientists with much help. This raises the following question: Will political scientists be able to enhance their knowledge of terrorism with the help of scholars from consolidated and well-established disciplines or with the help of scholars from interdisciplinary fields?
Design/methodology/approach
This research depends on the main theories of psychology and of social psychology and adopts a comparative approach to assess the effectiveness of both disciplines in providing political scientists with the knowledge they lack.
Findings
In spite of being a well-established and consolidated discipline, psychology is not the perfect discipline that can help political scientists know who a terrorist is. Social psychological theories of aggression provide political scientists with greater ability to understand what psychological and sociological factors motivate a person to turn to aggression and terrorism. Moreover, social psychology developed the “terror management theory” which clarifies various aspects of the phenomenon.
Originality/value
This research paper calls the attention of scholars of terrorism to the importance of adopting an interdisciplinary approach to understand the various aspects of a complex phenomenon such as terrorism. The interdisciplinary field adopted will differ according to the research question that a researcher needs to answer.
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Flavia Bonaiuto, Stefania Fantinelli, Alessandro Milani, Michela Cortini, Marco Cristian Vitiello and Marino Bonaiuto
This study aims to test the role that organizational sociopsychological variables may play in influencing job stress and work engagement in an organizational identity change…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to test the role that organizational sociopsychological variables may play in influencing job stress and work engagement in an organizational identity change scenario.
Design/methodology/approach
On a sample of 118 employees of an Italian company in the personnel training services sector, multivariate statistical analysis tests a pattern where organizational variables such as work support (by supervisors and coworkers, independent variables) – moderated by corporate identification (moderating variable) – and mediated by organizational trust (mediating variable) – boosts employee work engagement and lowers psychosocial risks (dependent variables).
Findings
The mediating effect of “organizational trust” is significant in the relationships of “supervisor social support” and “coworker social support” with the “absence of psychosocial risks.” Moreover, an increase in supervisor social support can lead to a statistically significant increase in work engagement. This occurs only for employees with low or medium identification and not in highly identified individuals.
Originality/value
The findings from the analysis on moderation are of primary importance because they show us a new perspective that can play the role of a guiding and practical principle on how to act on an organization’s human resources, specifically targeting those with lower or medium corporate identification.
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The purpose of this study is to explore whether a group dynamics perspective still exists in the scientific study of groups and what factors may account for the current situation.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore whether a group dynamics perspective still exists in the scientific study of groups and what factors may account for the current situation.
Design/methodology/approach
Alongside reflections based on my professional experience, I have analyzed the main academic journals that publish group research.
Findings
A group dynamics perspective is almost totally absent in the scientific study of groups. Contributing factors to this state of affairs are disciplinary developments in psychology (e.g. individualization, experimentalization and specialization), the demise of the status of psychoanalysis, changes in the meaning and manifestation of the “group,” and effects of New Public Management.
Originality/value
The study offers a critical perspective on current group research practices and considers these in a larger (social and historical) context. It advocates a group dynamics perspective for the study of groups, based on systems-psychodynamic insights.
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Eugine Tafadzwa Maziriri, Brighton Nyagadza, Miston Mapuranga and Tafadzwa Clementine Maramura
This study aims to examine the impact of habitual Facebook use (HFU) on life satisfaction and psychological well-being. In addition, the study examined the impact of life…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the impact of habitual Facebook use (HFU) on life satisfaction and psychological well-being. In addition, the study examined the impact of life satisfaction on psychological well-being. Moreover, the study investigates the impact of social safeness in moderating the relationship between HFU and life satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed a quantitative survey design, using a sample of 261 Generation Y students based in Mthatha, in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Scales for data collection were operationalized from prior studies. The collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Findings
The study’s results disclosed that HFU positively and significantly impacts life satisfaction and psychological well-being. In addition, life satisfaction positively and significantly impacted psychological well-being. Moreover, the results showed that social safeness had a positive and significant moderating effect on the nexus between HFU and life satisfaction.
Originality/value
This study contributes to understanding HFU as a precursor to life satisfaction and psychological well-being among Generation Y students. Also, evaluating the moderating effect of social safeness contributes to a more thorough understanding of the link between HFU and life satisfaction. Furthermore, this research aims to add to the body of knowledge in Africa’s communication psychology and social media literature, a field that has received little academic attention in developing countries.
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Valentina Mazzoli, Raffaele Donvito and Lia Zarantonello
Considering the ongoing discourse on diversity, equity and inclusion, brands aim to develop marketing campaigns that demonstrate respect for all individuals. Despite these…
Abstract
Purpose
Considering the ongoing discourse on diversity, equity and inclusion, brands aim to develop marketing campaigns that demonstrate respect for all individuals. Despite these intentions, many advertisements still provoke strong negative reactions from consumers due to brand transgressions in social media marketing campaigns that violate these values. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the repercussions that such social media marketing campaigns have on brands, categorizing these campaigns as brand transgressions in social media advertising.
Design/methodology/approach
This research uses a mixed-method design that includes semi-structured interviews (Study 1), a content analysis (Study 2) and an online experiment (Study 3).
Findings
This paper clarifies the elements that qualify as brand transgressions in advertising within the diversity, equity and inclusion discourse. The negative electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) associated with brand transgressions in advertising comprises negative emotions (e.g. anger, contempt, disgust and hate) and behavioural intentions to penalize the brand (e.g. negative word-of-mouth, brand avoidance and protest behaviours). The negative e-WOM stemming from these transgressions amplifies the adverse consequences for consumer–brand relationships by negatively influencing other consumers through sympathy towards the offended parties.
Research limitations/implications
This paper offers brand managers guidelines for preventing and managing negative consumer reactions towards brands based on their responses to marketing campaigns that contradict the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature on brand transgressions related to diversity, equity and inclusion values by exploring their impact on consumer–brand relationships and highlighting the pivotal role of sympathy in perpetuating negative consequences.
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Noel Scott and Ana Claudia Campos
Authenticity has been studied from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, leading to a rich but confused literature. This study, a review, aims to compare the psychology and…
Abstract
Purpose
Authenticity has been studied from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, leading to a rich but confused literature. This study, a review, aims to compare the psychology and sociology/tourism definitions of authenticity to clarify the concept. From a psychological perspective, authenticity is a mental appraisal of an object or experience as valued leading to feelings and summative judgements (such as satisfaction or perceived value). In objective authenticity, a person values the object due to belief in an expert’s opinion, constructive authenticity relies on socially constructed values, while existential authenticity is based on one’s self-identity. The resultant achievement of a valued goal, such as seeing a valued object, leads to feelings of pleasure. Sociological definitions are similar but based on different theoretical antecedent causes of constructed and existential authenticity. The paper further discusses the use of theory in tourism and the project to develop tourism as a discipline. This project is considered unlikely to be successful and in turn, as argued, it is more useful to apply theory from other disciplines in a multidisciplinary manner. The results emphasise that it is necessary for tourism researchers to understand the origins and development of the concepts they use and their various definitions.
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J. Lukas Thürmer, Frank Wieber and Peter M. Gollwitzer
Crises such as the Coronavirus pandemic pose extraordinary challenges to the decision making in management teams. Teams need to integrate available information quickly to make…
Abstract
Purpose
Crises such as the Coronavirus pandemic pose extraordinary challenges to the decision making in management teams. Teams need to integrate available information quickly to make informed decisions on the spot and update their decisions as new information becomes available. Moreover, making good decisions is hard as it requires sacrifices for the common good, and finally, implementing the decisions made is not easy as it requires persistence in the face of strong counterproductive social pressures.
Design/methodology/approach
We provide a “psychology of action” perspective on making team-based management decisions in crisis by introducing collective implementation intentions (We-if-then plans) as a theory-based intervention tool to improve decision processes. We discuss our program of research on forming and acting on We-if-then plans in ad hoc teams facing challenging situations.
Findings
Teams with We-if-then plans consistently made more informed decisions when information was socially or temporally distributed, when decision makers had to make sacrifices for the common good, and when strong social pressures opposed acting on their decisions. Preliminary experimental evidence indicates that assigning simple We-if-then plans had similar positive effects as providing a leader to steer team processes.
Originality/value
Our analysis of self-regulated team decisions helps understand and improve how management teams can make and act on good decisions in crises such as the Coronavirus pandemic.
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L. J. McElravy, Gina Matkin and Lindsay J. Hastings
Although service-learning increases several important development and learning outcomes in college students (Yorio & Ye, 2012), it is not clear whether service-learning is better…
Abstract
Although service-learning increases several important development and learning outcomes in college students (Yorio & Ye, 2012), it is not clear whether service-learning is better preparing these students for their future careers (Gray, Ondaatje, Fricker, & Geschwind, 2000). To better understand the influence of service-learning on student development, an exploration of a leadership service-learning course and an important workplace attribute, Positive Psychological Capital, are theoretically explored.
Nuno Baptista, Helena Alves and José Pinho
This paper aims to reinforce the arguments for applying the social support concept in social marketing.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to reinforce the arguments for applying the social support concept in social marketing.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper aims to conceptually outline the potential positive contribution of social support for social marketing practice as a tool to induce behavior change.
Findings
This paper focuses on the philosophical principle of social exchange, highlights the consumer-centered perspective of social marketing, which implies the natural evaluation of the social networks of influence and support and presents social support as a mechanism to induce long-term behavior change.
Research limitations/implications
No empirical (qualitative or quantitative) investigations were used to test the application of the concept in practical interventions.
Practical implications
This paper provides significant insights for intervention developers that can be used to program and theoretically justify future social marketing interventions applying the social support concept.
Social implications
Empirical research concluded for a positive relation between social support and human health and well-being. Thus, increasing the use of the concept in social marketing can serve to attain these social goals.
Originality/value
The concept of social support has gained considerable interest in the areas of behavioral medicine and health psychology. Despite such interest, it is still not clear how it can be approached in social marketing as there is a lack of conceptual literature discussing social support from a social marketing perspective, the number of social marketing interventions operationalizing the concept is limited and, till date, no research has focused in comprehensively establishing a theoretical rationale to operationalize the concept in social marketing.
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Nidhi Jaswal, Dipanker Sharma, Bhawana Bhardwaj and Sascha Kraus
Our study aims to understand what is known about happiness at work (HAW) in terms of publication, citations, dimensions and characteristics, as well as how knowledge about HAW is…
Abstract
Purpose
Our study aims to understand what is known about happiness at work (HAW) in terms of publication, citations, dimensions and characteristics, as well as how knowledge about HAW is generated regarding theoretical frameworks, context and methods. Additionally, it explores future directions for HAW research.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper conducts a systematic literature review of 56 empirical articles published between 2000 and 2022 to comprehensively explore HAW. It examines publication trends, citation patterns, dimensions, characteristics, theoretical frameworks, contextual factors and research methodologies employed in HAW studies.
Findings
Our findings suggest that while HAW research has gained momentum, there is still a need for exploration, particularly in developing countries. Various theoretical frameworks such as the job demand-resources model, social exchange theory and broaden-and-build theory are identified, with suggestions for the adoption of less popular theories like the positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment (PERMA) model and flow theory for future investigations. The review contributes to workplace happiness literature by offering a comprehensive analysis spanning two decades and provides valuable insights for guiding future research toward exploring factors influencing employee well-being.
Originality/value
Our article offers a structured analysis of HAW literature, emphasizing the necessity for more extensive research, especially in developing nations. It provides valuable insights into the theories and dimensions associated with HAW, guiding future research and assisting organizations in formulating strategies to enhance employee happiness and overall well-being.