scholarly journals ‘A Source of Sanity’: The Role of Social Support for Doctoral Candidates’ Belonging and Becoming

10.28945/4275 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 367-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lilia Mantai
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Identity Development ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Student Diversity ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Doctoral Candidates ◽  
Researcher Identity

Aim/Purpose: This paper investigates the role of social support in the PhD. Despite universities’ efforts to provide a collegial PhD experience, candidates report isolation and loneliness in doctoral education – a factor contributing to attrition. Background: Previous research (Mantai & Dowling, 2015) defined social support in four categories: moral, emotional, guiding and mentoring, companionship, and collegiality. Social support is facilitated in various formal and informal groupings. Socialisation into scholarly communities promotes researcher identities through a sense of belonging. Developing a strong researcher identity through social connections benefits a student’s physical and emotional well-being, PhD progress, and investment in researcher careers. Methodology: This paper is based on thematic analysis of focus groups and one-on-one interviews with 64 PhD candidates from two Australian metropolitan universities. Contribution: Students’ perspectives on social support during PhD study are largely missing in the literature, as more importance is placed on academic support. This paper provides rich empirical evidence to show that support afforded by candidates’ personal, social, and professional relationships is critical in doctoral candidates’ identity development. Findings: First, investigating social support from the student perspective shows that it promotes students’ researcher identity development, sense of belonging, and community. Second, the paper extends our understanding of what social support means as it examines this concept in the context of student diversity. This paper confirms social support in the PhD extends beyond the institutional higher degree research environment and includes outside support by family, friends as well as online communities. Recommendations for Practitioners: Promote and improve support services, networking opportunities, and social connections within academia and beyond. Invest in understanding students’ diverse backgrounds and individual circumstances as well as goals. Recommendation for Researchers: Evaluate existing social support structures in place and identify social support needs of doctoral candidates at your particular institution. Impact on Society: Institutions, governments, and individuals heavily invest in PhD degrees financially and psychologically. This research aims to improve outcomes for society by developing skilled and confident graduates. Future Research: Future research ought to focus on the issues experienced by students of particular demographic backgrounds and on how to best support them.

scholarly journals Social Network Sites and Well-Being: The Role of Social Connection

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenna L. Clark ◽  
Sara B. Algoe ◽  
Melanie C. Green
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Sites ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Extensive Body

In the early days of the Internet, both conventional wisdom and scholarship deemed online communication a threat to well-being. Later research has complicated this picture, offering mixed evidence about how technology-mediated communication affects users. With the dawn of social network sites, this issue is more important than ever. A close examination of the extensive body of research on social network sites suggests that conflicting results can be reconciled by a single theoretical approach: the interpersonal-connection-behaviors framework. Specifically, we suggest that social network sites benefit their users when they are used to make meaningful social connections and harm their users through pitfalls such as isolation and social comparison when they are not. The benefits and drawbacks of using social network sites shown in existing research can largely be explained by this approach, which also posits the need for studying specific online behaviors in future research.

scholarly journals A group processes approach to antiscience beliefs and endorsement of “alternative facts”

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 513-517
Author(s):  
Bastiaan T. Rutjens ◽  
Sander van der Linden ◽  
Romy van der Lee ◽  
Natalia Zarzeczna
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Group Processes ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Psychological Study ◽  
Alternative Facts ◽  
Intragroup Processes ◽  
Group Identities

The global spread of antiscience beliefs, misinformation, fake news, and conspiracy theories is posing a threat to the well-being of individuals and societies worldwide. Accordingly, research on why people increasingly doubt science and endorse “alternative facts” is flourishing. Much of this work has focused on identifying cognitive biases and individual differences. Importantly, however, the reasons that lead people to question mainstream scientific findings and share misinformation are also inherently tied to social processes that emerge out of divisive commitments to group identities and worldviews. In this special issue, we focus on the important and thus far neglected role of group processes in motivating science skepticism. The articles that feature in this special issue cover three core areas: the group-based roots of antiscience attitudes; the intergroup dynamics between science and conspiratorial thinking; and finally, insights about science denial related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Across all articles, we highlight the role of worldviews, identities, norms, religion, and other inter- and intragroup processes that shape antiscientific attitudes. We hope that this collection will inspire future research endeavors that take a group processes approach to the social psychological study of science skepticism.

Engagement and Outcomes Associated with Contextual Annotation Features of a Digital Health Solution

2020 ◽  
pp. 193229682097640
Author(s):  
Michelle Dugas ◽  
Weiguang Wang ◽  
Kenyon Crowley ◽  
Anand K. Iyer ◽  
Malinda Peeples ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Digital Health ◽  
Data Entry ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Note Taking ◽  
Potential Benefits

Background: Digital health solutions targeting diabetes self-care are popular and promising, but important questions remain about how these tools can most effectively help patients. Consistent with evidence of the salutary effects of note-taking in education, features that enable annotation of structured data entry might enhance the meaningfulness of the interaction, thereby promoting persistent use and benefits of a digital health solution. Method: To examine the potential benefits of note-taking, we explored how patients with type 2 diabetes used annotation features of a digital health solution and assessed the relationship between annotation and persistence in engagement as well as improvements in glycated hemoglobin (A1C). Secondary data from 3142 users of the BlueStar digital health solution collected between December 2013 and June 2017 were analyzed, with a subgroup of 372 reporting A1C lab values. Results: About a third of patients recorded annotations while using the platform. Annotation themes largely reflected self-management behaviors (diet, physical activity, medication adherence) and well-being (mood, health status). Early use of contextual annotations was associated with greater engagement over time and with greater improvements in A1C. Conclusions: Our research provides preliminary evidence of the benefits of annotation features in a digital health solution. Future research is needed to assess the causal impact of note-taking and the moderating role of thematic content reflected in notes.

scholarly journals Please, Do Not Interrupt Me: Work–Family Balance and Segmentation Behavior as Mediators of Boundary Violations and Teleworkers’ Burnout and Flourishing

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7339
Author(s):  
Vânia Sofia Carvalho ◽  
Alda Santos ◽  
Maria Teresa Ribeiro ◽  
Maria José Chambel
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Boundary Violations ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
Work Family Balance ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Relationship

The lockdown, in the COVID-19 pandemic, is considered an external crisis that evokes innumerous changes in individuals lives. One of the changes is the work and family dynamics. Based on boundary theory we examine the mediated role of work and family balance and boundary segmentation behavior in the relationship between boundary violations and teleworkers’ stress and well-being. However, because women and men live their work and family differently, gender may condition the way teleworkers lead with boundary violations and boundary segmentation. Hypotheses were tested through moderated mediation modeling using data collected of 456 teleworkers during lockdown. In line with our expectations, teleworkers who have suffered most boundary violations were those with least boundary segmentation behaviors and with least work-family balance which, in turn was related to higher burnout and lower flourishing. Furthermore, gender was found to moderate the relationship between boundary violations from work-to-family and segmentation behavior in the same direction and this relationship was stronger for females than for males. We discuss implications for future research and for managing teleworkers, creating sustainability, both during a crise and stable days.

scholarly journals The Role of Local Communities and Well-Being in UNESCO World Heritage Site Conservation: An Analysis of the Operational Guidelines, 1994–2019

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7144
Author(s):  
Hanbyeol Jang ◽  
Jeremy Mennis
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
World Heritage Site ◽  
Heritage Conservation ◽  
Systemic Review ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conservation Priorities ◽  
Unesco World Heritage

UNESCO’s world heritage program aims to protect sites of cultural and natural heritage worldwide. Issues of local communities and well-being have been given increasing attention by heritage conservation scholars, but a systemic review of UNESCO guidelines has not been performed. Here, we examine the evolution of the ‘Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention’, documents representing the heritage conservation policies of UNESCO over the period 1994–2019. Using keyword analysis and document analysis, the findings show evidence of an increasing emphasis on local communities, growing primarily since 2005. However, the theme of well-being only first emerged in the operational guidelines in 2019. Political, economic, and environmental challenges idiosyncratic to specific places often complicate the role of local communities and well-being in heritage conservation priorities. Future research should investigate the potential implementation and implications of these changes for the guidelines at specific UNESCO world heritage sites.

Social support and well-being in dementia family caregivers: The mediating role of self-efficacy

2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 761-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alma Au ◽  
Man-Kin Lai ◽  
Kam-Mei Lau ◽  
Pey-Chyou Pan ◽  
Linda Lam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Mediating Role

Social support, well-being and involvement of fathers in transnational families in the Philippines

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 492-510
Author(s):  
Melissa Garabiles
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Peer Support ◽  
Spousal Support ◽  
Paternal Involvement ◽  
Transnational Migration ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Transnational Families ◽  
Left Behind

This study investigated left-behind Filipino fathers and their involvement as child caregivers. It hypothesized that social support and well-being predict paternal involvement, with well-being as the mediator. Results showed that familial and peer support predicted involvement, with well-being as mediator. Spousal support did not predict involvement or well-being. Findings highlight the importance of familial and peer support to left-behind fathers. Interactions between significant predictors of involvement present novel pathways to childcare. The non-significant role of spousal support is discussed in the context of transnational migration. Several interventions involving families and peers are suggested.

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