How Social Factors Influence Implicit Knowledge Construction on the Internet

Author(s):  
Albena Antonova

The influence of Internet on knowledge acquisition increases as it became the primary source of reference, especially for young generations. Therefore, it is important to understand how social factors and Internet influences not only explicit but also implicit knowledge construction. Several theories explain the impact of the social groups on the knowledge formation as Social Cognitive Theory of Bandura and Lay Epistemic Theory of Kruglanski. Thus, the authors propose an analysis of the implicit knowledge construction processes through the theoretical overview of Internet communication. More specifically, they discuss how the mechanisms of Internet increase the social and group impact on the implicit knowledge processes.

Author(s):  
Rakhshan Kamran ◽  
Giulia Coletta ◽  
Janet M. Pritchard

Purpose: The Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) suggests health behaviour can be modified by enhancing knowledge of health benefits and outcome expectations of changing behaviour, improving self-efficacy (confidence), and developing goals to overcome barriers to behaviour change. This study aimed to determine the impact of student-led nutrition workshops on participants’ confidence related to SCT constructs for making dietary choices that align with evidence-based nutrition recommendations. Methods: Level-4 Science students developed and delivered 9 workshops on nutrition recommendations for the prevention and management of age-related diseases. Participants attending the workshops completed pre- and post-surveys to assess SCT constructs. For each SCT construct, participants rated their confidence on a 10-point Likert scale. The number (%) of participants who rated their confidence as ≥8/10 on the pre- and post-surveys were compared using the χ2 test. Results: Sixty-three community members (60% female, mean ± SD age 71 ± 7 years) attended the workshops. The number of participants rating confidence as ≥8/10 for each SCT construct increased after the workshops (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Undergraduate students can positively influence community members’ confidence for making nutrition-related decisions. Involving students in interventions where SCT-structured workshops are used may help conserve health care resources and reach older adults who may not have access to dietitian services.


Author(s):  
Dawei Wang ◽  
Chaoyue Zhao ◽  
Yalin Chen ◽  
Phil Maguire ◽  
Yixin Hu

This paper explores the impact of abusive supervision on job insecurity under the frameworks of the social cognitive theory and the leader-member exchange theory; additionally, it explores the mediating role of leader-member exchange (LMX) and the moderating role of power distance. In this study, 944 employees from two state-owned enterprises located in China were surveyed via questionnaires. Results of the correlation analysis and statistical bootstrapping showed that (i) abusive supervision was significantly and positively related to job insecurity, (ii) LMX played a mediating role in the impact of abusive supervision on job insecurity, and (iii) power distance played a moderating role in the relationship between LMX and job insecurity. Based on the social cognitive theory, this study broadens the perspective of studies regarding job insecurity. It also provides practical suggestions for avoiding abusive supervision and for alleviating employees’ insecurities about management.


Author(s):  
Kirill Zlokazov ◽  
Ekaterina Ilyankova ◽  
Anton Rozhkov

The relevance of this research is connected with the necessity of develo­ping the theory of delinquent behavior and of improving the prevention of juvenile delinquency. The analysis of clauses that form the foundation of delinquency prevention programs shows the dominance of personal, behavioral and social environment-related views and a poor development of subjective views that modify the understanding of social consequences of crimes by adolescents. The goal of this research was to study the ideas of adolescents regarding social space and their impact on their assessment of crimes and their consequences. The study was based on the principles and clauses of a subjective approach, and the social-cognitive theory. The information processing methods included the frequency content-analysis (text-meaning), the assessment of differences (H-test of Kruskal-Wallis), and the multi-factor, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The authors established that juvenile delinquents’ understanding of interactions in the social space has an influence on their description of crimes. They also determined the statistical differences in the understanding of interaction with the social space between law-abiding adolescents and juvenile delinquents. It was shown that juvenile delinquents believe that social space ignores and devalues them, while law abiding adolescents believe that it is sensitive and supportive. Juvenile delinquents consider it possible to be irresponsible and dishonest in their interactions with other people, while law abiding adolescents strive to be responsible, honest and fair. The authors found out that the assessment of relationships with the social environment has an impact on the description of the consequences of a crime in a group of juvenile delinquents. The obtained results specify the ideas on the subjectivity of juvenile delinquents, prove that the subjective world view determines how the crime itself and its consequences are perceived, provide additional evidence that underage crimes are determined by the disruption of the relationship with the social environment, and show that the consequences of crimes are described using the vocabulary of risks and opportunities, consequences and advantages, break-up with the close ones and isolation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 403-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
SANDRA ASTILL ◽  
EVONNE MILLER

ABSTRACTThe combination of population ageing and climate change is creating a new threat for many Australian coastal hamlets vulnerable to the impact of tropical cyclones. Increasingly, elderly people are facing future tropical cyclones alone, without support from family and friends, relying instead on already stretched government and authority resources, despite Emergency Management Australia's (EMA) policy expectation that all citizens must be self-reliant. This research explored the future self-reliance and disaster resilience of coastal hamlets through the lens of the Social Cognitive Theory by outlining the findings from focus groups, personal interviews and questionnaires involving participants over 65 years of age, residing in townships previously impacted by Cyclone Larry (in 2006) and Cyclone Yasi (in 2011). Participants recalled a lack of social support following the cyclones, a fear of evacuating their homes, as well as the trauma of recovering from such intense destruction. Respondents were also concerned about the physical, cognitive and financial impacts of ageing on their ability to prepare and recover from future cyclones, frightened that experiences from the past might be repeated in the future, contributing to feelings of isolation, frustration and the loss of community, and a rethinking of ageing in the place of their choice. These considerations impact on the dependence EMA has that all citizens will remain self-reliant when faced with a natural hazard and should be considered when making future policy decisions in relation to more isolated coastal townships.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 155-169
Author(s):  
Joan Edwards ◽  
Jim Lawlor

Technological innovation is a process that involves the intertwining of social, cognitive, and material elements. The relationship among these features is non-linear, complex, and possesses the ability to transform as well as inform the configuration of markets, tools, users, and social environments. The concept of performativity can be used to explain this phenomenon. This paper identifies the performative elements present in the context of technological innovation and maps the social factors and the use of cognitive features in the innovation process. This identification explicitly addresses the entanglement of the material and social influences in the process, defines the agency of technological change, and focuses on the impact the nature of a technology has on the configuration of a market. A conceptual model of performativity in the innovation process is proposed.


Author(s):  
Sloane Speakman

In examining the strikingly high prevalence rates of HIV in many parts of Africa, reaching as high as 5% in some areas, how does the discourse promoted by the predominant religions across the continent, Islam and Christianity, affect the outlook of their followers on the epidemic? This question becomes even more intriguing after discovering the dramatic difference in rate of HIV prevalence between Muslims and Christians in Africa, confirmed by studies that have found a negative relationship to exist between HIV prevalence and being Muslim in Africa, even in Sub-Saharan African nations. Why does this gap in prevalence rates exist? Does Islam advocate participating in less risky behavior more so than Christianity? By comparing the social construction, epidemiological understanding and public responses among Muslim populations in Africa with Christian ones, it becomes apparent that many similarities exist between the two regarding discourse and that, rather than religious discourse itself, other social factors, such as circumcision practices, contribute more to the disparity in HIV prevalence than originally thought.


Author(s):  
Caitlin Vitosky Clarke ◽  
Brynn C Adamson

This paper offers new insights into the promotion of the Exercise is Medicine (EIM) framework for mental illness and chronic disease. Utilising the Syndemics Framework, which posits mental health conditions as corollaries of social conditions, we argue that medicalized exercise promotion paradigms both ignore the social conditions that can contribute to mental illness and can contribute to mental illness via discrimination and worsening self-concept based on disability. We first address the ways in which the current EIM framework may be too narrow in scope in considering the impact of social factors as determinants of health. We then consider how this narrow scope in combination with the emphasis on independence and individual prescriptions may serve to reinforce stigma and shame associated with both chronic disease and mental illness. We draw on examples from two distinct research projects, one on exercise interventions for depression and one on exercise interventions for multiple sclerosis (MS), in order to consider ways to improve the approach to exercise promotion for these and other, related populations.


Author(s):  
Marion Reindl ◽  
Burkhard Gniewosz ◽  
Markus Dresel

Abstract Based on the social cognitive theory and the emotional contagion theory, this study investigated if friends influence (reinforce or change) the development of academic values (intrinsic value, emotional cost) and if this process differs across same-sex friendship dyads. We drew on data collected in a two-wave longitudinal study in Germany. The final sample was based on 264 stable reciprocated friendship dyads of grades 5 and 7 (148 female dyads and 116 male dyads). Results of actor-partner-interdependence models indicated that friends reinforce each other regarding the intrinsic value and initiate change regarding the emotional cost. Moreover, female and male friendship dyads did not differ in the strength of influence on academic values. Results were discussed in terms of selection and socialization effects regarding friendships.


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