Use of SNSs, Political Efficacy, and Civic Engagement among Chinese College Students

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Xu ◽  
Lingling Qi
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Network Size ◽  
Chinese Society ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Chinese College Students ◽  
Political Voice

Almost half of China's 564 million netizens are using social networking websites (SNSs). Based on the growing popularity of native SNSs, this study aims to examine whether the younger generation feels more actively engaged in civic and political activities. A survey of 471 Chinese college students in Mainland China explored the effects of SNS use on political efficacy and civic engagement. Among the four identified gratifications of SNS use, social connection significantly predicted internal political efficacy and political voice. Entertainment negatively predicted both external political efficacy and political voice, while information seeking had no influence on either political efficacy or civic engagement. SNS network size emerged as a positive predictor of civic engagement, including electoral activities and political voice. Intensity of SNS use had no significant effect on any of the political outcomes. The results of the study shed light on the role of SNSs in the democratization of Chinese society.

Use of SNSs, Political Efficacy, and Civic Engagement among Chinese College Students

2015 ◽  
pp. 1328-1344
Author(s):  
Qian Xu ◽  
Lingling Qi
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Network Size ◽  
Chinese Society ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Chinese College Students ◽  
Political Voice

Almost half of China's 564 million netizens are using social networking websites (SNSs). Based on the growing popularity of native SNSs, this study aims to examine whether the younger generation feels more actively engaged in civic and political activities. A survey of 471 Chinese college students in Mainland China explored the effects of SNS use on political efficacy and civic engagement. Among the four identified gratifications of SNS use, social connection significantly predicted internal political efficacy and political voice. Entertainment negatively predicted both external political efficacy and political voice, while information seeking had no influence on either political efficacy or civic engagement. SNS network size emerged as a positive predictor of civic engagement, including electoral activities and political voice. Intensity of SNS use had no significant effect on any of the political outcomes. The results of the study shed light on the role of SNSs in the democratization of Chinese society.

scholarly journals Online health information-seeking behaviors and skills of Chinese college students

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dangui Zhang ◽  
Weixin Zhan ◽  
Chunwen Zheng ◽  
Jinsheng Zhang ◽  
Anqi Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Online Health Information ◽  
Chinese College Students ◽  
Link Type ◽  
Bivariate Logistic Regression ◽  
Information Seeking Behaviors

Abstract Background Seeking online health information (OHI) has become a common practice globally. The information seekers could face health risks if they are not proficient in OHI literacy. The OHI-seeking behaviors and skills of Chinese college students, the largest proportion of college students in the world, are understudied. This study was aimed to describe OHI-seeking behaviors and skills of college students in Guangdong, China. Methods College students in the Guangdong province with OHI-seeking experience were invited via WeChat, QQ, and Sina Weibo using QR code posters and flyers for participation in this online anonymized questionnaire-based study. Data on demographics, OHI literacy, information resources, search approaches, and behaviors were collected. The relationship between perceived OHI literacy and high-risk behaviors was investigated by bivariate logistic regression analysis. Results Respondents were 1203 college students with a mean age of 20.6 years, females (60.2%), and undergraduates (97.2%). They sought health information via websites (20.3%), WeChat (2.6%), or both (77.1%). Baidu was the main search engine, and baike.baidu.com (80.3%), Zhihu.com (48.4%), and Zhidao.baidu.com (35.8%) were top three among 20 searched websites for information about self-care (80.7%), general health (79.5%), disease prevention (77.7%), self-medication (61.2%), family treatment (40.9%), drugs (37.7%), western medications (26.6%), hospitals (22.7%), physicians (21.4%), and Traditional Chinese Medicine (15.6%). Despite most respondents (78%) lacked confidence in the evidence quality and satisfaction with the results, only 32.4% further consulted doctors. Many (> 50%) would recommend the retrieved information to others. About 20% experienced hacking/Internet fraud. Cronbach’s alpha for the internal consistency of OHI literacy was 0.786. Bivariate logistic regression analysis showed that students who believed they can judge the evidence level of OHI were more likely to self-diagnose (OR = 2.2, 95%CI, 1.6–3.1) and look for drug usage (OR = 3.1, 95%CI, 1.9–5.0). Conclusions This study reveals Chinese college students’ heavy reliance on OHI to manage their own and others’ health without sufficient knowledge/skills to identify misinformation and disinformation. The apparent risky information-seeking behaviors of Chinese college students warrant the provision of regulated, accurate, and actionable health information; assurance of cybersecurity; and health information literacy promotion in colleges by concerned authorities.

The Relationship Between Virtues and Personality Traits of Chinese College Students

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
pp. 1379-1385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shou-Kuan Mu
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Emotional Stability ◽  
Personality Factors ◽  
Chinese College Students ◽  
Psychological Concept ◽  
Self Reliance ◽  
The Relationship

Many researchers agree that virtue is an important psychological concept in contemporary psychology. The main purpose in this study was to investigate the relationship between virtues and the personality traits of college students in mainland China. Participants (N = 426) completed the Chinese Virtue Adjectives Rating Scale (CVARS; Mu, 2007) and the Chinese 16PF (Zhu & Dai, 1988). The results indicated that the 16 personality factors most closely related to the virtue factors were emotional stability, dominance, liveliness, rule-consciousness, social boldness, sensitivity, vigilance, abstractedness, apprehension, self-reliance, perfectionism, and tension. Second-order factors of the 16PF most strongly related to the virtue factors were anxiety, extraversion, tough-mindedness, and independence.

Gratification, Loneliness, Leisure Boredom, and Self-Esteem as Predictors of SNS-Game Addiction and Usage Pattern Among Chinese College Students

2019 ◽  
pp. 613-629
Author(s):  
Selina Xingyuan Zhou ◽  
Louis Leung
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Usage Pattern ◽  
University Administrators ◽  
Chinese College Students ◽  
Game Addiction ◽  
Leisure Boredom ◽  
Sns Games

This study investigated the relationships between perceived social network sites (SNS)-game addiction and gratifications, loneliness, leisure boredom, self-esteem, and usage of SNS-games. Data were gathered from a sample of 342 college students aged 18 to 22 in mainland China. Factor analysis yielded a three-factor gratifications structure (achievement, inclusion, and entertainment) based on the 11 motives for playing an SNS game obtained in a focus group. As hypothesized, loneliness and leisure boredom were found to be significant predictors of the level of SNS-game use and likelihood of addiction. SNS-game addicts tended to be male, lonely, often leisurely bored, and motivated by winning virtual money and gaining a sense of achievement. However, self-esteem was not a significant predictor. Implications for university administrators and suggestions for future research were discussed.

scholarly journals Civic Intentions and Actions: Exploring Civic Engagement among College Students in Mainland China

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Measurement Invariance ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Measurement Model ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Civic Attitudes

For the study discussed in this article, the authors developed a survey instrument to assess civic engagement among college students in China. Derived from focus-group interviews and extant literature on civic engagement, the survey was administered to 587 students from three universities in Southern China. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on a randomly split-half sample, and a subsequent confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on the other split-half sample to evaluate measurement structure and measurement invariance of the survey. A total of 22 items were included in the final measurement model. The authors identified five first-order factors from the survey (i.e., helping others, community service, acting on social problems, civic salience, and civic responsibilities), which loaded on two second-order factors (i.e., civic actions and civic attitudes). The authors also tested measurement invariance across male and female participants in the sample. Implications of the second-order factor structures and measurement invariance in future research on civic engagement in China are discussed.

Relationships between attachment and personality disorder symptoms of chinese college students

2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 571-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Ling ◽  
Ming-yi Qian
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Chinese College Students ◽  
Attachment Quality ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Positive Correlations ◽  
The Relationship

Links between attachment in childhood and the appearance of personality disorders later in life have been traced in recent years. In this study we explored the relationship between attachment quality and personality disorder symptoms of 1,611 college students in mainland China. The results indicated that there were significant positive correlations between scores gained on the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire (PDQ-4+; Hyler, 1994) and factor scores gained on the Adult Attachment Questionnaire (AAQ3.1; Hazen & Shaver, 1987). Significant positive correlations were also found between scores gained on the PDQ-4+ and attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety on the Experiences in Close Relationship Inventory (ECR; Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000). These results suggest that attachment and personality are significantly related to each other.

Birth cohort changes in Chinese college students’ loneliness and social support

2016 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 398-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sufei Xin ◽  
Ziqiang Xin
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
College Students ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
College Men ◽  
Chinese Society ◽  
Birth Cohorts ◽  
Chinese College Students ◽  
The Social ◽  
Increasing Trend

With the dramatic recent changes in Chinese society, Chinese college students’ average levels of loneliness and social support might also have changed across their birth cohorts. The present cross-temporal meta-analysis of 56 studies ( N = 21,541) found that Chinese college students’ scores on the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3) increased gradually from 2002 to 2011. The increasing trend in loneliness occurred among both men and women. Another similar meta-analysis of 110 studies ( N = 57,420) showed that Chinese college students’ scores on the Social Support Rating Scale decreased from 1999 to 2011, with a slightly larger shift occurring among college men. The increase in loneliness across birth cohorts among Chinese college students was associated with the decline of their perceived social support levels (especially objective social support).

scholarly journals Does Religious Belief Affect Volunteering and Donating Behavior of Chinese College Students?

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 403
Author(s):  
Fuman Xie ◽  
Yung-pin Lu ◽  
Yongfu Zhang
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Religious Belief ◽  
Charitable Giving ◽  
Family Income ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Chinese College Students ◽  
Donation Behavior ◽  
The Relationship

Limited research has been conducted in mainland China to explore the relationship between religious belief and prosocial behaviors such as volunteering and charitable donation. This study aims to investigate whether and how religious belief affects Chinese college students’ charitable giving and volunteering. Based on a survey of 1992 college students from five universities in Shanghai, the authors found that religious belief has a positive influence on charitable giving. Moral norms and family income level are also significant influencing factors in college students’ donation behavior. Religious belief does not affect volunteering frequency. Instead, volunteering intensity is affected by political status, social norms exerted by friends and families and volunteering motivations.

The Impact of Online News Consumption on Young People's Political Participation

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-31
Author(s):  
Hao Xiaoming ◽  
Wen Nainan ◽  
Cherian George
Keyword(s):  
Civic Engagement ◽  
New Media ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Knowledge ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Online News ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
News Consumption ◽  
The Impact

The informational usage of media has been identified as one of the most important factors that facilitate citizens' participation in political activities. This relationship becomes exceptionally intriguing in the 21st century, which is characterized by a growing popularity of new media, and concurrently, a decline of political and civic engagement in many societies, particularly among young people. Research findings about the link between new media usage and political participation have been inconclusive, and specific processes through which new media usage, especially the informational usage of such media, may affect political participation remain less than lucid. In this study, we propose a theoretical framework under which political knowledge and political efficacy are used to explain the possible connection between online news consumption and political participation. Through a survey of university students in Singapore, this study shows that the young people's consumption of online news is directly related to both online and offline political participation. At the same time, the consumption of online news is also indirectly related to online and offline political participation via political efficacy. Political knowledge, however, is found to be a mediating factor between online news consumption and online political participation but not offline political participation. This study not only allows us a more holistic view of the impact of online news on young people's political and civic engagement but also contributes to the existing literature on the relationship between news consumption and political participation by incorporating both online and offline political activities in the proposed theoretical model.

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