How Do Educational Experiences Predict Computing Identity?

Despite increasing demands for skilled workers within the technological domain, there is still a deficit in the number of graduates in computing fields (computer science, information technology, and computer engineering). Understanding the factors that contribute to students’ motivation and persistence is critical to helping educators, administrators, and industry professionals better focus efforts to improve academic outcomes and job placement. This article examines how experiences contribute to a student’s computing identity, which we define by their interest, recognition, sense of belonging, and competence/performance beliefs. In particular, we consider groups underrepresented in these disciplines, women and minoritized racial/ethnic groups (Black/African American and Hispanic/Latinx). To delve into these relationships, a survey of more than 1,600 students in computing fields was conducted at three metropolitan public universities in Florida. Regression was used to elucidate which experiences predict computing identity and how social identification (i.e., as female, Black/African American, and/or Hispanic/Latinx) may interact with these experiences. Our results suggest that several types of experiences positively predict a student’s computing identity, such as mentoring others, having a job, or having friends in computing. Moreover, certain experiences have a different effect on computing identity for female and Hispanic/Latinx students. More specifically, receiving academic advice from teaching assistants was more positive for female students, receiving advice from industry professionals was more negative for Hispanic/Latinx students, and receiving help on classwork from students in their class was more positive for Hispanic/Latinx students. Other experiences, while having the same effect on computing identity across students, were experienced at significantly different rates by females, Black/African American students, and Hispanic/Latinx students. The findings highlight experiential ways in which computing programs can foster computing identity development, particularly for underrepresented and marginalized groups in computing.

Role of Social Media Marketing Activities in Influencing Customer Intentions: A Perspective of a New Emerging Era

The aim of this study is to explore social media marketing activities (SMMAs) and their impact on consumer intentions (continuance, participate, and purchase). This study also analyzes the mediating roles of social identification and satisfaction. The participants in this study were experienced users of two social media platforms Facebook and Instagram in Pakistan. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents. We used an online community to invite Facebook and Instagram users to complete the questionnaire in the designated online questionnaire system. Data were collected from 353 respondents, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data. Results show that SMMAs have a significant impact on the intentions of users. Furthermore, social identification mediates the relationship between social media activities and satisfaction, and satisfaction mediates the relationship between social media activities and the intentions of users. This will help marketers how to attract customers to develop their intentions. This is the first novel study that used SMMAs to address the user intentions with the role of social identification and satisfaction in the context of Pakistan.

Differences in attitudes toward terrorists: Type of terrorist act, terrorist ethnicity, and observer gender and cultural background

To explore the interrelationship between terrorist acts, terrorist ethnicity, and observer gender and cultural background in Israel, we recruited 211 participants aged 19–75 years. The majority were male (63%). As for the ethnic and religious cultural background, 40% were Jewish, 40% Druze, and 20% Muslim. The participants answered questions about their demographic characteristics, read three scenarios of terrorist acts, addressed attitudes toward terrorists, and suggested the length of imprisonment. We manipulated the type of act (shooting and killing/burning religious institutions/throwing stones at cars) and terrorist ethnicity (Arab/ Jewish). The results indicate significant main effects of the manipulated variables regarding attitudes toward terrorists. Also, Muslim Arab participants expressed more negative attitudes in cases of Jewish terrorists than Arab terrorists, whereas Jewish participants expressed more negative attitudes toward Arab terrorists than Jewish terrorists. Druze participants did not differentiate between Arab and Jewish terrorists. Furthermore, in cases of Arab perpetrators, Jewish participants suggested imprisonment terms 2.4 times longer than in cases of Jewish perpetrators. The discussion addresses the findings in the context of social identity theory and dual social identification. Regarding practical implications, the findings imply the need for education and training on ethnic bias among policymakers and practitioners.

The Futurians, Gamergate, and Fandom

From the science fiction fan clubs of the 1930s to the modern gamers, devoted fans have found one another and formed groups bonded over their shared interest. As groups formed, social identities began to emerge, distinguishing ingroups and outgroups. Social identity theory helps to explain the formation of groups as well as inevitable competition over resources and power. As technology became more sophisticated, fans were able to communicate with greater ease facilitating ingroup social identification. The inherent properties of video games reinforce both the cooperation among ingroup members as well as the rivalry with outgroups. Understanding the mechanisms within video games as well as the affordances of CMC and social media help to explain the group dynamics that support the Gamergate social identity.

Charismatic Christianity’s Impact on Growth and Revival in Singapore: The Case of the Methodist Church from 1889–2012

This paper aims to explain patterns of Charismatic revival by utilizing a quantitative lens on church growth in Singapore during the mid-1900s. The research digitized and then analyzed data from the archives of the Methodist Church of Singapore between the years 1889 and 2012. The annual conference reports recorded several variables over this 123-year period such as church membership, baptisms, and professions of faith. In recent years, it also records the average Sunday attendance at each of 23 churches throughout Singapore. This paper presents a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the historical data and concludes that, in line with predictions from the cognitive science of religion (CSR), religious revival can serve to energize religious communities that are primarily reliant on rituals with high frequency and low-arousal (see Whitehouse 2004). Typically, high frequency and low-arousal rituals allow for high levels of consensus and social identification among large religious groups. However, as a byproduct of their high frequency and low-arousal, the repeated rituals are predicted to suffer from the effects of tedium, which lowers motivation for the information presented during the rituals and can have negative effects on group cohesion. The ethnographic and historical records investigated within the theory of Divergent Modes of Religiosity (DMR) have suggested that short bursts of reinvigoration can be used to revitalize motivation in doctrinal religions. While the data from Singapore’s Clock Tower Revival events in the 1970s suggest that such an event did occur, the DMR, as traditionally formulated, is unable to capture the dynamics of Singaporean Christian demographics because 1) it does not clearly account for the high number of converts who have entered the religion and 2) it cannot account for the sustained presence of high-arousal rituals in the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches in Singapore since the Clock Tower Revival. Demographic data from Singapore, in particular the Singaporean Methodist church, complicate CSR’s current approach to tedium because it appears that the religious communities in Singapore have not only sustained their motivation, they have grown since the initial revival period in the 1970s, suggesting that new amendments to our approach to tedium in doctrinal religions may be appropriate (Lane, 2021, 2019; Lane, Shults, & McCauley, 2019). As such, this paper discusses how the data from the Methodist church in Singapore are more easily explained through the use of a new approach toward understanding social cohesion in religions that relies on a cognitive (i.e., information processing) approach that links social and personal information schemas with rehearsal, memory, and personal experiences. The theory also aims to formulate its claims with sufficient specificity to be modeled in computer simulations (Lane 2018, 2013) to be further tested against other historical groups, which this paper discusses in regards to future directions for the research.

NOBLES AND LANDOWNERS OF THE AZOV PROVINCE UNDER PETER I: ON THE ISSUE OF SOCIAL IDENTITY ACCORDING TO MASS SOURCES OF 1710-1723

The article actualizes the problem of determining the social identity of the Azov nobility. The authors propose a solution using the analysis of mass sources and the method of biographical comparison of data. The social identity of the nobility is understood by the authors of the article as a set of retrospective identification practices - this is the perception of service people of themselves and each other. The authors believe that various practices of social identification in the past are expressed in the context of research and analysis in modern language, and the description of social identity is semantically a historical reconstruction. For the first time in historiography, the number and official structure of the service people of the Azov province is studied. This topic was studied according to the data of the "General Inspection" held in Moscow in 1721-1723, which was organized by the Senate and Heraldry. Data on the official structure of the nobility of the Azov province were studied according to the "knigi priezdov" and compared with the Landrat census of Shatsky and Yelets counties. The authors studied the social identification of the Azov nobility on the basis of name registration at the "General Inspection" during 1721-1722. The totality of representations by service people of their name and age are analyzed using the typology of self-identification formulas. In the conclusion of the article, the main parameters of the social identification of the "nobility" are highlighted.

Applying social identity theory to the social media content strategy of a global brand: The role of brand- and user-generated content in global social identification

<p>The global marketplace is centred around products and brands that reflect certain identities. Social media can act as vehicles of meaning transfer for social identification between brands and social media users with a global social identity. Recognizing the importance of the psychological and sociological needs that draw social media users to build relationships with global brands, the purpose of this thesis is to explore the relevance of the global social identification process to global social media branding strategy. More specifically, this research considers the role and influence of social group membership dynamics to explore how brand-generated and user-generated content are part of the global social identification process. In that, this research aims to fill the gap where social identity theory has not been applied as a lens through which to understand and evaluate the social media content strategy of a global brand. This gap is important to fill due to the global social media arena’s social-centric nature and transparency in displaying social group memberships. An interpretive paradigm was used for this research, with a qualitative case study approach that consisted of interviews with global social media users/global brand representatives and a content analysis of the focal brands social media pages. The study found that the global social identification process on social media consists of two stages, global identity priming and global identity expression. Global identity priming occurs when the psychological and sociological function of global brands is transferred to brand-generated content through a semiotic meaning transfer process. Global identity expression can occur after, as a result of global identity priming, social media users with a global identity categorize the global brand into their in-group. Once in-group categorization takes place, creation and/or sharing of user-generated content with the global brand can be considered an act of identity expression and validation by those with a global identity. This has implications for a global brand’s social media content strategy, as the findings revealed that brand-generated content featuring certain symbolic global values facilitates the global social identification process on social media. Moreover, the findings revealed that user-generated content created by social media users for global identity expression purposes is of considerable value to global brands. Understanding how the global social identification process transpires on social media can guide global brands to consider how their content strategy can prime global social identification and meet the identity expression needs of those with a global identity. This has implications for content strategy design, social media interactions and ongoing global brand-user relationships.</p>

Applying social identity theory to the social media content strategy of a global brand: The role of brand- and user-generated content in global social identification

<p>The global marketplace is centred around products and brands that reflect certain identities. Social media can act as vehicles of meaning transfer for social identification between brands and social media users with a global social identity. Recognizing the importance of the psychological and sociological needs that draw social media users to build relationships with global brands, the purpose of this thesis is to explore the relevance of the global social identification process to global social media branding strategy. More specifically, this research considers the role and influence of social group membership dynamics to explore how brand-generated and user-generated content are part of the global social identification process. In that, this research aims to fill the gap where social identity theory has not been applied as a lens through which to understand and evaluate the social media content strategy of a global brand. This gap is important to fill due to the global social media arena’s social-centric nature and transparency in displaying social group memberships. An interpretive paradigm was used for this research, with a qualitative case study approach that consisted of interviews with global social media users/global brand representatives and a content analysis of the focal brands social media pages. The study found that the global social identification process on social media consists of two stages, global identity priming and global identity expression. Global identity priming occurs when the psychological and sociological function of global brands is transferred to brand-generated content through a semiotic meaning transfer process. Global identity expression can occur after, as a result of global identity priming, social media users with a global identity categorize the global brand into their in-group. Once in-group categorization takes place, creation and/or sharing of user-generated content with the global brand can be considered an act of identity expression and validation by those with a global identity. This has implications for a global brand’s social media content strategy, as the findings revealed that brand-generated content featuring certain symbolic global values facilitates the global social identification process on social media. Moreover, the findings revealed that user-generated content created by social media users for global identity expression purposes is of considerable value to global brands. Understanding how the global social identification process transpires on social media can guide global brands to consider how their content strategy can prime global social identification and meet the identity expression needs of those with a global identity. This has implications for content strategy design, social media interactions and ongoing global brand-user relationships.</p>

SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC SPECIFICS OF CITIZENS OBTAINING ELECTRONIC SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN UKRAINE

Purpose. The article is dedicated to an empirical study of the socio-demographic specifics of obtaining electronic socio-psychological support by Ukrainian citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. There were used an online survey on socio-demographic indicators and the author's block “Electronic psychological support” of the “Social and psychological support during the pandemic COVID-19 in Ukraine” survey (Laboratory of Social Psychology of Personality, Institute for Social and Political Psychology, NAES of Ukraine), which included 12 questions to determine the features of obtaining psychological support online, the ability to receive psychosocial support due to the electronic means, as well as social identification of respondents with their community of electronic support. Data processing was performed using nonparametric Mann-Whitney analysis of variance and one-way Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance, the statistical program SPSS 26.0.Results. The survey lasted from October 2020 to May 2021, the sample was 100 people (84% – women), the average age – 30 years, mostly citizens with higher education. Socio-demographic indicators that regulate statistically significant differences between respondents in terms of obtaining electronic socio-psychological support were age, gender, education, satisfaction with financial security, residence status. Female respondents, with secondary education and satisfied with their financial support, are more likely than others to receive the ideas they really need through e-support tools. The frequency of finding solutions to their problems through e-support is mediated by female gender, secondary education, and young age (19–24 years). The joy of visiting a community where e-support is provided is related to younger age and living alone. Women and those who are more satisfied with the state of their financial affairs are more willing to listen to the problems of other users in the e-support community. In general, young people aged 19–24 are more likely than others to use electronic psychological support.Conclusions. The identified socio-demographic indicators should be taken into account when developing interventions for citizens’ socio-psychological support. It is recommended to provide appropriate support on a paid basis, take into account the need for a simple and intuitive interface and gamified forms of support, provide clear algorithms for psychological self-help in the face of pandemic challenges, and provide online socialization in the form of interesting group activities. Further research should be aimed at identifying the specifics of obtaining socio-psychological support by men and the elderly.Key words: socio-psychological support, remote psychological support, online interventions, COVID-19, social policy, socio-demographic indicators, social identification. Мета. Статтю присвячено емпіричному дослідженню соціодемографічної специфіки одержання укра-їнськими громадянами електронної соціально-психологічної підтримки під час пандемії COVID-19.Методи. У дослідженні використано онлайн-опитування за соціодемографічними показниками та авторський блок «Електронна психологічна підтримка» опитування «Соціально-психологічна підтримка в період пандемії COVID-19 в Україні» (лабораторія соціальної психології особистості Інституту соціальної та політичної психології НАПН України), що включив 12 питань на визначення особливостей одержання психологічної підтримки онлайн, міри здатності одержати психосоціальну підтримку в електронному форматі, а також міри соціальної ідентифікації опитуваних зі спільнотою електронної підтримки. Обробка даних здійснювалася за допомогою непараметричного дисперсійного аналізу Манна-Уітні та однофакторного дисперсійного аналізу Крускала-Уолліса у статистичній програмі SPSS 26.0.Результати. Дослідження тривало з жовтня 2020 до травня 2021 року, вибірка склала 100 осіб (84% – жінки), середній вік – 30 років, переважно містяни з вищою освітою. Соціодемографічними показниками, які регулюють статистично значущі відмінності респондентів за показниками одержання електронної соціально-психологічної підтримки, виявилися вік, стать, освіта, задоволеність фінансовим забезпеченням, статус проживання. Частіше за інших завдяки електронним засобам підтримку отримують респонденти жіночої статі із середньою освітою та задоволені своїм фінансовим забезпеченням. Частота знаходження жінками рішення своїх проблем завдяки засобам електронної підтримки опосередковується середньою освітою та молодшим віком (19–24 роки). Радість від відвідування спільноти, де особа отримує електронну підтримку, пов’язана із молодшим віком та проживанням наодинці. Жінки і ті, хто радше задоволений станом своїх фінансових справ, більш схильні вислуховувати проблеми інших користувачів у спільноті електронної підтримки. А загалом частіше за інших користу-ються засобами електронної психологічної підтримки саме молоді люди віком 19–24 роки.Висновки. Виявлені соціодемографічні показники мають враховуватися під час розробки програм соціально-психологічної підтримки населення. Рекомендовано здійснювати відповідну підтримку на платній основі, враховувати необхідність простого та інтуїтивного інтерфейсу й гейміфікованих форм підтримки, надавати чіткі алгоритми психологічної самодопомоги у разі зіткнення з пандемічними викликами, а також забезпечувати соціалізацію у вигляді цікавих групових активностей. Подальші дослідження мають бути спрямовані на виявлення специфіки одержання соціально-психологічної під-тримки чоловіками та особами старшого віку.Ключові слова: соціально-психологічна підтримка, дистанційна психологічна підтримка, онлайн-інтервенції, COVID-19, соціальна політика, соціодемографічні показники, соціальна ідентифікація.

Engendering a Sense of Belonging to Support Student Well-Being during COVID-19: A Focus on Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 4

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a plethora of inequalities in South Africa. These inequalities have had a direct impact on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG 3 (good health and well-being) and SDG 4 (quality education) were the focus of this article. This article investigated how students enrolled at a South African residential university perceived the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their well-being, their success in completing their studies and their future career prospects. A quantitative survey research design was followed. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire from 537 students in a South African university. Statistical Package for Social Sciences software version 27 was used to analyze the data. The results indicated direct influences on student well-being from concerns that arose from COVID-19 about future job concerns, degree completion, social support and belonging. The relationship between concerns about degree completion was moderated by a sense of belonging (social identification) but not by social support. The study has significant implications for how higher education institution governors and academics might consider reconceptualizing notions of student support, beyond the narrow, technical and basic curriculum support for degree completion, towards the affective and social as it relates to creating conditions for students to identify with and experience a profound sense of belonging.