Effects of affective variables and willingness to communicate on students’ English-speaking performance in Thailand

Recently, Willingness to Communicate (WTC) has been explored and proposed to be one of the key concepts for identifying when one decides to initiate communication in the target language. The attention, nonetheless, has been concentrated on how WTC interacts with other learners’ variables. This study, on the other hand, intends to offer empirical evidence on the direct roles of affective variables (self-confidence, anxiety, motivation, and grit) and WTC variables (WTC inside the classroom, WTC outside the classroom, and WTC in a digital setting) in Thai students’ English-speaking performance. The data were obtained from 35 undergraduate students (17.1% males; 82.9% females) using a survey questionnaire. Then, a speaking test was taken from an English Communication Skills course and was analysed using correlation and hierarchical regression. The results disclosed positive correlations among self-confidence, motivation, grit, WTC in a digital setting, WTC inside the classroom, WTC outside the classroom, and speaking performance, and negative correlations among self-confidence, anxiety, and grit. However, motivation was the only significant predictor of speaking performance. The findings offer some implications for English teachers in improving students’ English-speaking performance.

The Influence of Smartphone Addiction, Personality Traits, Achievement Motivation on Problem-solving Ability of University Students

This study aimed to analyze the relations between smartphone addiction, personality traits, achievement motivation and problem-solving ability and explore the influence of smartphone addiction, personality traits, achievement motivation on university students' problem-solving ability. 682 students (male = 227, female = 455) from a Chinese public university participated in the research voluntarily. Data were collected by the short-version of the smartphone addiction scale, the ten-item personality inventory, the achievement motives scale, and the social problem-solving inventory. The correlations and multiple hierarchical regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The results were as follows: Firstly, it was found that there was a significant negative correlation between smartphone addiction and achievement motivation and problem-solving ability, a significant positive correlation between achievement motivation and problem-solving ability, and a significant correlation between the factors of personality traits and smartphone addiction and problem-solving ability respectively. Secondly, it was found that emotional stability of personality traits, smartphone addiction and the "fear of failure" sub-dimensions of achievement motivation significantly explained problem-solving ability. Based on these research results, some suggestions were given for the improvement of the educational field.

Contribution of Leisure Context, Motivation and Experience to the Frequency of Participation in Structured Leisure Activities among Adolescents

Leisure time is considered an important context for adolescent development. The purpose of this article is to investigate what contributes to the frequency of adolescents’ participation in structured leisure activities (SLA). Participants were aged 14–21 years (M = 18.87, SD = 1.23) and 44.8% of participants were female. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. Results indicate that boys and adolescents who perceive the context of participation in SLA as safe, are externally or intrinsically motivated, and perceive that participation has contributed to their identity development and experiences of initiative, as well as their experiences of stress, are more likely to participate frequently in SLA. On the other hand, these findings indicate that girls and adolescents who are unmotivated to participate in SLA and who experience negative peer influences while participating in SLA are less likely to frequently participate in SLA. It can be concluded that it is important to think much more broadly than just the setting of the activities themselves when promoting young people’s participation in SLA. Some of the features of SLA that promote positive youth development are presented in this paper.

Resolving stress of university teacher: exploring role of workplace spirituality and constructive workplace deviance

PurposeThe study explores the relationship between workplace spirituality and work stress among university teachers. It also investigates the mediating effect of constructive deviance amid the association between workplace spirituality and stress among Indian university teachers.Design/methodology/approachThe association between spirituality and stress is studied using correlation and multiple regression. The mediating effect of constructive deviance is examined using the Sobel test and bootstrapping estimates using Hayes' PROCESS macro. The hierarchical regression is used to report direct and indirect effects.FindingsFindings reveal a significant negative association between the six dimensions of workplace spirituality and stress. The results also concluded the mediation effect of constructive deviance, which means workplace spirituality promotes constructive deviance that influences educators' stress levels.Originality/valueThe study is based on primary data collected by the author. It is one of the first explorations of the mediating effect of constructive deviance in the relationship of six dimensions of workplace spirituality and work stress among teachers.

Uncertainty and Perceived Control as Predictors of Communicative Participation and Mental Health in Adults Who Stutter

Purpose: This study examined the role of uncertainty and perceived control in predicting the communicative participation and mental health of adults who stutter. Method: Two hundred sixty-nine adults who stutter completed measures of uncertainty about stuttering, perceived control of stuttering, communicative participation, and global mental health. In addition, participants self-reported on a variety of demographic and speech-related measures. Correlational analyses and hierarchical regression were performed to determine associations between variables of interest. Results: Uncertainty accounted for significant variance in communicative participation and global mental health after statistically controlling for the effects of demographic and speech-related variables. Perceived control accounted for significant variance in communicative participation over and above what was accounted for by demographic variables, speech-related variables, and uncertainty. Conclusions: The findings suggest that uncertainty about stuttering and perceived control of stuttering should be accounted for during assessment and intervention with adults who stutter. Interventions that specifically target uncertainty and perceived control may be useful in improving therapeutic outcomes for individuals who stutter.

Can Acting Out Online Improve Adolescents’ Well-Being During Contact Restrictions? A First Insight Into the Dysfunctional Role of Cyberbullying and the Need to Belong in Well-Being During COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Contact Restrictions

Connecting with peers online to overcome social isolation has become particularly important during the pandemic-related school closures across many countries. In the context of contact restrictions, feelings of isolation and loneliness are more prevalent and the regulation of these negative emotions to maintain a positive well-being challenges adolescents. This is especially the case for those individuals who might have a high need to belong and difficulties in emotional competences. The difficult social situation during contact restrictions, more time for online communication and maladaptive emotion regulation might lead to aggressive communication patterns in the form of cyberbullying perpetration. In an online study with N = 205 adolescents aged 14–19 (M = 15.83, SD = 1.44; 57% girls), we assessed the frequency of online and offline contacts, need to belong, emotion regulation problems, feelings of loneliness, and cyberbullying perpetration as predictors of adolescents’ well-being. In particular, we explored whether cyberbullying perpetration might function as a maladaptive strategy to deal with feelings of loneliness and therefore predicts well-being. This effect was expected to be stronger for those with a higher need to belong and with higher emotion regulation problems. Results of a hierarchical regression analysis revealed that well-being was significantly predicted by less emotion regulation difficulties, less feeling isolated and more cyberbullying perpetration. We also tested whether the need to belong or emotion regulation problems moderated the association between cyberbullying and well-being. While the results for emotion regulation problems were not significant, the moderation effect for the need to belong was significant: For students with a high need to belong, well-being was more strongly related to cyberbullying perpetration than for students with a medium need to belong. For students with a low need to belong, cyberbullying was not significantly associated with well-being. That cyberbullying perpetration predicted well-being positively is rather surprising in the light of previous research showing negative psychosocial outcomes also for cyberbullying perpetrators. The moderation analysis provides a hint at underlying processes: In times of distance learning and contact restrictions, cyberbullying may be a way of coming into contact with others and to regulate loneliness maladaptively.

Perceived Gambling Availability and Adolescent Gambling Behavior: the Moderating Role of Self-Efficacy

Geographic accessibility has been linked to gambling behavior, but little is known about whether the perception of gambling availability in both offline and online venues is prospectively associated with adolescent gambling behavior. Further, relatively few studies have analyzed the interaction between environmental and individual factors in explaining adolescent gambling and problem gambling. This prospective study examined the association between perceived gambling availability, gambling frequency, and problem gambling among 554 adolescents aged 13–17 years (mean = 15.1, female 47.4%) and explored the moderating role of self-efficacy to control gambling in these associations. Participants completed assessments of perceived gambling availability and gambling self-efficacy at baseline. Gambling frequency and problem gambling were measured at follow-up. Two separate hierarchical regression models were applied to analyze the relationship of perceived gambling availability with gambling behavior and the moderating role of gambling self-efficacy. Results showed that a greater perception of gambling availability was associated with a higher gambling frequency and more problem gambling in adolescents. The impact of perceived gambling availability on gambling frequency and problem gambling was lower among participants with moderate gambling self-efficacy in comparison with participants with low gambling self-efficacy. In those adolescents with high self-efficacy to control gambling, perceived gambling availability was not associated either with gambling frequency or problem gambling. These results suggest the usefulness of implementing regulatory policies aimed at reducing gambling availability in adolescents, and the design of preventative interventions aimed at enhancing self-efficacy to control gambling.

Planning Horizon in International Travel Decision-Making: The Role of Individual and Cultural Determinants

A solid understanding of when travel decisions are made in relation to travelers’ planning horizons is crucial for travel service providers. Despite its importance, there are very few empirical studies investigating the planning horizon and its antecedents in travel research literature. This study contributes to bridging this gap by conceptualizing a two-level model of antecedents of travelers’ planning horizons. In addition to individual traveler- and trip-related aspects, the model provides a cross-cultural perspective on international travelers’ planning horizons by including uncertainty avoidance, individualism, and long-term orientation as cultural-level antecedents. Drawing on a nested dataset of 4,074 international travelers from 17 countries worldwide, the results of a two-level hierarchical regression model show that, in addition to individual-level aspects, cultural antecedents play an important role in determining planning horizons. Based on the empirical results, the paper discusses implications for theory and travel service providers.

Exploring the Relationship Between Value Modularity, Knowledge Transfer, and Firm Innovation Performance: Evidence From China

This study aimed to explore the influence the value modularity and a firm’s innovation performance, directly and indirectly, using knowledge management as mediating variable. Moreover, in this study, we used the resource integration ability as a moderator between the relationship value modularity and firm innovation performance. We collected data from the Chinese state-owned and state-controlled high-tech firms from 2011 to 2018. In this study, we used the gray comprehensive evaluation method to test the degree of value modularity, and hierarchical regression analysis is used to analyze the relationship among variables. The outcomes of this study indicate that value modularity and firm innovation performance has inverted U-shaped and significant association. Similarly, results also confirm that knowledge acquisition and knowledge internalization mediate the relationship between value modularity and firm innovation performance. The finding of this research also confirms that resource integration ability negatively affects the relationship between value modularity and firm innovation performance. This paper enriches the research of the value modularity and gives certain inspiration to knowledge management. At the end of this study, we also suggest some significant practical implications.

Decision-making, aggression, age, and type of crime as predictors of coping among young adult male maximum-security incarcerated offenders

Correctional environments are regarded as degrading, dangerous, difficult, stigmatizing, stressful, unsafe, and violent. Young adult male incarcerated offenders need to acquire the necessary coping skills to survive in the correctional environment. This research study aimed to determine which variable(s) or set of variables explain a significant percentage of the variance in coping among young adult male incarcerated offenders in a South African private maximum-security correctional center. The research approach in this study was quantitative, and the nature of the research was nonexperimental. A correlational research design was used. The sample consisted of 187 young adult male incarcerated offenders. The hierarchical regression analysis results indicated that vigilance was the only predictor variable that statistically and practically significantly predicted seeking social support and problem-solving. This finding implies that young adult offenders who are more vigilant regarding decision-making are more inclined to solve problems better and use social support to cope better.