Psychometric Qualities Evaluation of the Interdependent Happiness Scale across Malaysia, Philippines, and India

The nine-item Interdependent Happiness Scale (IHS; Hitokoto & Uchida, 2015) is a self-report of interpersonal happiness that focuses on three dimensions: relationship-oriented happiness, quiescent happiness, and ordinary happiness. Few studies have evaluated the psychometric properties of the IHS in diverse cultural backgrounds and the findings are inconsistent. This study investigated whether the IHS has sound psychometric qualities in three Asian countries. University students from Malaysia (n = 263), Philippines (n = 239), and India (n = 310) answered the IHS and self-rated creativity scale. Confirmatory factor analysis on each sample supported the nine-item second-order model with error covariances. The overall IHS score showed good reliability in all samples. The subscales, however, had mixed results except for the Indian sample. Similarly, the convergent validity test showed mixed results while discriminant validity is supported in all samples except for the quiescent happiness subscale in the Indian sample. Concurrent validity was established across three samples by showing a positive relationship with creativity score. The results highlight that the higher-order structure of the IHS is consistently supported in different cultural contexts. However, some of the items are perceived differently and require further improvement in enhancing the cross-cultural usability of the IHS to measure socially-oriented happiness.

Poaching and its representation in Edwardian England, c. 1901–14

The poacher has been closely studied by historians of crime and protest in England. While much has been done to reveal the complex nature of poaching, this work has tended to concentrate on the nineteenth century and been largely concerned with practice. By shifting attention to the opening decades of the twentieth century, and by focusing instead on representation, this article explores the place of the Edwardian poacher in a rapidly expanding cultural landscape. Pointing to an inverse relationship between physical presence and representational weight and throw, the article shows how the idea of the poacher was not just a by-product of Edwardian ruralism, but was integral to a deeply felt ruralist sensibility that strongly informed contemporary debates on the control and use of land and related matters of national identity and wellbeing. In considering how this ostensibly marginal figure became so embedded in the popular imagination, the full extent of the poacher’s cultural usability is revealed. Like ruralism itself, the representational poacher had many facets and served many needs.

Cross-cultural Usability Issues in E/M-Learning

This paper gives an overview of electronic learning (E-Learning) and mobile learning (M-Learning) adoption and diffusion trends, as well as their particular traits, characteristics and issues, especially in terms of cross-cultural and universal usability. E-Learning and M-Learning models using web services and cloud computing, as well as associated security concerns are all addressed. The benefits and enhancements that accrue from using mobile and other internet devices for the purposes of learning in academia are discussed. The differences between traditional classroom-based learning, distance learning, E-Learning and M-Learning models are compared and some conclusions are drawn.

The Questionnaire Big Six in 26 Nations: Developing Cross–Culturally Applicable Big Six, Big Five and Big Two Inventories

The Big Five is a useful model of attributes now commonly used in cross–cultural research, but without the support of strong measurement invariance (MI) evidence. The Big Six has been proposed as a cross–culturally informed update, and the broader Big Two (Social Self–Regulation and Dynamism) draws on even more cross–cultural evidence. However, neither has been rigorously tested for cross–cultural MI. Here a Big Six inventory (36QB6) and measures of the Big Five and Big Two derived from it were tested and refined for cross–cultural usability in samples from 26 nations, divided into three subsets. Confirmatory factor analysis of the models in the first subset of nations demonstrated fit as strong in translation as typical personality measures achieve in their nation of origin (although poor per standard benchmarks). Items that performed inconsistently across cultures were removed, and alternates considered in a second subset of nations. Fit and invariance were improved for refined 30–item QB6, 25–item Big Five and 14–item Big Two measures in the third subset of nations. For all models, decrease in comparative fit index between MI levels was larger than .01, indicating lack of support for higher levels. Configural and factorial invariance were relatively stronger, compared to scalar and full. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology

Inviting Citizen Designers to Design Digital Interface for the Democratization of Web Online Environments

Web online environments are supposed to create unifying spaces where diverse societies, cultures and linguistics as well as literacies and knowledge associated with them merge together as negotiated in neutral space. However, these online environments are not culturally neutral or innocent communication landscapes. They may alienate the users from marginal/periphery social, cultural, and linguistic background and experience because of their disregard to their social, cultural, and linguistics norms and values in the digital contact zone. Acknowledging the social, cultural, and linguistic limitations of these technologies that aim to provide agency to their users in this chapter, this chapter proposes to invite citizen designers to design the interface of web online environment in general and Learning Management Systems (LMS) in particular because this process can transform online environments into democratic platforms. Citizen designers, who have democratic sentiments for the creation of a just society, are composition students in general and students with periphery cultural and linguistic experience in particular. Doing a cultural usability test of Blackboard 8, the author argues that current web interface design is not democratic and inclusive, and proposes to invite citizen designers to re/design interface of online environments for their democratization so that they would include people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds and enhance writing students' writing powers.

Inviting Citizen Designers to Design Digital Interface for the Democratization of Web Online Environments

Web online environments are supposed to create unifying spaces where diverse societies, cultures and linguistics as well as literacies and knowledge associated with them merge together as negotiated in neutral space. However, these online environments are not culturally neutral or innocent communication landscapes. They may alienate the users from marginal/periphery social, cultural, and linguistic background and experience because of their disregard to their social, cultural, and linguistics norms and values in the digital contact zone. Acknowledging the social, cultural, and linguistic limitations of these technologies that aim to provide agency to their users in this chapter, this chapter proposes to invite citizen designers to design the interface of web online environment in general and Learning Management Systems (LMS) in particular because this process can transform online environments into democratic platforms. Citizen designers, who have democratic sentiments for the creation of a just society, are composition students in general and students with periphery cultural and linguistic experience in particular. Doing a cultural usability test of Blackboard 8, the author argues that current web interface design is not democratic and inclusive, and proposes to invite citizen designers to re/design interface of online environments for their democratization so that they would include people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds and enhance writing students' writing powers.

Culture and the importance of usability attributes

PurposeThis study into cultural usability aims to identify whether the importance of usability attributes varied between nationalities, and whether this variance was related to cultural dimensions.Design/methodology/approachA total of 144 subjects from four countries were surveyed on the importance they placed on the usability attributes of cell phones. Results were compared by country, and relationships with cultural dimensions were investigated.FindingsFor each country, usability attributes were not rated equally. Across countries, no difference in the rating of effectiveness was found, while ratings of efficiency and satisfaction varied significantly. In addition, the study identified significant relationships between the importance given to efficiency and satisfaction and cultural dimensions identified by Hofstede and the World Values Survey, with values relating to task‐orientation influencing efficiency, and non‐task oriented values affecting the importance users place on satisfaction.Practical implicationsProduct designers and usability practitioners need to consider these cultural differences when designing products and when evaluating, measuring, and making recommendations on product usability.Originality/valuePrevious studies in this area have shown the existence of differences in preference for usability attributes based on nationality. No studies known to the authors have connected this to cultural dimensions. Understanding of this connection supports usability practitioners in their work not just in specific countries but also in cultural regions. It also allows the more precise modeling by researchers of culture's interaction with usability.

Impact of Web Readability on Cultural Usability

Web is considered one of the greatest developments of twentieth century. It provides a diverse range of applications and therefore needs different usability designs. Web usability has become a vital aspect for the success of web applications. Web usability is about fulfilling the goals and expectations of users and making their stay on the website pleasant. Web usability design includes three aspects: User Research, Web Design and Web Evaluation [1]. Today, the web design is moving from technology to users i.e. it is more user-centered than ever before. Web design must directly face users with the specific needs, and must ensure that users are pleasant to successfully complete tasks with it. [1]. In this study, we have studied the factors which affect the web readability in this part of the world. We conducted the survey in order to check how different factors play their part for the people who speak languages which are written right to left