Self-Concept as a Mediator of the Relation Between University Students’ Resilience and Academic Achievement

Academic achievement is a factor of interest in both psychology and education. Determining which factors have a negative or positive influence on academic performance has produced different investigations. The present study focuses on analyzing the relationship between resilience, emotional intelligence, self-concept and the academic achievement of university students. For this purpose, different self-report tools were administered to a sample of 1,020 university students from Southern Spain. The Structural Equation-based mediational analysis suggests that there is no direct relationship between resilience and academic achievement, nor between emotional intelligence and academic achievement. Likewise, self-concept is positioned as a mediating factor in the relationship between resilience and academic achievement. The findings indicate that university students who exhibit high levels of resilience tend to cope better with difficult moments and understand and value the effort required and invested in study time. This study supports positive beliefs and behaviors for better academic achievement.

Analysis of the psychosocial profile of pre-service teachers

University students face many challenges that affect their mental health during this stage. Psychosocial aspects, such as resilience, help to address the imbalance they often experience in their daily lives. The aim is to find the relationship between students' resilience and their mental health, while analyzing the mediating role played by personality factors between these variables. To carry out this study, a sample of 692 university students belonging to different Degrees of Education answered three questionnaires voluntarily, one to measure resilience (RS-14), another to measure personality factors (Big Five) and another to measure mental health (MH-5). A mediational model based on Structural Equations was proposed for this analysis. The results indicate that resilience is able to significantly predict students' mental health directly and that it also predicts all personality components assessed in students. Furthermore, it was found that of all the personality factors examined, only neuroticism was found to be predictive of mental health. Furthermore, resilience is positioned as a mediating factor between mental health and personality factors. Specifically, resilience emerged as a significant mediator in the relationship between agreeableness, neuroticism and openness and mental health. Moreover, all other personality factors are directly related to resilience. In the same way, the results also confirm the need to train pre-service teachers in psychosocial factors in order to prevent future problems in their subsequent professional performance.

HUMAN CAPITAL AS A MEDIATING FACTOR OF STRUCTURAL CAPITAL AND VALUE ADDITION

Structural capital is one of the components of intellectual capital. The measurement is essential in order to obtain the real value of intellectual capital and its influence on the profitability of the business. The measurement of structural capital value addition can be done directly or via the mediating effect of another component of intellectual capital, i.e. human capital or relational capital. Human capital has been selected as the mediating component for this study based on findings of previous studies that advocate its importance as a major determinant that enhances structural capital changes. This paper aims at measuring the influence of human capital as a mediating factor on the capacity of structural capital value addition for the period of 2002-2018, for Galicia (Spain) and Portugal.

The Impact of Proactive Environmental Strategy on Competitive and Sustainable Development of Organizations

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the impact of proactive environmental strategy, competitive differentiation advantage & cost-leadership competitive advantage for the competitive, sustainable development of an organization in terms of its performances, for instance, product strategy, production, process & financial performances. We incorporated technological eco-innovation as a mediating factor & corporate image as a moderator between exogenous & endogenous variables. We have collected 798 responses from China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. For the data analyses, we employed a structural equation modeling-based multivariate approach and conditional process modeling. The novelty and significance of the undertaken study rested in multifaceted outcomes; for instance, the proactive environmental strategy, the competitive advantage of differentiation & competitive advantage of cost leadership have a significant & positive impact on the sustainable development of an organization in terms of its performances, for example, product strategic, production & financial performances. The findings further demonstrate that technological eco-innovation as a mediating factor & corporate image as a moderating factor played vital and significant influencers between exogenous and endogenous variables. Finally, the Toda- Yamamoto causality showed the two-ways directionality between exogenous & endogenous variables. The outcomes have provided critical practical and societal implications for the industry and society. The companies may incorporate the environment as a cornerstone in short & longterm strategies for sustainable development. On the other hand, organizations may provide an eco-friendly environment to society.

Semiotic processes implied in the High Dilution phenomena

Semiotic processes ( or semiosis) refer to those process which are carriers of meaning and are performed through signs. A sign is something that stands for something else, and is the main mediating factor between an object and an interpreter, able to connect them and give rise to significations. The semiotic perspective, according to Charles Sanders Peirce, is basically triadic: all aspects of reality are triadic, comprising the categories of Firstness, Secondness, and Thirdness in a continue and virtually infinite process of semiosis, i.e of various forms of giving rise to meanings that accordingly will generate reactions, actions and transformations. The aim of the present paper is to examine the possible levels of semiosis implied in the high dilution phenomenon, beginning with the process of so called “potency” of substrata (where every potency may be considered a sign for the next one) and arriving to the complex responses of the living bodies to infinitesimal signs.

THE EXTENDED UTAUT MODEL AND LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM DURING COVID-19: EVIDENCE FROM PLS-SEM AND CONDITIONAL PROCESS MODELING

The undertaken research investigates the extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model from the perspective of online education in the deadliest period of COVID-19. This research investigates the extended dimensions, for instance, mobile self-efficacy and perceived enjoyment besides traditional elements of the UTAUT model with the relationship of behavioural intention and user behaviour of LMS. Since the COVID-19 led to social isolation (SIS), thus, this study has incorporated SIS as mediating factor and fear of COVID-19 (FOC) as the moderating factor for the considered extended model of UTAUT. The data of 1875 respondents was collected from five different Asian countries. For the data analysis, this study employed structural equation modeling through PLS-SEM and condition process modeling. This research demonstrates that the extended dimensions such as mobile self-efficacy, besides the traditional elements of the UTAUT model, exerted a cogent impact on behavioural intention except for the perceived enjoyment. Similarly, the behavioural intention demonstrated a substantial effect on the user behaviour of LMS. Additionally, social isolation as a mediating factor and FOC has a significant effect between dimensions of extended UTAUT model and behavioural intention of LMS. The outcomes of this research demonstrate significant theoretical and practical implications during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In-store interactive advertising screens: the effect of interactivity on impulse buying explained by self-agency

PurposePhysical stores are increasingly dependent on impulse visits and the impulse purchases of passers-by. Interactive advertising screens in store windows could help retailers increase impulse-visit urges and impulse-buying urges. However, the effects of interactive screens in physical surroundings have not been studied before. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effect of interactive screens on impulse urges and gain insight into the underlying mechanism that explains the possible effect.Design/methodology/approachAn interactive screen was placed in a store window. Using three field experiments, we studied the effect of interactivity-level (high vs low) on the impulse-visit and impulse-buying urges of passers-by, and the mediating role of self-agency in these effects.FindingsHighly interactive (compared to less interactive) advertising screens in store windows positively affect impulse-visit and impulse-buying urges through self-agency. Retailers can therefore use interactive advertising screens to increase the number of impulse purchases if feelings of self-agency are activated.Originality/valueThis is the first study to examine the extent to which interactive screens in a store window enhance the impulse-visit and impulse-buying urges of passers-by and the mediating factor of these effects. By conducting three field experiments, we achieved a high external validity and managed to share very reliable results owing to the replication of the findings.

Evidence of Validity and Reliability of the Lasher and Faulkender Anxiety about Aging Scale in Mexican Older Adults

Anxiety about aging is an important mediating factor in attitudes and behavior toward elderly individuals as well as a mediating factor in the adjustment to one’s own aging processes. The aim of this study was to analyze the factor structure, internal consistency and factorial invariance by sex of the Lasher and Faulkender Anxiety about Aging Scale. The sample consisted of 601 Mexican older adults, 394 women and 207 men, with a mean age of 70.69 ± 8.10 years. The factor structure of the questionnaire was analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis. Analyses show that a four-factor structure is feasible and adequate. The four-factor structure (fear of the elderly, psychological concerns, physical appearance and fear of loss), according to statistical and substantive criteria, showed adequate reliability and validity indicators. However, the obtained model does not fully coincide with that proposed by the questionnaire authors, although it continues to support the multi-factor component of anxiety about aging. On the other hand, the factor structure, the factor loadings and the intercepts are considered invariant in the two populations (men and women); however, there are differences between populations on the means of the physical appearance and fear of loss factors.