Raising Information Security Awareness in the Field of Urban and Regional Planning

IT is being increasingly used in most areas of life. With the IoT, this technology is set to be in a state of continuous evolution in urban and regional settings. The ongoing development of digitalization processes also increases the possibilities of abuse—both at the technical and interpersonal level. Better information security (IS) awareness (ISA) and knowledge about the dangers that accompany digitalization and the corresponding protective measures are important in private and work life. However, ISA is often overlooked. Training the relevant awareness and skills should also be included in urban and regional planning for citizens. This article thus provides a review of the scientific literature of leading academic journals in the area of IS and the transfer of scientific knowledge for practical purposes. The article presents Serious Games as a way to achieve a deeper understanding of how to promote sustainable ISA using creative methods. Furthermore, ideas of how to apply the Fun Theory and its practice to integrate awareness into modern urban and regional planning will be discussed.

LAUGHTER AND EMPATHY

At a biological level, laughter was found to help in dealing with pain and suffering. From a psychological perspective, its effects have been studied both at intrapersonal and interpersonal levels. At an intrapersonal level, laughter contributes to self-regulating emotions (especially lowering the trait anxiety), diminishing the expression of anger, internally or externally, the same time with increasing self-acceptance. At interpersonal level, laughing together builds trust, while being laughed at may be traumatic. In the present study, the objective was to investigate the effects of laughter on empathy, awareness, and acceptance of personal experience. The participants in the study, all women, watched a situational comedy for 1.5 hours, with different life situations which may seem negative, but presented in an amusing manner, and, very important, with a happy end. At the end, they completed the empathy and awareness questionnaires. Statistical analysis, comparing their scores with those in a non-treatment condition, showed that laughing at the situational comedy significantly influenced almost all aspects of empathy, significantly decreasing the personal distress from empathizing with others, but also sensitivity and emotional interest towards them, without significant influence on awareness and acceptance of personal experience.

Receptiveness to Opposing Views: Conceptualization and Integrative Review

The present article reviews a growing body of research on receptiveness to opposing views—the willingness to access, consider, and evaluate contradictory opinions in a relatively impartial manner. First, we describe the construct of receptiveness and consider how it can be measured and studied at the individual level. Next, we extend our theorizing to the interpersonal level, arguing that receptiveness in the course of any given interaction is mutually constituted by the dispositional tendencies and observable behaviors of the parties involved. We advance the argument that receptiveness should be conceptualized and studied as an interpersonal construct that emerges dynamically over the course of an interaction and is powerfully influenced by counterpart behavior. This interpersonal conceptualization of receptiveness has important implications for intervention design and raises a suite of novel research questions.

“I Didn’t Come Here to Make Trouble”: Resistance Strategies Utilized by Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth in the Midwestern U.S.

Research on transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth demonstrates the negative outcomes associated with trauma and oppression based on gender identity and expression. Related research illustrates how TGD youth are resilient in the face of oppression through individual (e.g., navigating difficult relationships, seeking mental health support) and community (e.g., access to community resources) factors. However, this research is limited by an understanding of resilience as overcoming challenges rather than exploring the possibly unique ways that TGD youth resist oppression as a form of resilience. This qualitative study utilized in-depth interviews with 19 TGD youth living in two Midwestern states, a region of the U.S. characterized by high levels of hostility and victimization toward TGD young people. Thematic analyses revealed the ways in which TGD youth engage in resistance strategies in the face of oppression. At an intrapersonal level, strategies included resisting oppressive narratives, affirming one’s own gender, maintaining authenticity, and finding hope. At an interpersonal level, strategies were standing up for self and others, educating others, and avoiding hostility. Finally, at a community-level, TGD youth were engaging in activism and organizing and enhancing visibility and representation. Findings are discussed and implications are identified.

CPBR Process in Urban Settings and the Unique Challenges and Successes

CBPR is a framework that allows for the collaboration of researchers and communities as co-partners and is a supported approach for Indigenous communities. The community engagement and co-partnership in this study allowed for the researcher's flexibility to be responsive to culturally appropriate practices and priorities of the communities and participants. CBPR principles, including the Elder Advisory Committee (EAC), were utilized in this urban-based project. Challenges presented in many ways, including the processes of a) entering communities, b) relationship building, c) time involvement, and d) recruitment. Successes represented the unique opportunity to enter communities at an interpersonal level, b) close community engagement, c) gathering information beneficial for the research team and the community, and d) extended community engagement. While challenges exist, this approach's benefits are far-reaching promoting trust, support, and interest in future research endeavors. The presenter will discuss strategies and processes helpful in engagement, recruitment, and data collection.

Rapport Management in Online Racial Humor

The present paper aims to investigate how racial humor, posted on Twitter affects rapport between interlocutors at both the interpersonal and intercommoned levels. Thus, the main problem this thesis attempt to address is English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) users' potential lack of awareness of the racially sensitive issues and how to deal with them in (online) intercultural communication. The paper aims to advance the understanding as to how the social and technological affordances of the medium (Herring, 2007) can shape the contexts in which racial humor is morally perceived and attitudinally assessed (in terms of politeness and impoliteness) by the audience on Twitter. After in-depth reading and a systematic coding process, a dataset totaling (312) racial jokes and (956) responses from various users, racial jokes circulated online were found to orient rapport either towards challenge or enhancement. These two rapport orientations were found to be (im)politeness-implicative on two different levels; the interpersonal level between the account administrator and his/her followers, and the societal level between social groups targeted by racial humor and the dominant social group in the society.

Hospital Pharmacists and Antimicrobial Stewardship: A Qualitative Analysis

Antimicrobial stewardship programmes (ASPs) in hospitals are predominantly led by specific ASP physicians and pharmacists. Limited studies have been conducted to appreciate non-ASP-trained hospital pharmacists’ perspectives on their roles in antimicrobial stewardship. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 74 pharmacists, purposively sampled from the 3 largest acute-care public hospitals in Singapore, to explore facilitators and barriers faced by them in antimicrobial stewardship. Applied thematic analysis was conducted and codes were categorised using the social–ecological model (SEM). At the intrapersonal level, pharmacists identified themselves as reviewers for drug safety before dispensing, confining to a restricted advisory role due to lack of clinical knowledge, experience, and empowerment to contribute actively to physicians’ prescribing decisions. At the interpersonal level, pharmacists expressed difficulties conveying their opinions and recommendations on antibiotic therapy to physicians despite frequent communications, but they assumed critical roles as educators for patients and their caregivers on proper antibiotic use. At the organisational level, in-house antibiotic guidelines supported pharmacists’ antibiotic interventions and recommendations. At the community level, pharmacists were motivated to improve low public awareness and knowledge on antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance. These findings provide important insights into the gaps to be addressed in order to harness the untapped potential of hospital pharmacists and fully engage them in antimicrobial stewardship.

COVID-19 and Eating Problems in Daily Life: The Mediating Roles of Stress, Negative Affect and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms

Background The COVID-19 pandemic poses a challenge to individuals' mental health. People worldwide are experiencing increased stress, negative affect, and posttraumatic stress symptoms, which may lead to eating problems. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of the perceived severity of COVID-19 on eating problems and the mediating effects of stress/negative affect/posttraumatic stress symptoms both at the personal level and interpersonal level. Methods: During the COVID-19 outbreak, a total of 108 college students were recruited to report their perceived severity of COVID-19, stress, negative affect, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and eating problems three times a day for seven consecutive days using Ecological Momentary Assessment. Results: State perceived severity of COVID-19 predicted fewer subsequent eating problems in daily life at the personal level. Both state negative affect and posttraumatic stress symptoms were positively associated with eating problems in daily life. At the interpersonal level, trait-like perceived severity of COVID-19, stress, negative affect, and posttraumatic stress symptoms were positively associated with overall eating problems. There were no mediating effects of stress/negative affect/posttraumatic stress symptoms on the relations between perceived severity of COVID-19 and eating problems at the personal/interpersonal level. Conclusions: The perceived severity of COVID-19, stress, negative affect, and posttraumatic stress symptoms might increase the risk of eating problems.

Feeling heard: Operationalizing a key concept for social relations

Feeling heard is seen as a cornerstone of intimate relationships and healthy self-development. In public life, feeling heard may play an important role in a well-functioning representative democracy. The current paper aimed to define and measure feeling heard in the context of everyday interpersonal interactions. Based on an integrative literature review, feeling heard is conceptualized as consisting of five components at two levels. At the interpersonal level people feel heard when they have 1) voice, and they receive (2) attention, (3) empathy, and (4) respect. At the collective level people should experience (5) common ground. In two population surveys (N = 194, N = 1000) and a lab study (N = 74), we develop and validate the feeling heard scale (FHS); a concise eight-item scale with good psychometric properties. Results show that the FHS is a distinct and powerful predictor of conversation intentions in many different contexts and relationships. In fact, the FHS is the strongest predictor of intentions for conflict behavior among a set of 15 related variables (e.g., acquaintance, intimacy). Moreover, the FHS explains variance in conversational experiences that other variables do not. We conclude by reflecting on the potential applications of this scale. In interpersonal relations and professional contacts, the FHS enables the assessment of one crucial dimension of social interaction.