Participation Choice Research Articles

The mediating role of prosocial and antisocial behaviors between team trust and sport commitment in college basketball players

ABSTRACT Considering the popularity and particularity of basketball, the athletes face a potential “Sport Commitment Crisis” due to immense pressures from academics, training, employment, and college. To date, research in sports has demonstrated the relationship between coach trust and sport commitment; however, the relationship among teammates is yet to be explored. We examined whether teammate trust is related to commitment and if prosocial and antisocial behaviors mediate these relationships. Right before a game, the college basketball players (N = 570) were asked to complete a multi-section questionnaire measuring the aforementioned variables. Structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that athletes’ perceptions of their teammates’ trust were positively related to their sport commitment, and these relationships were mediated by teammate prosocial behavior. In contrast, antisocial behavior did not affect their relationship. The findings suggest that teammate trust could facilitate sport commitment in athletes, which could occur via prosocial behavior. Highlights Current college athletes face multiple pressures such as academics, sports training, and future employment, which cause their continuous participation in sports training and competitions to be shaken, resulting in a decline in sport commitment. This study starts from the perspective of team atmosphere and peer behavior, and selects college basketball players on a large scale in China, because basketball is popular among Chinese college students and has brought greater social attention. In the process of playing basketball, the interaction between members is high, and the emotional factor with teammates is even more important. Therefore, the choice of research participants is also one of the advantages of this paper.

Healthy or not: Influencing attention to bias food choices

Previous work has shown that people are more likely to choose a food item that was cued by an arrow briefly presented before the presentation of two options. This preference for cued over uncued items could be explained by a shift of attention. In the current study, we investigated whether we could nudge people towards making more healthy decisions by manipulating attention using directional cues. First, we created a stimulus set with pictures of Natural and Ultra-Processed Food (NUPF) items, which were rated on several scales, including affective and motivational measures (n = 160; the stimuli and ratings are made freely available and make up the new NUPF stimulus database). Second, we asked a different set of participants (n = 292) to rate these food items with regards to how much they would like to eat each of the shown items. During the following choice phase, directional cues (i.e., an arrow pointing left or right), and neutral cues (arrows pointing left and right) were presented before participants were given the choice between two food items. Even though the cues were not relevant for task performance and could potentially even guide attention towards non-preferred items, participants chose the cued items more often than uncued or neutral items and were faster in doing so. The cues biased participants choices irrespective of healthiness, suggesting that external cues could potentially be employed to direct attention and to promote healthy decision-making.

Digital Issue Movements: Political Repertoires and Drivers of Participation among Belgian Youth in the Context of ‘School Strike for Climate’

It often remains unclear how young citizens are combining various forms of political participation, as well as why they choose some over others, especially within a single-issue movement. Moreover, little is known about how social networking sites (SNS) fit into the political repertoires of citizens. Therefore, this study explores youths’ political participation patterns in the context of the 2019 youth-led climate strikes. We rely on data from a paper and pencil survey among 498 high school students in Belgium. To identify different types of activists, the study used latent class analysis (LCA). In addition, a multinomial logistic regression was conducted to assess how identified participation types differ from each other. Four different participation repertoires regarding the climate issue were identified, each distinctive in the way they rely on different forms of political participation. In addition, membership to each of the different classes is associated with a unique set of characteristics (in terms of political efficacies, climate issue involvement, and online expression motives). The article shows how SNS make up a crucial part of youths’ issue-specific participation patterns and sheds light on the mechanisms underlying their participation choices within the climate movement.

Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast

On the assumption of self-reflective subjectivity

Contemporary social theory has consistently emphasized habitual action, rule-following, and role-performing as key aspects of social life, yet the challenge remains of combining these aspects with the omnipresent phenomenon of self-reflective conduct. This article attempts to tackle this challenge by proposing useful distinctions that can facilitate further interdisciplinary research on self-reflection. To this end, I argue that we need a more sophisticated set of distinctions and categories in our understanding of habitual action. The analysis casts light on the idea that our contemporary social theories of self-reflection are not consistent with everyday notions of agential knowledgeability and accountability, and this conclusion indicates the need to reconceptualize discourse and subjectivity in non-eliminative terms. Ultimately, the assumption of self-reflective subjectivity turns out to be a theoretical necessity for the conceptualization of discursive participation and democratic choice.

Evaluating participant responses to a virtual reality experience using reinforcement learning.

Virtual reality applications depend on multiple factors, for example, quality of rendering, responsiveness, and interfaces. In order to evaluate the relative contributions of different factors to quality of experience, post-exposure questionnaires are typically used. Questionnaires are problematic as the questions can frame how participants think about their experience and cannot easily take account of non-additivity among the various factors. Traditional experimental design can incorporate non-additivity but with a large factorial design table beyond two factors. Here, we extend a previous method by introducing a reinforcement learning (RL) agent that proposes possible changes to factor levels during the exposure and requires the participant to either accept these or not. Eventually, the RL converges on a policy where no further proposed changes are accepted. An experiment was carried out with 20 participants where four binary factors were considered. A consistent configuration of factors emerged where participants preferred to use a teleportation technique for navigation (compared to walking-in-place), a full-body representation (rather than hands only), the responsiveness of virtual human characters (compared to being ignored) and realistic compared to cartoon rendering. We propose this new method to evaluate participant choices and discuss various extensions.

The social-political challenges of internal displacements in Ukraine

Migratory threats which are connected with mass internal inter-regional migrations, caused by the annexation of Crimea and military aggression in Donbas by Russia, have been disclosed in the article. The social-political and psychological threats of large-scale forced displacement are determined. Traditional migrations are mainly due to social-economic factors and the independent voluntary choice of participants in these processes regarding the intention to move, dictated by the freedom of choice of the person. Instead, forced displacements are caused by immediate threats to life and health. Analyzing the factors of migratory attraction, the cluster analysis was performed using the k-means method and using the STATISTICA program. The results of cluster analysis show that in large regions the level of IDP migratory activity is higher and the impact on the formation of demographic capital is more significant. It does not affect the number and composition of the population as a whole, but causes changes in its location, gender, and the age structure of the inhabitants of individual regions, is a consequence and an important factor of regional differences, directly related to industrialization and urbanization, rural depopulation. In terms of volume, internal migration significantly outperforms international migration. Measures for the proper formation and development of demographic potential at the macro level are proposed. Without proper regulation, forced displacement becomes a growing burden on host communities' ability to provide basic services, destroys civilian infrastructure and community cohesion, undermines public investment in reform, and creates insecurity, hopelessness, and despair among large populations that can easily become national and global risks.

A Review of the Design and Implementation of a Hybrid Cardiac Rehabilitation Program: AN EXPANDING OPPORTUNITY FOR OPTIMIZING CARDIOVASCULAR CARE.

This review describes the considerations for the design and implementation of a hybrid cardiac rehabilitation (HYCR) program, a patient-individualized combination of facility-based cardiac rehabilitation (FBCR) with virtual cardiac rehabilitation (CR) and/or remote CR. To help meet the goal of the Millions Hearts Initiative to increase CR participation to 70% by 2022, a targeted review of the literature was conducted to identify studies pertinent to the practical design and implementation of an HYCR program. Areas focused upon included the current use of HYCR, exercise programming considerations (eligibility and safety, exercise prescription, and patient monitoring), program assessments and outcomes, patient education, step-by-step instructions for billing and insurance reimbursement, patient and provider engagement strategies, and special considerations. A FBCR is the first choice for patient participation in CR, as it is supported by an extensive evidence base demonstrating effectiveness in decreasing cardiac and overall mortality, as well as improving functional capacity and quality of life. However, to attain the CR participation rate goal of 70% set by the Million Hearts Initiative, CR programming will need to be expanded beyond the confines of FBCR. In particular, HYCR programs will be necessary to supplement FBCR and will be particularly useful for the many patients with geographic or work-related barriers to participation in an FBCR program. Research is ongoing and needed to develop optimal programming for HYCR.

Motivation and Engagement of Nursing Students in 2 Gamified Courses: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Evidence suggests that gamification increases student engagement in course activities. However, student feedback about gamification in nursing contexts is needed. The aim of this study was to describe nursing student perceptions of how gamification impacts student motivation and engagement. A convergent mixed-methods study was conducted. Surveys were completed by 58 first-year nursing students. Survey comments and data extracted from the learning management system were also collected. Students generally found gamification valuable, interesting, and enjoyable. Gamification took effort and was perceived as important. Students felt that they had some choice in participation in the gamified activities. Gamification is a viable strategy for promoting motivation and engagement among first year nursing students. More qualitative research is needed to enable game design refinement through investigation of contextualized student experiences. Refined game design may impact the development of learner skills through a moderating effect on engagement in course activities.

"I Am Okay With It, But I Am Not Going to Do It": The Exogenous Factors Influencing Non-Participation in Medical Assistance in Dying.

Medical assistance in dying (MAID) processes are complex, shaped by legislated directives, and influenced by the discourse regarding its emergence as an end-of-life care option. Physicians and nurse practitioners (NPs) are essential in determining the patient’s eligibility and conducting MAID provisions. This research explored the exogenous factors influencing physicians’ and NPs’ non-participation in formal MAID processes. Using an interpretive description methodology, we interviewed 17 physicians and 18 NPs in Saskatchewan, Canada, who identified as non-participators in MAID. The non-participation factors were related to (a) the health care system they work within, (b) the communities where they live, (c) their current practice context, (d) how their participation choices were visible to others, (e) the risks of participation to themselves and others, (f) time factors, (g) the impact of participation on the patient’s family, and (h) patient–HCP relationship, and contextual factors. Practice considerations to support the evolving social contact of care were identified.

Is self-knowledge the ultimate prize? A quantitative analysis of participation choice in online ideation crowdsourcing contests

Online crowdsourcing contests are a nascent but rapidly growing method among marketers and retailers to generate and solicit creative ideas. In two studies – a dynamic model with scraped data from a well-known crowdsourcing platform using Python (study 1) and a survey among real participants in online contests with conjoint analysis (study 2) – we explore how multiple design parameters influence participation in online contests. Our empirical results support the notion that both extrinsically (i.e., prize money) and intrinsically (i.e., feedback) motivating parameters can generate value for participants (i.e., expected utility). Comparatively, however, we find evidence that intrinsically motivating design parameters that provide self-relevant feedback (i.e., feedback from organizer) can be more impactful than extrinsically motivating design parameters (i.e., award size). We also show novel time-dependent effects: as a contest nears its end, important design parameters shift in their effects on participation rates— their role over time is non-monotonic. In particular, the effect of award size becomes non-significant, but feedback remains impactful. Our findings contribute to the crowdsourcing literature, especially regarding how self-knowledge (e.g., self-efficacy) affects utility and consumer co-creation through contest participation over time; the findings also can help retail managers and marketers enhance participation in idea contests.

"Rescue" of Nonparticipants in Colorectal Cancer Screening: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Three Noninvasive Test Options.

Few studies have directly targeted nonparticipants in colorectal cancer screening to identify effective engagement strategies. We undertook a randomized controlled trial that targeted nonparticipants in a previous trial of average-risk subjects which compared participation rates for mailed invitations offering a fecal test, a blood test or a choice of either. Nonparticipants (n = 899) were randomized to be offered a kit containing a fecal immunochemical test (FIT), directions on how to arrange a blood DNA test, or the option of doing either. Screening participation was assessed 12 weeks after the offer. To assess the cognitive and attitudinal variables related to participation and invitee choice, invitees were surveyed after 12 weeks, and associations were investigated using multinomial logistic regression. Participation rates were similar between groups (P = 0.88): 12.0% for FIT (35/292), 13.3% for the blood test (39/293), and 13.4% for choice (39/290). Within the choice group, participation was significantly higher with FIT (9.7%, 28/290) compared with the blood test (3.8%, 11/290, P = 0.005). The only variable significantly associated with participation was socioeconomic status when offered FIT, and age when offered choice but there was none when offered the blood test. Survey respondents indicated that convenience, time-saving, comfort, and familiarity were major influences on participation. There was no clear advantage between a fecal test, blood test, or choice of test although, when given a choice, the fecal test was preferred. Differences in variables associated with participation according to invitation strategy warrant consideration when deciding upon an invitation strategy for screening nonparticipants. PREVENTION RELEVANCE: This trial of screening for those at average risk for colorectal cancer targeted past fecal-test nonparticipants and compared participation rates for mailed invitations offering a fecal test, blood test, or choice of either. Although there was no clear advantage between strategies, factors associated with participation differed between each strategy.

Connecting Faith through Theatre: Barazan’yee as a Semi-Ritual Performance in Thai Muslim Communities

Abstract This research paper examines the creative process used to connect young Muslims with their experience, their faith, and their community through a community-based performance. It also stresses the different levels of connections that resulted from the performance itself. The author sought to reconnect Barazan’yee, an important Arabic poetic chant, to people in the Bangkok Islamic community using tools from community theatre. The performance design process allowed them to tell their own story in relation to Bar’zanyee poetry in ways that are meaningful to them and their community, thus connecting their lives to the life of Prophet Muhammad. The first performance was in a public theatre resulted in a shift in structure and participation choices for audience in the second performance at a public theatre. Although both performances were conducted in a semi-ritualized environment of the Muslim community, the latter better engaged both the performers and audience.

Friend or Foe: A Review and Synthesis of Computational Models of the Identity Labeling Problem

ABSTRACT We introduce the identity labeling problem – given an individual in a social situation, can we predict what identity(ies) they will be labeled with by someone else? This problem remains a theoretical gap and methodological challenge, evidenced by the fact that models of social-cognition often sidestep the issue by treating identities as already known. We build on insights from existing models to develop a new framework, entitled Latent Cognitive Social Spaces, that can incorporate multiple social cues including sentiment information, socio-demographic characteristics, and institutional associations to estimate the most culturally expected identity. We apply our model to data collected in two vignette experiments, finding that it predicts identity labeling choices of participants with a mean absolute error of 10.9%, a 100% improvement over previous models based on parallel constraint satisfaction and affect control theory.

Analysis of Live Goats Market Chain: The Case of Pastoralists in Moyale District, Ethiopia

Goat production and marketing provide vast socio-economic benefits. However, the subsector has encountered with lack of information about what determines goat market participation, supply, and outlet choice. Therefore, the study was intended to analyze the live goat market chain in the Moyale district. Both primary and secondary data were used. Primary data were collected from a randomly selected sample of 196 goat producers and were analyzed using econometric methods. To investigate the determinants of household market participation and supply, Heckman's two-stage procedure was used. Heckman's 1 st stage result showed that different variables have affected live goats' market participation decisions either positively and negatively. Heckman's 2 nd stage result indicated that the number of live goats supplied to the market is also affected either positively or negatively by different variables. To identify factors affecting outlet choice multivariate probit model was used. Multivariate probit model results showed that distance to market and selling price significantly affected the entire outlets (namely; large scale traders, small-scale traders, cooperatives, collectors, and consumers) either positively or negatively. The study recommended the need to develop market infrastructures, improve the capacity of productive labor, promote credit institutions, and provision of awareness creation training towards goat trading business. Keywords: Heckman two stages, Live Goats, Market outlet choice, Market participation, Multivariate probit model. DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/12-11-01 Publication date: June 30 th 2021

To Investigate the Extent of the Level of Physical Activity Participation and Lifestyle Choice having a Significant Influence on Body Image Perception and Awareness in University Students Aged 18 - 21

To Investigate the Extent of the Level of Physical Activity Participation and Lifestyle Choice having a Significant Influence on Body Image Perception and Awareness in University Students Aged 18 - 21

Balance method of integrated control of mine water removal by the volumes and mineralization rate within the Ingulets river basin

The balance method of determining the share of Kryvyi Rig Basin enterprises by the accumulated volume of mine water in the storage pond was considered. The balance method of participation of mining enterprises by the shares of mineral substances was formalized. An integrated approach of the control of water removal into the storage pond when using linear convolution of two balance equations by both the share of water volumes and the mineralization rate in the water discharges of enterprises was developed. It takes into account the choice of equity participation in mine water removal by economic and environmental criteria.
 The algorithm of equity participation of mining enterprises of Kryvyi Rih Basin on the principles of equality of two criteria was substantiated. The calculations of the share of discharge water accumulation in the storage pond of the Svistunov gully were carried out. The estimated price for water removal of one cubic meter of water into the storage pond by two criteria was considered. The estimation criteria are the volumes of pumped water and mineralization rate. Graphical dependences of the estimated price on the ratio of discharges concentration of different enterprises to the mixture concentration were built. Different estimation coefficients were used: paid water removal by water volumes; assessment of water removal only by mineralization rate; equal approach by the volumes (50%) and mineralization rate (50%). The calculations showed the efficiency of the algorithm, the applicability of its use by enterprises for integrated control of mine water removal by the criteria of volume and mineralization rate.
 The proposed balance method can be easily generalized when using other indicators of water quality (chlorides, sulfates, etc.), which are considered to be the most relevant for determining the equity participation of enterprises. In the future it is necessary to develop a theory of paid water use and water removal in conditions of unsatisfactory water quality, taking into account the integrated approach by different indicators that means multi-criteria assessment of water removal and accumulation of mine water.

Determinants of Smallholder Crop Commercialization: The Case of Agarfa and Sinana Districts of Bale Zone, Southeastern Ethiopia

Smallholder crop commercialization entails enhancing market participation and product choice decision of smallholders based on market signal. The study was initiated to identify the current level and determinants of smallholder crop commercialization in Agarfa and Sinana districts of Bale zone. Unlike the previous studies, this study focused on all crops produced by the households. The study used multistage random sampling techniques to select 188 respondents. Primary data was collected using interview schedule, focus group discussion and key informant interview while secondary data was collected from different sources such as records of line offices, Central Statistical Agency and other publications. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected for the study. Descriptive statistics, household commercialization index (HCI) and truncated regression model were used for data analysis. Accordingly, HCI shows 16% of households in the sample were fully subsistence oriented while 5.9% of them categorized as low, 30.9% medium, 36.7% high and 10.6% very high levels of commercialization. Truncated regression depicts that level of education, equine holding (TLU), application of fertilizer, irrigation use, frequency of extension contact, use of credit, membership to cooperatives and social network affected level of commercialization positively and significantly while household size, distance from all-weather road and market center affected negatively and significantly. Therefore, to enhance smallholder commercialization, improving and expanding utilization by smallholders to strong institutions such as credit use, adult education, use of irrigation, effective use of production inputs and market oriented extension services should be the key tasks of policy makers and development planners. Keywords: Commercialization, crop, determinants, subsistence production, truncated model DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/11-9-05 Publication date: May 31 st 2021

Analysis of Live Goats Market Chain: The Case of Pastoralists in Moyale District, Ethiopia

Goat production and marketing provide vast socio-economic benefits. However, the subsector has encountered with lack of information about what determines goat market participation, supply, and outlet choice. Therefore, the study was intended to analyze the live goat market chain in the Moyale district. Both primary and secondary data were used. Primary data were collected from a randomly selected sample of 196 goat producers and were analyzed using econometric methods. To investigate the determinants of household market participation and supply, Heckman's two-stage procedure was used. Heckman's 1 st stage result showed that different variables have affected live goats' market participation decisions either positively and negatively. Heckman's 2 nd stage result indicated that the number of live goats supplied to the market is also affected either positively or negatively by different variables. To identify factors affecting outlet choice multivariate probit model was used. Multivariate probit model results showed that distance to market and selling price significantly affected the entire outlets (namely; large scale traders, small-scale traders, cooperatives, collectors, and consumers) either positively or negatively. The study recommended the need to develop market infrastructures, improve the capacity of productive labor, promote credit institutions, and provision of awareness creation training towards goat trading business. Keywords: Heckman two stages, Live Goats, Market outlet choice, Market participation, Multivariate probit model DOI: 10.7176/JMCR/79-01 Publication date: May 31 st 2021

Increasing smallholder farmers’ market participation through technology adoption in rural Timor‐Leste

AbstractThis study examines the role of high‐yielding maize varieties as one of the key drivers of smallholder farmers’ market participation in a highly subsistence rural economy. The analysis is based on the End‐of‐Program Survey data collected by the Seeds of Life program in 2016 covering 700 households in rural Timor‐Leste. The results reveal significant positive impacts of technology adoption on farmers’ market participation. Households where women are relatively more active in agriculture than men are more likely to engage in agricultural commerce. The results also show a positive impact of technology adoption on maize productivity. These findings present the first empirical evidence of the causal link between technology adoption and market participation choices.