Social Embeddedness Research Articles

Putting self-regulated learning in context: Integrating self-, co-, and socially shared regulation of learning.

Processes involved in the regulation of learning have been researched for decades, because of its impact on academic and workplace performance. In fact, self‐regulated learning is the focus of countless studies in health professions education and higher education in general. While we will always need competent individuals who are able to regulate their own learning, developments in healthcare require a shift from a focus on the individual to the collective: collaboration within and between healthcare teams is at the heart of high‐quality patient care. Concepts of collaborative learning and collective competence challenge commonly held conceptualisations of regulatory learning and call for a focus on the social embeddedness of regulatory learning and processes regulating the learning of the collective. Therefore, this article questions the alignment of current conceptualisations of regulation of learning with demands for collaboration in current healthcare. We explore different conceptualisations of regulation of learning (self‐, co‐, and socially shared regulation of learning), and elaborate on how the integration of these conceptualisations adds to our understanding of regulatory learning in healthcare settings. Building on these insights, we furthermore suggest ways forward for research and educational practice.

Conceptualizing the Role of Social Context in Media Selectivity: The Social Embeddedness of Media Reliance and Internalization (SEMRI) Model

Examining antecedents of selective media use is important to understand how media can impact individual behavior and attitudes. The present article extends the selective exposure paradigm by outlining the Social Embeddedness of Media reliance and Internalization (SEMRI) model. This model postulates that individuals’ reliance on and internalization of media content for problem-focused coping depends on a) the perceived availability of alternative information sources in their social network, and b) the extent to which observed media content is socially validated by others. The first section of the article provides an overview of the selective exposure paradigm and notes that existing theories are limited in their ability to address the socially situated context of media message selection and internalization. In the second section we introduce the SEMRI model and discuss its main assumptions. The last section illustrates the main principles of the SEMRI model with data related to ideal-appearance media messages.

Solidarity with disabled people in times of crisis: A comparative analysis of Italy and the UK

Against the background of crisis and cuts, citizens can express solidarity with groups in various ways. Using novel survey data this article explores the attitudes and behaviours of citizens in their expressions of solidarity with disabled people and in doing so illuminates the differences and similarities across two European contexts: Italy and the UK. The findings reveal pools of solidarity with disabled people across both countries that have on the one hand similar foundations such as the social embeddedness and social trust of citizens, while on the other hand contain some differences, such as the more direct and active nature of solidarity in Italy compared to the UK and the role of religiosity as an important determinant, particularly in Italy. Across both countries the role of ‘deservingness’ was key to understanding solidarity, and the study’s conclusions raise questions about a solidarity embedded by a degree of paternalism and even religious piety.

Managing global knowledge transfer: Inpatriate manager embeddedness and firm innovation

The purpose of this study is to explore the role of tacit knowledge transfer in a particular type of global manager - the inpatriate manager who is typically relocated from the MNC’s subsidiary to headquarter. To do so, we draw on social embeddedness theory. Our paper suggests that if an inpatriate manager becomes embedded within the MNCs headquarter, tacit knowledge transfer will occur resulting in innovative practices and a global mindset within the MNCs headquarters. This study takes the unique approach of studying the barriers that inpatriate managers face in the transfer of tacit knowledge and highlights the role of human resources in facilitating the transfer of knowledge across the MNC. The paper articulates the implications for policy and practice and a future research agenda.

Abstract P189: Greater Purpose In Life Is Associated With Lower Allostatic Load Among Hispanics/ Latinos: The Hispanic Community Health Study/study Of Latinos (hchs/sol) Sociocultural Ancillary Study (scas)

Introduction: Allostatic load (AL), a multi-system measure of physiological dysregulation that represents cumulative wear-and-tear due to chronic stressors, is related to higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Evidence on the association of psychosocial factors with AL is mixed despite accruing research that suggests that psychosocial factors are related to CVD, in part, through AL. We examined the associations of psychosocial factors with AL among Hispanics/Latinos. Hypothesis: Psychosocial intrapersonal ( ethnic identity , optimism, and purpose in life) and interpersonal ( family cohesion , social network embeddedness , and social support ) resources will each be inversely associated with AL while stressors ( perceived ethnic discrimination , familism, and loneliness ) will each be positively associated. Methods: Data from the HCHS/SOL SCAS were used (n=4,914; ages 18-74). AL was assessed using 16 biomarkers representing cardiometabolic, glucose, cardiopulmonary, parasympathetic, and inflammatory systems. The AL score (0-16) was computed as the number of biomarkers for which a participant had a high-risk quartile; higher scores represent greater physiological dysregulation. Psychosocial factors were self-reported. Survey-weighted linear regression models adjusted for sociodemographic factors examined associations of each psychosocial factor with AL. We also examined whether sex modified these associations. Results: Mean AL score was 4.0 (SD=3.2). In fully-adjusted models (Table), the purpose in life score was inversely associated with AL. No other significant associations were observed, although regression estimates were generally in the hypothesized direction. Sex did not modify the association of psychosocial factors with AL. Conclusions: Greater sense of purpose in life, an intrapersonal psychosocial resource, is associated with lower physiological dysregulation in Hispanics/Latinos. Findings highlight the need to examine prospective associations of purpose in life with AL.

Assessing the Effects of University Reputation and City Image on International Student Destination Choice: Evidence from a Flagship University in Taipei

University reputation and destination image are key factors shaping the choice to study in developed Western countries. While East Asia is emerging as a new contender in the international higher education market, little is known about how international students perceive and are attracted to the higher education institutions in this region. Moreover, while the destination image was represented by the host country image in most studies, the effect of city image on study destination choice should be given more attention due to the geographic and social embeddedness of universities in cities. This study drew the survey data from a flagship university in Taipei to examine the impact of university reputation and city image on international student destination choice, and employed factor analysis to identify the dimensions of university reputation and city image. The analysis confirms university reputation and city image as important elements in international student destination choice in the Asian context. It further identifies four factors creating discrepant weighting of these two elements in study destination choice: degree/non-degree program, level of study, type of international student identity, and region of origin. Theoretical and policy implications of findings are discussed at the end of the paper.

Influence of Economic Benefits and Social Interaction on Buyer Participation in a Rural Retail Institution: Study of an Indian Periodic Market

Retail institutions offer economic and social benefits to the participants in a market. It is expected that in a less developed economy the social factors influence economic behaviour much more than in developed economies. The rural markets offer increased opportunities for the influence of social factors on economic transactions. This study examined the case of a rural periodic market. To ensure reliability the case study protocol questions reflected propositions developed on the research questions. It was expected that the participants would exhibit the influence of social relations in their market transactions. The results indicated that the economic benefits than social considerations influenced participant behaviour in the rural periodic market. Contrary to expectations not all consumers in a less developed economy exhibit social embeddedness in economic behaviour. Implications are for policymakers involved in planning and regulating rural markets. They need to take into consideration the differing behaviour of consumer groups in designing or regulating retail markets. This study examining the social embeddedness of buyer behaviour in the rural retail context of a less developed economy is presumably the first.

Social embeddedness and innovation behavior of innovation platform actors

Agricultural innovation platforms are increasingly being used as a means of mitigating agricultural value chain challenges through enabling the co-evolution of different elements in the innovation process. Given a number of actors and their different interests, governance dynamics and institutions are likely to play a fundamental role in the attainment of this objective. This study employed network governance theory to establish the influence of structures and relations in innovation platforms influence on actors’ innovation behavior. Using a sample of 319 randomly selected farmers and key informant interviews, it was established that the direct effect of embeddedness on innovation behavior was positive but insignificant (β=0.005, p= 0.953). The effect embeddedness on adaptation, coordination and safeguard of exchanges was positive and significant at (β=0.339, p0.01), (β=0.239, p0.01) and (β=0.262, p0.01) respectively. The role of adaptation in influencing innovation behavior was positive and significant with (β=0.264, p0.05). The study also finds that the indirect role of adaptation and safeguard of exchanges enhances the relationship between embeddedness and actor innovation behavior. The study recommends that to increase agricultural innovations, members of the networks should have adaptive measures through continuous search for new processes, new markets, reliable inputs and take advantage of new opportunities in their operating environment so as to be adaptive to this new work arrangement.

Representations of Nature of Science in High School Physics Textbooks

Nature of science (NOS) is a vital component of scientific literacy that refers to the science's epistemology. Students must possess the NOS conception to address socio-scientific issues using the reasoning and justification patterns like scientists. This qualitative research assessed the representation of NOS quantitatively and qualitatively in the grade XII senior high school physics textbooks. The quantitative representation of NOS was described by the percentage of appearance of each element of NOS, while the delivery approach was used to describe NOS qualitatively. The analysis was conducted on two textbooks focused on electromagnetic radiation, special relativity theory, and quantum phenomena chapters. The NOS framework instrument has been conceptually and empirically valid. The results show that the empirical and scientific theories were addressed with the highest percentage of appearance, while the social and cultural embeddedness of science and scientific methods were poorly addressed. All elements of NOS were represented implicitly. The empirical findings of this study are expected to be able to stimulate the improvement of the representation of NOS in science textbooks in Indonesia.

The double-edged sword of servitization in radical product innovation: The role of latent needs identification

Using survey data from 208 Chinese manufacturing firms, this paper empirically explores whether servitization facilitates or hinders radical product innovation performance. On the basis of organizational knowledge creation theory, we argue that servitization enables manufacturers to identify latent customer needs that are valuable in searching for radical product innovation opportunities. However, according to social structural embeddedness theory, a firm with a high level of servitization becomes overembedded in customer relationships, which prevents it from seizing such opportunities. We integrate these two theories and find an inverted U-shaped relationship between servitization and radical product innovation performance. Our research enriches the servitization literature by identifying and integrating the two roles of servitization for radical product innovation performance.

Age-Related Changes in the Role of Social Motivation: Implications for Healthy Aging.

Prior research has established the importance of social relations and social embeddedness for motivation in healthy aging. Thus, social orientation appears to be essential for understanding healthy aging. This article focuses particularly on age-related changes in goals concerning social orientation, such as increased prioritization of emotional goals, increased prosociality/altruistic motives, generativity, and ego transcendence. We then consider open questions regarding gaps in the links between goals related to social orientation and healthy aging, as well as the implications of theories and research on social goals for leveraging motivation to promote healthy aging. In particular, interventions to promote healthy behavior in late life may be most effective when they match the themes of older adults' strivings to find meaning and purpose in their personal goals.

Enhancing, suppressing or something in between – loneliness and five forms of political participation across Europe

ABSTRACT This study investigates the link between perceived loneliness and five forms of political participation. A bidirectional re-affiliation model of political action is proposed, stating that loneliness increases the probability for political participation if the political act fosters social belonging and interaction (enhancement hypothesis). However, if the political act has little potential for re-affiliation, a decrease in participation is expected (suppression hypothesis). Using data from the European Social Survey (ESS), the study investigates the relationship between loneliness and (1) reported voting behavior, (2) signing petitions, (3) contacting politicians, (4) being a member of a political organization and (5) participating in public demonstrations. The analysis finds strong support for the suppression hypothesis and mixed support for the enhancement hypothesis. With that, the study is one of the first to highlight the importance of perceived loneliness alongside objective social embeddedness as a predictor for political participation. Furthermore, it shows that the relationship cannot simply be generalized to all political acts but is dependent on its potential for social interaction.

Conceptualizing the Role of Individual Agency in Mobility Transitions: Avenues for the Integration of Sociological and Psychological Perspectives.

With the release of the latest IPCC report, the urgency to steer the transport sector toward ecological sustainability has been recognized more and more broadly. To better understand, the prerequisites for a transition to sustainable mobility, we argue that interdisciplinary mobility research needs to revisit the interaction between social structures and individual agency by focusing on social norms. While critical sociological approaches stress the structural barriers to sustainable mobility, political discourse over sustainable mobility is still largely dominated by overly individualistic approaches, which focus on individual behavior change neglecting its social embeddedness. With discursive struggles over sustainable mobility intensifying, it becomes more urgent to better understand how structural contexts condition individual travel behavior, while at the same time showing how individuals engage in processes of social change. Against this backdrop, the article seeks to deepen the cooperation between sociological and psychological research in mobility transitions research. Building on a broad body of literature, we revisit recent theoretical approaches, which conceptualize the role of individual agency in sustainability transitions. On this basis, we highlight the role of social norms in mobility transitions as a key concept bridging individual behavior and social structures. Using Strong Structuration Theory as an integrative framework, we focus on the role of individual agency in processes of re-negotiation of social norms. Our main hypothesis is that individuals can contribute to mobility transitions by influencing and re-negotiating social norms, especially in the context of windows of opportunity. We analyze how focusing on the dynamic and conflicted nature of social norms can help to illustrate leverage points for a mobility transition as well as inspire future empirical research in the field. This includes that individuals can influence social norms through changing their own travel behavior as well as through engaging in discourse on transport policies.

How kinship resources alleviate structural disadvantage: self-employment duration among refugees and labor migrants

PurposeEconomic integration of refugees remains a challenge for developed countries. Although refugees differ greatly from labor migrants in available resources and motivation toward self-employment, prevailing studies on minority and ethnic entrepreneurship tend to lump these different categories of migrants together. Based on theories of migrants’ economic embeddedness, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the extent to which family- and kinship-based resources affect self-employment duration among refugees and labor migrants.Design/methodology/approachBased on Cox regression models, this longitudinal study estimates the self-employment duration of 10,519 refugees and 2,503 labor migrants starting businesses in Sweden in the period 2006–2012.FindingsResults reveal that while refugees are at a disadvantage to labor migrants in terms of self-employment duration, their higher level of family embeddedness in part helps them overcome these disadvantages. For refugees but not for labor migrants, co-location in an ethnic enclave also lowers the risk of them becoming unemployed after a spell in entrepreneurship.Originality/valueThis original paper provides empirical and theoretical contributions to research on migrants’ self-employment success. It also discusses contributions for research on entrepreneurs’ social embeddedness and refugees’ entrepreneurship.

Promoting Global Competency in Engineering Education: Designing the “Engineering Across Borders” Casebook

While global competency in engineering is a multi-dimensional skill, programs often focus on language ability, international experience, and working with international professional communities. Increasingly, engineering educators recognize a ‘third dimension’ of global competency: an understanding of how engineering projects influence and are influenced by, social, political, economic, and environmental contexts. This paper proposes the concept of a casebook that effectively builds this understanding by simulating reflective, hands on experience with project implementation in developing countries. The casebook concept features in-depth, real-world social science case studies, supplemented with informational, explanatory, and analytical materials, to improve student understanding of the different ways in which engineering practice interacts with diverse contexts. Four case studies were selected and pilot tested with undergraduate engineering students, who were asked to write article reviews in response to prompts regarding the comprehensibility and educational value of the case studies. The pilot study assessed: how case studies foment a deeper understanding of how often-assumed ‘universal principles’ of engineering interact with contextual factors; and, how case studies might be supplemented with materials that improve this understanding. Student responses indicated that the case studies contributed to their understanding and insights into the social, economic and environmental embeddedness of engineering projects. Responses also provided valuable insights into how case studies could be supplemented to improve their educational value for engineering students. The casebook concept is a potentially valuable tool for improving ‘third dimension’ of global competency, and can be particularly helpful in settings where students have limited international opportunities, and little exposure to social science approaches to engineering.

Over-Complexifying Social Reality: A Critical Exploration of Systematicity and Rigidification in Ethnographic Practice and Writing

Qualitative methodological development has produced canonical tendencies that over-complexify and fix a fluid and lived social world. Meanwhile, critical theory has produced critiques on methodology but without enough attention to the qualitative tradition. I bridge these gaps by using an Adornoian position to interrogate the concepts of systematicity, rigidification, complexification, and their problems in ethnographic research and qualitative methodology. I conduct an urban ethnography and autoethnography of the metropolitan blasé as a public attitude of indifference to articulate an alternative, quotidian approach to ethnography that better captures social embeddedness, meaning-creation, and how contexts should drive data collection, analysis, and method-selection.

Social Network Approach to Analyze Stability and Variability of Travel Decisions

Large-scale changes are expected for urban mobility systems, triggered by digitalization and various other factors such as climate concerns or urbanization. For researchers and planners, it is therefore becoming increasingly important to understand the determinants of variability and stability of travel decisions. The motivation for the study is that, in transportation research and modeling frameworks, travel choices usually derive from individual traits and accessibility variables. What is underrepresented by such an approach is that decisions are also socially embedded. The authors postulate that mobility patterns are strongly interwoven with the way people configure their social networks. The paper introduces and discusses an empirical approach to investigate the social embeddedness of mobility decisions. The basic premise of the approach is that social network configurations provide an important setting for daily life in general and individual travel decisions in particular. Analysis is based on a three-phase interview study, conducted in Karlsruhe, Germany. The analytical approach reveals that a substantial part of travel is only loosely coupled to generalized costs of transport. Instead, the motivational degree linked to certain relationships largely influences willingness to travel and the relative stability of everyday life. Relationships that are internally satisfying or extremely familiar to people appear highly persistent. Furthermore, relationships that provide a certain degree of flexibility appear changeable, though not necessarily in all dimensions. Only a very small number of relationships appear both substitutable and changeable.

The imperative of embedding sustainability in business: A model for transformational sustainable development

AbstractSustainable development is the current strategic trajectory with transformative intent for complex global challenges including eradication of poverty, full social inclusion and prevention of ecological collapse. However, discourses related to the private sector emphasise economic and social development over the environmental components of sustainable development. Embedding sustainability is the related management imperative for business, supported by numerous frameworks, yet there is confusion about implementation in both literature and practice. This research addresses these issues with a mixed methods study combining a scoping literature review with a qualitative e‐Delphi study. The main findings are that the economic system constrains the embedding of sustainability in business; and that a paradigm shift towards ecocentric business models lacks support. The results are used to develop a novel model to aid transformational sustainable development that acknowledges the influences of the economic system in business whilst respecting social and ecological embeddedness.

Recalibrating Management Research for the Post‐COVID‐19 Scientific Enterprise

Recalibrating Management Research for the Post‐COVID‐19 Scientific Enterprise

Oppositional culture revisited. Friendship dynamics and the creation of social capital among Turkish minority adolescents in Germany

ABSTRACT Ethnic differences in the endowment with social capital can exacerbate intergroup inequalities. Pursuing this argument, we first compare the educational compositions of friendship networks between Turkish minority and native majority adolescents in Germany. Second, we pick up notions from Oppositional Culture Theory (OCT) to examine how ethnic differences in the composition of friendship networks come about. In a sample of 2,419 students in 74 secondary schools, we focus on the effort, achievement, and anti-school behaviour of peers and the role these play in adolescents’ friendship selection. Results from multilevel stochastic actor-oriented models reveal that Turkish minority adolescents prefer highly engaged and high-achieving peers as friends. Despite these preferences, Turkish minority adolescents’ social networks still provide lower levels of social capital on aggregate than majority members’ networks. We attribute this to systematic variation in the opportunity structure. Our results speak against the existence of anti-school norms among Turkish minority youth. Still, our study supports the OCT’s notion that an ethnic group’s structural positioning within society can result in selective acculturation processes and distinct patterns of social embeddedness.