Social Influence Components Research Articles

Engineering Trainee-Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Technology Use in Pedagogical Practices: Extending Computer Attitude Scale (CAS)

The current study examined the trainee teachers’ attitudes toward technology adoption and use in tertiary engineering education. The Computer Attitude Scale (CAS) was extended by including the social influence component, to examine whether social norms affect the acceptance of technology by teachers. Findings from 110 trainee-teachers revealed that their attitudes toward technology are positive. These attitudes constitute the way they like and intend to use technology, their perception of its usefulness in their daily tasks, and the control they perceived to have over technology while using it in engineering disciplines. The findings also confirm that social influence is an important predictor of trainee teachers’ attitudes toward using technology. Overall, the study provides a new influential factor (social) that could be merged with the other four major components (affect, perceived usefulness, perceived control, and behavioral intention) of CAS in conducting future research. The results of this study further provide useful knowledge that extends prior arguments concerning teachers’ attitudes toward using technology in teaching with respect to age, gender, and disciplines. More specifically, the study, theoretically, contributes to research practice in technology acceptance, by extending the computer attitude scale (CAS), with social influence as an additional important factor to be considered when conducting future research. Therefore, an extended CAS is established for exploring newer research in this domain. Policymakers and designers of teacher professional development will be informed of these findings that will accelerate initiatives of technology integration of engineering education in developing countries and other similar contexts.

Three-learning strategy particle swarm algorithm for global optimization problems

Social Learning Particle Swarm Optimization (SL-PSO) greatly improves the optimization performance of PSO. In solving complex optimization problems, however, it still has some deficiencies, such as poor search ability and low search efficiency. Hence, an improved SL-PSO, namely, Three-Learning Strategy PSO (TLS-PSO) is proposed in this paper. Firstly, a med-point-example learning strategy and a random learning strategy are proposed to replace the imitation component and social influence component of SL-PSO to enhance the exploitation and exploration, respectively. Secondly, the two learning strategies are combined cleverly into an updating equation to balance exploration and exploitation. Finally, a worst-best example learning strategy is merged skillfully to construct TLS-PSO with hybrid learning mechanism and further enhance the search ability. The experimental results on the complex functions from CEC2013 and CEC2017 test sets indicate that TLS-PSO has better performance compared with state-of-the-art PSO variants and other algorithms. For example, TLS-PSO has an advantage over SL-PSO on 50 of the 56 functions from CEC2013, its running time is less than SL-PSO’s and it has higher search efficiency. Simulation results on the 10 engineering problems also show that TLS-PSO outperforms 7 excellent algorithms, such as IUDE and iLSHADE∊. It is expected to solve practical problems better.

Factors affecting Intention to Use E-banking Services in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic - A Case Study in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

The Study aims to explore and test the factors affecting customers' online transaction behavior with e-banking services in the Covid-19 pandemic, with TAM (Technology Acceptance Model). The author used data survey from 225 people who are customers of commercial banks in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). The research methods used SPSS software for EFA and CFA analysis. The results of multivariable regression analysis determined 7 factors affecting intention to use e-banking services: perceived ease of use, expected effectiveness, and risk. transaction risk, bank branding, social influence, behavioral control and perceived preference. In which, the risk component in the transaction has the most important influence on the intention to use e-banking services, followed by the component of expected effectiveness, followed by the component of bank brand, followed by component of bank brand followed by the Social Influence component, then perceived ease of use, and finally behavioral control and perceived preference. The research results also serve as a basis for a survey for Vietnamese banks to promote using e-banking services by customers in developing electronic products in Vietnam.

A Socially Aware Huff Model for Destination Choice in Nature-based Tourism

Abstract. Identifying determinants of tourist destination choice is an important task in the study of nature-based tourism. Traditionally, the study of tourist behavior relies on survey data and travel logs, which are labor-intensive and time-consuming. Thanks to location-based social networks, more detailed data is available at a finer grained spatio-temporal scale. This allows for better insights into travel patterns and interactions between attractions, e.g., parks. Meanwhile, such data sources also bring along a novel social influence component that has not yet been widely studied in terms of travel decisions. For example, social influencers post about certain places, which tend to influence destination choices of tourists. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a socially aware Huff model to account for this social factor in the study of destination choice. Moreover, with fine-grained social media data, interactions between attractions (i.e., the neighboring effects) can be better quantified and thus integrated into models as another factor. In our experiment, we calibrate a model by using trip sequences extracted from geotagged Flickr photos within two national parks in the United States. Our results demonstrate that the socially aware Huff model better simulates tourist travel preferences. In addition, we explore the significance of each factor and summarize the spatial-temporal travel pattern for each attraction. The socially aware Huff model and the calibration method can be applied to other fields such as promotional marketing.

Anticipated emotions of significant others as social influence: Can they predict students’ smoking abstinence continuance intention?

In the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991), subjective norms (SN) represent social influence on an individual's behavior. This famous model of behavior postulates that an individual is under pressure or expectation of significant others to perform or not to perform a behavior. This study starts from the premise that an individual can take the initiative and regulate his or her behavior to generate anticipated emotion of significant others’ (AESO). The question is, can the AESO function as the SN to represent the social factor in influencing students' smoking abstinence continuance intention? To answer this question, the author conducts the study upon 235 non-smoker students. The result is; first, negative AESO can carry out that function. However, positive AESO and SN fail to do so. Therefore, besides the SN, as shown by this study, the AESO, represented by negative AESO, can be regarded as a social influence component of an individual's behavioral intention. Other researchers are encouraged to validate this finding in different contexts of behavior.

Incorporating Conditional Morality into Economic Decisions

We present a framework that incorporates both moral motivations and fairness considerations into utility. The main idea is that individuals face a preference trade-off between their material individual interest and their desire to follow moral norms. In our model, we assume that moral motivation is conditional and may be influenced by others' actions. Specifically, in our framework moral obligation is a combination of two main components: an autonomous component and a social influence component that captures the influence of others. Our framework is able to explain many stylized results in the literature and to improve theories of economic behavior.

Differential mutation and novel social learning particle swarm optimization algorithm

Social Learning Particle Swarm Optimization (SLPSO) is an improved Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm, which greatly improves the optimization performance of PSO. However, SLPSO still has some deficiency, such as poor balance between exploration and exploitation and low search efficiency, so that it cannot yet do well in solving many complex optimization problems. Thus, this paper proposes an improved SLPSO algorithm, that is, Differential mutation and novel Social learning PSO (DSPSO). Firstly, in order to balance exploration and exploitation better, a dynamic inertia weight is introduced to replace the random inertia weight of SLPSO, and a single-example learning approach and an example-mean learning one are proposed to replace the imitation component and the social influence component of SLPSO respectively. Secondly, the dimension-based velocity updating equation of SLPSO is divided into two particle-based updating equations with the two approaches, and the two are executed alternately to form a novel social learning PSO (NSLPSO), which enhance the exploitation of SLPSO. Finally, a dynamic differential mutation strategy is used in NSLPSO to update the three best particles to enhance the exploration to obtain DSPSO. Experimental results on the complex functions from CEC2013 reveal that DSPSO outperforms SLPSO and quite a few state-of-the-art and classic PSO variants.

Factors affecting false guilty pleas in a mock plea bargaining scenario

PurposeWe sought to investigate key factors that legal scholars believe are contributing to false guilty pleas.MethodsUndergraduates playing the role of an innocent defendant in a plea bargaining scenario (N = 382) were randomly assigned to condition in a 2 (trial penalty: mandatory minimum of 10 years, judicial discretion of 4–6 years) × 3 (likelihood of conviction: 10%, 50%, 90%), × 2 (attorney recommendation: take the plea deal, use best judgement) between‐subjects design – false guilty pleas (2 years in prison) were the primary dependent variable.ResultsParticipants faced with a mandatory minimum were more likely to falsely plead guilty, and this effect was mediated by perceptions that life would be more difficult serving the sentence associated with losing at trial compared to that of the plea. Participants given a 90% likelihood of conviction at trial were more likely to falsely plead guilty than those in the 50% and 10% conditions, and this effect was mediated by perceptions of case strength. Finally, female participants (via increased perceptions of case strength) were more likely to falsely plead guilty than male participants. Contrary to our predictions, attorney recommendation did not impact false guilty pleas, perhaps due to the absence of a proper social influence component to the manipulation.ConclusionsOverall, the findings provide evidence supporting the apparent causal mechanisms underlying the ‘innocence problem’ in plea bargaining, and we discuss future directions for plea bargaining research pertaining to both research questions and methodology.

Mediating factors of a school-based multi-component smoking prevention intervention: the LdP cluster randomized controlled trial.

The aim of this study was to investigate factors mediating the effects of Luoghi di Prevenzione (LdP) smoking prevention intervention based on social competence and social influence approaches, and characterized by peer-led school-based interventions, out-of-school workshops, school lessons, and by enforcing the school anti-smoking policy. Students aged 14-15 years in 13 secondary schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy (989 students) were randomly assigned to the LdP intervention or a control condition. The baseline and follow-up surveys were carried out before and 18 months after the intervention, respectively.The outcomes were cigarette daily and frequent smoking and smoking at school. Multilevel multiple mediation analyses were carried out in order to study effect mediation. The mediators were normative perception, positive and negative beliefs, refusal skills for smoking, social acceptability perception, risk perception, smoking knowledge and awareness about dangers of second-hand smoking.The intervention effects were explained by the social influence component through the mediator refusal skills for smoking. The programme also showed to significantly increase risk perception and smoking knowledge, even though these mediators had no effect on smoking. Moreover, LdP intervention directly reduced smoking in school areas. Future interventions should maintain and strengthen the LdP social influence component and the part regarding the school anti-smoking policy.

Trait and Social Influences in the Links Among Adolescent Attachment, Depressive Symptoms, and Coping

Attachment insecurity and maladaptive coping are associated with depression in adolescence; however, it is unclear whether these links primarily reflect stable individual differences among teens (trait influences), experiential differences in their interactions with relationship partners (social influences) or both. In this study, teens (ages 14–18; N = 150) completed questionnaires to assess their attachment security, depressive symptoms, and coping strategies with different attachment figures. Measures were completed three times, based on experiences with a maternal figure, paternal figure, and closest peer. Generalizability analyses were used to separate each construct into trait and social influence components. Next, multivariate g correlations were computed to examine the correlations among the constructs for the trait component as well as the social component. Correlation magnitudes differed depending on whether the trait or social influence components were examined.

The Relative Contribution of Trait and Social Influences to the Links Among Perceived Social Support, Affect, and Self‐Esteem

Although perceived support is influenced by both the personality traits of support recipients as well as various social factors, it is unknown to what extent these two types of influences account for perceived support's link to mental health. We investigated these relations using multivariate generalizability analyses. In three samples, both the trait and social influence components of perceived support were related to favorable affect and to self-esteem. The magnitude of the correlations between perceived support and mental health was similar for both the trait and social influence components. Similar findings were obtained for social conflict, although the links between conflict and mental health varied somewhat depending upon the level of analysis. These findings suggest that social support theories and interventions should include both trait and social mechanisms to explain and modify perceived support and mental health.

Areca quid chewing by Taiwanese adolescents: application of the Attitudes Social Influence Self-efficacy (ASE) model.

To investigate the factors associated with areca quid-chewing behaviour using the Attitudes-Social influence-Self-efficacy (ASE) model as a theoretical framework. Cross-sectional survey. A total of 400 students from a junior high school participated in the study in 2001 in Chia-Yi city (Taiwan). Expectancy scales (for the attitude component of the ASE), a self-efficacy scale (for the self-efficacy component of the ASE) and a social norm scale (for the social influence component of the ASE) were utilized. These measures displayed good reliability and validity. Forty-seven students (11.75%) reported that they had tried chewing areca quid previously, eight of them practicing chewing it every day. Positive and negative expectancy (r = 0.43, r=- 0.20), self- efficacy (r = - 0.65), and subject social norm (r = 0.53) were significantly correlated with participants' intentions to chew areca quid. In a regression model, self-efficacy (beta = - 0.46, P < 0.001), social norm (beta = 0.22, P < 0.001), positive expectancy (beta = 0.18, P < 0.001) and negative expectancy (beta = - 0.08, P = 0.040) all made independent contributions to predicting intentions to chew and explained 46.8% of the variance in areca quid-chewing behaviour. Areca quid chewing appeared to be linked to positive expectancy and social norms pertaining to areca quid chewing associated with adolescents. However, high negative expectancy and high self-efficacy encouraged contrary behaviour. The application of the ASE model as the scenario could improve our understanding of the intention of the areca quid chewing among these adolescents.

Sources of motivation for abstinence: a replication analysis of the reasons for quitting questionnaire.

The Reasons for Quitting Questionnaire (RFQ) as modified by McBride and colleagues (C. M. McBride et al., 1994) for use with substance users other than tobacco smokers, was administered to individuals approved for public-sector addiction treatment. Four motivation dimensions, similar to those found by McBride et al., were identified: self-concept issues, health concerns, legal issues, and social influence. A forced two-component solution yielded dimensions interpretable as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Self-concept issues provided the highest levels of motivation for abstinence in this sample, with moderate levels provided by health concerns, and the lowest levels provided by legal and social influence components. Intrinsic motivation was higher than extrinsic motivation. Logistic regression models, with adjustment for total motivation, tested the association of successful abstinence during a follow-up period with baseline extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and with the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic levels. All three associations were significant: intrinsic motivation (positive association), extrinsic motivation (negative association), and the difference score (positive association). The results suggest the usefulness of the 20-item modified RFQ in evaluating motivation for abstinence among treatment seekers exhibiting severe negative consequences of addiction. Testing with samples varying in severity of addiction consequences is recommended.

Obesity, externality, and susceptibility to social influence: an integrated analysis.

A pilot study indicated that overweight subjects are more likely to order a particular dessert in a restaurant when the waitress provides an appetizing description of that dessert and encourages the diner to order it; subjects who were not overweight were much less affected by the waitress's behavior. This effect may be interpreted in terms of the greater "externality' of overweight persons (i.e., their greater reactivity to salient food cues); alternatively, it may be seen as evidence for greater compliance by deviant (overweight) individuals. The present study examined these alternatives by separating the perceptual-cues component of the waitress's behavior from the social-influence component in a replication of the pilot study. The results indicated that both the externality and compliance interpretations were tenable. The authors suggest that these two mechanisms may be seen as facets of a more general concern on the part of overweight people to secure behavioral guidance from the external environment, physical or social.

Obesity, externality, and susceptibility to social influence: An integrated analysis.

A pilot study indicated that overweight subjects are more likely to order a particular dessert in a restaurant when the waitress provides an appetizing description of that dessert and encourages the diner to order it; subjects who were not overweight were much less affected by the waitress's behavior. This effect may be interpreted in terms of the greater "externality' of overweight persons (i.e., their greater reactivity to salient food cues); alternatively, it may be seen as evidence for greater compliance by deviant (overweight) individuals. The present study examined these alternatives by separating the perceptual-cues component of the waitress's behavior from the social-influence component in a replication of the pilot study. The results indicated that both the externality and compliance interpretations were tenable. The authors suggest that these two mechanisms may be seen as facets of a more general concern on the part of overweight people to secure behavioral guidance from the external environment, physical or social.