Functional and emotional traits of corporate social media message strategies: Behavioral insights from S&P 500 Facebook data

Drawing from literature regarding public engagement, the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), computer-mediated communication research, and emotion psychology, this study examines the effects of companies’ social media communication strategies on public engagement behaviors as indexed by post likes, shares, and comments. Specifically, it investigates how corporate Facebook posts’ functional traits (functional interactivity and vividness) and emotional traits (emotion presence, valence, and strength) impact public engagement online. Through data mining and computer-assisted sentiment analysis of 33,379 posts from 106 Standard & Poor 500 companies’ Facebook accounts, this study finds a negative effect of functional interactivity but a positive effect of vividness on engagement. It also shows that emotional traits overall yield stronger public engagement outcomes. Two-way interactions between emotional and functional features are also detected. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

The quest for legitimacy and the communication of strategic cross-sectoral partnership on Facebook: A big data study

Nowadays, many wicked problems such as environmental issues require organizations from multiple sectors to form cross-sectoral alliances. Cross-sectoral alliance networks can transfer resources and signal affiliations and value alignment between strategic partners. The communication of cross-sectoral alliances is a form of CSR communication that serves organizations’ strategic goals and objectives. Drawing on the literature on digital CSR communication and legitimacy theory, this article examines which legitimacy needs shape the formation of cross-sectoral ties on Facebook in addressing environmental and sustainable development issues in the United States. Combining data-mining, text-mining, social network analysis, and exponential graph modeling, this research investigates the structure of a network among 3071 organizations across multiple sectors. Findings show that organizations’ cross-sectoral tie formation is mainly driven by social legitimacy and alliance legitimacy needs.     

How moral disengagement facilitates the detention of refugee children and families

Refugee children and families are a vulnerable demographic with the propensity to disrupt entrenched disparaging perceptions about immigrants. This project investigates how institutionalised moral disengagement practices [Bandura, Albert. 2002. “Selective Moral Disengagement in the Exercise of Moral Agency.” Journal of Moral Education 31: 101–119] at family detention centres facilitate the apprehension and confinement of children and families seeking asylum. Interviews with former volunteers and an analysis of news reports describing conditions at these centres reveal that moral disengagement plays a pivotal role in rationalising detention, while also enabling restrictive immigration policies and mass deportations. This occurs through the criminalisation of immigrants, suppressing details about residential conditions, and a quota capacity model. Findings are contextualised with regard to recent immigration legislations.     

A Model of Quality of College Life (QCL) of Students in Korea

This study develops and tests a model of quality of college life (QCL) of students in Korea. In this study, QCL of students is conceptualized in terms of needs satisfaction and affect balance. It has been hypothesized that satisfaction with education services, administrative services, and facilities have a significant impact on QCL, which in turn positively influences identification, positive word of mouth, and overall quality of life. The results of a survey on 228 Korean college students largely support the model. Managerial and policy implications are discussed.     

Predictors of Problem Gambling in the U.S.

In this article we examine data from a national U.S. adult survey of gambling to determine correlates of problem gambling and discuss them in light of theories of the etiology of problem gambling. These include theories that focus on personality traits, irrational beliefs, anti-social tendencies, neighborhood influences and availability of gambling. Results show that males, persons in the 31–40 age range, blacks, and the least educated had the highest average problem gambling symptoms. Adults who lived in disadvantaged neighborhoods also had the most problem gambling symptoms. Those who attended religious services most often had the fewest problem gambling symptoms, regardless of religious denomination. Respondents who reported that it was most convenient for them to gamble had the highest average problem gambling symptoms, compared to those for whom gambling was less convenient. Likewise, adults with the personality traits of impulsiveness and depression had more problem gambling symptoms than those less impulsive or depressed. Respondents who had friends who approve of gambling had more problem gambling symptoms than those whose friends did not approve of gambling. The results for the demographic variables as well as for impulsiveness and religious attendance are consistent with an anti-social/impulsivist pathway to problem gambling. The results for depression are consistent with an emotionally vulnerable pathway to problem gambling.     

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) increases insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) in sedentary aging men but not masters’ athletes: an observational study

Introduction: The aim of this investigation was to examine the impact high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on serum insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) in active compared with sedentary aging men.

Methods: 22 lifetime sedentary (SED; 62?±?2 years) and 17 masters’ athletes (LEX; 60?±?5 years) were recruited to the study. As HIIT requires preconditioning exercise in sedentary cohorts, the study required three assessment phases; enrollment (phase A), following preconditioning exercise (phase B), and post-HIIT (phase C). Serum IGF-I was determined by electrochemiluminescent immunoassay.

Results: IGF-I was higher in LEX compared to SED at baseline (p?=?0.007, Cohen’s d?=?0.91), and phase B (p?=?0.083, Cohen’s d?=?0.59), with only a small difference at C (p?=?0.291, Cohen’s d?=?0.35). SED experienced a small increase in IGF-I following preconditioning from 13.1?±?4.7 to 14.2?±?6.0?μg·dl^?1 (p?=?0.376, Cohen’s d?=?0.22), followed by a larger increase post-HIIT (16.9?±?4.4?μg·dl^?1), which was significantly elevated compared with baseline (p?=?0.002, Cohen’s d?=?0.85), and post-preconditioning (p?=?0.005, Cohen’s d?=?0.51). LEX experienced a trivial changes in IGF-I from A to B (18.2?±?6.4 to 17.2?±?3.7?μg·dl^?1 [p?=?0.538, Cohen’s d?=?0.19]), and a small change post-HIIT (18.4?±?4.1?μg·dl^?1 [p?=?0.283, Cohen’s d?=?0.31]). Small increases were observed in fat-free mass in both groups following HIIT (p?d?=?0.32–0.45).

Conclusions: In conclusion, HIIT with preconditioning exercise abrogates the age associated difference in IGF-I between SED and LEX, and induces small improvements in fat-free mass in both SED and LEX.     

Sexual Education,Gender Ideology,and Youth Sexual Empowerment

Sexual education plays an essential role in preventing unplanned pregnancy and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). School-based sexual education programs, in particular, may be well positioned to address social factors that are empirically linked to negative sexual health outcomes, such as traditional social norms surrounding gender and sexuality. However, youth are seldom granted access to sexual education programs that explicitly address these issues. This study presents findings from a pretest–posttest survey of a sexual education program that did. It was designed for eighth graders (N=95) in the context of a school–community collaboration. The study assessed the links between several components of sexual empowerment, including gender ideology, sexual knowledge, and contraceptive beliefs. Findings link participation in the sexual education program to more progressive attitudes toward girls and women, less agreement with hegemonic masculinity ideology, and increases in sexual health and resource knowledge. Structural equation models suggest that traditional attitudes toward women were significantly related to hegemonic masculinity ideology among both boys and girls, which was in turn negatively related to safer contraceptive beliefs.     

A Social Network Comparison of Low‐Income Black and White Newlywed Couples

Relative to White families, Black families have been described as relying on extended social networks to compensate for other social and economic disadvantages. The presence or absence of supportive social networks should be especially relevant to young couples entering marriage, but to date there has been little effort to describe the social networks of comparable Black and White newlyweds. The current study addressed this gap by drawing on interviews with 57 first‐married newlyweds from low‐income communities to compare the composition and structure of Black and White couples' duocentric social networks. The results indicated that low‐income Black couples entered marriage at a social disadvantage relative to White couples, with more family relationships but fewer positive relationships and fewer sources of emotional support (for wives), fewer connections to married individuals, and fewer shared relationships between spouses. Black couples' relative social disadvantages persisted even when various economic and demographic variables were controlled.     

Transforming the Way We Live Together: A Model to Move Communities From Policy to Implementation

Most cities, counties, and neighborhoods are not designed for an aging population. By providing a range of services to all residents, Lifelong Communities allow individuals to age in place. Although the Lifelong Communities Initiative is based on established guiding principles, little information exists regarding the realities of moving from policy to implementation. The Atlanta Regional Commission conducted a case study in Mableton, Georgia, and found successful implementation requires a combination of support from local citizen groups and government. The Atlanta Regional Commission is replicating these best practices in other communities and providing support to those aspiring to launch or expand Lifelong Communities.