Understanding User Adaptation toward a New IT System in Organizations: A Social Network Perspective

Social networks can be a vital mechanism for users to adapt to changes induced by new IT systems in organizations. However, we do not adequately understand the effect of social networks on post-adoption IT use. Drawing on coping theory and the social network literature, we develop a cognitive-affective-behavioral classification of user adaptation and identify seeking-network closure and giving-network closure as key network characteristics pertinent to post-adoption IT use. Thereafter, we establish a theoretical link from seeking-network closure and giving-network closure to post-adoption IT use through the underlying mechanisms of user adaptation. We operationalize the research model using a field survey of a newly implemented electronic medical record system in a hospital in Northeast China, where we collected network data and objective system logs of 104 doctors. We found that seeking-network closure was positively associated with cognitive adaptation but negatively associated with affective adaptation and behavioral adaptation, whereas giving-network closure was negatively associated with cognitive adaptation but positively associated with affective adaptation and behavioral adaptation. Moreover, cognitive adaptation and affective adaptation were determinants of post-adoption IT use, but behavioral adaptation was not. We discuss our study’s theoretical and practical contributions

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationFor some decades, social relationship has been a central theme in research on health and wellbeing. The literature documents two separate but related components of social relationship-social network and social support-both of which are believed to impact health independent of the other. Using data from the Utah Fertility, Longevity, and Aging (FLAG) study, the current study investigated the associations of dimensions of social connectedness (network and satisfaction with network) and perceived social support (affective, confidant, and instrumental support) to physical and mental health, and examined whether or not the association between social connectedness and physical and mental health of older adults was attributable to perceived social support. Results of the study showed the dimensions of social connectedness (network, and satisfaction with network) and perceived social support (affective, confidant, and instrumental support) were positively correlated. These dimensions, with the exception of the network dimension, were also positively associated with physical and mental health. Independent samples t-test showed individuals who obtained higher scores on the satisfaction with network dimension, and affective, confidant, and instrumental support dimensions were more likely to have higher physical and mental health scores than those who obtained lower scores on these dimensions. Logistic regression analyses showed high scores on affective and instrumental support were associated with higher odds of reporting good physical health. Similarly, high scores on the satisfaction with network dimension were associated with higher odds of reporting good mental health. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed affective and instrumental support, and satisfaction with network dimension were significant predictors of physical and mental health when the effects of covariates were controlled for. Results of moderation analyses showed significant conditional effects of social connectedness and perceived social support on physical and mental health. The interaction term (Connectedness_X_Support) was not significant. Perceived social support did not moderate the relationship between social connectedness and physical and mental health. Other correlates of physical and mental health included age, gender, and socio-economic status (SES). An increase in age corresponded with favorable mental health. Higher SES was associated with reporting good physical and mental health. Being female was associated with greater likelihood of reporting poor physical and mental health. Findings generally suggest social connectedness and perceived social support may affect different aspects of health independent of the other. Findings also suggest perceived social support may be relatively more important to the health and wellbeing of older adults than social connectedness and underscore the relative importance older adults attach to quality rather than quantity of social ties. Implications for social work practice and education, policy, and research are discussed

Social Networks among Elderly Women: Implications for Health Education Practice

The general aim of the present study was to examine and help clarify the properties of the distinctions between social networks and social support, their relationship to health status, and their impli cations for health education practice. More specifically, a secondary data analysis was conducted with 130 white women, community resi dents, between the ages of 60 and 68, which examined the relationship between psychological well-being and social network characteristics. These characteristics are categorized along three broad dimensions: structure—links in the overall network (size and density); interaction— nature of the linkages themselves (frequency, homogeneity, content, reciprocity, intensity, and dispersion); and functions which networks provide (affective support and instrumental support). A combination was made and relative strength investigated of several network char acteristics representative of the quality of interactions (i. e., reciprocal affective support, intensity, and affective support) and those repre senting the quantity of interactions (i.e., size, density, and frequency).Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67277/2/10.1177_109019818301000304.pd

Together alone: Social dysfunction in neuropsychiatric disorders

In chapter 2, we examined social functioning among 2952 NESDA-participants (healthy controls N=650, individuals remitted from anxiety and/or depressive disorder N=621, patients with anxiety disorder only N=540, depressive disorder only N=393 or comorbid anxiety and depressive disorders N=748) using affective and behavioral indicators. We found significant social dysfunction in patients with anxiety disorders, and to an even higher degree in those with depressive disorders, and most prominently in patients with comorbid anxiety and depressive disorders. In addition, our study also showed that both affective and behavioral aspects of social dysfunction were compromised, with affective aspects being the more severely impaired in all groups as compared to healthy controls. The affective indicators loneliness and perceived social disability, in addition to the behavioral indicator social network size, showed the largest effect sizes for the patients with comorbid anxiety and depression, as compared to healthy controls (Cohen’s d ranging from 0.81- 1.76). We also described that even after remission of affective psychopathology, residual impairments in social functioning tended to remain in social network size, social support, loneliness, and perceived social disability. Importantly, we also established that perceived social disability among patients is predictive of a depressive and/or anxiety diagnosis as much as two years later. Chapter 3 describes social dysfunction in schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease patients (N=164) using behavioral and affective indicators of social dysfunction. Building on the findings of the NESDA study described above, we used perceived social disability and loneliness as affective indicators of social dysfunction, and we added a rater-perceived social disability questionnaire. The individual subscales of the Social Functioning Scale and its total score were used as behavioral indicators of social dysfunction. In this PRISM sample, both SZ (N=56) and AD (N=50) patients exhibited more social dysfunction when compared with age- and sex matched HC participants (HC younger N=29; HC older N=28). As compared to HC, both behavioral and affective social functioning were poorer in SZ patients (Cohens d’s 0.81-1.69), whereas AD patients exhibited poorer behavioral social function (Cohen’s d’s 0.65-1.14). Comparing the patient groups exclusively, we found that the behavioral aspects of social functioning were fairly similar, with the affective indices being less favorable for the SZ patients, who were found to have greater feelings of loneliness and perceived social disability than did the AD patients. Chapter 4 examines whether DMN connectional integrity among MDD patients (N=74) covaries with individual scores on an integrated social dysfunction composite, composed of behavioral and affective features. Building on findings described above, we used the network size as behavioral indicator and we used perceived social disability and loneliness as our affective indicators of social dysfunction. The analyses cautiously linked greater social dysfunction among MDD patients to diminished DMN connectivity, specifically within the rostromedial prefrontal cortex and posterior superior frontal gyrus. These effects were most prominent when high and low social dysfunctioning MDD groups were compared, with the dimensional effects being more subtle. In chapter 5, we explored DMN integrity as a function of social dysfunction among SZ (N=48) and AD (N=47) patients, as well as age-matched healthy controls (HC; N=55). Social dysfunction was operationalized using the SFS as behavioral indicator of social dysfunction and loneliness as an affective indicator. Our analyses interestingly showed that affective and behavioral indicators of social dysfunction are independently associated with diminished DMN connectional integrity, specifically within rostromedial prefrontal subterritories of the DMN. The combined average effect of these indicators on diminished DMN connectivity was even more pronounced (both spatially and statistically), comprising large sections of rostromedial and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex

The Moderating Effect of Network Centrality on the Relationship Between Work Experience Variables and Organizational Commitment

The purpose of this research was to identify the effect of an individual\u27s network position on the relationship between work experience variables and affective commitment. This study tested three hypotheses, which were introduced through a comprehensive literature review, regarding the relationships between work experience variables and affective commitment. Research has indicated linkages between social network centrality and organizational commitment; however, the specific effects of centrality remain unclear. Therefore, this research developed and tested a moderation model to identify relationships between network centrality, affective commitment, and three work experience variables: psychological empowerment (PE), leader-member exchange (LMX), and perceived organizational support (POS). The moderation results suggest that network centrality significantly influences the relationship between PE and AC as well as POS and AC. While there was an indication that network centrality also influences the LMX - AC relationship, the results shown in this study were found to be insignificant

Predictors of WhatsAPP ‘Consumption’ among undergraduate students of Economics in Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma

This paper examined cognitive, affective social-integrative and tension-release needs as predictors of WhatsApp ‘consumption’ among undergraduate students of Economics in Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma. The population covered all the 808 undergraduate students in the Department of Economics from 100 to 400level in the 2014/2015 academic session. Proportionate sampling technique was used to draw. Out of 404 distributed questionnaires, 382 copies were duly filled and used for the analysis. The bi-variate correlation technique was used to establish the relationship between the variables on a correlation matrix table. Result showed that the correlation coefficient on the relationship between WhatsApp usage and the variables: cognitive (r=0.287); affective (r=0.751); socio-integrative (r=0.743); and tension-release needs (r=0.291) are all statistically significant (p <0.01). The magnitude of the correlation coefficient for affective (r =0.751) and socio-integrative (r=0.743) needs showed that respondents mostly used WhatsApp for meeting their affective needs (chatting and keeping in touch with friends loved ones) and socio-integrative needs (building social network ties). It was recommended that students of the institution should harness WhatsApp as a communication platform for more educative purposes as against meeting their affective and social-integrative needs.Keywords: Cognitive needs, Affective needs, Social-integrative needs, Tension-release need

Affective Polarization in Social Networks

Affective polarization has grown dramatically in recent years, with surveys showing that liberals and conservatives not only disagree on policy issues but also dislike and distrust each other. While studies have implicated social media in amplifying polarization, there is a lack of agreement on the mechanisms driving affective polarization and methods to measure it. Our paper addresses these gaps. First, we directly measure affective polarization on social media by quantifying the emotional tone of reply interactions between users. As predicted by affective polarization, in-group interactions between same-partisanship users tend to be positive, while out-group interactions between opposite-partisanship users are characterized by negativity and toxicity. Second, we show that affective polarization generalizes beyond the in-group/out-group dichotomy and can be considered a structural property of social networks. Specifically, we show that emotions vary with network distance between users, with closer interactions eliciting positive emotions and more distant interactions leading to anger, disgust, and toxicity. These findings are consistent across diverse datasets and languages, spanning discussions on topics such as the Covid-19 pandemic, abortion, and the 2017 French Election. Our research provides new insights into the complex social dynamics of affective polarization in the digital age and its implications for political discourse

Default Network Deactivations Are Correlated with Psychopathic Personality Traits

Background: The posteromedial cortex (PMC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) are part of a network of brain regions that has been found to exhibit decreased activity during goal-oriented tasks. This network is thought to support a baseline of brain activity, and is commonly referred to as the ‘‘default network’’. Although recent reports suggest that the PMC and mPFC are associated with affective, social, and self-referential processes, the relationship between these default network components and personality traits, especially those pertaining to social context, is poorly understood. Methodology/Principal Findings: In the current investigation, we assessed the relationship between PMC and mPFC deactivations and psychopathic personality traits using fMRI and a self-report measure. We found that PMC deactivations predicted traits related to egocentricity and mPFC deactivations predicted traits related to decision-making. Conclusions/Significance: These results suggest that the PMC and mPFC are associated with processes involving selfrelevancy and affective decision-making, consistent with previous reports. More generally, these findings suggest a link between default network activity and personality traits