1,201 research outputs found
Cheating in online gaming spreads through observation and victimization
Antisocial behavior can be contagious, spreading from individual to individual and rippling through social networks. Moreover, it can spread not only through third-party influence from observation, just like innovations or individual behavior do, but also through direct experience, via “pay-it-forward” retaliation. Here, we distinguish between the effects of observation and victimization for the contagion of antisocial behavior by analyzing large-scale digital trace data. We study the spread of cheating in more than a million matches of an online multiplayer first-person shooter game, in which up to 100 players compete individually or in teams against strangers. We identify event sequences in which a player who observes or is killed by a certain number of cheaters starts cheating and evaluate the extent to which these sequences would appear if we preserve the team and interaction structure but assume alternative gameplay scenarios. The results reveal that social contagion is only likely to exist for those who both observe and experience cheating, suggesting that third-party influence and “pay-it-forward” reciprocity interact positively. In addition, the effect is present only for those who both observe and experience more than once, suggesting that cheating is more likely to spread after repeated or multi-source exposure. Approaching online games as models of social systems, we use the findings to discuss strategies for targeted interventions to stem the spread of cheating and antisocial behavior more generally in online communities, schools, organizations, and sports
Effect of Values and Technology Use on Exercise: Implications for Personalized Behavior Change Interventions
Technology has recently been recruited in the war against the ongoing obesity
crisis; however, the adoption of Health & Fitness applications for regular
exercise is a struggle. In this study, we present a unique demographically
representative dataset of 15k US residents that combines technology use logs
with surveys on moral views, human values, and emotional contagion. Combining
these data, we provide a holistic view of individuals to model their physical
exercise behavior. First, we show which values determine the adoption of Health
& Fitness mobile applications, finding that users who prioritize the value of
purity and de-emphasize values of conformity, hedonism, and security are more
likely to use such apps. Further, we achieve a weighted AUROC of .673 in
predicting whether individual exercises, and we also show that the application
usage data allows for substantially better classification performance (.608)
compared to using basic demographics (.513) or internet browsing data (.546).
We also find a strong link of exercise to respondent socioeconomic status, as
well as the value of happiness. Using these insights, we propose actionable
design guidelines for persuasive technologies targeting health behavior
modification
A Biological Approach to Understanding Resistance to Apology, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation in Group Conflict
This article introduces a biological approach to understanding resistance to apology, forgiveness, and reconciliation in intergroup conflict. To start with, reconciliation takes place at the level of the individual. To understand resistance to group reconciliation, one must understand why individuals resist reconciliation. In turn, one must understand how membership in the group affects individual resistance. This article first examines the behaviors that promote or discourage reconciliation. Using evolutionary biology and game theory, we illustrate how the strategic dynamics of dyadic interaction tend to favor these behaviors and derive a schema relevant to a reconciliatory cycle. We then explore how the distinct context of intra- and intergroup conflict reinforces these behaviors. Finally, we identify those barriers to individual reconciliation that result from the strategic dynamics of social group architectures, particularly those that differ from the ancestral social architecture within which individual behavior has evolved. We conclude with a brief application of this conceptual approach to truth and reconciliation commissions
Modelling Heterogeneous Effects in Network Contagion: Evidence from the Steam Community
This study considers heterogeneous effects of reviews and social interactions on diffusion or contagion of new products in a networked setting, using a sample of interconnected public user profiles from the Steam Community. Ownership and reviews of two cult hit independent games – The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, and To the Moon – are analyzed over a period of four years. This data was fit with a Hawkes Process Hazard Regression Model with exponential decay kernels for each game, yielding estimates of scale and duration of incremental heterogeneous actions within the network. This analysis finds strong, short term, additive, and marginally decreasing, social contagion effects from other users buying games, with much smaller, but also far more durable and highly significant, effects from review posting behavior in the network, independent of review quality. This seems to suggest that review influence, while still distinguishable from network homophily, is unlikely to lead to cascade effects
The Metabolism and Growth of Web Forums
We view web forums as virtual living organisms feeding on user's attention
and investigate how these organisms grow at the expense of collective
attention. We find that the "body mass" () and "energy consumption" ()
of the studied forums exhibits the allometric growth property, i.e., . This implies that within a forum, the network transporting
attention flow between threads has a structure invariant of time, despite of
the continuously changing of the nodes (threads) and edges (clickstreams). The
observed time-invariant topology allows us to explain the dynamics of networks
by the behavior of threads. In particular, we describe the clickstream
dissipation on threads using the function , in which
is the clickstreams to node and is the clickstream dissipated
from . It turns out that , an indicator for dissipation efficiency,
is negatively correlated with and sets the lower boundary
for . Our findings have practical consequences. For example,
can be used as a measure of the "stickiness" of forums, because it quantifies
the stable ability of forums to convert into , i.e., to remain users
"lock-in" the forum. Meanwhile, the correlation between and
provides a convenient method to evaluate the `stickiness" of forums. Finally,
we discuss an optimized "body mass" of forums at around that minimizes
and maximizes .Comment: 6 figure
Lying, Cheating, & Stealing: Strategies for Mitigating Technology-Driven Academic Dishonesty in Collegiate Schools of Business
We summarize contemporary issues related to academic dishonesty and draw from relevant organizational ethics program research to present a dual framework that business educators can use to mitigate technology-driven cheating among their students. Based on a review of the relevant literature, we develop a rationale which identifies three key observations: 1) technology-driven academic dishonesty is pervasive among college business students, 2) there are proactive steps that can be taken to address this problem, and 3) faculty, staff, and administrators in collegiate schools of business can and should do more to mitigate cheating among their students. We first provide an overview concerning the evolution of academic dishonesty and the technological advances that simplify cheating. Next, we propose a conceptual framework and list recommendations for business educators, using both compliance-based and values-based strategies, to reduce the frequency and severity of cheating
The Role of Virtual Communities in Gambling and Gaming Behaviors : A Systematic Review
Gambling opportunities are facilitated by the growth of the Internet and social media platforms. Digital games also increasingly include monetary features, such as microtransactions, blurring the line between gambling and gaming. The Internet provides a variety of virtual communities for gamblers and gamers, but comprehensive research on these communities and their relevance in gambling and monetary gaming behaviors remains scarce. This paper summarizes research of online gambling and monetary gaming communities based on a systematic literature review. A systematic literature search was conducted from five databases: Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Social Science Premium Collection, and EBSCOhost. The search was limited to empirical articles that focused on gambling or gaming involving money and examined online interaction between gamblers or gamers. Preliminary search resulted in 1056 articles, from which 55 were selected for the analyses based on pre-determined criteria. According to results, online communities serve different functions in gambling and gaming behaviors. Gambling communities are typically forums for discussing and sharing gambling experiences, strategies, and tips as well as gambling problems, while gaming communities are inherently embedded inside a game being an essential part of the gaming experience. Identification with virtual communities influences gambling behavior and monetary gaming behavior through mechanisms of perceived norms, social influence, and community feedback. Whereas some gambling communities may provide protection from excessive gambling habits, gaming communities seem to solely motivate gaming behavior and purchase intentions. The role of online communities should be acknowledged in prevention and treatment of gambling and gaming problems.Peer reviewe
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