Social media users’ online subjective well-being and fatigue: A network heterogeneity perspective

Scholars have drawn increasing attention to the implications of the dark side of social media for users’ online subjective well-being (OSWB). We develop a research framework based on the limited-capacity model to examine the relationship between OSWB and social media fatigue. Moreover, we explore the associations between specific aspects related to network heterogeneity and social media fatigue for social media users in the United States of America (USA). Further, we examine the mediating effect of network heterogeneity on the association between OSWB and social media fatigue. We utilised a cross-sectional research design to collect data from Prolific Academic (N = 320) and analysed the data through structural equation modelling. The results indicate that OSWB is positively correlated with the network heterogeneity aspect of self-disclosure and negatively correlated with social comparison. OSWB, moreover, is negatively correlated with fatigue, while privacy concerns and self-disclosure are positively correlated with fatigue. Further, of the network heterogeneity aspects we considered, only social comparison is a partial mediator for the relationship between OSWB and social media fatigue. The findings provide insights into the pathways through which social media users’ OSWB and network heterogeneity can induce social media fatigue, raising critical implications for theory and practice.publishedVersio

Personality traits, motivation and knowledge worker productivity

Thesis (M.Com. (Management))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences, 2016.In an economic environment where knowledge based-work is the strategic component of value creation and competitive advantage, knowledge workers have become the engine that drives sustainability and profitability. Knowledge workers are described as workers with high degrees of education, expertise and whose primary task is to create, distribute and apply knowledge. With the increasing demand and number of knowledge workers in the work force, the productivity of knowledge workers has become an imperative management task as well as a decisive economic factor. Despite the continuous stream of research on knowledge worker productivity, knowledge worker productivity continues to be one of the greatest challenges facing managers today. Knowledge worker productivity refers to ability of knowledge workers to effectively collect, create and use inherent knowledge to produce goods and services. Inherent knowledge is highly personal and cannot be separated from the person who holds it. Further, inherent knowledge is closely related to the technical skills that an individual has and are only known to the person who possesses those skills. If organisations wish to leverage this inherent knowledge to their competitive advantage, they need to know how to engage and stimulate the deepest parts of the human mind. However, no two individuals are the same. Personnel psychology literature has long stressed that meaningful differences exist between people. These individual differences influence individual work performance and behaviour. Although several studies have addressed the issue of personality predicting job performance, there is a lack of knowledge of the relationship between personality, motivation and knowledge worker productivity, specifically in the South African context. This study attempts to address this lack of knowledge through a quantitative study of the relationship between personality, motivation and knowledge worker productivity. The study investigated whether the intrinsic personalities of knowledge workers and motivation predict knowledge worker productivity. Although several studies have directly addressed the issue of personality predicting job performance, few studies have directly investigated whether motivation mediates the relationship between personality and specifically knowledge worker productivity. Consequently, there is limited evidence to support the arguments of the present study. The theoretical and practical implications for knowledge worker productivity are discussed

Investigation of factors that affect the willingness of individuals to share knowledge in the virtual organisation of Taiwanese non-governmental organisations

With the advent of knowledge-intensive economies, plus the ever-accelerating development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), organisational knowledge has become the key driver of an organisation’s value and ultimately, an important source of an organisation’s sustainable competitive edge. Thus, numerous organisations have started to invest heavily in establishing knowledge management systems (KMSs). Subsequently, they wish to access knowledge from individuals in order to enhance their acquisition of knowledge and ultimately transform this into organisational knowledge. Even though existing research studies have evidenced extensively the intrinsic and extrinsic motivators of individuals’ knowledge-sharing behaviour in organisations from diverse perspectives (e.g. organisational behaviour, sociology and psychology), individuals still seem inclined to hoard their knowledge, rather than share it with others in organisations. To this end, this research aims to investigate and identify essential elements related to individuals’ knowledge-sharing behaviour within the complex context of the virtual organisation of Taiwanese Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs), comprising the whole system of Taiwanese Farmers’ Associations, by integrating multilevel perspectives of individuals in organisations (the micro-level), workplace networks in organisations (the meso-level) and organisational culture (the macro-level). [Continues.

The role of attachment styles in team functioning

This research explored the potential influences on team functioning, from the perspective of adult attachment theory. Attachment styles are seen to reflect internal working models of self, others, and relationships, and influence individuals’ motivations, abilities, and perceptions as regards relationships. The research question explored what the role and influence of an individual’s global and team attachment style may have upon an individual’s experience of a work team. It sought to explain engagement with an individual’s work team, what is the subsequent influence of this on performance and how attachment style contributes to this. The key issues of Team Member Exchange and Team Identification were explored as areas of team functioning. These are the variables used to study and understand an individual’s team experiences, their engagement with the team, and the relationship with their performance ratings. The research found that both adult global and team attachment styles were negatively associated with Team Member Exchange (TMX), Team Identification, job satisfaction, performance ratings and Organisational Citizenship Behaviours (OCB). Using mediation analysis, team avoidant attachment was consistently and strongly associated with the study’s dependent variables and emerged as the key explanatory variable in this research. When all the attachment styles were analysed simultaneously to determine the unique effects of each attachment style, team avoidance style was the most useful in understanding both TMX and Team Identification, job satisfaction, OCB and performance measures. Those with avoidant team attachment styles felt that the experience of team was negative with lower TMX and Team Identification reported. The research has added new insights to the team and attachment literature with the important contribution of team avoidance attachment to TMX and Team Identification

Digital media exposure, political attitudes and perceptions as antecedents of voting intentions: a Zimbabwean perspective

Thesis (Ph.D. (Business Science))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic & Business Sciences, 2017With the contemporary diffusion of media technology, the majority of researchers have come to position the Internet as a political instrument that has the potential to stimulate consumer behaviour. The Internet has expanded persistently as a news source and digital technologies have become more accessible and abound with user generated content. These digital media backdrops afford a valuable opportunity to empirically examine the effects of digital media effects on consumer decision-making. It is therefore important to examine how consumer perceptions and attitudes towards voting impact their decision-making in order for political marketers or politicians to develop coherent strategies that offer a conducive environment sufficient to influence voting decision-making. Whereas previous studies on voting behaviour have merely explored voting behaviour in a global context, the current study investigates the effect of digital media exposure on perceptual and cognitive constructs within a Zimbabwean context. Moreover, few studies have explored this topic in a consumer behaviour context amongst the Zimbabwean constituency. This study aims to determine whether digital media exposure influences voter-consumers’ intention to vote in subsequent Zimbabwe presidential elections. In order to empirically test the effect of digital media exposure on perceived image of a political party (PI); perceived image of a presidential candidate (PPC); attitude towards voting (ATV) and voting intention (VI), a conceptual model premised on the reviewed political marketing literature was developed. The model proposed four distinct domains that drive voting intentions. In this conceptualised model, digital media exposure is the predictor variable, while perceived image of the presidential candidate, attitude towards voting, perceived image of the political party, are mediators and voting intention is the single outcome variable. By exploring the significance of digital media use on voter behaviour, this study contributes towards specific contextual knowledge on consumer behaviour and political marketing in developing countries particularly Zimbabwe. The present study is positioned in the positivist research methodology, and assumes a deductive approach within the quantitative paradigm to test the proposed hypotheses. This study uses stratified probability sampling to arrive at the required number of provinces for the study. Using quantitative methodologies based on the nature of the research questions, data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire from 305 eligible voters from selected Provinces and Districts in Zimbabwe selected through stratified probability sampling to arrive at the required number of provinces for the study.The measuring instrument was designed from existing scales, which were adapted to suit the present study. The data analysis ii | P a g e was done in SPSS 24 for demographic data analysis and AMOS 24 was used for the structural equation modelling and path modelling. The findings support all the hypotheses in a significant way except H1 and H5. Likewise, voter-consumers’ perception of the presidential candidate has an influence on the attitude towards voting and all latter perceptual and attitudinal variables have significant influence on voting intention. Important to note about the study findings is the fact that digital media exposure has a stronger effect on perceived image of the political party (H3) than attitude towards voting (H2). However, perceived image of the political party strongly influence attitude towards voting. Remarkably, the relationship between perceived image of the presidential candidate and attitude towards voting is robust. The findings indicate that digital media exposure can have a strong influence on voting intention through attitude towards voting. The contribution of this study is threefold: Firstly, by exploring the significance of digital media exposure on voting behaviour, this study adds to contextual knowledge on relationship marketing, political brand management and experiential marketing (the final stage of the mental brand responses), consumer marketing and specifically, political marketing. Secondly, as a growing body of literature explores the use of digital technology in political campaigning/marketing to create a competitive advantage, this study provides researchers with a broad understanding of this phenomenon among voting citizens in developing countries particularly Zimbabwe. Theoretically, it is positioned in political marketing and contributes to theoretical literature that focuses on consumer behaviour, branding and brand relationship. Lastly, by investigating digital media exposure and its influence on consumers’ voting intention, the findings provided political marketing practitioners with a better understanding of strategies that can be employed to influence citizens’ voting behaviour, through the use of digital media. The study thus submits that politicians ought to pay attention to both media agenda and brand image in order to build a positive attitude towards voting which significantly influences the intention to vote. In order to maximise voter ‘purchase’, marketers can implement strategies to encourage positive behaviour from voter-consumers and exploit multi-sensory experiences in order to influence voting intentions. The study makes a significant contribution to brand management literature and consumer behaviour literature by systematically exploring the impact of media exposure on brand image and attitude towards voting in Zimbabwe. The study demonstrates that political data can be used in consumer behaviour studies and provides a theoretical method for predicting voting intentions using voter behaviour in the form of voter perception of political parties and perceived image of a presidential candidate as well as attitude towards voting. The study further highlights the significance of using digital technologies and ingenuity to create a comparative advantage as well as a differential advantage.MT 201

The Psychopathological Antecedents of Conspiracy Belief

A conspiracy theory can be defined as an alternative explanation for an event that reveals the presence of a hidden group with malevolent intent. Conspiracy theories attract themselves to significant world events with political and social ramifications, and attempt to describe them through the lens of a monological belief system that sees conspiracy as the overwhelming explanation for humanity’s struggles. Although the psychological work exploring the various factors associated with conspiracy belief has grown considerably, the literature has only recently moved to experimental designs that aim to explore causal mechanisms. The current thesis, using a psychopathological framework, attempts to contribute to this. Study 1 found that participants who felt a lack of control showed significantly higher belief in conspiracy theories. Despite this causal link between personal control and conspiracy belief, further analysis in Study 2 raised doubts over the manipulation’s validity. Studies 3-5 attempted to manipulate feelings of paranoia and measure their effect on conspiracy belief; unfortunately, all three studies failed to significantly increase participants’ paranoid feelings. Study 6 attempted a self-esteem manipulation, which again failed to show a significant effect. Correlational work from this chapter found significant relationships between paranoia and conspiracy theories, but not self-esteem or political orientation. Finally, Study 7 successfully demonstrated a relationship between delusional ideation and conspiracy belief. A minority of this non-clinical sample exhibited a jumping-to-conclusions bias when measured using the beads task, but this bias was not related to delusional ideation or conspiracy belief. Study 8 found that belief in conspiracy theories was also related to schizotypy and a range of cognitive biases. To conclude, the thesis discusses the limitations of applying psychopathological models to explain conspiracy theory belief, providing evidence that although conspiracy theories are unlikely to be products of delusion they likely share similar cognitive antecedents

EPM effects on workplace well-being: The role of personality

Within the workplace, electronic performance monitoring (EPM) is an electronically integrated system used to assess employee behaviours and ultimately performance. Previous research indicates EPM is associated with various negative psychosocial effects due to job roles being inherently changed with the use of these systems. However, research has yet to explore whether an individual's characteristics can also be attributable for influencing these outcomes. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate whether personality factors could moderate or mediate the negative effects of electronic performance monitoring. Using a quantitative survey methodology this project acquired 112 participants to assess the relationship between the amount of EPM they were exposed to and the levels of trust in senior management, affective commitment and self-perceived stress. The participants also completed the Conscientiousness and Emotional Stability scales from the Five Factor of Personality and a shortened version of Rotter’s Locus of Control. Regressional, Moderation, mediation and MANCOVA analysis were conducted to assess whether the personality factors held moderating or mediating attributes. The findings indicated that greater amounts of EPM did not predict lower levels of trust, commitment or an increase in stress. Furthermore, the Conscientiousness personality factor held no bearing on the negative effects of EPM, whereas Emotional Stability moderated the effects of trust and modestly meditated commitment and stress. The Locus of Control was also found to have influenced employees’ levels of trust. The current findings suggest the use of electronic performance monitoring does not radically change the job design to a degree where employees experience a decline in well being at work. However, whether the organisation's intention to use EPM is for supportive or punitive purposes is likely to have been a pivotal factor in how the systems are perceived. This highlights the need for policies and clear communication detailing why the information will be collected and how it will be used. In addition, some personality factors were found to modest factors contributing negative effects of EPM. In practice, this finding suggests occupations requiring intensive monitoring may be more appropriate for those with greater levels of emotional stability and who possess an internal Locus of Control