Community on Campus: Examining the Impact of Campus Climate, Belonging, and Flourishing on Bystander Behavior Among Diverse University Students

This exploratory, nonexperimental study aimed to investigate the relationships among diverse undergraduate and graduate students’ perceived campus climate, flourishing, and university belonging on bystander intentions and bystander behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study’s theoretical framework combined the Theory of Planned Behavior and feminist theory, and examined intersectionality through an Identity Risk Index. Data used in the current study were originally collected as part of an institutional Healthy Minds Survey, on health behaviors of college students; responses from n = 171 of the randomly selected participants were used in the current study’s analyses. The majority of participants indicated at least two marginalized social identities and intervened as a bystander at least once in the last year. The results of two MANOVAS indicated significant differences among students with marginalized social identities, and nonsignificant differences by academic level, for flourishing, university belonging, campus climate, and bystander intention. The results of a multilinear regression with a covariate indicated that flourishing, university, and campus climate predict bystander intention more accurately when accounting for students’ marginalized identities. Lastly, a Poisson regression confirmed that bystander intention predicted bystander intervention for university students. Overall, the findings suggest that as university leaders create initiatives and policies aimed to enhance students’ well-being post-COVID-19 pandemic, they should consider systemic implications these decisions may have on students with diverse identities. Inclusive campus climates as well as intentional opportunities to foster university belonging and flourishing, can increase students\u27 intentions to intervene in risky situations, and promote a healthier campus community

Examining the impact of institutional integration and cultural integrity on sense of belonging to predict Intention to persist for Native American students at non-native colleges and universities

Higher education scholars have examined various factors affecting student retention, yet few scholars have focused on Native American student persistence. The purpose of this study is to examine the contributions of institutional integration and cultural integrity to Native American college students' sense of belonging within the campus community and their intention to persist. This quantitative multi-institutional research design used Tinto's (1987; 1993) theory of student departure and Hurtado and Carter's (1997) sense of belonging model as guiding frameworks to explore the issue of sense of belonging and intention to persist. The researcher utilized the North American Indigenous College Student Inventory (Marroquin & McCoach, 2014) to measure cultural integrity and the Institutional Integration Scale-Revised (French & Oakes, 2004) to measure institutional integration. Results of the regression analyses showed that institutional integration and cultural integrity contributed significantly to Native American students' sense of belonging. Furthermore, sense of belonging predicts, although not to a large extent, intention to persist for Native American college students. This study revealed that social support and peer-group interaction are the most significant factors contributing to sense of belonging for Native American college students. In addition, staff support and lack of social isolation were also significant contributors to sense of belonging. This study expands the body of knowledge regarding the Native American college student experience, specifically helping shed light on factors contributing to their success. In addition, the results of this study can be used to help influence culturally relevant policies and practices for institutions and higher education professionals providing services for Native American college students

Suicide Attempt Types in College Students

Although suicide is now being the second leading cause of death in college and university students, there continues to be a lack of research examining the three types of suicide attempts (i.e., aborted, interrupted, and actual). Interrupted suicide attempts have been found to be predictive of death by suicide, and aborted suicide attempts have been found to be highly associated with an actual suicide attempt (Barber, Marzuk, Leon, & Portera, 1998; Steer, Beck, Garrison, & Lester, 1988). Research continues to suggest a lifetime number of suicide attempts is regarded as one of the strongest predictors of future suicide (Suominen et al., 2004). However, no study to date has examined how the combination of lifetime number of suicide attempts and suicide attempt type may impact risk. The Suicide Attempt Rating Scale (SARS) was created by the author to include the three different types of suicide attempts, as well as the lifetime number of suicide attempts for each type, which was utilized as a measure of acquired capability.This study investigated the relationships among thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and acquired capability in predicting current suicidal ideation. Results did not support the hypotheses that thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness are moderated by acquired capability when predicting suicidal ideation. However, findings suggested that both thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness predicted suicidal ideation. Meaning, that when college students have an increased feeling that they do not belong and an increased feeling like they are a burden on others, they have higher rates of suicidal thoughts. These results can be utilized in future research studies with college students to include both perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness when predicting suicidal ideation. Also, in suicide prevention efforts on college campuses, rather than solely addressing depression through depression screenings, we must expand our reach to include risk and protective factors such as social isolation. In conclusion, this study validated the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide within the college population by utilizing the INQ-15 (Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire), which should continue to be used on college campuses to best support suicide prevention efforts. As with all studies, limitations should be noted, such as constraints placed on the study by the IRB, the leptokurtic nature of SARS, and the reliance on self-report. Future studies should consider a mediational analysis, qualitative methodology, and other theoretical models for suicidal behavior

Impact of the extended version of Technology Acceptance Model on predicting learners’ adoption to synchronous online learning in Sri Lanka

Synchronous online learning has played the prime role in controlling the spread of the COVID-19 throughout the world. Despite the technological advancement, the immediate shift towards the synchronous online learning has challenged availability and accessibility to the quality learning due to the over-reliance on the class-room based teaching and learning. Thus, this study focuses on investigating the impact of factors affecting adoption to synchronous online learning amidst the COVID-19 in Sri Lanka. As the consequence, institutions can pay attention on the essential factors to enhance the adoption to synchronous online learning.  In this study, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has extended with the external variable of perceived self-efficacy and tested its impact on all other core constructs of TAM. This study used online questionnaire to collect the data from undergraduates of Sri Lankan state universities. Consequently, the study received 382 valid responses. For the data analysis, IBM SPSS statistics 25 and SmartPLS 4 were used and hypotheses were tested using PLS-SEM. The study has identified five variables namely perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude, perceived self-efficacy and behavioral intention to use. Based on the statistical evidence, all the proposed relationships were supported except attitude and perceived usefulness towards behavioral intention to use. Notably, this study has both theoretical and practical implications. To the best of author’s knowledge, this study firstly attempted to investigate the adoption synchronous online learning with the extended version of TAM using PLS-SEM. Most of the previous studies explored the online learning in general. Furthermore, the findings can be used to establish policies to make synchronous online learning more effective, specifically if the any pandemic occurs in future. Keywords: Synchronous online learning; TAM; Sri Lanka; Adoption to synchronous online learning; Intention to us

Dialectical Thinking and Smoking Outcomes in Asian Americans

Cigarette smoking is the leading health problem in the United States. Recent literature has discussed risk perception and acculturation as possible protective factors against this risky health behavior. However, there is little research regarding dialectical thinking as a potential barrier for smoking cessation. The current study examined smoking outcomes, which include expectancies, attitudes, and intentions in Asian American males. Specifically, we examined acculturation and dialectical thinking as major factors influencing smoking outcomes. We hypothesized that dialectical thinking mediates the relationship between acculturation and smoking outcomes. We also hypothesized that Asian Americans who were primed to think dialectically would hold more positive and negative beliefs, and endorse more intentions to smoke than Asian Americans who were not primed to think dialectically. Significant findings include an indirect effect of dialectical thinking, specifically the cognitive change subscale, on the relationship between behavioral acculturation and smoking intention. Results indicate those who report less behavioral acculturation endorsed more dialectical thinking which relates to more smoking intention. Results showed participants who were primed to think dialectically did not endorse more positive and negative beliefs or have a higher likelihood of endorsing smoking intention than those who were not primed to think dialectically. The present study adds to the current literature on smoking in Asian Americans by exploring their cultural thought processes, which has received little empirical attention thus far

Media consumption and civic engagement: the reasoned action theory as a way forward to determine the relationship

Communication is important to enable ideas to be transformed into informed actions. As such, the media used for such communication is crucial and play an important role in broadcasting the information. The proliferation of the Internet has greatly enhanced the important role of the media and changed the landscape of the media industry. In addition to conventional media, consumers are now able to access a variety of social media applications. Both types of media are important and needs to be considered as it continues to be consumed across demographics and play important roles in communicating information. Further, both types of media are capable of informing and shaping the views of consumers in a variety of areas from the political to the social. The important question remains as to whether increased availability, access, and connectivity to the various types of media and the information provided have enabled opportunities to media consumers to engage in discussions to stimulate civic engagement leading to activism. Research investigating users’ media consumption and civic engagement with issues explored is largely not well theorised and often offer inconclusive or conflicting results. As such, the ensuing discussion proposes a way forward utilising the Reasoned Action Theory to determine the relationship between media consumption and civic engagement

Factors influence on usage of e-wallets among millennials in the Sri Lankan context

Purpose: Developments in financial technologies, new government efforts, and the worldwide unusual situation, it has resulted in a considerable increase in cashless transactions in recent years. The current empirical study sought to investigate the factors influencing behavioural intention of e-wallet usage. Design/methodology/approach: The study's population comprised Millennials in Sri Lanka, and the convenience sample method has been employed. The current study employs a quantitative technique to collect the relevant data in the form of an online survey. There were 600 questionnaires distributed in total among the target population using a Google Form. Out of the total respondents, 558 with a response rate of 93%, 398 used e-wallets, and 162 were non-users. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive, correlation, and regression models. Findings: According to the findings of the survey, the most compelling reason for using e-wallets is their Perceived Usefulness. It explored that there are significant strong relationships between the Perceived usefulness of e-wallet, Perceived ease of use, Privacy, and security of e-wallet study variables. Furthermore, the survey emphasized that the Behavior Intention to Use E-Wallets is the most important aspect that Millennials perceive when it comes to e-wallet usage.   Originality: This is one of the first studies in e-wallet literature, that explores the pivotal role of privacy and security in the usage of e-wallet services in the context of Sri Lanka where most studies considered the TAM model merely. In reality, this research will be useful to e-wallet providers who want to learn more about why consumers use e-wallets both during and following the COVID-19 epidemic. As a result, they're devising strategies to assist themselves to achieve their goal of replacing traditional methods of payment with e-wallets. Implications: This study's findings have several ramifications for the advancement and improvement of e-wallet services in Sri Lanka. Based on its results, this study presents a few recommendations for the upcoming expansion of e-wallet service providers. Keywords: Perceived usefulness of e-wallet, Perceived ease of use, Privacy and, security of e-wallet, Behavioural intention to use an e-wallet, e-wallet usag

Determinants of Continuance Intention to Use Mobile Wallets Technology in the Post Pandemic Era: Moderating Role of Perceived Trust

The Covid-19 pandemic amplified the volume and importance of mobile payments using digital wallets and placed a basis for their continued adoption. The objective of the study is to formulate and test a comprehensive model by integration of the technology acceptance model (TAM) and expectation confirmation model (ECM) with the addition of three constructs, namely perceived trust, perceived risk, and subjective norm, to identify the determinants of continuance intention to use mobile wallets. Questionnaire-based survey method was used to gather the data from 550 users having experience using mobile wallets for more than six months. The data were analyzed using the partial least square-structural equation modeling to investigate relationships between variables and test the hypothesized model. The proposed model showed a 53.9% variance in satisfaction and a 36.2% of variance in continued usage intention. The construct “perceived usefulness” emerged as the strongest predictor, followed by perceived trust and confirmation. This study also examines the moderating role of perceived trust on the relationship between perceived risk and continued intention to use mobile wallets. This study helps service providers and policymakers in improving mobile wallet services related to their execution and deployment

Determinants of Users' Intention to Purchase Probability-Based Items in Mobile Social Network Games: A Case of South Korea

The goal of this paper was to identify factors that influence the purchase of probability-based items (PBIs) in mobile social network games (MSNGs). This paper introduces an extended research model based on the technology acceptance model. Statistical results from a survey of MSNG users find that factors that influence the purchase of PBIs include perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness, perceived number of users, and perceived number of friends which are factors attributed to mobile game and social network characteristics, and also perceived desire for jackpot that is one of the major features of PBIs. We also analyzed the research model by gender to provide MSNG companies with a reference that may guide the development of PBI strategies that are targeted at genders. Males responded differently than females to some factors.11Ysciescopu

The Role of Socioeconomic Status and Prior Industry Exposure on the Attitudes, Career Goals, and Career Decision Self-Efficacy of Undergraduates Studying Hospitality and Tourism Management

The hospitality and tourism industry struggles with high employee turnover, and many hospitality management students graduate and subsequently leave or choose not to enter the industry. Scholars have found it beneficial to study students’ industry attitudes, career goals, demographics, and career decision self-efficacy to further understand how these variables influence students’ perceptions, engagement, and retention. This quantitative study measured these variables as well as prior industry exposure, which is based on the Social Cognitive Career Theory. Results of an online survey of hospitality students in the Western United States (n = 315; response rate 79.9%) suggested that students’ prior industry exposure was a factor in self-efficacy and attitudes. Results also indicated that elements of students’ socioeconomic status and race were factors in students’ attitudes, self-efficacy, and industry exposure. Recommendations were offered regarding how hospitality management programs can fine-tune their curricula, professional development, and career services programing based on the demographics of their students. Recommendations also included increasing partnerships between universities and industry recruiters to benefit students as they transition into professional roles and to maximize recruitment and retention efforts