Beauty Sells: Identifying Physical Attractiveness Effect In an Online Dating Platform

While online dating platforms offer new IT-enabled capabilities which do not exist in the physical world before, little is known about whether any fundamental matching rules are reshaped in the online environment. In this paper, we address the gap by studying one such factor, i.e. mate physical attractiveness, in an online dating platform. By using a unique dataset and machine-learning based algorithmic approach, the study successfully overcomes various confounding issues, selection bias and physical attractiveness measurement issues and estimates the physical attractiveness effect in online users’ dating decision. Results reveal the essence of physical attractiveness in online context and the disappearing geographic boundary. The findings and methods are essential to both our understanding of the mechanisms that drive match mating online and our knowledge of how to propagate them in various fields where large scales of objective physical attractiveness and behavioral data are emerging

IDENTITY AND SOCIAL RELATIONS: A CASE OF CHINESE GRADUATE STUDENTS IN THE U.S.

This dissertation research separates out the social relations implied in identity theory and empirically shows the interaction of identity and social relations. I conducted 60 interviews and one online survey with respondents at two public universities in two cities with distinctive sociocultural characteristics. The respondents were graduate students from mainland China pursuing their master’s or doctoral degrees in the U.S. The students’ lengths of stay in the U.S. varied, but all experienced a major life transition from China to the U.S. The qualitative interview data show that the adoption of a religious identity in the two places, defined as different social environments, impact the interaction of identity and networks. Where the community is small and homogeneous, the Chinese graduate students are quickly thrown into strong religious dyadic relationships and primary groups, and soon thereafter acquire a religious identity. Where the community is large and sparsely connected, the identity pool is large and the adoption of the religious identity becomes less constrained by dyadic relationships and primary groups. The interview data also show that within-person time spanning (the time span between prior to the respondents’ arrival in the U.S. and after the respondents’ coming to the U.S.), and between-person time spanning (the “newcomers” who have lived in the U.S. for less than one year versus the “old-timers” who have lived in the U.S. for over one year) are important in the identity network process. The transfer from China to the U.S. fosters the emergence of the Chinese ethnic identity. The Chinese network composition of the newcomers and the old-timers granted them a similar list of important identities. The quantitative findings confirm that place, time, and personal network function together to impact identity importance. Also, the classification of ties into “important people” and “time bound people” are effective predictors of identity importance. In conclusion, this dissertation research demonstrates empirically how social relations and identity impact each other. This research also provides a case study for the population – Chinese graduate students in the U.S

Lovesick: the effects of political partisanship and COVID-19 vaccine perceptions on online romantic partner selection

Many studies have reported the positive relationship of perceived political similarity with dating intention in the world of online dating. However, there are currently no studies which consider this relationship alongside coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine status and their combined influence on romantic consideration. In this study, we conduct a posttest-only design with a 2 (vaccinated) x 2 (political affiliation) x 2 (gender) online experiment, including variables such as vaccine perceptions, party identification, sensation seeking, and dating intention. Participants (N=97) were shown four avatar profiles of the opposite sex; each profile was displayed as vaccinated or unvaccinated and Democrat or Republican. Once exposed to these dating profile, subjects answered a survey to determine how individual dating intention differed in relation to the subject's own political affiliation and "vaccination status." The results indicate that males and females have higher dating intention with partners that have political similarity. However, females have higher dating intention with partners who share vaccine similarity while males have no relationship between vaccine similarity on dating intention. The implications of these findings may suggest that the formation of romantic relationships is currently influenced by personal health decisions compared to the decisions of potential online partners; this being a symptom of a much larger degree of affective polarization in the United States which continues to grow.Includes bibliographical references

Toward understanding the functions of peer influence:A summary and synthesis of recent empirical research

Compelling evidence demonstrates that peer influence is a pervasive force during adolescence, one that shapes adaptive and maladaptive attitudes and behaviors. This literature review focuses on factors that make adolescence a period of special vulnerability to peer influence. Herein, we advance the Influence-Compatibility Model, which integrates converging views about early adolescence as a period of increased conformity with evidence that peer influence functions to increase affiliate similarity. Together, these developmental forces smooth the establishment of friendships and integration into the peer group, promote interpersonal and intragroup compatibility, and eliminate differences that might result in social exclusion

Social Autonomy ≠ Social Empowerment: The Social Self-Restriction Model

This paper introduces the social self-restriction (SSR) model, which highlights a drawback associated with the increasingly accessible privilege of social autonomy. Social autonomy enables individuals to connect with preferred social partners and avoid undesirable others. The benefits of social autonomy are undeniable; however, the SSR model makes the novel assertion that people tend to exercise social autonomy in ways that ultimately constrain their potential for social empowerment—a higher-order form of personal freedom. Attaining the ideal of high social empowerment requires both high social autonomy and high social adaptability. People with high social adaptability can feel reasonably comfortable and act competently in social environments they did not choose to inhabit. Unfortunately, people with high social autonomy are unlikely to possess high social adaptability. We propose that social autonomy undermines social adaptability by tempting people to avoid social challenges and socialize selectively with similar others in familiar contexts, a habit that limits social skill development, promotes social intolerance, and distorts social perceptions. In essence, we argue that social autonomy allows people to live in their social comfort zones, at the cost of restricting their social range. Our discussion of the SSR model incorporates evidence and perspectives from a broad range of academic disciplines, and includes consideration of opportunities for future research

Playing with networks : How economists explain

Peer reviewe

A journey through 200 years of models

Book review. Reviewed work: The World in the Model How : Economists Work and Think / by Mary S. Morgan. - Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012.( ISBN 978-0-521-17619-4)Peer reviewe

NETWORK DRIVERS OF INTERCUSTOMER SOCIAL SUPPORT

Customers in a service setting sometimes seek support from other customers; recent research has demonstrated this phenomenon. This research also found that intercustomer social support has a positive impact on consumer health, as well as the financial returns for the company. Given these positive effects for firms and customers, organizations can benefit from fostering social connections among their customers. While past research has investigated the positive consequences of intercustomer social support, little research to date has investigated the firm’s strategic role in fostering intercustomer social support. The current research seeks to understand key tactics a firm can use to promote intercustomer social support. Using network theory, the present research investigates the impact of network drivers on different dimensions of intercustomer social support. Results demonstrate that identification with the company, employees and customers is significantly associated with levels of instrumental intercustomer social support. Further, the number of customer ties, along with the amount of information flow and the strength of these ties, all impact instrumental and social/emotional social support. Last, this research presents the positive effects that intercustomer social support has on various customer, firm and co-creation outcomes. Contributions to marketing theory and managerial implications are also presented

ONLINE AND REAL LIFE COMMUNITIES OF LESBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL PEOPLE: INTERNALIZED HOMONEGATIVITY, LIFE SATISFACTION, AND SEXUAL RISK TAKING

Previous research has demonstrated potential benefits provided to LGB people through affiliation with a larger LGB community (Sheets & Mohr, 2009; Halpin & Allen, 2004; Davidson et al., 2017). However, LGB people living in rural areas or who otherwise lack access to LGB communities may have difficulty accessing these benefits (De La Cruz, 2018; Oswald & Culton, 2003; Bachmann & Simon, 2014). With the advent of the digital age, humans are able to interact in new, virtual spaces that circumvent many of the difficulties associated with gathering in real-world spaces (boyd & Ellison, 2008). However, the ways humans are able to interact in virtual, online spaces remains relatively understudied. This study sought to explore potential similarities of benefits provided by real life and online communities as they relate to internalized homonegativity and life satisfaction, and to explore how sexual risk taking may be associated with affiliation with online communities in an internet recruited sample of LGB people. LGB persons’ affiliations with online communities of LGB people were not significantly related to sexual risk taking, life satisfaction, or internalized homonegativity. Affiliation with real life LGB community was significantly related to only life satisfaction. Life satisfaction was significantly related to sexual risk taking. Online and real life LGB community affiliation were significantly correlated. Limitations, implications, and future directions are discussed