The uses and gratifications of using Facebook music listening applications

Despite rapid adoption of social media as a means of music listening, little is known about users’ motivations. This study applies the uses and gratifications approach to users’ motivations for using music listening applications on Facebook. Participants completed an online survey, and 153 out of 576 respondents indicated that they used a Facebook music listening application. A principal axis factor analysis identified three different motivations for this usage, namely entertainment, communication, and habitual diversion gratifications. The entertainment and communication gratifications replicate those found in prior uses and gratifications research concerning other social networking features, illustrating the strong similarity between uses of music and social media. However, the habitual diversion gratification may serve to distinguish listening applications from other features. Identifying and explaining these factors is relevant to social media users, musicians and application designers, as they explain what motivates a means of music listening that is gaining prominence

Questioning assent: how are children's views included as families make decisions about clinical trials?

BACKGROUND: Assent is used to take children's wishes into account when they are invited into clinical trials, but the concept has attracted considerable criticism. We investigated children's accounts of decision-making with the aim of informing practice in supporting children when invited to join a clinical trial. METHODS: We audio-recorded qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 22 children aged 8-16 years about being invited to take part in a clinical trial. Most children were interviewed with their parents. Analysis of the transcribed interviews examined the content of participants' accounts thematically, whilst also drawing on principles of discourse analysis, which examines how individuals use talk to achieve certain effects or social practices. RESULTS: It was not possible to separate children's knowledge of the clinical trial, or their decision-making processes from that of their parents, with parents taking a substantial mediating role in producing their children's decisions. Decision-making gradually unfolded across time and events and was interwoven within the family context, rather than happening in one moment or in the clinical setting. Whilst children valued their parents' role, a case study of child-parent disagreement indicated how children can struggle to be heard. CONCLUSIONS: Decisions happen within a process of family dynamics, in contrast to ideas of assent that isolate it from this context. Parents have a substantial role in children's decisions, and thus how families come to provide consent. Reflecting this we argue that assent practices need to focus on supporting parents to support their children in learning and deliberating about trials. However, this needs to be accompanied by practitioners being alert to the possibility of divergence in child and parent views and enabling children's perspectives to be heard

Polar answers

Peer reviewe

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Warr, Cook, and Wall's (1979) Job Satisfaction Scale

Warr, Cook, and Wall's Job Satisfaction Scale (JSS) is a widely used measure of job satisfaction in industrial/organisational (I/O) psychology research and practice. However, the factor structure has not been adequately explored, with two-factor and three-factor solutions previously proposed. This study tested the factor structure of the JSS using robust analysis methods on data gathered from a convenience sample of 381 (females=264, males=116) Australian employees. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a hierarchical three-factor model of job satisfaction in terms of model adequacy coefficients; however, the three factors were highly correlated, thereby rendering a multifactorial approach to the JSS untenable. The results support the continued use of an overall score of job satisfaction when using this measure in I/O psychology research and practice. Further testing of the structure is recommended within a range of employment sectors, as the assumed multifactorial structure of the JSS common in the literature was not supported by the current study

In-groups, out-groups, and their contrasting perceptions of values among generational cohorts of Australians

Objective: Personal values guide, and are used to justify, behaviours both within and beyond organisational contexts. Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y are purported to vary in the values they espouse and hence their behaviours. The aim of this research was to examine and compare self-ratings and out-group perceptions of the importance of the four overarching clusters of values in Schwartz's circumplex model by generation. Method: A convenience sample of 157 participants (49 Baby Boomers, 47 Generation X, and 61 Generation Y) completed an online survey of self-rated values and perceptions of another generation's values. Results: Multivariate analyses identified that self-ratings of self-enhancement, openness to change, and conservation value clusters varied between generations (medium effect size), but self-transcendence did not. Out-group perceptions of generations varied across all four value clusters (very large effect size). We then compared each generation's self-ratings of value importance with perceptions of value importance provided by other generations (in-group/out-group comparisons). There were significant variations between self-ratings and perceived importance ratings provided by other generations for all three generations (large effect). Conclusions: Larger differences in other-ascribed than self-ascribed value importance across generations highlights the need to avoid actions based on generation value stereotypes, both within and beyond the workplace. Further research on a representative sample of the Australian population using a mixed-methods approach is recommended

Music-related activities on Facebook

Despite the current prevalence of users performing musical activities on social media, and on Facebook in particular, little research has examined these behaviors from the perspective of consumer psychology. A cross-sectional, convenience sample of 400 participants (Mage = 22.56, SDage = 7.79) completed an online questionnaire. The findings illustrated that the constructs of opinion leadership, innovativeness, and self-efficacy within the consumer psychology literature were associated with performing music-related activities on Facebook, including the active creation/consumption of music content and use of music listening applications. Thus, music activities performed on Facebook have an overt consumer psychological component. These findings indicate that to understand music-related activities on social media, further research should consider psychological variables in explaining this common and economically important activity

Validation of the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument

Organizational culture is a commonly studied area in industrial/organizational psychology due to its important role in workplace behaviour, cognitions, and outcomes. Jung et al.'s [1] review of the psychometric properties of organizational culture measurement instruments noted many instruments have limited validation data despite frequent use in both theoretical and applied situations. The Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) has had conflicting data regarding its psychometric properties, particularly regarding its factor structure. Our study examined the factor structure and criterion validity of the OCAI using robust analysis methods on data gathered from 328 (females = 226, males = 102) Australian employees. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a four factor structure of the OCAI for both ideal and current organizational culture perspectives. Current organizational culture data demonstrated expected reciprocally-opposed relationships between three of the four OCAI factors and the outcome variable of job satisfaction but ideal culture data did not, thus indicating possible weak criterion validity when the OCAI is used to assess ideal culture. Based on the mixed evidence regarding the measure's properties, further examination of the factor structure and broad validity of the measure is encouraged

Clarifying the relationship between culture and values and their impact on workplace satisfaction

My research examines the measurement and properties of values and culture, specifically the integration of Finegan's (2000) four factor values model with Cameron and Quinn's (1999, 2006) Competing Values Framework (CVF). The aim of my research was to reduce the blurring between the constructs of values and culture which has led to ambiguities in both measurement and understanding, such that that the measurement of culture has become highly values-centric.Three hundred and twenty nine participants from Australian local government and private healthcare organizations were surveyed using a cross-sectional design with measures based on Cameron & Quinn’s (1999,2006) Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument and Finegan’s (2000) four factor values constructs, as well as measures of job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intention. Examination of the differences and similarities between values predictors and holistic culture predictors with regards to a generalised measure of workplace outcomes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention) was conducted. Methodological comparisons between traditional hierarchical multiple regression analyses and multilevel modelling were conducted as part of this examination, to account for intra-organizational differences in workplace outcomes.Validation of the four factors of culture represented in the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (Cameron & Quinn, 1999; 2006) was broadly achieved for both individual and perceived organizational preferences data. Both individual and perceived organizational culture preferences significantly predicted organizational outcomes. Validation of the four factors of values based on Finegan's (2000) constructs was achieved, although solutions for individual preferences and perceived organizational preferences differed. Again, both individual and perceived organizational values preferences predicted organizational outcomes, as expected. Culture preferences, after accounting for values preferences, significantly predicted organizational outcomes for both individual preferences and perceived organizational preferences data. Perceived organizational preferences were considerably more representative of the variability in workplace outcomes in all analyses. Congruence testing using Edwards' (1994) methodology revealed congruence effects between Humanitarian values / Clan culture and Adherence to Convention values / Hierarchy culture preferences, reinforcing Schneider's (1987) Attraction-Selection-Attrition model predictions.While values and culture are entwined in the literature, my results demonstrated that values-centric explanation of organizational outcomes could not explain as much variability in organizational outcomes as a holistic interpretation of culture. As pointed out by Hofstede et al. (1990; 1998) previously, organizational practices add to the explanatory value of organizational culture. Accounting for intra-organizational differences in predicting organizational outcomes was also identified as important. Differences in specified models for values are possibly indicative of perceptual differences of values when applied to the self compared to values applied to the organization, which may warrant different measurement scales depending on how values are being applied. Congruence between Finegan's (2000) values factors and Cameron and Quinn's (1999; 2006) culture factors was noted, but it was not present between all values/factor pairings as originally predicted. A significant proportion of the variability in organizational outcomes could be explained by perceptions of organizational preferences alone. The results of the thesis indicate the importance of the management of employee perceptions of organization culture (including values) for employee wellbeing

SPSS Statistics Version 22: A Practical Guide

SPSS is enormously powerful – and challenging to learn. This popular handbook lets students get hands on with the statistical procedures they need. Screen shots, step-by-step guidance and examples with annotated outputs help students learn. For students of psychology, marketing and research in any discipline. An essential practical guide to using SPSS