Smartphone addiction in students: a qualitative examination of the components model of addiction using face-to-face interviews

Background and aims: Smartphone use has increased markedly over the past decade and recent research has demonstrated that a small minority of users experience problematic consequences, which in extreme cases have been contextualized as an addiction. To date, most research have been quantitative and survey-based. This study qualitatively examined the components model of addiction for both “addicted” and “non-addicted” users. Methods: A screening tool comprising 10 dichotomous items was administered to 40 college students. Of these, six addicted and six non-addicted participants were identified on the basis of their score on the screening tool and were asked to participate in a semi-structured interview. The interview questions were based on the components model of addiction comprising six domains (i.e., salience, withdrawal, conflict, relapse and reinstatement, tolerance, and mood modification). Directed content analysis was used to analyze the transcribed data and subthemes as well as emerging themes for the study as a whole were established. Results: There was some evidence of demarcation between smartphone addicts on the dimensions of salience, tolerance, withdrawal, and conflict. Mood modification was not much different in either group, and no participant reported relapse. Conclusions: The non-addicted group had much greater control over their smartphone usage than the addicted group on four (of six) aforementioned dimensions of behavioral addiction. Consequently, the main findings of this study provided good support for the components model of behavioral addiction

Organizational commitment, knowledge sharing and organizational citizenship behaviour: the case of the Taiwanese semiconductor industry

[[abstract]]The semiconductor industry has made great contributions to Taiwan’s economy in the past 20 years. Because of competitive salaries and generous fringe benefits, some famous semiconductor manufacturers have become the best choice for students right after graduation. However, such magnetic effect has gradually faded away in the face of implementation of expensive employee bonuses. In a changeable environment, sharing knowledge will maintain organizational competitiveness and improve employees’ cohesion. As the semiconductor industry is characterized by a low-wage and high-turnover rate, the incurred job insecurities and career uncertainties have begun to force employees to change their cohesion, loyalty to organizations and even to reduce their willingness to share knowledge with others. This study aims to explore the relationships among organizational commitment (OC), knowledge sharing (KS) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in the Taiwanese semiconductor industry. On the basis of 428 subjects, the results show that KS has a partial mediating effect on the OC–OCB relationship.[[notice]]補正完畢[[journaltype]]國外[[incitationindex]]SSCI[[ispeerreviewed]]Y[[booktype]]紙本[[countrycodes]]GB

Effect of an edible nanomultilayer coating by electrostatic self-assembly on the shelf life of fresh-cut mangoes

This work aims at evaluating the effect of an alginate-chitosan nanomultilayer coating, obtained by electrostatic layer-by-layer self-assembling, in the quality and shelf life of fresh-cut mangoes. Coated and uncoated fresh-cut mangoes were stored under refrigeration (8 °C) for 14 days. The changes in mass loss, titratable acidity, pH, ascorbic acid content, total soluble solids, malondialdehyde content, browning rate, and microbial count were evaluated during storage. At the end of the storage period, lower values of mass loss, pH, malondialdehyde content, browning rate, soluble solids, microorganisms proliferation, and higher titratable acidity were observed in the coated mangoes. The nanomultilayer coating did not improve the retention of vitamin C during storage of fresh-cut mangoes. Results suggest that chitosan-alginate nanomultilayer edible coating extends the shelf life of fresh-cut mangoes up to 8 days.Author Marthyna Pessoa de Souza thanks Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES/PDEE-Brazil) and Fundacao de Amparo a Ciencia e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco (FACEPE, Brazil) for granting her scholarships. The authors thank the Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) Strategic Project PEst-OE/EQB/LA0023/2013 and the Project "BioInd-Biotechnology and Bioengineering for improved Industrial and Agro-Food processes", REF. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000028, co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2-O Novo Norte), QREN, and FEDER (Portugal)

Mediating roles of fear of missing out and boredom proneness on psychological distress and social media addiction among Indian adolescents

Objective: The closure of schools and other educational institutes around the world has been one of the consequences of the COVID-19 and has resulted in online teaching. To facilitate online teaching, there has been an increase in the use of smartphones and tablets among adolescents. However, such enhancement in technology use may put many adolescents at the risk of problematic use of social media. Consequently, the present study explored the direct relationship of psychological distress with social media addiction. The relationship between the two was also assessed indirectly via the fear of missing out (FoMO) and boredom proneness. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 505 Indian adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, studying in grades 7 to 12. Standardized tools (with some modifications to suit the context of the present study) were used to collect data. Results: The results showed significant positive associations between psychological distress, social media addiction, FoMO, and boredom proneness. Psychological distress was found to be a significant predictor of social media addiction. Moreover, FoMO and boredom proneness partially mediated the relationships between psychological distress and social media addiction. Discussion: The present study is the first to provide evidence for the specific pathways of FoMO and boredom proneness in the relationships between psychological distress and social media addiction

Psychology of Resilience

Research in the area of psychological resilience has gained much popularity since the birth of positive psychology movement in the late 1990s. This chapter attempts to summarize the progress of research conducted in the area. It begins by tracing the emergence of the concept with special focus on its development since the positive psychology movement. The concepts of vulnerability, risk and protective factors, as well as major theoretical frameworks proposed by resilience researchers in attempting to understand resilience, are discussed. Over the years, resilience researchers have faced several conceptual and methodological constraints in studying the phenomena. These issues have been highlighted in order to provide further clarification on the topic. An outline of recent researches in the area with an emphasis on the contributions made by Indian researchers is presented. Finally, applications of findings along with directions for future research have been discussed

Relationship between organizational commitment and organizational silence: A study in the insurance industry

In the study, it was aimed to determine the effect of organizational commitment on organizational silence. In this context, the related research was conducted on 416 employees working in an insurance sector company in Istanbul. In the study, after the concepts of organizational commitment and organizational silence are presented in a theoretical framework, to measure organizational commitment; the scale of organizational commitment by Meyer and Allen, which Wasti and Can translated into Turkish and adapted, and the organizational silence scale developed by Dyne et al. (Journal of Management Studies 40(6), 1359–1392) was used to measure organizational silence. As a result of the questionnaires, the data were evaluated and the relationship between organizational commitment and organizational silence was tried to be explained. The results of multiple regression analysis, which measures the effect of organizational commitment on organizational silence, were interpreted by correlation analysis, which measures the relationships of organizational commitment and organizational silence subdimensions. The results of the T-tests and ANOVA (F) tests, which measure the relationship between demographic variables and research variables, are also included. As a result of the analyzes, it was found that among the subdimensions of organizational commitment, continuing commitment, normative and emotional commitment, only continuing commitment and emotional commitment had a significant effect on accepting silence