University Student Perceptions of the Impact of the Social Unrest in Hong Kong

Social unrest has a significant impact on all citizens but for university students, little is known about how they thrived through this period with certain disconnection to social support while living in residential halls. Therefore, this study focused on the lived experiences of a group of university students and explored how the social unrest had affected them. Focus group interviews were conducted with 20 university students in Hong Kong. Using thematic analysis, the transcriptions were categorized into four themes: disruptions to daily routines, impact on psychological wellbeing, relationships, and coping strategies. It was revealed that reduced social connections during the unrest impacted their coping strategies and relationships, and emotional distress. This sheds implications on policymaking in residential halls and for university counselling service

Examining Intercultural Interaction in Hong Kong Residential Halls

The integration of non-local students into their host environments and their ability to develop meaningful local relationships are concerns for researchers, educators, and policymakers. Given the increased diversity of higher educational settings, a deeper understanding of these topics can help residential halls better accommodate students from various cultures, improve students’ residential experiences, and enhance their relationships with their peers. Research on these issues has focused mainly on Western universities; this study aims to explore the acculturation dynamics of residential education through focus-group interviews with 14 Mainland Chinese undergraduates living in residential halls in Hong Kong. The findings reveal that although the residential experience can engender interpersonal conflict, it can also foster intercultural interaction, help build a sense of belonging, and create the conditions for overcoming barriers and difficulties. The findings indicate that future programmes can improve adjustment outcomes in residential halls by creating a more welcoming environment for non-local students

Many Labs 2: Investigating Variation in Replicability Across Samples and Settings

We conducted preregistered replications of 28 classic and contemporary published findings, with protocols that were peer reviewed in advance, to examine variation in effect magnitudes across samples and settings. Each protocol was administered to approximately half of 125 samples that comprised 15,305 participants from 36 countries and territories. Using the conventional criterion of statistical significance (p < .05), we found that 15 (54%) of the replications provided evidence of a statistically significant effect in the same direction as the original finding. With a strict significance criterion (p < .0001), 14 (50%) of the replications still provided such evidence, a reflection of the extremely highpowered design. Seven (25%) of the replications yielded effect sizes larger than the original ones, and 21 (75%) yielded effect sizes smaller than the original ones. The median comparable Cohen’s ds were 0.60 for the original findings and 0.15 for the replications. The effect sizes were small (< 0.20) in 16 of the replications (57%), and 9 effects (32%) were in the direction opposite the direction of the original effect. Across settings, the Q statistic indicated significant heterogeneity in 11 (39%) of the replication effects, and most of those were among the findings with the largest overall effect sizes; only 1 effect that was near zero in the aggregate showed significant heterogeneity according to this measure. Only 1 effect had a tau value greater than .20, an indication of moderate heterogeneity. Eight others had tau values near or slightly above .10, an indication of slight heterogeneity. Moderation tests indicated that very little heterogeneity was attributable to the order in which the tasks were performed or whether the tasks were administered in lab versus online. Exploratory comparisons revealed little heterogeneity between Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) cultures and less WEIRD cultures (i.e., cultures with relatively high and low WEIRDness scores, respectively). Cumulatively, variability in the observed effect sizes was attributable more to the effect being studied than to the sample or setting in which it was studied.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Sociales::Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas (IIP