Fear of missing out and relational aggression on Facebook

The use of Social Networking sites (SNS) has been associated with fear of missing out (FOMO) which is characterized by perceiving others as having more rewarding lives. The current study investigated whether FOMO is related to Facebook relational aggression through a desire to avoid inferiority and engagement in manipulative behaviors. Facebook users (N= 190, 87% female) completed an online survey assessing FOMO, striving to avoid inferiority, interpersonal manipulation, and Facebook relational aggression. Serial mediation analysis demonstrated that higher levels of FOMO were associated with increased desire to avoid inferiority, which in turn was associated with higher levels of interpersonal manipulation and subsequent higher reported rates of Facebook relational aggression. The research considers how FOMO is associated with socially aversive Facebook behavior to meet psycho-social needs deficits

“It’s all part of the culture”: undergraduate students’ experiences of banter in university sports clubs and societies

Recent research has focused on students’ experience of banter in the general university setting. However, these experiences may differ when specifically focusing on university students’ interactions in sports clubs and societies. The present study explored undergraduate students’ understanding and experiences of banter in sports clubs and societies through five focus groups (n = 24; 18–23 years, 5 male, 19 female) at one UK university using semi-structured interviews and vignettes. Thematic analysis identified three key themes: “It’s all part of the culture”, banter to excuse inappropriate behaviour, and a question of boundaries. Discussions highlighted banter was accepted and expected, but there was a sense of ‘banter fatigue’. There was awareness that banter could be used to mask harmful behaviour such as hazing and inappropriate sexual behaviour. Students also highlighted that boundaries were important when using banter, discussing how repetition can have a negative impact on the target of the banter. The study contributes to the limited literature exploring the use and perceptions of banter by students in extracurricular activities at university

Developing knowledge work skills in a university course

In this paper, we present a blended university course whose design is inspired by the Trialogical Learning Approach and its six Design Principles. The structure, activities, and content of the course are described in detail. The course description is followed by an explorative case-study conducted on data collected during the 2017-2018 edition of the course. The general aim was to understand the impact of the course on students’ perceptions of their acquisition of knowledge work skills and on their overall appreciation of the course. One hundred and nine psychology students (27 male, 82 female, aged 20-23 years) voluntarily participated in a course titled ‘Experimental Pedagogy’ held at Sapienza, University of Rome (IT). The data collection was informed by the trialogical design principles that inspired the course and defined the knowledge work skills to be observed, i.e. collaboration, continuous improvement, and digital skills. Two self-report anonymous questionnaires were administered; one was completed at the end of the course and one at the end of each of the three modules composing the course. Data was analysed using a mixed-methods (qualitative and quantitative) approach. Results indicated that the course was perceived to effectively promote the majority of the intended skills. Moreover, students appreciated the possibility to concretely work on a project-based learning activity that allowed them to create a shared and meaningful object and reflect their actual learning as intended by the theoretical approach

A semi-automated security advisory system to resist cyber-attack in social networks

Social networking sites often witness various types of social engineering (SE) attacks. Yet, limited research has addressed the most severe types of social engineering in social networks (SNs). The present study investigates the extent to which people respond differently to different types of attack in a social network context and how we can segment users based on their vulnerability. In turn, this leads to the prospect of a personalised security advisory system. 316 participants have completed an online-questionnaire that includes a scenario-based experiment. The study result reveals that people respond to cyber-attacks differently based on their demographics. Furthermore, people’s competence, social network experience, and their limited connections with strangers in social networks can decrease their likelihood of falling victim to some types of attacks more than others

Group Singing as a Resource for the Development of a Healthy Public

A growing body of evidence points to a wide range of benefits arising from participation in group singing. Group singing requires participants to engage with each other in a simultaneous musical dialogue in a pluralistic and emergent context, creating a coherent cultural expression through the reflexive negotiation of (musical) meaning manifest in the collective power of the human voice. As such, group singing might be taken – both literally and figuratively – as a potent form of ‘healthy public’, creating an ‘ideal’ community which participants can subsequently mobilise as a positive resource for everyday life. The experiences of a group of singers (n=78) who had participated in an outdoor singing project were collected and analysed using a three-layer research design consisting of: distributed data generation and interpretation, considered against comparative data from other singing groups (n=88); a focus group workshop (n=11); an unstructured interview (n=2). The study confirmed an expected perception of the social bonding effect of group singing, highlighting affordances for interpersonal attunement and attachment alongside a powerful individual sense of feeling ‘uplifted’. This study presents a novel perspective on group singing, highlighting the importance of participant experience as a means of understanding music as a holistic and complex adaptive system. It validates findings about group singing from previous studies - in particular the stability of the social bonding effect as a less variant characteristic in the face of environmental and other situational influences, alongside its capacity for mental health recovery. It establishes a subjective sociocultural and musical understanding of group singing, by expanding on these findings to centralise the importance of individual experience, and the consciousness of that experience as descriptive self-awareness. The ways in which participants describe and discuss their experiences of group singing and its benefits points to a complex interdependence between a number of musical, neurobiological and psychosocial mechanisms which might be independently and objectively analysed. An emerging theory is that at least some of the potency of group singing is as a resource where people can rehearse and perform ‘healthy’ relationships, further emphasising its potential as a resource for healthy publics

Teaching technology-mediated collaborative learning for trainee teachers

In a knowledge driven society, secondary education should let students develop appropriate and meaningful skills to live, think and work. To this aim, teachers require specific knowledge and competences about technology-mediated collaborative learning strategies while overcoming preconceptions and general sense of inadequacy towards these learning approaches. This exploratory study focuses on a learning path based on the “Trialogical” Learning Approach to consider the role of technology mediated collaborative learning in the educational development and classroom practices of trainee teachers. A multi-methods approach was used to analyse the collected data. Results indicate a good level of active participation in the activities leading to a general perception of effective learning. Participants report having acquired knowledge and skills, which will improve their professional practice. The positive value of introducing collaboration and technology in the learning path is highlighted

Low-cost, deep-sea imaging and analysis tools for deep-sea exploration: a collaborative design study

A minuscule fraction of the deep sea has been scientifically explored and characterized due to several constraints, including expense, inefficiency, exclusion, and the resulting inequitable access to tools and resources around the world. To meet the demand for understanding the largest biosphere on our planet, we must accelerate the pace and broaden the scope of exploration by adding low-cost, scalable tools to the traditional suite of research assets. Exploration strategies should increasingly employ collaborative, inclusive, and innovative research methods to promote inclusion, accessibility, and equity to ocean discovery globally. Here, we present an important step toward this new paradigm: a collaborative design study on technical capacity needs for equitable deep-sea exploration. The study focuses on opportunities and challenges related to low-cost, scalable tools for deep-sea data collection and artificial intelligence-driven data analysis. It was conducted in partnership with twenty marine professionals worldwide, covering a broad representation of geography, demographics, and domain knowledge within the ocean space. The results of the study include a set of technical requirements for low-cost deep-sea imaging and sensing systems and automated image and data analysis systems. As a result of the study, a camera system called Maka Niu was prototyped and is being field-tested by thirteen interviewees and an online AI-driven video analysis platform is in development. We also identified six categories of open design and implementation questions highlighting participant concerns and potential trade-offs that have not yet been addressed within the scope of the current projects but are identified as important considerations for future work. Finally, we offer recommendations for collaborative design projects related to the deep sea and outline our future work in this space

The impact of lecture chunking format on university student vigilance: implications for classroom pedagogy

Consistent with capacity theories of attention, attention can be sustained to the extent that spare mental resources remain available. The traditional lecture in higher education has received criticism for being too long to hold a student’s attention. This is based on several author’s claims that there is a measurable decrement in student attention after approximately 10-15 minutes of sustained content delivery. The present research aimed to investigate if providing small, separate units of an asynchronous lecture is able to enhance motivation for task engagement through perceived achievability of the learning outcomes, and consequently, enhance sustained attention amongst postgraduate university students. Utilising a quasi-experimental design, 51 postgraduate psychology students were recruited by opportunistic sampling from a cognitive psychology lecture on an MSc Psychology course, and given the option to watch either a long, single-video version of a lecture, or the same lecture delivered as smaller separate video chunks. Key findings indicate that presenting the material as smaller separate video units increased the perceived achievability of the learning outcomes and reduced the number of attention lapses experienced, but not the duration of those lapses, all measured via self-report single-item measures. The shorter separate videos condition also saw greater levels of break taking compliance. Looking at the sample as a whole using a hierarchical regression analysis, whilst controlling for student mind wandering tendencies as measured by the Mind Excessively Wandering Scale (MEWS), taking breaks was a significant negative predictor of attention lapses. Taken together, this suggests taking breaks is an integral part of sustained attention, and that chunking lectures into separate video units increases break taking compliance. Therefore, when designing online asynchronous learning material, lecturers should consider the value of chunking learning material for its potential direct and indirect effect on sustained attention

Comparative optimism and perceptions of specific online risks

Adults hold optimistic beliefs for online behaviours, displaying a general tendency to believe that they are less likely to experience general risks than others. Study 1 explored whether young adults displayed comparative optimism judgements for four types of specific risks that were relevant to a UK sample. Study 2 addressed methodological weaknesses associated with assessing comparative optimism. Study 1 explored 227 (194 female, 31 male, 1 non-binary, and 1 gender not disclosed) young adults’ (MAge = 20.75, SDAge = 4.22) comparative optimistic beliefs for unwanted contact, hoaxes, behavioural, and sexual online risks that were contextualised to the UK. In study 2, young adults (134 female, 30 male, 1 non-binary, and 1 gender fluid, MAge = 20.72, SDAge = 3.39) provided judgements for four online risks for the general public and the comparator groups used in study 1. Participants were then provided with the prevalence rate for each risk according to data for the UK and then asked to repeat the judgments for each comparator group. Study 1 identified optimistic beliefs across the four risks, with family and the self judged to be less at risk. Study 2 revealed that again family was perceived to be at the lowest risk followed by the self. Knowledge of the actual risk led to a reduction in perceived risk for unwanted contact and hoaxes but little change for behavioural or sexual risks. Together, the findings have implications for understanding perceptions of online risk and how campaigns to promote digital safety are designed