Collecting data using crowdsourcing marketplaces raises ethical questions for academic researchers

The need for larger sample sizes and ready access to a diverse group of participants has seen many researchers turn to crowdsourcing platforms such as MTurk for their data collections. However, Ilka Gleibs argues that the ethical implications of using crowdsourcing marketplaces demand further attention. To safeguard academic progress and public trust in research it is imperative that we treat participants as stakeholders in research and not as passive objects or merely a human resource

Good leaders adapt their leadership style to the organisation’s social context

Context will indicate when they should adopt a conflictual or conciliatory style, argues Ilka Gleib

The importance of informed consent in social media research

Dr Ilka H. Gleibs argues that informed consent is important in social media research to protect the privacy, autonomy, and control of social media users

Does money buy happiness? It depends on the context

Ilka Gleibs explains how the money–happiness link is variable and highly context-dependent. Two studies she conducted showed that both money (individual income) and community (social capital) can be the basis for individual happiness, and that the relative influence of each factor depends on the context. She argues that strong social relations are much more consistent in providing us with well-being and may provide a more stable and enduring basis for happiness

How women footballers can overcome negative stereotypes

English footballers wrote history this week. For the first time ever, they won at the knock-out stage and reached the quarter finals. Hang on, you might say, this is cannot be true? England won the world cup in 1966 and reached the quarter final several times before? The success was in fact achieved by the women’s football squad, who are competing at the Women’s World Cup in Canada this month and remain hopeful of reaching the semi-finals

A reply to Gallagher, O'Donnell, Minescu, & Muldoon's commentary on 'The effects of identification with a support group on the mental health of people with multiple sclerosis'

We wish to thank Gallagher and his colleagues for their kind words and insightful comments regarding our recent paper on the effects of identification with a support group on the mental health of people with multiple sclerosis. We too agree that this is an important area of research that is worthy of much future study. Below we provide a brief discussion of each of the three comments that Gallagher and colleagues made about our paper

What moderates the attainment gap? The effects of social identity incompatibility and practical incompatibility on the performance of students who are or are not Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic

A successful journey through higher education is, for many, a once in a lifetime opportunity for social mobility. Unfortunately, one notable feature of higher education systems is that students from some backgrounds do not achieve the same academic attainments as do others. The current study tests the role of one particular set of processes: social identity (in)compatibility on academic performance. Participants were recruited at two time points from a pool of first year undergraduates at a modern London University (N=215) of which 40.1% were classed as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME), 57.1% as non-BAME and 2.8% did not provide this information. A prospective design was employed: Alongside demographic data, measures at the start of the academic year consisted of measures of student and ethnic identity, and both practical and identity incompatibility. At the end of the academic year, average marks achieved were gained for each student from the university’s registry system. Results indicate that BAME students had equal levels of student identity to non-BAME students, but higher levels of ethnic identity. They also typically experienced higher levels of both practical and identity incompatibility. Finally, BAME students had lower attainment than did non-BAME students. Both practical and identity incompatibility appeared to moderate this effect. However, contrary to predictions, it was only under conditions of low and medium levels of incompatibility that BAME students attained lower marks than their non-BAME peers. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed

Measuring global bystander intervention and exploring its antecedents for helping refugees

Although the bystander intervention model provides a useful account of how people help others, no previous study has applied it to a global emergency. This research aims to develop a scale for measuring global bystander intervention and investigate its potential antecedents in the Syrian refugee emergency. In Study 1 (N = 80) and Study 2 (N = 205), a 12-item scale was established through a substantive-validity assessment and a confirmatory factor analysis, respectively. Study 3 (N = 601) explored the potential antecedents of the global bystander intervention, employing British and German samples. Results show that the global bystander intervention model worked for both samples, but there were significant between-group differences in terms of the extent to which they notice the emergency, know how to help, show political support, and donate money. Overall, the visibility of the global emergency aftermaths within the context has been deduced as a meaningful driver for between-group differences. This research provides the first empirical evidence on global bystander intervention and it offers timely suggestions to promote support for refugees or other victims of global disasters, especially among those who are distant to the disaster zone

The impact of non-standard work arrangements and communication climate on organisational and team identification and work-related outcomes amongst millennial in Chile and the UK

Previous research has found inconsistent results about the impact of work-status (permanent vs fixed term vs causal work) on attitudinal and behavioural outcomes. This study explored this topic from a social identity perspective and examines the effect of communication climate, organisational and team identification on job-affective well-being, organisational commitment and intentions to recommend. In Study 1, 631 professionals working in Chile completed our survey. In Study 2, which was pre-registered, 520 professionals from the UK completed the same survey. In both studies we conducted multi-group path analyses comparing among employees with three work-statuses: permanent (n1=369, n2=438), fixed-term (n1=129, n2=53), and casual workers (n1=131, n2=34). We found work-status influenced the relationship between organisational and team identification with job-affective well-being, but not with organisational citizenship behaviour or intentions to recommend. Across all groups, communication climate was an important predictor for identification measures, job-affective well-being and intention to recommend. These findings offer an understanding of the dynamics of social identification in the workplace that are related to work-status in the context of two different countries; Chile, a country that is characterised by high rates of fixed-term and casual job agreement and the UK with comparatively less non-standard work-arrangements