Assessment of social competence: exploring the dimensions of young adult social competence

It is very consistent in the sense that social competence was predictive of youth employability. Unlike many previous surveys, the present study utilized multiple measures and provided a more comprehensive picture of social young adults’ perception of social competence in the domains of social (communicative competence and assertiveness), cognition (critical thinking and future orientation), and emotion (identity formation and prosocial tendency). Six measures of social competence were completed by 1134 university students in six randomly selected universities. Analyses revealed most young adults were situationally non-assertive and scored lower communicative competence. Moreover, they were more frequently concerned about family-related, financial-related, and educational-related aspects, but less involved in civic engagement. Of significance, critical thinking or problem-solving skills among young adults should be of concern. The identity formation also poor manifested due to extending exploration of the self and undecided manner in young adulthood. Interestingly, emotional benefits have been directed students to become involved in more prosocial behavior. The findings may be useful for social efforts to promote social competence in early adulthood and for their later working life

Investigating the use of mobile applications in everyday language learning

The development of mobile phone applications has created a multiplicity of additional affordances and new ways of learning. In particular, mobile language learning applications such as online dictionaries and Google Translate combined with the technical affordances of smartphones and tablets are creating a new relationship between mobile learners and smart devices. In this exploratory study, a mixed method research design was used to understand how youth in Malaysia use their smart devices for learning languages and to uncover the extent of these learning experiences in their daily lives. 337 participants took part in a survey of their language learning experiences using mobile learning applications. Additionally, phenomenological interviews were conducted with 12 participants over a period of four months to uncover the lived experiences of their language learning. This paper presents the preliminary findings of the study which suggest learning is serendipitous, fragmentary and purposive; dependent on function and purpose. The findings may yield new understanding that may prove useful in its implications for formal and informal learning

Adolescents' views on celebrity worship: A Qualitative study

A phenomenological study was conducted to explore the experiences of celebrity worshipers in Malaysia in order to identify the factors motivating celebrity worship, the meanings and impact gained from the worship experience. A purposive sample of 15 adolescents who identified themselves as celebrity worshipers, were interviewed. Thematic analysis revealed that 3 major factors influenced participants to become celebrity worshipers: celebrity products, personal characteristics of the celebrity, and peer influence. Also, the themes that emerged that described participants’ perceived impact of celebrity worship included emotional impact, development of strong self-determination and cultural awareness, and the enhancement of personal and social relationships. Generally, adolescents did not think there was a negative impact of their worship experiences. The study has revealed insights into how celebrities play an important role by inspiring young generation in positive ways

An investigation of materialism and undergraduates' life satisfaction

Although there have been substantial empirical studies that have investigated the effect of materialism on life satisfaction, the nature of life satisfaction of Malaysian undergraduate students and its relationship with materialism still remain largely ambiguous and warrant an investigation. Against this backdrop, the present investigation attempted to examine the linkage between materialism and satisfaction of life among Malaysian undergraduate students. Data analysis was done based on responses of self-administered questionnaires that were completed by three-hundred and sixty-six students. The questionnaire consisted of inventories that assessed dispositions of materialistic values and perception of life satisfaction in general. Results of the study affirmed that materialism and its three dimensions were statistically correlated to life satisfaction. Interpretably, the greater endorsement of materialistic values as well as the three belief domains of materialism could undermine the feeling of satisfaction with life. From the evaluation of stepwise regression, the inclusion of Possession-defined Success and Acquisition as the Pursuit of Happiness elements successfully accounted for 21.5% of the variance of undergraduates’ life satisfaction. Notably, Possession-defined Success items captured the most variance in undergraduates’ life satisfaction. The findings of this study have important implications for contributing towards intellectual enrichment of a body of research in Malaysian context

A study on the Influence of Social Media and Collaborative Learning toward Learning Process among STML Students

Social media became a valuable of technology used in our daily life, especially for young generation, including students who are studying in UUM. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine the relationship social media and collaborative learning towards learning process of School of Technology Management & Logistics (STML) students, as well as determine the purpose of using social media on learning process. This study adopts the quantitative survey method. The instrument consists of 40 items using the Likert scale. This study collected 302 data sets from STML. The regression results show that the social media and collaborative learning are significant determinants of learning process towards STML students. It is also found that social media and collaborative learning is positively related to the learning process and most of the STML students using social media for the purpose of learning process. These findings are supported by previous studie

Psychometric properties of the Malay version of the job satisfaction survey among Malaysian military personnel

Job satisfaction is directly related to a number of positive outcomes at work and in certain other aspects of life. In the past few years, job satisfaction among the armed forces has received much attention, but the results of research have been contradictory, in view of the lack of psychometrically robust instrument. Due to its multidimensional orientation, Job Satisfaction Survey has been widely used to assess job satisfaction across different types of job. Although JSS is a promising measure, it has never been validated in the armed forces context. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Malay version of the Job Satisfaction Survey (Spector, 1965) using data from Malaysian military personnel . With this is mind, a group of male navy personnel from selected navy bases were recruited to be respondents. Through exploratory factor analyses (EFA), results yielded a five-subscale model with 28 items, namely: recognition, affection, fairness, expectation, and workload. In addition, the validity and stability of the five-dimensional structure of the scale were evident in this study using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). In summary, this study confirmed the psychometric properties of the scale and can further be used to measure job satisfaction in the armed force setting

Understanding Singleness: A Phenomenological Study of Single Women in Beijing and Singapore

The aim of this phenomenological study was to gain a better understanding in the lives of single women by exploring their thoughts and experiences of being single. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews of a group of six well-educated, ethnic Chinese single women aged between 30 and 45 living in Beijing and Singapore. Transcribed interviews were analysed through reading and rereading and culling for like phrases and themes that are then grouped to form clusters of meaning. Through this process, we found four salient themes: (a) the women had equivocal feelings over the reasons they were single; (b) they recognized the advantages, disadvantages, and ambivalence of singlehood; (c) they took a pragmatic approach towards their singleness; and (d) they coped singleness with various practical strategies. Implications related to clinical practice and areas of further research are discussed

Computer-mediated communication use among adolescents and its implication for psychological need satisfaction

Online self-disclosure and online communication are two communication behaviours that, on the basis of prior research and theory, would appear to be related both to one another and to psychological need satisfaction. This study explored these relationships among a sample of 190 secondary school students drawn from a district in Malaysia. Respondents completed a questionnaire battery, which included measures of online self-disclosure, online communication and psychological need satisfaction. Quantitative data were then entered and analysed via Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results demonstrated that adolescents disclosed more during same-sex interaction than opposite-sex interaction. The findings also showed a positive relationship between online communication and same-sex disclosure for adolescent girls, but not necessarily for boys. Hierarchical regression analyses confirmed that for male and female adolescents, same-sex disclosure, opposite-sex disclosure and online communication were found to be predictive of adolescents' experiences of psychological need satisfaction in online friendships. No interaction effect was found between online self-disclosure and online communication on psychological need satisfaction. The contribution of this study is two-fold. First, currently, little research exists examining the association between online self-disclosure, online communication and psychological need satisfaction in a single published study. Second, we extend previous research with a more nuanced understanding of psychological need satisfaction embedded in the context of CMC

Pangs of loneliness breed material lifestyle but don't power up life satisfaction of young people: the moderating effect of gender

Associations between loneliness, materialism, and life satisfaction were examined in a sample of 366 Malaysian undergraduate students. Also examined was the mediating role of materialism in the relation between loneliness and life satisfaction, and such a mediational link (i.e., loneliness–materialism–life satisfaction) is expected to be moderated by gender. Loneliness was significantly and positively associated with materialism but negatively associated with life satisfaction. Materialism was significantly and negatively associated with life satisfaction. In addition to these direct associations, materialism emerged as a significant partial mediator in the relation between loneliness and life satisfaction. As predicted, gender moderated the loneliness–materialism–life satisfaction relationship. In particular, materialism significantly mediated such a link for male undergraduate students but not for female undergraduate students. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings for youth wellness are discussed

Investigation of a Preliminary Mixed Method of Phubbing and Social Connectedness in Adolescents

Background: The exponential growth of smartphones has afforded many users with ubiquitous access to socialization as seen in the various mobile apps used to communicate and connect with others. The present study employed mixed-method approaches to analyse the impact of phubbing on social connectedness among adolescents in Malaysia. Methods:A total of 568 adolescents were participated in quantitative surveys, and of these participating adolescents, 6 were further invited to join focus group interviews. Findings: Quantitative findings supported the mediating role of communication disturbance in the relationships between phone obsession and familial connectedness, school connectedness, and self-connectedness, but not for friendship connectedness. Qualitative findings further elucidated the detrimental effect of phone obsession on their sense of belonging from the perspectives of adolescents. Conclusion: This study reaffirms that phubbing behaviour is predictive of social disconnectedness. Therefore, preventive and treatment interventions should be developed to avoid and control a potential risk of social disconnectedness epidemics attribute to phubbing