On death and dying

This is a high impact journal published by Annual Reviews, Inc., a nonprofit scientific publisher established in 1929 to promote the advancement of the sciences through critical reviews. Covering all areas of psychology research and practice, the Annual Review of Psychology is planned by a rotating committee of eight distinguished psychologists who invite qualified authors to contribute reviews of significant developments in the discipline.

Annual Review of Psychology

This study responds to a current phenomenon where individuals experience distress and exhaustion caused by cyberbullying and social overload while using social networking sites (SNSs). Social cognitive theory suggests that this phenomenon is caused by the interactive influences of environmental, personal, and behavioral factors, which are key unique drivers of SNS discontinuous usage intentions. This study focuses on how cyberbullying and social overload (environmental) induce distress and SNS exhaustion (personal), thereby affecting an individual’s intention to voluntarily abandon the use of SNSs (behavioral). The purpose model is tested through a sample of 314 SNS users. Empirical results indicate that cyberbullying and social overload exert a considerable impact on distress and SNS exhaustion, both of which further increase users’ intention to discontinue their usage of SNSs. This article concludes with several theoretical and practical contributions, limitations, and future research directions.

Consequences of Cyberbullying and Social Overload while Using SNSs: A Study of Users’ Discontinuous Usage Behavior in SNSs

Cybersecurity awareness for children: A systematic literature review

Two studies examined age differences in recall and recognition memory for positive, negative, and neutral stimuli. In Study 1, younger, middle-aged, and older adults were shown images on a computer screen and, after a distraction task, were asked first to recall as many as they could and then to identify previously shown images from a set of old and new ones. The relative number of negative images compared with positive and neutral images recalled decreased with each successively older age group. Recognition memory showed a similar decrease with age in the relative memory advantage for negative pictures. In Study 2, the largest age differences in recall and recognition accuracy were also for the negative images. Findings are consistent with socioemotional selectivity theory, which posits greater investment in emotion regulation with age.

Aging and Emotional Memory: The Forgettable Nature of Negative Images for Older Adults

Previous studies on fighting computer-assisted frauds have attempted to assist law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to better understand important aspects of motivation, opportunity and deterrence. However, there have been few empirical studies on the profiles of convicted offenders, post detection. This paper examines characteristics of frauds and their associated respective law enforcement response with particular emphasis on frauds facilitated by information technology. The findings show how the prosecution and conviction of the offenders differ among commonly-seen types of computer assisted frauds, and bring new evidence to the common association of gender and crime, severity and punishment, etc. The findings may help LEAs and legislative bodies to evaluate their current practices from the point of restorative social justice.

Computer assisted frauds: An examination of offender and offense characteristics in relation to arrests

As older adults are increasingly active in virtual communities (VCs), these platforms for knowledge exchange present opportunities for companies to use elder human capital. The purpose of this study is to understand the antecedent factors that motivate older adults’ knowledge contribution and knowledge seeking (KS) behaviors in VCs.,Rooted in socio-emotional selectivity and social cognitive theories, this study included five key variables and developed models for older adults’ knowledge contributing (KC)/KS behaviors. This paper tested the hypotheses using data from a sample of 204 older adults in 3 VCs in China.,The results provide support for most of the hypotheses and show that while other members’ participation (MP) acts as a substitute for meaning in life and attitude toward aging, it acts as a complement for outcome expectations (OE) focused on others and OE focused on oneself in their impacts on KC/KS activities.,The study provides practical insights for developing elder human resources via VCs to avoid knowledge loss.,This study described older adults’ unique characteristics when modeling their information and communication technologies-related behaviors and built two models to explain their KC/KS behaviors. It confirmed that the same factor has different levels of impact on older adults’ KC/KS behaviors in VCs. In addition, it confirmed and reinforced the complementary and substitutive effects of other MP as an environmental factor on these behaviors.

Older adults in virtual communities: understanding the antecedents of knowledge contribution and knowledge seeking through the lens of socioemotional selectivity and social cognitive theories

Contribution: Intervention effectiveness is shown to vary in its influence on teenagers’ outcomes with cybersecurity problem-solving and engagement. In-depth, high-intensity types of intervention may be more effective for female students. Background: Instructional interventions are being developed to address both the critical shortage in cybersecurity talent and gender gaps in the cyber workforce. These interventions need rigorous evaluation. Specific types of instructional strategies are particularly effective for STEM learning. Also, gender differences are found in the benefit students derive from certain instructional methods. An important question is whether certain instructional methods are particularly effective for cybersecurity learning, and consistent in both male and female students. Research Questions: Do cybersecurity interventions affect problem-solving, cybersecurity engagement, and/or cybersecurity self-efficacy? Are there gender differences in terms of intervention effectiveness? Methodology: Study 1 ( ${n}\,\, {=}$ 79) included a 60-min workshop model where participants, assigned to treatment and control groups, completed surveys pre- and post-intervention. The treatment group experienced a workshop on computer networking, without any technology. The control group did not receive the workshop. Study 2 ( ${n}\,\,{=}$ 34) was a week-long intervention whose participants had formal lessons, built websites, and defended themselves from an ongoing simulated cyberattack. Participants completed a survey on cybersecurity learning and engagement three times during the intervention. Findings: Study 1 showed no main treatment effect, but females experienced greater gains in problem-solving than males. In Study 2, there was positive growth over time and females experienced greater growth in cybersecurity self-efficacy relative to males.

Cybersecurity Interventions for Teens: Two Time-Based Approaches

Gamification is the process of adding games or game-like elements to a non-game task in order to encourage participation and engagement [8]. Gamification, as a means of engaging consumers [6, 10, 16], has become more and more popular and implemented in a range of user-oriented applications. However studies have shown that it may not always have the type of impact as initially projected [12, 13]. Gamification yields different, sometimes contradictory, results with regard to the engagement outcomes. Researchers have argued that gamification is not always properly implemented and may not have consistent positive effects [14], as the reward mechanisms and intensified competition could create a controlling gaming environment that could dampen the intrinsic motivation of the participants [13]. Therefore, it is important for businesses and organizations to be able to gauge the impact of gamified interventions and evaluate return on investment.

/pdf/effects-of-leaderboards-in-games-on-consumer-engagement-h3dfb2lbwj.pdf

Effects of Leaderboards in Games on Consumer Engagement

This study uses data from an online HIV/AIDS health support virtual community to examine whether users’ emotional states and the social support they receive influence their continued usage. We adopt grief theory to conceptualize the negative emotions that people living with HIV/AIDS could experience. Linguistic analysis is used to measure the emotional states of the users and the informational and emotional support that they receive. Results show that users showing a higher level of disbelief and yearning are more likely to leave the community while those with a high level of anger and depression are more likely to stay on. Users who receive more informational support are more likely to leave once they have obtained the information they sought, but those who receive more emotional support are more likely to stay on. The findings of this study can help us better understand users’ support seeking behavior in online support VCs.

/pdf/users-continued-usage-of-online-healthcare-virtual-2kkzzvwy5b.pdf

Ruochen Liao

Papers

Computer assisted frauds: An examination of offender and offense characteristics in relation to arrests

Older adults in virtual communities: understanding the antecedents of knowledge contribution and knowledge seeking through the lens of socioemotional selectivity and social cognitive theories

Cybersecurity Interventions for Teens: Two Time-Based Approaches

Effects of Leaderboards in Games on Consumer Engagement

Users’ Continued Usage of Online Healthcare Virtual Communities: An Empirical Investigation in the Context of HIV Support Communities